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ivanboski
Newbie
Joined: 16 Mar 2004
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2004 3:05 pm Post subject: Robbens 1960 Tele |
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Can you tell me the spec's of Robbens old Tele?
Stock?...Custom?...bells and whistles? |
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Aeolian
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 886
Location: SF Bay Area
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| Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2004 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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I think that Daved has answered this before. Other than larger frets and having the bridge pickup serviced by Lindy Fralin (to original specs) the guitar is stock as Robben found it. The guys at Black Market Music is SF (no longer there) once told me about Robben walking in one day and they had just gotten this vintage Tele in so they showed it to him. And about how he fell in love with it. Sometimes you just connect with an axe and it feels right. It becomes an extension of you and responds to your every whim. When that happens, buy it. You may not find it again. Every guitar is different, just as every guitar player is different. When the two match up, the result is magic. When someone like Robben finds such a match, as with the Tele or his black Baker, well, I ran out of superlatives but we all know what happens.
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JackD
Senior Member
Joined: 21 Feb 2004
Posts: 243
Location: Rochester, MI
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| Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2004 6:57 pm Post subject: 1960 Tele |
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| I spoke to Robben last month and, among other questions, asked him about the tele. He basically said the same thing that he saw it in a music store 10 years ago and bought it. He said it was totally stock and that nothing had been done to it. He said it was just one of those great guitars! |
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marinblues
Senior Member
Joined: 27 Aug 2003
Posts: 553
Location: Italy
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 3:04 am Post subject: |
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I guess we all have or have had a guitar like that.....Out of all my guitars, the one which "feels best" is incidently also the cheapest in terms of purchase price.
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Last edited by marinblues on Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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frank0936
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 916
Location: Fairhope, AL
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 9:13 am Post subject: gotta have that feelin' |
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You are so right, Aeolian. a friend of mine used to run a music store. He got in three Strat copies-all new. Each one played a little differently. They were all good, but all different. I have a Squire Tele that I bought off Ebay. I got lucky-it plays great, stays in tune, and has a great tone. Sometimes, everything just comes together. Speaking of Ebay, there are two guitars advertised as Fender Robben Ford editions. Did the Fender version have a coil tap? I didn't see a switch for a coil tap on either of these and I suspect they are just Elites.
Frank |
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Aeolian
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 886
Location: SF Bay Area
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2004 12:06 pm Post subject: Re: gotta have that feelin' |
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| frank0936 wrote: | You are so right, Aeolian. a friend of mine used to run a music store. He got in three Strat copies-all new. Each one played a little differently. They were all good, but all different. I have a Squire Tele that I bought off Ebay. I got lucky-it plays great, stays in tune, and has a great tone. Sometimes, everything just comes together. Speaking of Ebay, there are two guitars advertised as Fender Robben Ford editions. Did the Fender version have a coil tap? I didn't see a switch for a coil tap on either of these and I suspect they are just Elites.
Frank |
The original 84's were not called RF's, just Elite and Ultra. The RF name wasn't attached until they were resurected a few years later. The lower end dot neck Elite didn't come with a coil tap switch but the body is routed internally for it. The stock Schaller pickups also had four wires. I put the switch in mine along with a 59 and JB.
Here's a question for folks who have these. Which way does the switch go? I was watching Robben use his red one on the Tiger Walk tour and down seemed to be the full humbucker mode. A friend picked up one recently where the switch goes the other way.
Here's a question
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There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com |
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frank0936
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 916
Location: Fairhope, AL
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| Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 2:26 pm Post subject: caveat emptor |
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Yeah, I knew the guitar was first sold without the RF name. These on Ebay have Robben's name in the title bar. When I re-read the description(a little more carefully) they both said it was the guitar the RF model was based on.  You really have to watch these guys, don't you?
Frank |
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Aeolian
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 886
Location: SF Bay Area
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| Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2004 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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At a clinic (around Tiger Walk time) Robben said that he and Dan Smith cooked these things up in 81. Might have had some help from MeanGene as well but he didn't mention it. The when Dan and folks were trying to buy Fender back from CBS, this fell by the wayside. So I sort of consider these to be RF's as well. Same designs, same factory (Hoshino), same team. I even think those are Robben's hands in the old Fender ads when they were first introduced.
Currently they are considered "less than" the "real" RF's. Maybe someday since they were only made in one year, they will become more collectible. I just like playing mine.
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There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com |
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juspasinby2003
Senior Member
Joined: 18 Dec 2003
Posts: 255
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 3:45 am Post subject: Re: gotta have that feelin' |
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| Aeolian wrote: | The original 84's were not called RF's, just Elite and Ultra. The RF name wasn't attached until they were resurected a few years later.
* * * |
The original Japanese built model name was Fender "Esprit," which came in the "Elite" and "Ultra" versions. In 1984 Fender introduced the American Custom Shop Robben Ford Elite and Ultra at the winter NAMM. Here's a magazine scan of a Fender ad for the Japanese built "Esprit" before it became the Robben Ford model.
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frank0936
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 916
Location: Fairhope, AL
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 8:56 am Post subject: Robben's Esprit |
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Didn't I read someplace that Robben had replaced the original Fender pickups with Gibson pickups? Aeolian, I'd love to find one to play, too. I don't want to pay those prices on Ebay until I try one, though.
