Squier Vintage Modified Thinline Telecaster - 2012 - 24.75" Scale

Greetings all you crazy kids, boy do we have an absolutely wonderful little telecaster.  Squier is one of those brands that is venerably known as a "starter" instrument company.  However, with the price of labor in the US, Japan, and Mexico for that matter, the chinese and indonesian manufacturers started getting pretty damn good at making those cheap guitars.  So much so that fender started introducing "custom" made models, calling them the "vintage modified" series.  I'm here to tell you, this is a far better built instrument than it's headstock would ever lead you to believe.  And what a set of options, first off, 24.75" scale?  That's so very cool, throwing the traditional telecaster layout into a slightly shorter scale length takes a bit of bite out of the beast and injects a bit of midrangey warmth that when combined with the classic thinline body really makes for a sweet little number.  Often the stock electronics are the real standout weaknesses of the Squier line, definitely not so on this piece.  The Duncan Designed series, while not at all equal to their US built counterparts, take proven design elements such as Alnico slug pole pieces and fiber bobbins and drop those features into import production models, and they sound wonderful.  The neck pickup of this guitar has all the hollow warmth that a good Tele neck should.  The bridge of this specific telecaster has been upgraded to a matching DiMarzio Chopper T Bridge, which is an awesome addition.  You'll notice in photo's that the vintage inspired ashtray bridge has been further modified by the previous owner, having the edges of the bridge plate machined down (something you'll see offered in the Wilkinson, and Callahan telecaster bridge designs).  This modification is no hack job, it is a professionally machined edge, and it's a joy to open up that bridge position picking.  Potentiometers on this piece have been switched to full size CTS 250K potentiometers, and an upgraded switchcraft 1/4" jack, the two definite weak spots of import wiring (although the stock wiring in this little number was much better than the Squiers of old).  Neck and fretwork on this are really quite nice, a soft matte finish to the back of the neck really cuts down on the "sticky".  And how about the AWESOME looking Shoreline Gold, in person it's an absolutely stunning job, really one of the most impressive Squier finishes I've ever seen.  So let's recap how cool this is, Custom Scale Length tele, Upgraded DiMarzio Chopper T bridge Pickup, Custom shaved 6-steel saddle string through body bridge, Upgraded Electronic Components, Shoreline Gold, Oh yeah....straplocks with it as well.  Overall condition is incredibly incredibly clean.  One or two small dings on the backside, but no missing finish, tried to capture them in photos but honestly they show very little, the top is near perfect, and honestly the back is super clean too.  No typical edge damage, neck and frets are perfect condition.  Soundwise, well what's there to say.  I personally have always Pooh Pooh'd non US, Japan, Mexi guitars, and I am having a hard time saying bad things about this.  It's all tele, it's all cool, it plays great, it sounds great, it LOOKS great, it's a great price.  Really a knock it out of the park winner, not going to get ANYTHING close for the price.  Comes with a very nice gigbag.  I can't fault it in the slightest, the Squier Vintage Modified series stuff really is that good, the hype is no lie, and this has all the upgrades you'd want to make to it if you had to, truly better than factory new.  Here she is folks, saddle up to the bar, you know she's calling your name.  COME AND GET IT!