Thanks Wordman, good explanation. So if I ever sell I can point to my authentic period relic-ing and tack on another $500 to the price. 
It’s hard to beat hand-rubbed shellac. As my woodworking teacher always says: “What’s the question? The answer is “shellac.””
Gargoyle, I forgot to mention it, but that is a pretty looking guitar you have there. I suspect you prolly won’t get extra for the reliccing, unless you get famous! 
Incidentally, I have a '72 Warmoth Thinline body I built up with a MIJ Fender tele neck and I love it! I recently added a Bigsby and I think it was worth the time.
Why not get a tele with an piezo bridge?
http://www.fender.com/series/deluxe/deluxe-nashville-power-tele-rosewood-fingerboard-2-color-sunburst/
It’ll get you many of the sounds you want.
Hmmm. That looks like a possibility. One odd thing: on Amazon, they have one vendor selling them for under $600, while the others are up in the $900 range. Wonder what that’s all about?
Ah, now I see. It’s not made in America.
I was sorely tempted this weekend - I stopped by a garage sale and they had a Fender Standard Telecaster (made in mexico) and a Dean Fretless electric upright bass, for $250 each. I thought about offering $400 for the pair, but ultimately decided I couldn’t justify the expense, since I’m really just beginning to learn the guitar (and what the heck am I going to do with an upright bass anyway?)
I have a feeling I’m going to have that niggling “shoulda bought it” feeling for a while though.
Not to make it worse, but those Mexican “Standard” Fenders are really some of the best values out there, on the new or used market. 
+1, Shoulda bought them. Of course, you could always go back and ask if they still have them; just sayin’. Hey, not many people have an upright bass so the bragging rights alone may be worth it…
Chefguy, how goes the guitar search?
I actually did find the e-mail of the people holding the sale, so I may yet do that (at least for the telecaster).
Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue with Headphones
I’m assuming it is not a good idea to plug my headphones directly into the external speaker jack. What do I do to be able to use headphones for this amp?
I would recommend that you get a dedicated headphone amp with decent modelling if you want to practice without disturbing anyone. You could use the ext spkr output and an attenuator but it will likely suffer serious tone suck and cost you as much as the headphone amp. I’ve been playing with my son’s Line 6 pod and while it isn’t perfect, it’s relatively inexpensive and gets the job done.
I just bid successfully on a 12-string “telecaster” on EBay. Squeeeee! And I got it way way cheap!
It’s a no-name vendor, but I found a YouTube video demo that sounds good. I’ve always wanted a 12-string, and am a bit acoustic-averse ergonomically, so I’m really excited about this! And, yes, I’m sure intonation will be a challenge.
Twelve squeeeeeees!
Happy happy! A Squee for you, squeegee!!
Good luck and give us a full report!
I have never been able to wrap my brain around a 12-string. I bought a nice Martin at one point, played Free Fallin’ and some Beatles, and then put it away. I am so lazy about tuning. But then again, I don’t use many effects or pretty much anything that deviates from a standard guitar except for dropping into Open G.
Book of guitar "moves"
This is a long-shot, but back around 1991 or so, I bought a book of rock guitar riffs that the author referred to as “moves”. I knew a bit about playing guitar and could read tabs, but as I recall, these riffs seemed to make little sense. I couldn’t figure them out. They were long and meandering and just seemed downright weird. All I can remember about the book is that it had a black cover with white text,and was your typical 8.5x10 size. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Might it be this one? This publisher constantly calls riffs “moves.”
Absolutely no clue - sorry. I have to ask: since you found the “moves” incomprehensible, how come you are looking for it?
Boom!
Thank you.
To see either how much I didn’t know at the time, how much I may have learned in the ensuing 20 some years, or if the guy was a total wacko (genius?).