MIK Fender: what a great guitar

[richmca]

Arghh. Two hours to kill waiting for an appointment yesterday resulted in the purchase of not one but two Telecasters I can't afford. Not strictly on-topic for this thread since they are Korean built, but I thought I should mention that the Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster Spalted Maple HH is a fabulous guitar for the money. First time I've played anything from Korea, and the quality is on a par with a US Fender custom shop masterbuilt guitar I have, which would fetch nearly ten times the price. I recommend anyone looking for a Telecaster type guitar to check these out. Not the typical tele feel or sound though.

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0262600521

The other one I got was a Fenix Telecaster with a birdseye maple top and rosewood board. Needs a bit of love but basically a great, aggressive sounding Tele. I know almost nothing about it though - no model number, serial, or date. I bought this one too because it was the best 'conventional' Tele in the shop, compared to some high-priced US stuff and the odd Jap one. The Fender Special job is a dual humbucker, with mahogany body and maple top so sounds quite different. Both very tasty though. Wish I knew more about the Fenix.

 

[tudor]

Wish I knew more about the Fenix.

There was a thread some times ago ...

I've once owned a birdseye tele too, excellent craftmanship (by Young Chang on the headstock), very percussive (maple neck) sounding axe ... resold it because the neck was too chunky for me and the weight was more on the heavy side ... :wink:
Any pics ???

Roger

 

[richmca]

Hello Roger,

Here are a couple of quick snaps of the Fenix, and some of the Fender - no prizes for photography.

I am very pleased with both, but especially with the Fenix - BIG dynamic range and lots of punch, combined with fat, full, ringing tone. Am tempted to try some new pickups (Fralins or Bare Knuckles) to see where that takes it, but it sounds great as it is.

 

[Anonymous]

First time I've played anything from Korea, and the quality is on a par with a US Fender custom shop masterbuilt guitar I have, which would fetch nearly ten times the price.

As a well known tennis player once said - You cannot be serious! I tried a couple of Korean Fenders, & the quality seemed to me be comparable to the Mexican stuff. I have only tried one Custom Shop Masterbuilt guitar, but I own one or two of the Time Machine series (team built), and they are awesome guitars, in terms of feel (all nitro of course), quality of finish, sound, etc. etc.

I almost bought a Fenix Tele years ago, but I got a Breezy instead as it seemed better quality all round.

I'm very happy for you richma, if you've managed to get 2 guitars you love. But a Korean Fender as good as a Custom Shop? :-? :-?

Mike

 

[richmca]

Well I'm as surprised as you. Everything's subjective but all I can say is these are both seriously good guitars. But let us remind ourselves of the engineer, the mathematician and the philosopher travelling in a train through Scotland.

The engineer looks out of the window and sees a flock of sheep grazing. One of them is black.

"I didn't know there were black sheep in Scotland," he says.

"You can't say that," says the mathematician. "All you can say is that there is ONE black sheep in Scotland."

The philosopher looks up from his crossword and says:

"You can't say that. All you can say is there there is ONE sheep in Scotland, half of which is black."

So, all I can say is that these TWO guitars seem to me to be as well made and as musical, if not more so in some cases, as other guitars I have played or owned, or own. And the guitars I am comparing them to are at the top end of the big name makers, and include some handbuilt custom shop stuff. So I am comparing guitars in the range of $4 - $8,000

There is no comparison in terms of prestige or investment value, but I'm not saying that. I am saying these are great instruments to play. And I'm not saying 'Korean guitars are great' or any generalisation like that. Yes, they are poly and not nitro finished. But I was so surprised and delighted by these two that I thought I'd share my surprise with others, who might find themselves agreeably surprised too if they get the opportunity to try, say, one of those Fender Spalted Teles. But every other one in the world apart from mine could still be a dud, for all I know!

