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Body Style	Body Wood	Neck Wood	Fbd. Wood	Scale	Frets	Pickups	Switching	Neck Joint	Strings	Weight	Price
ZT	Pine (one piece)	Maple	Maple	624mm	24 Large/Medium *Dual Size	TV Jones PowerTron	Master Volume 6-way Rotary	Screwed	ZOG 9+ RW	7.0 lb	$2700 with case

Pickup Sellection:   1- neck humbucker,   2- neck inside coil,   3- neck outside + bridge inside coil (out of phase),   4- both humbucking (out of phase),   5- bridge inside coil,   6- bridge humbucking

 

If you are one of those who actually pays attention to what I say, just calm down, I am not a hypocrite and I have not committed a sacrilege either. Yes, I did say repeatedly that putting a non-Tele bridge and non-Tele bridge pickup on a Telecaster will make you a total asshole. I still believe this religiously. After all, I am a staunch purist, highly non-tolerant and very judgmental; the reason why, sadly, as much as I repeatedly tried, I could never qualify as a Liberal. This situation is however different.

Putting Gretsch pickups with a different bridge in a Telecaster body is perfectly permissible, as dictated by tradition and history. Gretsch and Fender just go together traditionally. They both have similar traditions and were both made for the same genres of music. They both twang and are totally related culturally as Americana. Gibson on the other hand stands separately on its own and took a different fork in the road from its inception. In fact, Fender now even owns Gretsch, along with virtually everything else in the guitar industry but that's a whole different conversation. Just mention it to the Protest Wall Street crowd soy they will put Fender on their list of evil corporations. Its funny how some corporations get chastised and some are given a pass. I wonder what's up with that but I digress again.

There have been various examples of individual custom Tele creations with a Gretsch vibe. Some were very creative and for some strange reason I loved them all. I started to even question my own values as to why but as I say Gretsch and Fender just go together well and it is allowed; says me. Someone at Fender did have a creative idea when they created what they call the La Cabronita. They took a simple Tele body and neck and put Gretsch pickups into it to create a stripped down hotrod. Very cool. My type of guitar. Actually its in the spirit of Leo Fender's original mission statement of simplicity and practicality through minimalism. That's what I am all about.

Of course the Fender La Cabronita Tele guitar itself is completely separate from the bull shit marketing that the executives at Fender tainted this model with. Whoever created or made these guitars at Fender should not be blamed. Of course its to be expected. Fender is a large corporation and as with the government nobody really has control and nobody is accountable either. Most employees are actually powerless, unlike the tyrannical egotistical powers I enjoy here at Zachary Guitars where I have total and absolute narcissistic control over even the slightest detail.

The executives at Fender put something like a $6K price tag on these simple guitars and as far as I know the lowest price they were sold for is over $4K, which is still insane and a slap in the face to everyone who buys a CNC-made guitar, from regular production parts and only routed for different pickups. Talk about a rip-off. You still get the regular crappy feeling Fender neck, traditional body shape with no improvements, common and mismatched hardware like the generic hardtail bridge with the baffling locking tuners with pearloid buttons and totally basic wiring. They did give it a relic job, so they didn't even have to put a perfect finish on it. This relic job may have taken them longer then what it took to actually make the guitar. I am glad that not everyone is an idiot out there and they did notice the bullshit. Needless to say whatever Fender charged for it, they sold them all. Who bought them? I have no clue but one person was Keith Urban. I wish I could have a talk with Keith Urban, seems like a great guy and otherwise smart also. I would like to teach him about guitars though.

Fender is not at fault but those who paid what Fender charged for it are idiots. It was first promised that it will be a very limited model and then Fender screwed the consumers again by making other "limited" production runs of the same guitar after the first "limited" production batch and now they are making a budget version as good as the original for under $2K, most likely made in Mexico in order to make sure you schmucks stay unemployed and only the doctors in your town can afford it. So if you want to see one of these, just call up your doctor he will have one.

The Fender La Carbonita is the inspiration behind my own Z' Cabronita on this page.

No, it is not a relic job I had done here. It has nothing to do with that. It is inspired by the expensive distressed furniture I have seen over the years at places like Pier 1 Imports and similar stores. I really like the look and feel of my new paint jobs a lot and have also done it to previous ZTs.

A few ways the Z' Cabronita differs from the Fender La Cabronita.

First of all, the Z' Cabronita is entirely hand made and takes me one month to make from raw lumber.
You get the 24 fret Z neck; enough said. You know the size and you know the feel of the Zachary neck, (or maybe you don't, you poor bastard).
You get the (Gibson) 624mm shorter scale-length for that more compact feel on a wide fingerboard and the authentic Gretsch feel as opposed to the Fender feel.
You also get a one piece Pine body, not the generic multi piece Alder, as found on the Fender. This is the Zachary updated 60th Anniversary Telecaster ZT body with top and back body contours for ergonomics. This also includes elimination of the ugly bottom horn for unmatched high-fret access. Of course, the much larger and stable 5-screw neck joint. Comfortable, elegant and more supportive rounded heel area and let's not forget the "tighter than a witches cunt" neck fit.

In terms of the hardware, you get correct vintage Kluson-style tuners with lightweight plastic buttons to cut headstock weight down to the minimum. You get the amazing Zachary hardtail bridge. You get the Zachary frets, huge (wide and tall) and nothing is bigger and the tall/medium frets starting at the 16th fret. Two fret widths on the same neck.
I also separated the coils of these TV Jones humbuckers to give you single coil and out of phase options. Yes, I also added my now famous 6-way rotary switch, so you can knock yourself out with different sounds. I did actually wire it wrong and the two combined pup sounds are both out of phase as a result. I liked it, so I kept it this way.

