Lake Placid Blue - snog, marry or avoid?

I recently had the opportunity to demo the one of the latest American Vintage Telecasters and was really attracted to the striking Lake Placid Blue ’64 model.  On the face of it a great guitar that sounds fantastic – and so it should be at the price.  I couldn’t help feeling though that overall quality was not what I had expected (e.g. noticeable gap down one side of the neck and socket) and I was suspicious of some of the marketing blurb – ‘flash coat nitro’??

I left the shop convinced that I could easily build a higher quality guitar for half the price…. ‘Made in England’.

I favour lightly ‘aged’ guitars so I set about sourcing a nitro finished body in Lake Placid Blue and after a conversation with Paul at Retro169, I had a nice looking body delivered 5 weeks later.

Next the choice of neck – Historic early 60’s model – which I set about aging myself, and to give the guitar a twist I decided on a tortoishell pickguard rather than the obvious white.

Sometimes I build a guitar around a set of pickups or vibe that I am trying to create.  I have not worked with blue before and don’t want the guitar to look like Frankenstein, so this time am pausing to consider the relative parts and how well they visually integrate before sourcing appropriate hardware.

I would love your feedback…..

 note - the rosewood board will darken once oiled...