 

[Anonymous]

So now I need to try the Korean Teles as well, next time I'm in a guitar shop? Great :-? , that's all I need! :lol:

Do they say MIK on them anywhere? Fender seem to do their best to keep countries of origin a secret on lots of their guitars. And do they do any of those with a standard pickup arrangement? To me the whole point of a Tele is that amazing bridge pickup in it's strange metal surround. Not a very subtle sound maybe, but very usable.

Maybe Korea is becoming the new Japan?

Mike

 

[richmca]

So now I need to try the Korean Teles as well, next time I'm in a guitar shop? Great , that's all I need!

Do they say MIK on them anywhere? Fender seem to do their best to keep countries of origin a secret on lots of their guitars. And do they do any of those with a standard pickup arrangement? To me the whole point of a Tele is that amazing bridge pickup in it's strange metal surround. Not a very subtle sound maybe, but very usable.

Maybe Korea is becoming the new Japan?

I'm with you on the virtues of the traditional tele layout - that's why I bought the Fenix as well as the Custom Fender Tele. Not subtle necessarily, as you say, but great stuff.

The Special Edition Custom Tele Blah Blah has Made in Korea on the back of the headstock...otherwise they keep it pretty quiet. You can't tell on the Fender website where a guitar is made unless it's US in which case it's the cue for an extra 50% on the price or whatever it is. So I don't know if there are any other Korean Fenders in the trad layout but of the Special Edition ones, there is this Koa Tele, which may well be from the same Korean plant - who knows?

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0265107537

And maybe this one too:

http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0265102506

Is Korea the new Japan? I've been wondering that myself. There's a close relationship between the two countries, and not so long ago, the Japanese PM (I think) acknowledged the ethnic links between the populations. Would be interesting to know if they share certain cultural similarities - and in this case, whether they have a similar attitude to craftsmanship.

Could it be that Korean instrument makers are trying to establish a hold in the market by maintaining especially high standards? And if that's the case it makes sense to look at their stuff because this might be the 'golden age', before they get slapdash and complacent like us lazy Westerners

Still, my vapourings here are based on playing a grand total of three Korean guitars, of which I bought two (the third was an identical twin of the spalted thing, so I didn't need that one as well...relief). Mind you, the Fenix was made around 17 years ago, while the Fender was made this year, so the Koreans haven't suddenly hit top form.

I just came back from another guitar shop (open on a Sunday!...jeez...is there no respite for saddos like me?). I tried every Tele that caught my eye as being interesting...including a nice looking rosewood one, very dark. (Can't find it on the Fender site - it had graphite nut and saddles). None of them had the vibrancy of the Fenix, but the rosewood was the best of the bunch. I checked the headstock...Made in Mexico.

Anyway, I had a few friends round on Friday to jam and try my new toys. One guy sat and played my Fender all night, then when he handed it back he said: "So are they going to call this a Fender then, even though it's made in Korea?"

We'll never get past that kind of attitude, I suspect. 8)

It's just a different order of pleasure in ownership I suppose. I know I get a kick out of owning a guitar that was made by Gene Baker in the Fender Custom Shop for Robben Ford, so I can't say there's anything WRONG with wanting a US Strat or whatever if that's what floats your boat. But at the same time I can't take the Baker-built thing anywhere because I'd be too uptight about it getting damaged or walking out the door. With this Fenix I'm not going to worry too much about damage if I take it to a jam or something, and there might even be a little bit of perverse pleasure in the feeling that I paid peanuts for an instrument that's probably better than anything else in the room.

I do think it's a shame if people aren't prepared to try things with an open mind and be prepared to acknowledge a fine instrument no matter where it comes from. I'm guilty myself though - tried a 335 in that shop where I got the Teles, despite the owner saying it was a heap of junk. It wasn't the liveliest guitar, but it had the kind of tone I wanted to hear. Do you really think so, he said - then try this. And he handed me an Epiphone Sheraton I think, and of course it blew the Gibbo away. BUT...I don't WANT an Epiphone. I want a Tokai ES, or a good Gibson if I can find one...but I could look for ever for that, so I'll get a Tokai.