Last but not least, you get my perfect custom-made 52 Tele reproduction knob. I did this better also by having it made from light weight Aluminum, instead of leaded brass. Never put a heavy knob on any guitar, its just more evidence you don't know much about guitars, unless you want to sink it in a lake because you hate it so much.

 

I found some comments on the internet about the Fender La Cabronita. Fender executives, this just proves you can't fool everyone. I will let others tell you more about the Fender La Cabronita.

What the hell is going on with Fender, they seem to have really gone over board with their pricing and this guitar is not worth $6,000??? I? dont give shit what custom shop it came from. The parts body and neck are made by a machine, are you fucking with me. YOu can have a master make you a guitar for your hands and playing style for that price. To think when it first came out it was called the canoe paddle and now its $6K. How about inproving the quality for the day to day guitar?

that's who fender & gibson now make axes for, doctors & lawyers. COLLECTORS who do NOT rely on them to make their living, much less actually PLAY them any better that the next hobbyist...

What a badass guitar and stupid? ass ridiculous price tag. Been playing Fenders since '87 - screw you guys for not pricing this thing right.
It is neat. Maybe my doctor can buy one.

I'll say that? the Fender boys have obviously had some type of infarction. What a badass guitar and stupid ass ridiculous price tag. Been playing Fenders since '87 - screw you guys for not pricing this thing right.

Sorry, but all the hoopla over this guitar is bullshit! What? - I'm supposed to get excited about a TV Jones pickup dropped in 50 bucks of nothing-special, "distressed" wood? I was dumb enough to buy several custom-shop guitars years ago and I gig? with only one of them, today. Most of my gigging guitars came right off the rack and I couldn't be happier. My American Standard Tele would hold it's own quite nicely against this poser!

Concept is cool though.

Fender's Custom Shop has been overcharging for years. They're also following Gibson's lead following the success of the product placement game? advertisement known as Guitar Hero. And the 'relic'ing of a guitar just simply does not impress me. I was hoping Fender would stay gunshy of overcharging like Gibson, but they haven't.

So a basic Tele body with new routing, a basic Tele neck, then "relic"? it by damaging a brand new guitar and somehow that adds up to selling it for $5k. Hmm.

This after all was Leo's budget-buy model made of the cheapest lumber he could get

That price would be justified in? a high end acoustic or carved top jazz guitar made by hand from a small builder or something but that price is just ridiculous from a guitar that has been probably cutted by a CNC machine!!! Another thing that would rise the price would be the use of a very special wood but this is not the case.

I see silly people still blaming Bush for Democratic Congress spending sprees! Jeeesh. Get used to being pooor! You cant afford anything under socialism comrad. The Custom Shop stuff is out of my budget unless I get a job as a municipal employee and become part of the 1%..

 

CNC pre-manufactured kit bodies and necks, which will do the trick for all the idiots out there and its the only way to go. No talent needed. I can then also call myself a luthier. Its easier than ever these days. Even the morons at the guitar magazines will fall for it or at least go along with the bullshit as long as I buy some advertising. The idiots will like me if I pander to them and I will sell them all. How's that for a business plan? It works for many.

I love seeing the guitar out in the snow! I wrote a song called 'Blood on Ice' several years back that was probably my former bands most popular song. The idea was to convey something visually shocking that you could not ignore. You definately hit it hard! This may just be a great representation of your infusing of blood and soul back into the guitar community! Damn the machine made monsters!   Jeff

 

Wow, just saw this one! Alex, you are cranking out one hot piece after another, you must be inspired, love the “Z Cabrona” (“cabronita” is diminutive in Spanish), yours is definitely not small in any sense.
Must sound awesome. Any MPEG’s of the Solid Pine Tele’s around for listening?
By the way, I get a real kick out of the shop pictures. You should do that more often, it really makes the viewer bond with the guitar as it was being created. I think this adds an additional layer of appreciation for your work. Would you have any shop creation pix of 290610??? I am so in love with this guitar I need to make an album of it’s history.
Anyway, best to you and yours!   Every Good Wish from Miami.  Yordys

 

Damn, I never hear of a La Cabronita guitar before. If I didn't know it was a guitar I'd think it was some kind of sauce from Mexican cuisine. So, after doing a quick google I now know that a La Cabronita is an ugly looking and massively overpriced variation of Fender guitars with a 'fancy' name. It's kind of sickening that Fender would come up with something like this, and even more disturbing that people would actually spend money on it. I found one for sale for only $5,799. I can safely say that yours is a freaking steal for the price alone - not to mention much better looking and no comparison in terms of tone and playability.    Mark

You definitely "get it" when it comes to Teles. They're country guitars, so you should expect a degree of brightness and twang when you pick one up. To make a Tele with another kind of tone is, while not blasphemous, seriously strange and undermining to the inherent nature of what a Tele is. I was just reading about the new Grosh Tele in Guitar Player, and they claimed it has a scooped midrange tone. WTF? Are nu-metal guys going after Teles all of a sudden?    Nick

 

My personal Skank with my personal settings for bedroom practice. Its the best sounding most reliable amp you will find. Tubes last almost forever. I never had to change them yet.

If you don't own one of these, you know what you are. You're either a dumb fuck or your name is Keith Urban.

 

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for sale selling used Fender La Cabronita Custom Shop