Painful GAS: Nomad Telecaster

[Crow]

I shouldn't go into music stores, but there are three good ones within walking distance, so it happens now & then. I went into one on Monday & fell in love. The instrument is a Nomad, apparently a short-lived Chinese make. It's a sparkly baby-blue with amber gloss bird's-eye maple neck/fretboard. The neck was described somewhere online as a "vintage round C" shape, and I love it. Sounds good acoustically. Today I A/B'd it plugged in (Roland Cube 60 on the "Roland clean" channel) with a late-'90s American Tele & preferred the Chinese one. Price on the tag is $189, which I do not have.

The neck is the thing. I've wanted a beater Tele for some time, mostly to try my Kalamazoo's Melody Maker neck pup in the Tele neck position, but with beaters you get the neck you get. This fatty is the neck I want. The heel is rounded like a Strat neck, not squared like a Tele neck, & the dots are in different places... but it's dead straight, and it plays like butter.

I'm concerned about non-spec hardware. The bridge HAS to go, and God knows what the electronics are. Pickups appear to be Fender spec in size. Other Teles will point at the neck-heel & laugh.... I'm also concerned about getting into a disastrous trade deal. I have a nice little fake Strat which is dead quiet, because I spent about two weeks shielding it, and a vintage drum machine that could bring $200-plus on eBay... and a '60s National tube amp, Champ-style... and some nice vintage pedals... and I still have some plasma left in my blood....

Not sure if I'm looking for advice or just a shoulder to cry on. Anybody know anything about Nomad guitars? These are not the Fernandes Nomads. These were distributed by White Bridge Music, defunct as of last year. Anybody know how to get a guitar obsession out of your mind? I'm having embarrassing physical responses to thoughts of the instrument. I'm dreaming about it. Please help. Send money.

[Nuno]

Not sure if I'm looking for advice or just a shoulder to cry on.

I never heard about Nomad guitars but if it has the tone you are looking for... I'll keep the guitars, amps and pedals. The vintage drum machine is the weakest part. You always can get a new drum machine with new and vintage sounds or use software.

You could also wait for some days and... perhaps you forget it. But if the guitar continues in your mind...

[boxboy]

Some discussion re. hardware on them here, Crow:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaster-d ... nline.html

Plenty of pix, too!
Thread starts re. the Thinline model but then broadens out to the standard Teles as well.
Sounds like they were also marketed as Belair Teles, so that might be something else to google.

[Nuno]

The red wine guitar looks pretty cool...

(Well done, Boxboy, I was also searching in that forum but I didn't find any comment.)

[Crow]

Thanks Boxboy! I may try to get in touch with one of those Thinline owners.

Took my spouse to the music store this afternoon & introduced her to the guitar. It's getting serious. The shop has two of them, so I don't feel the need to rush into anything. May try to sell the drum machine on eBay, which I've never done before.

It has been a long time since I've had it this bad for a guitar.

[TRGuitar]

So the good news ...... it's inexpensive. The bad news is you don't have the cash. It sounds like it would be a good guitar to tweak to your liking.

[Crow]

That's it exactly. This combination of price AND sound AND neck (and looks) is just irresistable, but I can't drop the hammer.

[rparker]

GAS can be painful. I wish you the best.

Curious about one comment as it relates to something I've been thinking of doing to at least one cheapo beater of mine. Why do you say that the bridge "HAS" to go?

[Crow]

I'm not familiar with Tele bridge styles, but the strings mash right up into the screw/spring mechanism. I figured that can't be right... but looking at Tele bridge pics here & there, maybe it is.

Some of it is the standing assumption: Cheap guitar, cheap hardware. It might be fine.

[rparker]

I've got one of those bridges as well. It does make ya wonder. I just make sure they are level. I've never seen them touch the screws. I think it's supposed to be sort of a classic design. I just wonder how much - if at all - the cheaper component like that affects tone. I swear that I can hear it sometimes.

[TRGuitar]

I think my Squire Tele I used to have did that. It didn't cause any issues though. I just found myself missing that one speaking of gas til I remembered what I traded it in for. (Epiphone Honeyburst Les Paul)

[EzraplaysEzra]

Don't fear the bridge. I don't know if that's an original fender design or an after market one, but they got pretty popular in the seventies. It's similar to the original 3 barrel design of the original tele's but allows for more precise intonation. And a stadard tele bridge is pretty difficult to setup, it usually involves some compromise.

[Crow]

Good to know. Thanks all.

Might have to visit my "girlfriend" today. If the store will let me I'll take pix.