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Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2021 8:48 am
by jtcnj
Looking for the above, basic single coil configuration, preferably maple board.
The main reason I am selling my SX Furrian is the prominent neck dive.
Even a Well-Hung strap was not enough to make it work for me.

Suggestions?

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2021 9:43 am
by Chocol8
Squire classic vibe. Thinner lighter neck the way a Fender should be, and over all a pretty high quality instrument for the price.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:46 am
by nomadh
A different furrian? Mine is fine in ash. Is yours basswood? I think all my other teles are fine too. An affinity, my douglas, my inlaid tele. Is this a common issue when you play other teles? I hate neck dive too but I think it needs to be past a certain point. I know I feel it in many sg s.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2021 1:20 pm
by ID10t
nomadh wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:46 am A different furrian? Mine is fine in ash. Is yours basswood? I think all my other teles are fine too. An affinity, my douglas, my inlaid tele. Is this a common issue when you play other teles? I hate neck dive too but I think it needs to be past a certain point. I know I feel it in many sg s.
I agree here. And if you want a different Tele, then you will have it; but if you like everything else about your current Furrian then I would consider a little headstock relief. Did you upgrade the tuners to Titanium? How about a little counterweight on the body (how much does it weigh as is?)

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2021 5:16 pm
by Mossman
Telecasters aren't exactly prone to neck dive, since the body tends to outweigh the neck by a broad margin. But if your Furrian is made of Basswood, that might be the problem.

I would say the greatest "budget" Tele by far would be the Classic Vibe '50s (or any Classic Vibe for that matter). I don't ever want to part with mine, and the only thing I did to it was install a 4-way switch.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2021 6:58 pm
by nomadh
A nice aged mjt body with your doug neck. They are about 300 but feel grat with an aged nitro finish.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2021 11:42 pm
by honyock
My SX ash series tele is dang near perfectly balanced.

My older Agile tele is really good too.

My newer Douglas is not, and I think the thin body is the culprit. However, adding a Bigsby would solve that if I can find another deeply discounted B5 to mount on my Vibramate setup.

I wish Thomann shipping was not so expensive and the dollar was not so weak against the euro vs. the heyday of Thomann. I'd love to try one of those higher end Harley Bentons with the roasted maple necks. The tele style looks especially nice even if the pickup layout is all wrong.


Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2021 2:10 pm
by jtcnj
Yep, I think the basswood body has a lot to do with it.

The Squier CV is my first choice also, but they have gone up over the $400. mark.
I'd like to stay closer to $250, maybe $300 to snag a CV 50's.

Agree on the HB, but then I cant return it easily.

Not much stock at Rondo; I would consider the ash body.
I definitely want the plain old single coil config.

GFS has the Xaviere XV-820 with alder body.
I hear the QC is more inconsistent with them, but it appears to have decent parts.
I can deal with the fret issues if the rest checks out.
Dunno how the alder compares to ash.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:35 pm
by Chocol8
Get a used CV50’s if a new one is out of budget.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2021 11:54 pm
by Mossman
Chocol8 wrote: Wed Feb 10, 2021 1:35 pm Get a used CV50’s if a new one is out of budget.
That might require some diligence... You don't see them on the used market that often. But it's well worth the hunt. When I bought mine, I was actually in the market for a Fender '52 RI, but I liked the CV better, so I bought that instead... Still have no regrets.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2021 11:04 am
by jtcnj
Right now I am mostly set on the CV50's, used is preferred at the right price.
Slim pickin's out there right now.

I'm not chomping at the bit for this; I'll get a Tele back in my stable at some point.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 8:54 am
by Roscoe
Wow, the one attribute I never put a passing thought to Teles was neck dive. I have 3 at the moment (Older headstock SX, Fender MiM and Douglas) and they're all extremely well balanced. If you like the SX except for the neck dive, maybe see if you can find a cheap older headstock SX on the used market?

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 10:12 am
by jhull54
I have the 50's CV with the pine body, and agree with that recommendation. It's the heaviest guitar I have!

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 12:19 pm
by jtcnj
jhull54 wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 10:12 am I have the 50's CV with the pine body, and agree with that recommendation. It's the heaviest guitar I have!
didnt even think of that - the 10+lb is mostly what kept me from an AL-3200.

To all ye who have known the CV 50's Tele - please weigh in ( :shock: ) on the weight.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:12 pm
by Partscaster
There are a few alder Furrians on reverb, being sold by a guy in Florida.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 1:57 pm
by nomadh
jhull54 wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 10:12 am I have the 50's CV with the pine body, and agree with that recommendation. It's the heaviest guitar I have!
I remember playing a pine tele, I think fender not squier, and it was crazy heavy too. If it was maple or ash I might have accepted it but pine that heavy seemed like it was waterlogged. It drove me crazy. A 70's ash strat I played has not nearly as heavy and it was probably the heaviest strat I ever played.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 4:54 pm
by BrianSkeezer
jtcnj wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 12:19 pm
jhull54 wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 10:12 am I have the 50's CV with the pine body, and agree with that recommendation. It's the heaviest guitar I have!
didnt even think of that - the 10+lb is mostly what kept me from an AL-3200.

To all ye who have known the CV 50's Tele - please weigh in ( :shock: ) on the weight.
My 2017 MIC pine bodied CV 50s Tele is 8.9lbs, and my 2020 MII poplar bodied CV 50s Tele is 7.8lbs.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2021 5:12 pm
by jhull54
jtcnj wrote: Fri Feb 12, 2021 12:19 pm To all ye who have known the CV 50's Tele - please weigh in ( :shock: ) on the weight.
I have a 2011 CV 50's, and it's 10.2 lbs. :o

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 12:53 pm
by Mossman
If I remember correctly, mine weighs about 9lbs, I think, but no way is it 10 lbs.

It's got some heft to it, but I wouldn't characterize it as a heavy guitar. My back wouldn't be able to tolerate it if it were. That's why I don't own (or want) any LP-style guitars anymore.

I'm at work right now, but ill weigh it when I get home.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 12:58 pm
by honyock
my CV50s was heavier than my two AL3200s

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:34 pm
by Mossman
honyock wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 12:58 pm my CV50s was heavier than my two AL3200s
Wow, that's a load! I just weighed mine, and it's only 8.5 lbs.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:20 pm
by jtcnj
thanks fellas, I appreciate the effort

8.5lb is doable.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:55 pm
by honyock
Mossman wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:34 pm
honyock wrote: Sat Feb 13, 2021 12:58 pm my CV50s was heavier than my two AL3200s
Wow, that's a load! I just weighed mine, and it's only 8.5 lbs.
my AL3200s are ~9.5lb. The CV50s was a skosh over 10

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 9:12 pm
by Mossman
honyock wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:55 pm
my AL3200s are ~9.5lb. The CV50s was a skosh over 10
Oh... I don't think I've ever heard of an AL that was under 10 lbs. My first one weighed almost 12 lbs (!) and I think my last one was about 10.5 or 11.

Re: Good budget Tele with good balance / no neck dive?

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 9:39 pm
by Houblues
Mossman wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 9:12 pm
honyock wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:55 pm
my AL3200s are ~9.5lb. The CV50s was a skosh over 10
Oh... I don't think I've ever heard of an AL that was under 10 lbs. My first one weighed almost 12 lbs (!) and I think my last one was about 10.5 or 11.
My AL3200 MCC is 9.4 lbs.