Designing the Telstar
Another humorous description can be found
on the headstock of the guitar itself, which
features the two slogans of DAG: “Modern
Vintage Mayhem” and “Schizophrenic
Mojo.” These slogans capture the Telstar in
a nutshell—it’s a near-perfect blend of new
and old. “Part of Schizophrenic Mojo is
balancing out aesthetics and functionality,”
says Henderson. “I wanted this to have that
classic fifties Leo aesthetic, but I wanted any
modifications we had to enhance the playability to scream out not when you look at it,
but when you play it.”
“What’s at the heart of it is the versatility,”
says Cultreri. “There’s no such thing as one
Swiss Army Knife that does everything, but
there certainly are some that do more than
others.” It’s obvious from the get-go that
the Telstar is a multi-tool; it combines two
singular instruments into a cohesive, organic
whole. And it is clearly intended as a tool
for players: the nature of that merger goes
beyond the striking visual appeal of the
two guitars in one—at once both strange
and familiar. It also goes into a collection
of blended elements that you discover with
your hands and your ears, rather than with
your eyes. It takes the best attributes of
each and combines them in a unique way.
“Guys that play Strats and Teles can get
it done with one guitar,” Cultreri explains.
“You don’t need to bring two guitars.”
Nearly everyone who’s seen pictures of the
Telstar has marveled at the combination
of elements from Fender’s flagship models. “We didn’t just want to make another
Strat or another Tele,” Cultreri offers. “We
wanted to introduce something that was
different into the market. You look at the
bottom ledge of the Tele, they way it just
sits on your lap more comfortably for sitting
and playing; and vice versa the Strat, with
the rounded contours and the tummy contours—it’s a bit more comfortable up top.”
The Telstar in Person
As we said, some aspects of this guitar are
best discovered up close and personal. In
addition to vintage styling, the Telstar has
some of today’s more advanced modern
design elements. DAG has eliminated the
need for a string tree, which they describe
as a “vestigial appendage.” Instead, the
height of the tuners can be adjusted. In
addition to providing better tuning stability,
this design also helps many Nashville-style
players, says Cultreri: “Lots of Tele players
do a lot of tricks and moves with bends
behind the nut, and if you have a string
tree in the way, you can’t do them. So with
the graduated height on the tuning pegs, it
allows guys to get back there and do bends
on the head of the guitar.”
Another state-of-the-art element is in
the choice of a bridge. You can go with a
vintage Tele-style “double-cut” stainless
steel with compensated brass saddles for
the hardtail option, or you can accommodate your Strat leanings with a Glendale
Chimemaster Tremolo, with a steel top
plae, brass block and compensated brass
saddles. In addition, DAG has included
the “Tinker Street” design option—which
simply reverses the bridge pickup to mimic
Hendrix’s sound.
The 22-fret maple neck on the Telstar is one
of the finest, most advanced features—Baker
has designed a compound radius neck that
has a huge feeling at the nut, but tapers off
smoothly to increase playability at the higher
frets. The taper really allows you to adjust
