Nasa... We Have a Problem...

Well... I warned everyone, including myself... it's happened. My '56 Tele has 3 pickup positions, muddy, muddy, and ok, trouble is the ok is meant to be where one of the 'muddy's' is, and the tone knob flops back and forth without accomplishing anything. Got it from Vintage Guitar Center in Hollywood, who sell to the best...thank God did not get from anyone else. Got it last November (still less than a year ago). I went in, and chose another Tele initially... a '59. Played that through their amp (a nice old Tweed), and it sounded good, but I still didn't like some funky paint flaking (which is normal on a guitar that old) which was on the neck. I then checked out this '56, played it acoustically, and in a rush said "Wrap her up". The guys down there charge a premium, and are all really nice guys to deal with, and customers like Dave Navarro expect to get what they pay for (being Hollywood). I took it home, and since the fretboard looks as if it had been played on a gig every day for the past 50 years, it's more a guitar to get out and baby, than play every day. Truth be told, I put it into a large flight case (earthquake proof and rat-proof for LA) and left it there for 9 months. (I play my younger guitars, not my old lady's). Well, session player friend of mine came over yesterday (Mick), and I put her in his arms to play... er...he said...'Now Pete... this ain't right...'...... and Dutz that I am (Dumb Putz)... looks like I own a '56 Tele that has had a heart attack somewhere...anyway... if this ends up that I own a nice player, worth much less that I paid, then follow this advice: "FORGET OLD GUITARS FROM THE 50'S... THEY ARE TIRED, AND FALLING APART..like an old relative, and that is normal...IF YOU ARE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, AND HAVE THE MONEY, GET YOUR TECH TO SORT IT OUT, AND THEN PLAY IT A LOT....AND WRITE OFF THE BIG, BIG LOSS...BUT UNDERSTAND, ALL THESE GUITARS ARE ON THE EDGE OF NEEDING EVERYTHING EVENTUALLY REPLACED, LIKE A '56 CHEVY WOULD... pots, pickups, wiring, 3-way selector switches, fanbelt, and also those little diodes etc.... ". If Guitar Center is my pal, and tell me to bring it down and either: 1. Find a little loose wire and fix her up, or 2. Tell me they have another '56 (heck, I'll even take a '57) and offer it to me to make good, then I would say "BUY OLD '50'S GUITARS, BUT ONLY FROM VINTAGE CENTER IN HOLLYWOOD"..... meanwhile, stand by...NASA is looking at the problem.....Happy Sunday.....