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I am currently looking for a cheapish tele mainly for jazz playing. Problem is that there is too much choice!! Much easier to buy an archtop!
My short(ish) list is:
G&L ASAT tribute classic
G&L ASAT tribute deluxe
Fender Mexican standard
Fender modern player thinline
Fender Squier vintage modified thinline '72
As you can see I am in serious trouble!
One question that tele players could answer for me is how much the does a thinline body contribute to tone?
Also are the Squiers noticably lower quality than a Mex standard?
I know I have to make the humbucker vs single coil choice myself.
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12-12-2014 07:07 AM
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Mate, have a Tele day. Go to a shop and play nothing but Teles.
Eventually one will 'speak' to you. Buy it. Keep it.
Too many choices makes your head wobble.
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The Squier, Mexican and FSR question only succeeded with Fender shooting themselves in the foot and in turn confusing the consumer!
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Post 1500. Yay!
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I just got me the Modern Player Thinline P90, check the thread here: https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...eluxe-p90.html
Mine has a Squier rosewood neck though, so it's not factory. Normally it only comes with a maple neck.
A very nice guitar for the money. I have no experience with solid teles, so I can't comment on how much the thinline body construction differs from the solid body, sorry!
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I bought a used Nash awhile ago and love it. Julian Lage was playing one for awhile. Lollar pickups and a big beefy neck. Most versatile guitar I own.
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Any of these will be great. As jazzbow mentioned, just go out and play the different models and the one that fits right is the winner. Cost is all about the same. Used would of course be a better deal once you know what you want.
Originally Posted by sparkhall
On the above list I tend to favor the ASAT Deluxe tribute because of the humbucker and the tummy contour on the body. Then again, I was at a store the other day and played a MIM tele standard that was incredible. Good luck and have fun!
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Yep, you'll be amazed that a piece of lego with a logo on and model designation will have almost nothing to do with how it will sound. They all sound different, some dead as a dodo and others slightly less.
You just want to find the best one out of say 15, doesn't matter what model, what design, its all lego bits of wood.
A nice solid one can sound more open that a semi hollow one. Its just the way they are. Jazzbow is correct.
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Place to start: find a plain white Telecaster with ordinary Tele single-coil pickups, string-thru-body bridge, etc. Neck is no big deal, but a rosewood board is probably a little better for jazz, IMO, as someone who has owned many T'casters. Play, play, play. Get "that" sound and feel planted in your mind and branch out from there.
You may find that you come back around to the plain vanilla 'caster. I usually did.
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Here's my favorite of the reasonably priced Tele's. The Baja has the chunky soft-v neck and the broadcaster bridge pickup. Really nice Tele for good price.
Classic Player Baja Telecaster® | Fender Electric Guitars
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I have a 1969 Telecaster thinline, don't know how similar it is to the one you speak of, but I'm very pleased with mine =)
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If you want the true essence of a Telecaster go with the Fender MIM. Or, find a used American Standard.
A telecaster with humbuckers is not truly a Telecaster, even if it would be a great guitar, and the perfect guitar for you.
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In essence the original Esquire was a single pickup that changed to the Telecaster.
This had weird switching with tone circuit and the second control was a blend for both pickups.
Then that changed to a proper tone control but you couldn't have both pickups on at the same time.
Then binding was introduced as an extra.
Then you get the thinline.
Then you get the humbucker options.
Then the option of both pickups on at the same time! <<PHEW>>
This guitar has been modded continuously by Fender since 1949!
No wonder your head can wobble!
Don't get hum up on hungbuckers (
), most Teles are routed for h/bkrs so you can mod that later. But if you're mixing single coils and h/buckers check out toneshapers as you can change the potometer values as you need them for the p/ups with this unit.
Woods...
Fingerboard materials are a personal thing. I'm not qualified to comment on your personal taste!
Fender used whatever was available for body wood depending on the paint finish, ash for wood grain effect and poplar/alder for solid colo(u)r finish. Pine was used originally as well as mahogany.
You'll see basswood (Linden) used, that's because it's cheap and plentiful and great for solid colo(u)r.
Do these woods affect tone? Erm? A bit?!? Not much. I'm not qualified to comment on your personal taste!
Ignore the 'This wood is better than that wood' debate, just strum the guitar without plugging it in and check out whether it resonates. That's the first and most important thing you can do with a solid bodied guitar to determine if it will sound good electrified.
Electrics? Everything is changeable, don't sweat over this one.
I got me a Squier classic vibe Tele and modded the electrics. It plays like a dream and the tones are awe inspiring!
During family shopping trips I sneak off for respite at the nearest music shop to play guitars. I try all sorts and all values and they never get close to that Squier Tele. I found and improved the one! How lucky am I.
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Brian Monty Telecaster - ash/maple -like the original
Partscaster alder/maple - no truss rod, '60s style body
Partscaster limba/rosewood - strat neck pickup, heavy brass bridge
Prairiewood "Prairiecaster" - alder/maple/ziricote - reverse bridge, Fralin Dearmond
Last edited by Hammertone; 12-12-2014 at 08:00 PM.
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I agree, Fender makes too many teles. Basically you have to decide what features you want and then find the model that checks all the boxes.
Maple vs rosewood fretboard
6 saddle vs 3 saddle bridge
Pickup config
Frets/scale length
For me the nashville did it. Rosewood board, 6 saddle, standard tele neck(and useless strat pickup in middle...), non jumbo frets, mexi pricing.
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Setting the cat amongst the pigeons: Grab a Bacchus or Momose or Fender Japan Tele off ???????????????????????????.
