A tale of three Telecasters

[Stringswinger]

Telecasters. Had I known that two of my earliest guitar heroes (Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page) played them, I might have been a Telecaster player much earlier in life. But alas, since 1980 I have been a Strat/Les Paul player when it comes to plank guitars.

I have known for years how good a Tele can sound when I have heard Ted Green, Roy Buchanan or Ed Bickert play one. Not to mention Danny Gatton or my friend John Jorgensen.

Some years back, I decided to try a Telecaster. My first Tele was a 52 Reissue. I did not like the 7.25 radius fret board and it always seemed to lack the jazz tone I hear in my head so in short order, away it went. My second Tele was a 52 Hot Rod reissue. While the 9.5 radius was better, the Duncan Firebird pickup in the neck position still left me wanting for a good jazz tone, so away it went. My third Tele was a partscaster bought from a local member of this forum. It had a badly refinished and reshaped Mexican Telecaster neck with a custom made body of Northern Ash and had only one neck humbucker (a Duncan 59). This one sounded good but weighed 11 pounds (too heavy for me) and with the single pickup it was not useful for my real world gigs (some rooms are so dark that a bit of bridge pickup blend is necessary) so away it went.

In the last year some good deals have come my way on a Trio of Telecasters. I have gigged with all three and like them, so for now, all three are in my harem of guitars and at this point, I am now a Telecaster player. I get it. Telecasters are great. Leo hit it out of the park way back when. Many times on this forum, I have posted that the only guitar a jazz guitarist needs is a good 175. I need to add the following: or a good Telecaster.

Here is a brief review of the guitars I now own:

2023 Fender American Professional II Telecaster (Olympic White). This is a very modern Alder bodied Telecaster. It comes with a TSA approved flight case. It has a rolled fingerboard, sculpted neck heel and Tim Shaw V mod II pickups. The bridge uses brass, compensated saddles. It has a push pull tone pot for some boost when using the two pickups together. The neck is a medium C carve. It weights around 7.5 pounds. This is a fine example of the Telecaster with some modern changes, compensated saddles and the 9.5 Board radius being most important to me. The neck feels fine, the weight is comfortable, fit and finish is superb and the tone is good (perhaps a bit more twang in the neck pickup than I like so a Humbucker might replace that at some point). No complaints though, a really solid Telecaster and better for me than the three that I had and sold.

2018 Player Telecaster (3 Tone sunburst). This Mexican made Alder bodied guitar has changed my thinking about inexpensive imported guitars. This can do any jazz gig as well as guitars that cost 20 times as much. These guitars have alnico 5 pickups, a six saddle bridge (cast steel saddles) and a slim C profile neck. At 8 pounds, it is a bit heavy, but still comfortable. They do not come with a case (I bought a nice Fender branded wooden hard shell case). The fit and finish is as good as the American Pro II and frankly, I like the neck pickup tone on this one just fine. This model has been supplanted by the Player Telecaster II which has split shaft tuners, but is otherwise (save a few cosmetic differences) the same as the earlier model. The tone and playability on this guitar is great. For the money, this guitar is a winner. I have read that quality can be hit or miss on the Mexican made Fenders, but I know for a fact that holds true for almost all guitars. Choose carefully.

2023 Rutters T style (Semi Hollow in Natural). I bought this guitar from a member of this forum and it is a special guitar. Marc Rutters is a maker of boutique guitars and guitar parts. This is essentially a truly custom shop Telecaster made by a very talented guitar builder. The guitar is made with a one piece swamp ash back and a flamed spruce top. It has a TK Smith Charlie Christian II neck pickup and the seller changed out the pickup Marc made this guitar with, and installed a Fralin Steel Pole 43 pickup along with 500K pots. The neck is a very fat C profile (with the 1 5/8 nut it works for me, but is not optimal) and it has traditional split shaft tuners (not optimal for me, but lots of cats like these). Also worth mentioning, the truss rod adjustment requires pulling the pickguard up (very not optimal for me). The guitar weighs 6 pounds. Tone wise the Rutters is the best for jazz (I wrote to Marc Rutters and he told me that he builds these spruce topped semi hollow "T" type guitars as jazz guitars). For jazz guitar tone, this guitar cannot be beat. By anything. It does have compensated brass saddles (made by Marc Rutters). Because Rutters does not have to pay any middlemen, his price is way better than say, a Fender Custom Shop telecaster. If money is no object, this is the way to go for a jazz Tele. Even though some of the vintage features are not optimal for me, this sounds so good that it has become my main gigging guitar. My 175's are getting lonely.