Frank |
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jconstant
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 9:49 am Post subject: Re: gotta have that feelin' |
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| juspasinby2003 wrote: | | The original Japanese built model name was Fender "Esprit," which came in the "Elite" and "Ultra" versions. In 1984 Fender introduced the American Custom Shop Robben Ford Elite and Ultra at the winter NAMM. Here's a magazine scan of a Fender ad for the Japanese built "Esprit" before it became the Robben Ford model. |
Are you sure it was '84 and not '94? I have a RF (not an Esprit or Ultra) from 1991 that I know was built in Japan. I was under the impression that some time shortly after that was when they started making them in the Custom Shop and the price jumped up to $3,500 or something like that.
Jim |
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Aeolian
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
Posts: 886
Location: SF Bay Area
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 10:35 am Post subject: Re: Robben's Esprit |
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| frank0936 wrote: | Didn't I read someplace that Robben had replaced the original Fender pickups with Gibson pickups? Aeolian, I'd love to find one to play, too. I don't want to pay those prices on Ebay until I try one, though.
Frank |
Highly possible. I don't remember if anyone was making "nice" copies of Bibson pickups back in '84, I just remember the DiMarzio overwound things. The pickups that came in mine (and you can see in the picture above) are Schaller humbuckers. They are pretty hot. When I got this guitar I had a MkIIC+ and the Schallers pushed the front end too hard and made it nasal, so I switched them for the Duncan 59/JB setup. The rest of the hardware is also Schaller. The bridge has rollers which some people don't like. I happen to like it since I mess around pushing the string behind the bridge at times and this bridge doesn't cut the strings (I have Tusq saddles on my 335 for the same reason). The fine tunning stop tailpiece is also my Schaller and has a string breaking problem. The part where the ball end goes wears and lets the string twist pinching the tie part and cutting through it. I noticed that several of Robben's last Fender's had regular Gibson stop tailpieces on them so I switched mine and stopped breaking strings. I mentioned this to Garth once since he loses strings with regularity and he said he tried it but didn't like what it did to the sound. So there you have it, a player of that calliber willing to suffer for his art. Garth, if you're still lurking on this board, I noticed that StuMac sells brand new Schaller tailpieces, you may be able to save yourself some grief.
I'll have to see if I can scan it but I have a copy of an '84 Fender ad from a Fender book about the introduction of what Fender called their "Master Series" including the Esprit, Flame and the D'Aquisto archtops. It shows someones midsection and hands holding an Esprit. The hands look like Robben's and based on the picture above, I'd guess they are.
Frank, if you're going to the May clinic, I can bring mine along. I found it easier to hear myself in a room full of other folks with my 335 (some sharp folks brought flattops), and thought it would be somewhat presumptive to bring the Esprit. The maple top Esprit standards sound like a chambered PRS (which sort of copied it) and the spuce top Elite and Ultra's have a woodier sound that is more 335 like, and would probably be otherwise indistinguishable from a late '80s early '90s Japanese RF other than the pickups. The neck profile is like an 80's Ibanez and it fattened up in later years. Andy G. are you out there? Andy has (or had) a beautiful wine red maple top with a fat Les Paul neck that I played once, and that big neck warmed up the maple just as it does with a Les Paul.
_________________
There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com |
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frank0936
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Posts: 916
Location: Fairhope, AL
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 12:34 pm Post subject: your offer |
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Aeolian, that's very generous of you. Thank you, but I won't be able to come to the clinic. I hope to be in Ireland in May, and I can't swing two trips in one month(*#$&*! day job!) There are a few people in this area that have them. I know a guy at the local guitar shop who may be able to put me in touch with one of them. I'd love to go to that clinic and meet you and possibly others on this forum. Maybe next time!
Thanks again,
Frank |
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juspasinby2003
Senior Member
Joined: 18 Dec 2003
Posts: 255
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 1:26 pm Post subject: Re: gotta have that feelin' |
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| jconstant wrote: | | juspasinby2003 wrote: | | The original Japanese built model name was Fender "Esprit," which came in the "Elite" and "Ultra" versions. In 1984 Fender introduced the American Custom Shop Robben Ford Elite and Ultra at the winter NAMM. Here's a magazine scan of a Fender ad for the Japanese built "Esprit" before it became the Robben Ford model. |
Are you sure it was '84 and not '94? I have a RF (not an Esprit or Ultra) from 1991 that I know was built in Japan. I was under the impression that some time shortly after that was when they started making them in the Custom Shop and the price jumped up to $3,500 or something like that.
Jim |
Oops! Sorry. Right you are about 94. The last list price through the Fender Custom Shop was more than 6K for the Ultra. |
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jconstant
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 762
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2004 1:40 pm Post subject: Re: gotta have that feelin' |
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| juspasinby2003 wrote: | | Oops! Sorry. Right you are about 94. The last list price through the Fender Custom Shop was more than 6K for the Ultra. |
Wow! So maybe some of you here that know gear better than me can tell me why a RF guitar made in the Custom Shop is worth so much more than my Japanese RF model, which incidentally I think is a great guitar and happen to love. Side by side, do you think someone would be able to tell a huge difference in playability or sound? |
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