You got to decide on the pickup choice. I got this many moons ago when the Yen was strong : T-MASTER - BACCHUS Guitars . P90 soapbar neck. MMMMmmmm.
There is also this: T-STANDARD - BACCHUS Guitars .
Shipping by Japan Post EMS runs about JPY15 000. And most dealers give you a 20% off MSRP. You don't pay Japan Sales Tax which is 8% currently. There is this guy James Porter, Meestursparkle, Meestursparkle Japan Guitar Shop Middleman Service , who can help you get Japanese guitars.
Teles are fun. There is Toru Nittono in Van Nuys, CA. Schweet by the looks of it. Toru Nittono Guitars
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I have a MIM '69 thinline reissue. The neck position can be dialed in to give you a nice round jazzy tone.
The pots on those were set at 500k, for some reason. A lot of players replace them with 250k pots to reduce the highs in the signal. I have not done so.
I play mostly blues and I can roll trebles back on guitar and amp if I want. What I really like about this guitar is the weight, lightest electric I have found. The neck also feels like home to me when I play. Tuners aren't that good on mine, but I adjust.
Does the semihollow nature contribute to the tone? All guitars sound so different to me that it is hard for me to determine why each does so.
I have a Gibson Les Paul, an Ibanez hollowbody, and a Heritage semihollow, all sound great and play well. My go to guitar is the Telecaster, I play it every day.
Good luck with your search!
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Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
Yeh that is probably the best Idea boy those guys are making some fine guitars. I read recently they're still using 5 year old tone woods unlike many US companies who are kiln drying them in a few hours, leaving the bodies with excess moisture still inside. I can't confirm this however.
The last people who should be left to make fenders is my mind, is often Fender.
On the other side I can't recommend Meestursparkle, not only because his name is mildly offensive/slightly racist but he's also pretty bad at describing guitars accurately and I for one would never use him.
I would also never trust his necks. Always always be very careful when buying Fender types from Japan. The necks can often be shot due to the extreme humidity there and temperature changes.
Going new as Jabba suggests is a good idea but I wouldn't give my money to that guy.Last edited by Archie; 12-13-2014 at 07:56 AM.
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Y'know, TDPRI is a good place to go for your Tele questions and needs.
How about this 'un..
Burns Guitars of London, Sonic Elite Series, as English as sixpence and not plagiarised in any way.
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I have decided I am going to try not to be a headstock logo snob and go for a Squier Classic Vibe 50's in butterscotch blonde!
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Remember to try 3 or 4, you won't be disappointed. Originally Posted by sparkhall
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1. Neck that you like
2. 3 saddle bridges do not intonate! (no matter what they say)
but you can easily change to 6 saddle if that is your sort of thing . . .
3. Neck PU -- single coil / humbucker / WRHB . . .
4. color?
I ended up with a 72 RI custom, modded with a Gotoh bridge & SD bridge mini 59 humbucker. I can't live with a single coil neck PU at home because of bad wiring . . . can't complain but not exactly the holy grail of tele-land . . .
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Please understand I am not fanning the flames of the Tele saddle debate here but am simply offering observation and experience.
As you read the following consider my avatar picture and know I am the one on top.... Coo coo.
You can get after market saddles that help with intonation. Originally Posted by Longways to Go
Wilkinson harmonic saddles, They intonate as well as the human ear can tell, dogs may differ.
These are ok but when I switched from plain G to wound G I had to buy another set to get the specific saddle to intonate that plain G.
Next I found a weird overtone on first position fretting of the G string. I had Thomastics on which are a lower tensioned string. After checking and cross referencing all adjusted measurements I switched to D'Addario with their higher tensions and set up the guitar accordingly. Unfortunately that weird overtone was still there.
At this point the Tele was in standby mode ready to move on as I surmised it may be an unforgiving bitch with flatwounds and this didn't suit my needs.
More research and I found these
These are Kluson harmonic saddles. the machining for the intonation screw is at an angle and also that you can flip the D & G saddle for plain or wound G so therefore cheaper. The overtone has completely disappeared now and the intonation is spot on.
The slant of the saddle in the above picture is reminiscent of an acoustic guitar saddle, don't you think?
In the past you would brandish a grippy set of pliers and bend the intonation screw to give the angle for better intonation.
Fender have just got into the game and are offering after market intonatable saddles. Note that this video is for intonating plain G or as the guy says 'Normal strings'!?!
Leo Fenders last take on the Tele/Asat was the 6 saddled vintage styled bridge and the more efficient massive top loader.
If you have medium to heavy flatwounds, say 12's to 14's then the original 3 saddle set will be just fine.
Remember all fretted stringed instruments have imperfect intervals. There's been many a discussion here at JG forum towers about intervals on instruments and such, I'm getting all woosey headed just thinking about it and I haven't had enough coffee to paraphrase here.
A good friend of mine is a Renaissance and Baroque piano restorer (one of a very small group of craftsmen in Europe) and he would despair when it came to tuning them (google 'just' and 'woolf' intervals).
All my own opinion - pwned onion
Coo coo
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I realize that you've already voiced your choice of Teles, but for jazz, no Tele sounded nicer than a G&L ASAT Bluesboy. The Duncan Seth Lover in the neck makes all the difference. Thick, articulate, rich...You pick the adjective. Its got it in spades.
Plus G&L's quality is so much better than most all 'non-custom shop' Fenders. Plus they plek them at the factory. And on the used market, they are a great bargain. Finally, check the G&L site for the neck carve that fits YOU.
Good hunting!
Tim
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Thanks Tim,
I'm just dipping my toe into the Tele pond at the moment, so wanted a low cost option. If I decide to take a longer swim then getting a US asat is very near the top of my wishlist.
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