Maybe this is just a phase? But for now, I am a Telecaster player. With three Telecasters.

[skykomishone]

11 lbs! That one you could use in some dive if a fight broke out as a defensive weapon. Holy smokes, no wonder that one left early. Can't imagine an 11 lb guitar.

[omphalopsychos]

You know which one's my favorite.

[jazzloverfat]

Nice trio, enjoy playing them!

[andrew]

Yup. Teles are by far my favorite solid body. I really don’t have any need for any other. If I’m not playing an archtop, I’m playing a Tele.

[lammie200]

I bought a USA made Fender Tele brand new in 1982. I kept it for about 10 years and moved to a Strat partscaster. Now I have 4 Tele partcasters, well 5 if I am honest. One was a mistake build that I finished with a cheap imported fretless neck for kicks. The others have either Allparts or Warmoth necks with mostly vintage specs. It’s what I like. I pull the fretless out a few times a year. The rest I play lots. Teles are magic.

I still have the Strat partscaster but I have changed parts so much over the years it would be deceiving to say it is the same one I started with. Streetswinger has one of the previous iterations of Strat bodies that I used. Glad to hear he is into Teles now.

[Stringswinger]

11 lbs! That one you could use in some dive if a fight broke out as a defensive weapon. Holy smokes, no wonder that one left early. Can't imagine an 11 lb guitar.

11 pounds is a typical weight for a 70's Les Paul. 70's Strats and Teles were often in the 9-10 pound range. Of course, we were younger then....11 pound guitars today? No thanks.

[Stringswinger]

I bought a USA made Fender Tele brand new in 1982. I kept it for about 10 years and moved to a Strat partscaster. Now I have 4 Tele partcasters, well 5 if I am honest. One was a mistake build that I finished with a cheap imported fretless neck for kicks. The others have either Allparts or Warmoth necks with mostly vintage specs. It’s what I like. I pull the fretless out a few times a year. The rest I play lots. Teles are magic.

I still have the Strat partscaster but I have changed parts so much over the years it would be deceiving to say it is the same one I started with. Streetswinger has one of the previous iterations of Strat bodies that I used. Glad to hear he is into Teles now.

I have done many gigs with the Strat I put together using the Warmoth body that I bought from you. Thanks again for the great deal on that body! But alas, that guitar is getting lonely these days as the Telecasters are getting most of the love.

[Stringswinger]

You know which one's my favorite.

When you told me that the Charlie Christian II pickup was a very special pickup, you were spot on.

[ruger9]

I currently have 4:

1993 American standard that has been my #1 since I bought it in early 1994.

2013 Fender Cabronita Thinline with P90s (TV Jones T90s)

2023 Fender Vintera Thinline with "fake" (not CuNiFe) wide range humbuckers... this one is still a project, I'm searching for the right pickups

2024 (December actually) LSL Era T-Bone, only 6.5 lbs. due to the roasted pine body and roasted maple neck. It's still in it's honeymoon phase, but it's a good one.

11 lbs. is nuts. My #1 is 8.5 lbs, and that's why I bought the LSL! Trying to get something lighter for the 3-hour rehearsals/gigs!

Even tho I have some really $$$$ guitars (a PRS DGT amongst them), I'm a tele guy, and I play the '93 and LSL far more than the others. Even tho the DGT is superior in almost every way, it's not the one I reach for 90% of the time. In the end, I figure I'll end up with 1 or 2 teles, and maybe I'll keep my Gretsch. That'll be it.

[lammie200]

I have done many gigs with the Strat I put together using the Warmoth body that I bought from you. Thanks again for the great deal on that body! But alas, that guitar is getting lonely these days as the Telecasters are getting most of the love.

I don't know why I said that I have 5 including the mistake fretless. I have 4 including the mistake fretless and a Strat. Maybe one or two genuine Fender parts between all of them. I finished them all in TruOil except for the Strat. I bought that body second hand and it had a poly finish. I saw no reason to mess with it. Note no bridge pickups and blanked out bridges on two of the Teles. The one piece ash body is from Warmoth and the body is super light, like 3.2 lbs. light. Someone made the thinline body with the Ric f-hole for me. Not outrageous in cost. I got the hollow body body with the two f-holes from Skip Ellis who is on this site. Thanks Skip! I added all the parts to it. It sounds like a hollow body guitar, but why wouldn't it?

