refinish, or new body?

You could buy a neck from Warmoth as well, get authentic Fender hardware, and have two "whole" guitars. I think Warmoth makes good stuff. My relic tele is made from Warmoth wood.

I'm in Vegas now and there is a huge new Guitar Center here (bigger than LA, I believe). I need to escape my tradeshow so I can check it out....looking to get a Baja Player's Classic Tele like the one Cary is relic'ing or a Taylor 110e beater acoustic with the great pickup system in it.

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I've looked into it more; the Qld Maple body is not cut, so I'd need to cut it (easy to do at the school where I do some councelling/chaplaincy work) and router out the pickup cavities - but I'm not sure that I'll be at the school in the time frame I'm thinking of making this guitar (starting a few years down the track, when life settles down a bit). I'd also probably struggle drilling the tunnels for the wiring from the pup cavities to the control panel, not sure how I'd do that.

There's a site based in NZ with cheap shipping to Aus that sells pre-cut and routered All Parts tele bodies (Ash) and pre finished (nitro) and fretted All Parts necks, both are stamped 'licensed by Fender', and both would be affordable. So yeah adaptable, I'd probably end up making this as a 2nd tele, rather than taking all the parts from my mex tele.

Are the All Parts bodies and necks good? I'm guessing the 'licensed by fender' says a lot.

EDIT: brain ticking over here ... I could buy the body say next year, finish it in nitro and leave it hanging in the garage/cupboard until I'm ready to build ... a few years worth of wood breathing and aging going on there!

All Parts is reputable, although I have never played a guitar made from their wood. My uneducated guess is that as long as the wood is cut to Fender's specs and not falling apart, they could be licensed....even some of the low end Fenders use some really cheap wood.

I am not a handy man when it comes to building, painting, etc. I could put together a new PC....but properly painting a guitar or doing wood work as out of my league. I'd need step by step illustrated instructions (Cary, how's that Relicing project going?).

I did not find the Baja Player's Classic Tele at the Vegas Guitar Center (which is just like normal Guitar Center, BTW). Nor did I find a Taylor 110e. In other news, I'm seeing the Police and Elvis Costello on Friday night!

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Oh man, what a show that will be! Elvis has a new album out and it sounds great - very reminiscent of his early material. Should be awesome live.

The Police? I loved them in the early days. Hope they recapture that energy and edginess. Hope you don't have to sit through Sting's solo material. Enjoy!

The Police played in Sydney recently, and a mate of mine (a 16 year old!) went with his dad. He said it was one of the best shows he's ever been to.

He's a cool teenager; into really good old music, rather than all the top 40 stuff that's out at the moment.

adaptable, having a friend in the paint industry, he's got the know how to help me out. I also know people who are good at electronics and soldering and stuff, so they can teach me!

update: the guitar tech at shire music (where I bought my tele) also refinishes guitars! Apparently he'd probably like to hear about my paint guy.

I wonder what he'll charge?