52' reissue, cv or fsr deluxe tele

none of the above? depends on the era of bruce

I was just dicussing this tone with Xaqary regarding a song for a client of his that I did a little playing for!

anyway, 52RI... or build something... if I recall his is a modified esquire. It has afermarket hum cancelling pickups now, but it could have ahd a variety of stuff abck then. Depending ont he eyar it coulda had soemthing very lapsteelinsh, voerwound with 43awg wire and A2 magnets at the bridge or if its closer to 52/53 spec it could be less winds of 42awg wire with A5 magnets like a 52RI's pickups. I don't recall if he had added a neck pikcup by this point in his career but if he did gd knows what he had then! For my buck my esquire with an angeltone 50B (1950/51 broadcaster/nocaster/esquire pickup) gets in the ballpark of this sound. YMMV

guitar wise for thate ra you need 3 saddles, i think brass but maybe steel, a ferrous steel bridge plate, swamp ash body, bigger grained is ebtter, thin finish, maple neck/fretboard... etc etc.

huh?

i would firslty say dont worry about it being a blonde tele, if youre going for what he has youll need to drop a lot of cash on an esquire/nocaster and have a dead luthier gut it to all hell in his basement

bruce had a tele with an esquire neck with a lot of wood routed out under the pick guard, he then had hot single coils put in it with titanium saddles, it also has silicone gaskets. i would get a used tele, and put in some overwound single coils in it, im not sure how big an impact the titanium hardware would have i've never played anything with titanium on it.

another big part in bruces sound is cranked fender amps, i think he used bassmans, blackface super reverbs and various tweeds, youd just have to see what he used then and whats compaerable for your budget and i read somewhere he liked old EH delays and flangers back in the day

boss had a 6 saddle titanium bridge, im not sure if he did it right after or the lutheir who he got it from did it but he had it water proofed with titanium and stainless parts as well as silicone seals, it was a mod that ended up perfect for him according to an interview because the 3 hour rain or shine shows really put some wear on it and the waterproofing helped keep boss alive

mexi classic series? change pickups if they don't sound right (they probably won't) and put brass compensated saddles on in place of the later 50s steel they coem with... or maybe a Baja 50s if you can get one cheap enough? I have one, don't play it a lot but its a nice guitar as is my classic series esquire now that its got a good pickup. Ths tock one wasn't awful but no baseplate... the FSR looks similar to a classic or baja to me, has the Boss specs with brass saddles, swampa sh body etc... the electronics are probably sub-par at 500 bucks but you can fix thata s you go. THe mexis always have junk pickups and often have junk guts. The Baja has ht best electronics from pikcup to jack out of all the mexis. None of these are lacquered, but hey. It'll get close for under a grand.

but why did you mention the 52RI if its not a candidate for purchase? I think I see where this si going. Next you'll say 'what if I cna't afford an FSR'. You have money for a squire classic vibe so you were hoping someone would say its justa s good as a 52RI. Look if you can only afford a CV get the CV. They are much better than chinese guitars used to be and are good mod platforms. but understand you are getting mystery wood, cheap ahrdware, junk pickups etc.... and play like a dozen of them because some come off the linene better than others and some survive better in a hot and damp shipping container than others.

its pricey and there are things to dislike about it actually....