[Stringswinger]

I got the hollow body body with the two f-holes from Skip Ellis who is on this site. Thanks Skip! I added all the parts to it. It sounds like a hollow body guitar, but why wouldn't it?

My Rutters has no F holes but is so light (6 pounds) that it must be mostly hollow . It has Swamp Ash sides and back with a Spruce top (The figured Spruce is pretty rare according to Marc Rutters). With the Charlie Christian II pickup it sounds like an archtop, only with better sustain.

As I have gotten older and have developed left hand issues (playing 200 gigs a year using archtops strung with 13's will take it's toll I suppose), I find that I do better with guitars that have better sustain and also guitars that sound good with light strings. Telecasters fit the bill to a "T".

[lammie200]

I am starting to go with lighter strings as well. 12s are where I am at now, although I want to string the Strat with 10s or 11s. Not sure why that one needs lighter gauge strings for me, but I am a strong believer that every guitar is unique.

[joebloggs13]

That Rutters is a real beaut! I know what you mean about Teles. I own two. A 2016 Elite with Fralin Blues Specials and an Xotic XTC-1 from their Xotique line. The Xotic is really special. Just over 6 lbs...but it's not hollow.
One piece old growth Ash, Honduran Mahogany neck and Ebony fretboard. A superb guitar.

[Stringswinger]

That Rutters is a real beaut! I know what you mean about Teles. I own two. A 2016 Elite with Fralin Blues Specials and an Xotic XTC-1 from their Xotique line. The Xotic is really special. Just over 6 lbs...but it's not hollow.
One piece old growth Ash, Honduran Mahogany neck and Ebony fretboard. A superb guitar.

How about some pictures?

[kris]

I have two Telecaster style guitars and one Stratocaster style guitar with Telecaster's neck.
All these guitars have chambered body.
I like to experiment with flatwound heavy strings on these guitars.

[ruger9]

I was too lazy to do pics yesterday... '93 MIA, Cab with T-90s, LSL, Vintera.
Since I have 2 pink ones (kind of by accident), if I keep the Vintera Thinline I will likely refinish it.

[Mick-7]

So 93 pages of telecaster chat is not enough for you folks?

Telecaster Love Thread, No Archtops Allowed

if I keep the Vintera Thinline I will likely refinish it.

What! And remove that lovely black promotional sticker?!!

[Stringswinger]

So 93 pages of telecaster chat is not enough for you folks?

When an archtop enthusiast (me) becomes a Telecaster enthusiast it needs to be broadcast everywhere.

[Mick-7]

When an archtop enthusiast (me) becomes a Telecaster enthusiast it needs to be broadcast everywhere.

Well, dam it, you've have got me reconsidering ($$) my overweight telecaster! I've never weighed it but I think it's much heavier than the newer models and getting to be a bit of a drag.

[lammie200]

Lightweight Teles are da bomb!

[markesquire]

Stringswinger, welcome to the team!

I can't help but wonder whether you'd like the Telecaster even more with a lightweight body, PAF neck pickup, and perhaps a 24.75" conversion neck (even with Gibson nut width). It seems like you've always gravitated toward the ES-175, and you can get quite a bit closer to that sound and feel than your current teles might (though the original specs happen to be my preference).

[Stringswinger]

Stringswinger, welcome to the team!

I can't help but wonder whether you'd like the Telecaster even more with a lightweight body, PAF neck pickup, and perhaps a 24.75" conversion neck (even with Gibson nut width). It seems like you've always gravitated toward the ES-175, and you can get quite a bit closer to that sound and feel than your current teles might (though the original specs happen to be my preference).

Thank you sir. I have considered all the things you mentioned and even bought some parts from a fellow forum member to build a Tele Partcaster. But I am enjoying the three Teles I have and am not feeling the need to build another,

I used a 175 for a concert I plated last night at the Coconut Grove Ballroom in Santa Cruz. It felt good having the shorter scale, wider nut and hum free pickups to be sure. But the Telecaster vibe is it's own thing and at this point in my journey, I am going to enjoy both Teles and 175's for gigs with no inclination to try and split the difference.

[lammie200]

…and perhaps a 24.75" conversion neck (even with Gibson nut width)…

I experimented with a 24.75” scale neck on a Tele body. There are all kinds of reasons on paper that make that seem like a good idea. Ultimately, I have come to the conclusion that the original main specs on Fender designs work best though. When I play a Tele I just want to embrace the Tele about it. I realize that is just my opinion.

[alltunes]

Solid body Telecasters can be light…my Danocaster is 6lb 4oz.

My ‘81 Strat is over 12lbs!