Anyone tried the Brad Paisley Road Worn Tele?

[Jim Soloway]

I suspect this might be a long shot given the nature of this group but has anyone tried the Brad Paisley Road Worn Telecaster? Some very cool and unusual specs. The body is Paulownia with a spruce top and back. The result is that most of them are under 6 lbs. Add a big honking neck and a sparkling silver finish (albeit with a silly relic'd finish) and it's a very appealing package to me.

[JSanta]

I think this was one of the best accessible signature guitars Fender has put out. Love the specs and the road worn sparkle finish is fun. If I played solidbody guitars, this would be one I'd like to have.

[Hammertone]

Jim:
I recently sold that very guitar to Tom.
It weighs @5.36 pounds - crazy light.
Great neck - you had previously commented on the dimensions.
Excellent in every respect.
IMO, you should buy it - it's a great guitar.
And if you don't like it for whatever reason, you can get all your money back - these are going up in price and IMO will continue to do so.

I sold it only because I have lots of teles, including two Montys, two Hansens, and several other partscasters - just too many ridiculously excellent ^%$#@ plank guitars, and I figured (correctly) that it would be the easiest to sell.

To paraphrase my original ad: "This guitar is a big fat hairy middle finger from Fender Mexico to the Fender Custom Shop, where they are, no doubt, lined up to take turns at the fainting couch."

[Jim Soloway]

Jim:
I recently sold that very guitar to Tom.
It weighs @5.36 pounds - crazy light.
Great neck - you had previously commented on the dimensions.
Excellent in every respect.
IMO, you should buy it - it's a great guitar.
And if you don't like it for whatever reason, you can get all your money back - these are going up in price and IMO will continue to do so.

I sold it only because I have lots of teles, including two Montys, two Hansens, and several other partscasters - just too many ridiculously excellent ^%$#@ plank guitars, and I figured (correctly) that it would be the easiest to sell.

To paraphrase my original ad: "This guitar is a big fat hairy middle finger from Fender Mexico to the Fender Custom Shop, where they are, no doubt, lined up to take turns at the fainting couch."

I'm leaning that way. I'll see how it feels in the morning but it would definitely mean having to sell the Neville.

[ruger9]

I played the tele (silver sparkle) at my local, and I actually owned the Esquire (Black sparkle) for a couple months.

The silver tele is a GREAT tele. SUPER light, great tone- both pickups sound great. Unique neck shape- if you like the neck profile, I couldn't imagine not liking the guitar.*

*I did 2 things: I replaced the stock barrel saddles with Gotoh In-Tune saddles for accurate intonation. Also, I wasn't a fan of the silver sparkle finish- there is very little clear coat on it, and you can feel the sparkles- it's like sandpaper. Otherwise, it's a great, but IMHO over-priced, tele.

[curbucci]

For me I think these recent road worn guitars from Mexico are great. I picked up a new Vintage blonde Vintera 50s Road Worn Telecaster in Sept. 2021. Got it set up with Daddario EXL115 (11s) and run it through a DOD Bad Monkey with gain dialed very low into a DV Mark Little Jazz and I am there with tone to these ears on the neck pickup. I love the U neck. Don't plan on changing anything on this Telecaster.

[Hammertone]

I've tried it a couple of times a couple of years ago ...
But it is just the neck from the Baja telecaster on a light paulowia or empress as they sometimes call it body. ...

Based on the ones I have played, I don't think the Baja neck is anywhere as deep as the Paisley neck. Perhaps some of the folks who own Bajas could post the neck depth at the 1st and 12th frets.

[Hammertone]

Bajas have nice necks. I'd just like some data one way or the other if it's out there.

[D.G.]

I own one. Overpriced for sure, but I was willing to pay for the light weight. And I’m a sucker for silver sparkle Teles

I’ve pretty seriously modded mine: new bone nut, new intonated saddles, sanded down the sticky nitro on the neck — they were originally shipped very “wet” — replaced pups with a Texas Special in the neck and a Tex-Mex in the bridge, and finally put on a mirrored pickguard. It ain’t a subtle looking guitar.

Soundwise, it’s got a sort of hollowish character on the low notes, a bit of a low mid sorta push. Not the trad alder or ash sound for sure! Really great sustain. Huge, huge neck. I dig it. I’ve used it on swing gigs and not a single eyebrow was raised. Course it helps that I’m the band leader!

[ruger9]

I own one. Overpriced for sure, but I was willing to pay for the light weight. And I’m a sucker for silver sparkle Teles

I’ve pretty seriously modded mine: new bone nut, new intonated saddles, sanded down the sticky nitro on the neck — they were originally shipped very “wet” — replaced pups with a Texas Special in the neck and a Tex-Mex in the bridge, and finally put on a mirrored pickguard. It ain’t a subtle looking guitar.

Soundwise, it’s got a sort of hollowish character on the low notes, a bit of a low mid sorta push. Not the trad alder or ash sound for sure! Really great sustain. Huge, huge neck. I dig it. I’ve used it on swing gigs and not a single eyebrow was raised. Course it helps that I’m the band leader!

yeah, the "wet" neck thing was a real PITA for me. By the time I sold it, I had remedied the problem. You didn't like the stock bridge pickup? I thought it was one of the best tele bridge pickups I've ever heard.

Interestingly, my #1 tele (a 1993 American Standard), which is not only alder but also kinda heavy, also has the "hollowish character on the low notes"... Part of the reason I bought the Paisley was to see how a really light guitar felt and sounded, compared to my "kinda heavy" one.

And, here's Brad Paisley playing a little jazz on his #1 tele....

If the video doesn't start at 2:30, FFWD to 2:30 for the jazzy part...