Birthyear Bullet

[JSett]

I've been meaning to pick up one of these for a while and been waiting out for one to turn up with a rosewood board and the right year (1982). The serial (and date in neck pocket apparently) seems to put it right at the end of this run before they switched over to the MkII in mid '82. It was up for sale for £750 and I lowballed at £500 and won. Original case and free shipping. Not too bad for an almost-vintage USA-made Fender. I'd rather have had a 1982 Jazzmaster, Jaguar or Mustang but, alas, they don't exist. Could have gone for a Tele or Strat but I always liked how these look so small and dumb like a toy guitar.

So, yet again, another red guitar (my least favourite colour)...








I'll probably paint it. Colour suggestions?

[sal paradise]

Lovely! I’m also 82. I had a Strat or LP lined up as a nice birth year guitar.

[JSett]

Lovely! I’m also 82. I had a Strat or LP lined up as a nice birth year guitar.

I was hoping to find something fun for a birthyear guitar, especially as I'll be turning 40 next year, but the pickings are painfully slim for anything other than the few main guitars surviving the great synthesizer wars of the early 80's. This will do.

[sal paradise]

Lovely! I’m also 82. I had a Strat or LP lined up as a nice birth year guitar.

I was hoping to find something fun for a birthyear guitar, especially as I'll be turning 40 next year, but the pickings are painfully slim for anything other than the few main guitars surviving the great synthesizer wars of the early 80's. This will do.

It’s an excellent choice. 80s strats are crazy expensive these days anyway.

[mackerelmint]

NICE

These have always been cool, the necks are fantastic on those things, and there's something about the utilitarian-ness of the pickguard/bridge situation that just pleases in a "this would fit on a soviet guitar" kind of way.

Color? Well, are you considering painting the guard as well? A nice deep green might be good against the white. Or, and this would be an absolute nightmare to do, but plaid would look amazing on a bullet.

[Fiddy]

I thought the title said "birthyear mullet." I was gonna make some great recommendations. Especially if you had been born between 1985 and 1989.

The guitar is nice too.

[JSett]

NICE

These have always been cool, the necks are fantastic on those things, and there's something about the utilitarian-ness of the pickguard/bridge situation that just pleases in a "this would fit on a soviet guitar" kind of way.

Color? Well, are you considering painting the guard as well? A nice deep green might be good against the white. Or, and this would be an absolute nightmare to do, but plaid would look amazing on a bullet.

I've never tried one but I've read differing opinions of the neck... Some say it's super skinny, and some really chunky. I'm hoping this one is the latter.

I'll likely leave the guard white if I change the guitar colour. Plaid sounds insane.

[JSett]

I thought the title said "birthyear mullet." I was gonna make some great recommendations. Especially if you had been born between 1985 and 1989.

The guitar is nice too.

I have never had a mullet, although they are making a comeback here in the UK for some strange reason.

[mackerelmint]

NICE

These have always been cool, the necks are fantastic on those things, and there's something about the utilitarian-ness of the pickguard/bridge situation that just pleases in a "this would fit on a soviet guitar" kind of way.

Color? Well, are you considering painting the guard as well? A nice deep green might be good against the white. Or, and this would be an absolute nightmare to do, but plaid would look amazing on a bullet.

I've never tried one but I've read differing opinions of the neck... Some say it's super skinny, and some really chunky. I'm hoping this one is the latter.

I'll likely leave the guard white if I change the guitar colour. Plaid sounds insane.

IME farting around with a friend's Bullet, the neck is chonktastic. I think the deal is that the first year or two, they were just grabbing necks straight off the tele production line. My friend's is an '81. YMMV, but I'm guessing "expect a chunky neck"? I'm reading that they made them in the US until 1983, so it should be the nice beefy neck.

[JSett]

IME farting around with a friend's Bullet, the neck is chonktastic. I think the deal is that the first year or two, they were just grabbing necks straight off the tele production line. My friend's is an '81. YMMV, but I'm guessing "expect a chunky neck"?

"chonktastic" is going to be my word of the day

Fingers crossed

[mackerelmint]

"Chonktastic" is precisely what it is, too. It's a real baseball bat, a great neck.

[Larry Mal]

I don't know if I find the necks to be all that thick, really- I've owned four of them and still have one- but there absolutely is an excellent quality about them. I don't really know what it is about them, but they just work. There's a fair amount of variety with the necks and there are certainly probably a lot of thick ones out there, though.

Frankly, Bullets are all around great guitars, way better than I think a lot of people know.

[smjenkins]

Congrats on the BYG. I've been looking at one of these for years but never have pulled the trigger. I love the variation on the tele theme and the metal pickguard. It's just a really cool looking guitar that's undeniably Fender but not really like anything else. I hope the neck fufills your chonkiest dreams.

[JSett]

I don't know if I find the necks to be all that thick, really- I've owned four of them and still have one- but there absolutely is an excellent quality about them. I don't really know what it is about them, but they just work. There's a fair amount of variety with the necks and there are certainly probably a lot of thick ones out there, though.

Frankly, Bullets are all around great guitars, way better than I think a lot of people know.

I've always read good things about them by people who know their way around a guitar and don't judge them by their unpopularity. It's a bit of a shot in the dark for me but for the money it's a cheap risk.

Congrats on the BYG. I've been looking at one of these for years but never have pulled the trigger. I love the variation on the tele theme and the metal pickguard. It's just a really cool looking guitar that's undeniably Fender but not really like anything else. I hope the neck fufills your chonkiest dreams.

I've missed a couple of ones that came up that were the right year and kicked myself for not just grabbing one. The prices of these are starting to creep up slowly, like all Fenders, so if you were thinking of getting one then I doubt they'll ever be cheaper than they are at the moment.

I always thought they looked like someone described a tele to someone they saw very briefly...almost like a police sketch artist getting it close but just a little deformed or wonky looking.

[Maggieo]

Congratulations!

How about LPB?