In summary: A bunch of small but fuss-budgety details and traits that aggravate the heck out of me. The 22nd fret overhang is real thick the pickguard is modded to address that and then the body chamfer is real aggressive but not exactly accurate of the 1974 era Telecasters, either. There's some quirky differences where you cannot part these out and use the pieces readily on MIA and MIM based (or Allparts or USACG based) partscasters. The pickups are very high quality they're just not really the sound I was ever looking for
I have encountered a few too many duds in this model line, plus a MIK Lite Ash Strat that weighed enough to give any man a hernia, but the main thing was:Įvery small detail I was absorbed in, about Nocasters and Broadcasters, etc., they got wrong What did Yogi Berra say: "I came to a fork in the road, and I took it". I'd love to find a second one with the black body and Bigsby it!! I took a chance on ebay last summer and got a gem from a guy in Texas - 2 piece ash body, everything perfect - for $375 USD plus shipping.
Like any guitar though, make sure you play it first, there are gems and duds in every guitar line. I love them both and would wholeheartedly recommend the LAT. I LOVE my Lite Ash Tele!! I also have a 1983 Alder American Standard that I bought in 1991 and the LAT holds up with it!! Granted, it''s very different, the unfinished neck is not to everyone's liking, but the build quality is fantastic and at less than 1/2 the price of a new American you can have TWO and put a Bigsby on the second one! I use both on stage with my band all the time, and the ash body/seymour duncan PU combination on the LAT has much more snap, snarl and growl than the '83, great for rockabilly and 1950's rock, then switch to the middle and roll back the treble and you get a beautiful, versatile sound that's great for Soul and Classic Rock rhythm sounds.