Bolt-on
neck
substantial following for its aged parts and
electronics upgrade kits, but with guitars
like the TeeVee, the company is fast establishing a reputation for building top-shelf
vintage-inspired instruments.
The lightweight, resonant guitar
sounded great before I even plugged it
into the blackface Fender Bandmaster
and TomasZewicz 35112 amps I
used for this review.
A Touch of Vintage
If you didn’t know better, you would swear
that the TeeVee Custom was a vintage
guitar. The aging of the finish, hardware,
and overall appearance is nicely executed.
The TeeVee even smells old. Consisting of
a few dings and some checking and worming that look pretty authentic, the played-but-loved distressing treatment is tasteful
and not overdone.
The guitar is finished with a proprietary blend of three different nitrocellulose
lacquers, and I particularly like the aged,
3-tone sunburst finish with its receding
brown and red hues that actually appear
more vivid on the back of the guitar than
the front—not unlike a guitar that spent
years sitting in a sunny music store window. And the yellowed cream binding,
aged 3-ply mint-green pickguard, and aged
nickel hardware add to the instrument’s
convincing vintage aura.
Weighing in at a comfortable 7
pounds, 1 ounce, the TeeVee Custom stays
close to its Telecaster Custom inspiration with a center seam, non-contoured,
2-piece alder body and a bolt-on, 1-piece
maple neck with a dark rosewood fretboard. The 25 1/2" -scale neck has a 10"
fretboard radius and is affixed to the body
at the 16th fret, which enables excellent
upper-register access.
The neck carve, which RS calls the
“63C,” is inspired by the shape of Bowen’s
favorite 1964 Stratocaster that has a
C-shaped tapered carve measuring .835"
at the 1st fret and .960" at the 12th fret.
(Other carves are available.) And on the
back of the neck, the worn satin finish
combined with rolled fretboard edges
gives the TeeVee a super-silky feel. The
neck is topped off with the compact RS
Guitarworks Tele-esque headstock that
features aged nickel TonePros Kluson-style
tuners. The fretboard sports a 1 5/8" Tusq
nut and is capped with 21 polished 6105
nickel-silver frets. The TeeVee’s clay-dot
fret markers contrast nicely with the
dark rosewood ’board. True to its vintage
specifications, the single-action truss rod
is accessed by removing the neck—not
the most convenient setup, but true to the
TeeVee’s inspiration.
