Bought an modded a cheap Tele clone

Well, I recently bought a Monoprice Indio Retro Telecaster and did some mods and upgrades.  Decided to begin learning some country and wanted an 'appropriate' guitar... lol.

Sounds excellent.

Well, looks like the upload of an image isn't working... ah well.  :)

Well, maybe this link will work.  Thanks.

Tele

Tele 2

Welcome back Jim,

Nice Tele, especially the inlays on the bridge and switch plate.

Moe

Actually I found the complete bridge and the control panel (only... the pots and switch are original) on Amazon.  I have three Tele's plus another on the way from Monoprice.  (I just had to have a swamp ash Tele and they had a nice inexpensive one).

I do have a blue Glarry Tele that is okay... still needs a lot of set up work, but it was given to me by a friend who is no longer with us.  I will keep it just for the sentimental value it has, but will also see about upgrading it where possible.

Glarry Telecaster

I recently hit Music Nomad and bought some tools, not the least of which is the nut cutting blades so that I can properly adjust the nut.  That's the only thing I have never done myself so it's time to learn.... good luck, I hope.  :)

Thanks, all.

Pretty sweet.

Do Monoprice indicate on the box or instrument whether their instruments are made in China or Indonesia Jim? 

Ya know, I have never checked... I have a swamp ash guitar coming this week, so maybe I can look at it.  Will advise what I find.

Thanks I'd be interested. 

As a budding 'connoisseur' of inexpensive Tele clones, this might interest you.

It's an ETL-100, picked it up in of all places ALDI 4½ years ago for just AUD$99. (USD$63). Huxley is ALDI's in house brand for OEM music kit. After a truss rod adjustment and reintonation, playable out of the box. Alder body under that polyurethane. Build quality would put a Squier Affinity to shame.

I've made a couple of mods since. Korean Wilkinson compensated brass saddles although not strictly necessary, Korean Wilkinson WJN-05CR mini oval (preferred) tuners which actually were along with dual generic PRC roller string trees replacing the single bentwing, and of course, decent American D'Addario strings. Original ceramic pickups were quite decent as was the fretwork. The humbucker had a copper baseplate! 

I'm digging the blue poly!  And the cool, black trilby sitting on the speaker column.

I noted the hat on the speaker column too... lol. 

Yeah, definitely a cool guitar.  I know the Monoprice guitars I have are great build in terms of body and neck, but the electronics and hardware are crap.  So I get what I want to put on them and then have a really nice guitar out of the deal.  I get a really nice guitar (like a Fender in the $400-600 range) for half or a third of the price depending on what I put on it.  I think the other two Monoprice Telecaster clones I have are out of Indonesia, but not 100% certain.  Will probably receive the swamp ash tele from Monoprice on Friday or Saturday of this upcoming weekend, so hopefully I can confirm one way or the other.

Edit/Update:  Ok, the two Tele's I currently have are both out of China.  Found the stickers I took off when I bought them.  (I seem to be obsessive about saving documentation.)  So my bet is the swamp ash will probably also be Chinese.

Have a great week, all.

Thanks Rumble. It keeps its shape and is a comfortable hat, worn inside or out. Wasn't ridiculously expensive either. 

That said, even grey, I'd rather still have all my hair all over my head instead of more in the beard on my chin. = ] 

That blue polyurethane paint looks even better in the flesh than in the image. Perfect layering, saturation and opacity. Not a blemish or flaw. Better than some paint jobs I've experienced on several guitars more than 15X its price received -and returned. 

Copy Made in China Jim. 

Hey Jim did all of the screw holes line up on the Indio with the new bridge plate and control panel. If you haven't replaced your electronics yet then take a look at the website Obsidian it is all plug and play and man what a difference.

In this case, yes, everything matched up fine... although I have the skills to plug and redrill holes as needed.  I can do almost everything on my guitars in terms of woodworking or maintenance short of a refret... then I'll either take it a luthier or a place with a PLEK machine.  I've done more soldering in my life than I care to admit, but just don't look too close at the soldering.   (Gotten older and the eyesight ain't what it was... lol.)

Thanks for responding.