Probably not a lot... Snob value! And I'm a snob!
Re the Black Top you linked to. It doesn't look like a tele to me - the knobs are different!
yeah I did notice the knobs
It's also got humbuckers. You already have those on your Dot. I'd suggest trying a Tele with single coils. They'll give you the twangy and funky sounds that you'll never get from the Dot. And the neck tele single coil sounds surprisingly mellow and jazzy with the tone rolled off a bit.
If you're ever in the North West let me know and you can have a go with mine. I also have a humbucker semi so you could get a feel for the different sounds.
Humbuckers are what defines the Blacktop variant.
IMO Tele's are not Tele's without single coils. I wouldn't turn my nose up at a Blacktop though. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
I think that Fender are trying to regain some ground lost to the 'new' rock guitars, most of which have humbuckers (PRS et al). If I were an advisor to Fender, I would suggest that this is a battle that they can't win. They need to play to their strengths, which is 'simple' guitars with single coils. Let PRS battle it out with Gibson. The Fender single coil sound is unique, and has produced some of the most memorable music in rock history. Leo Fender got it right first time with the Telecaster, and refined it with the Stratocaster. Both in the 1950's. There have been no significant advance since then, just tweaking - better bridges, tremolos, different coil windings etc. The single coils, and the fantastic body shapes, are what makes them great.
My American Standard Telecaster is the greatest guitar I have ever played (and I've been through LOTS!). The Telecaster has issues - the pickup selector is simply in the wrong place! (corrected with the Strat). The bridge screws are too high - they rub against the hand! (possibly not an issue with the old style bridge - 2 strings per saddle - I can replace my screws with shorter ones if I want). Poor design some might say. But I wouldn't swap it for a £2000 PRS any day.
Edit - mine is being set up tomorrow by Phil Hartley. I will report back when I receive it back after my holiday. There is nothing wrong with it as far as I know, but I want it to be as good as it can be, which will be better than the day it left the factory. I might get him to swap the bridge screws, will decide when I talk it through with him.
hopefully out for the day sometime next week...Cambridge with the looks of it....
so I might have to pop into pmt for a look about....will try a couple of teles out I reckon
I'm into amateur luthiery so always like seeing guitar factory vids, a lot of cnc machining (same as every big named brand) but a lot of work still done by hand. Time and effort put into the guitar and it's worth the cost.
Been on the look out for a 70s-80s USA BC Rich (before the decline in quality), they were originally a custom shop with most work done by hand. Got hold of a 1984 MiJ Eagle which is the next best thing quality wise. Found this Gretsch vid searching for the old BC Rich Terada factory plant (Nagoya Japan=NJ Series, before they moved to Korea in '87~ish).
Some of the highly regarded Orville/Gibsons were made their too, nowadays the factory make the Epiphone Elitists along with the Gretschs, good quality instruments, a lot of the woodworking is still done by hand, like the effort of handcarving the neck with a spokeshave.
Crappy photo of my Eagle,
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/eagle_resized-jpg.564092/
can see where the shorthorn Mockingbird/modern Mockingbird evolved from the Seagull II/Eagle shapes.
Not the colour or shape I was in the market for but it's a nice player, 24.5" scale length which I didn't notice from playing (notched straight edge wouldn't fit), really nice sweet/bright sound unplugged, tuned half-step down with 10-46s, feels perfect for my playing. Will satisfy my vintage BC Rich craving for now. Few years left before I turn 40, might buy a grown up guitar thendata:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7, for now I'm happy playing garish pointy guitarsdata:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7.
I would be more than happy with the 49 piece 'V' you built. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Cheers, that Vee was quite a learning experience regarding wood vs. tools. Woods like brown oak/olive ash were easy to work with, wild cherry/american black walnut were hard to cut/shape, never again!
Nearly finished my iroko top/poplar back/walnut stripe BC Rich shaped wrath, I'll have some pickups in it by 2016data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7 https://www.avforums.com/attachments/wrath_resized-jpg.564143/
Edit: grain looks a lot nicer in the flesh, kinda holographic when you move side to side, dark grain turns light etc.
https://www.avforums.com/attachments/grain-jpg.564145/