I recently acquired a thinline tele built by Eric Daw of Emerald City Guitars. He's been evaluating and repairing vintage instruments for about 15 years
and knows what makes the good ones so valuable. He is an outstanding tech and I've enjoyed dealing with him for the past 7 years. He just happens to be
an outstanding blues player as well.
Body & neck by USA Custom. Hardware and pickups from Allparts.
Body is swamp ash, neck is standard tele C-profile solid maple, tuners are Gotoh vintage, pickups are Razor Vintage Tele, bridge is brass 3-saddle. Finish is clear with amber dye. Eric has relic'd this quitar, so it could pass for a '69 in really good condition (except for the 3-saddle bridge). The neck has the perfect "broken in" feel, the pickups have been "aged" with a little current, the fasteners have a little rust on the heads, and so forth. Eric's build and standard setup felt so right to me that I knew I had to have this guitar before I ever plugged it in. It simply feels perfect.
Playing it through a Fender-style amp confirms that the sound is as good as the feel. Really fine vintage tele.
He names the guitars he builds instead of giving them serial numbers. Mine is Maria.
Eric is building more (solid bodies) tele's; as far as I know I've got the only thinline he plans to do (unless a customer orders one). If you get a chance to stop in Emerald City Guitars in Seattle, you should definitely ask to try one. There may not be any in the shop, since he builds them one at a time and they tend to sell quickly. The prices are VERY good for instruments of this quality and uniqueness.
Sorry I can't figure out how to upload photos.
Body & neck by USA Custom. Hardware and pickups from Allparts.
Body is swamp ash, neck is standard tele C-profile solid maple, tuners are Gotoh vintage, pickups are Razor Vintage Tele, bridge is brass 3-saddle. Finish is clear with amber dye. Eric has relic'd this quitar, so it could pass for a '69 in really good condition (except for the 3-saddle bridge). The neck has the perfect "broken in" feel, the pickups have been "aged" with a little current, the fasteners have a little rust on the heads, and so forth. Eric's build and standard setup felt so right to me that I knew I had to have this guitar before I ever plugged it in. It simply feels perfect.
Playing it through a Fender-style amp confirms that the sound is as good as the feel. Really fine vintage tele.
He names the guitars he builds instead of giving them serial numbers. Mine is Maria.
Eric is building more (solid bodies) tele's; as far as I know I've got the only thinline he plans to do (unless a customer orders one). If you get a chance to stop in Emerald City Guitars in Seattle, you should definitely ask to try one. There may not be any in the shop, since he builds them one at a time and they tend to sell quickly. The prices are VERY good for instruments of this quality and uniqueness.
Sorry I can't figure out how to upload photos.
