Telecaster Love Thread, No Archtops Allowed

[Paulie2]

Very excited to share this NGD. I have been saving up for awhile after not getting a guitar in a couple years. I booked a cabin months ago out side of Asheville for my family and some friends to attend a large vintage guitar show in town with plans on buying something there. The last few months I began really fixating on thinline teles. I found this artisan model a few weeks ago but decided to wait, because I did not want to spend my money and then fall in love with something at the show.

Well, the show was canceled (and rightfully so) the night before we were supposed to leave. We went to the cabin and had a great time, but I could not stop thinking about this tele. I pulled the trigger when I got home and am blown away. The woods and craftsmanship on this model are stunning. My terrible picture skills could not do it justice. Here are the specs:

• Aged Blue Ice Metallic Top
• Roasted Ash Body
• Herringbone/Tortoise Top Binding
• Roasted AAA Birdseye Maple Neck
• African Blackwood Round Lam Fretboard,
• Nitrocellulose Neck and Body Finish
• 21 Sanko 6105 Frets
• Bone Nut
• '63 Strat Style "C" Neck Shape
• 9.50" Fingerboard Radius
• Neck Thickness at 1st Fret .810"
• Neck Thickness at 12th Fret .970"
• Single Ply Tortoise Pickguard
• Hand Wound Loaded '51 Nocaster Pickups
• Vintage Style Tuners
• Vintage Style Bridge with RSD Brass Saddles (G String Compensated)
• Limited Edition Engraved Neck Plate
• Limited Edition Custom Shop Decal
• NOS Finish
• Full Silver Foil Shielding (Internally)
• 3-Way Selector, 1 Volume, 1 Tone

[Mark M.]

Wow! That’s really unique and beautiful. What kind of neck pickup is that?

[Mark M.]

Stunning! I love that neck. That is the most unique Tele I have seen. Congrats!

[Paulie2]

Wow! That’s really unique and beautiful. What kind of neck pickup is that?

Thanks! Its Fender's handwound nocaster pickup, but I have never seen one uncovered like these

[Paulie2]

Stunning! I love that neck. That is the most unique Tele I have seen. Congrats!

Thanks!! I see this easily sliding into my favorite non-archtop guitar spot. Gonna be torn on grabbing it or the Bravo for straight ahead gigs!!

[Gitfiddler]

Gorgeous Tele with very cool features. But please tell us if she can do that twang-thang?

Play it in good health.

[arielcee]

Wowee zowoo! Congrats!
The binding is way cool and the neck...

I'm really starting to think Telecasters are one of the best guitars period. Whether you play multiple styles or exclusively jazz, blues, country, etc. The clarity of a tele is the best, at least that I've heard; really makes chords sing beautifully. No wonder Ted Greene, Ed Bickert, Tim Lerch play them.

[entresz]

Wow! What a guitar! That binding is really striking too.
I also love the colour, that silver-blue is beautiful.

[jads57]

Just a side note but I've had great luck w Q pickups in my Telecaster. They are in Croatia and do great hand wound pickups at very fair prices. Just put a middle overwound pickup Strat type in between the bridge Tele pickup they also made and a Seymour Duncan Minihumbucker in the neck.

[rintincop]

I also have a Seymour Duncan Minihumbucker in the neck, it fits under a chrome lipstick cover so it look correct. I have Graph Tech string saver saddles that sound great, they produce really warm mids. My Tele is Olympic white with a maple neck. I love the neck, but the body weight is the one thing I don't like about Telecasters.

[arielcee]

Cheap but sounds good; pickup is clear.
The bridge plate has it's own plans...

[rintincop]

Oh yes

[tele3]

Love my MIM Baha 50s tele. I also had a Baha 60s tele which was just ok but the neck on the 50s is just perfect. I like it better than a CS Nocaster I used to own which had a ridiculously huge neck. I replaced almost all the parts on the baha 50s btw.

[wzpgsr]

Love my MIM Baha 50s tele. I also had a Baha 60s tele which was just ok but the neck on the 50s is just perfect. I like it better than a CS Nocaster I used to own which had a ridiculously huge neck. I replaced almost all the parts on the baha 50s btw.

Dang. What parts did you swap out?

[tele3]

Dang. What parts did you swap out?

You probably know most Baja owners really love the twisted tele neck pup, but I have to say I never liked it. It just didn't sound like a classic tele neck pup and I know that's the reason why people love it. I replaced it with Fender OV set which I love especially the neck pup, and took the S-1 switch crap out. I don't like a tele series tone and it annoyed me to have an extra position which I never used so replaced it with a 3 way switch. Also, a swithcraft jack, a bakelite pickguard and Gotoh In-Tune saddles, which I highly recommend for any tele owners. Maybe I'll replace the stock cheap tuners but still functioning somewhat alright.

[wzpgsr]

You probably know most Baja owners really love the twisted tele neck pup, but I have to say I never liked it. It just didn't sound like a classic tele neck pup and I know that's the reason why people love it. I replaced it with Fender OV set which I love especially the neck pup, and took the S-1 switch crap out. I don't like a tele series tone and it annoyed me to have an extra position which I never used so replaced it with a 3 way switch. Also, a swithcraft jack, a bakelite pickguard and Gotoh In-Tune saddles, which I highly recommend for any tele owners. Maybe I'll replace the stock cheap tuners but still functioning somewhat alright.

Might have to take a gander at those saddles.

[tele3]

Might have to take a gander at those saddles.

Gotoh has never disappointed me. Actually I prefer them to Cahallam saddles. Having slots for strings is a huge advantage, imo.

[guitarmikey]

A couple of them here.
First was a korean Squier that I brought back to life, maple neck, added SH-1 in neck and WOW! Threw .011 on... delicious!
Then made a reclaimed pine Tele with (worm holes in body!), rosewood neck with 2x P90's. (pic) Double wow!

[jads57]

Just modded my Telecaster with a Gotoh gtc 201 chrome bridge.Ithad a Wilkinson chrome 3 saddle which was good,but this is so much better. Sustain,intonation,etc has improved .
The only downside is it ways quite a bit more.

[jim232777]

Going to put the the NGD post here, as it's a Tele. I forced myself to read all 29 pages before posting, and it took 3 days!

So here's the story. I've been looking for a tone that I like without spending a fortune, and have tried a couple hollow bodies--Ibanez AF75 and Washburn J3 (their version of an ES-175). They were OK, but just didn't thrill me. Probably could improve things by upgrading the stock humbuckers, but given the surprising popularity of Telecasters, and impressive videos by Bickert, Greene, et al, I decided to dip my toes in the Telecaster water. (I previously played acoustic and an old Strat, but no Tele.)

So I found a Squier Affinity that was a couple years old, but pretty much unplayed. It has a slightly yellowed pick guard with a while sticker circle, but other than that, nice condition. That is a great guitar for the price and even though the tone wasn't perfect, it was so surprisingly good I decided to look for a full Fender version.

I found a 2008 American Standard at my local shop (so close to the house it's dangerous!) that looks almost mint--like it just spent 12 years in the case. The neck pickup is definitely giving me a nice tone. My only complaint is the pickup switch is close to the volume knob, and when it's in the bridge position, and I reach down to switch to the neck pup, I keep turning the volume down. The Squire has a better spacing.

So I do have a question for the Tele experts. Googling seems to have shown that in 2008 Fender made some changes to the Telecaster. Is there a good summary anywhere of the features of the 2008 model? Naturally, I'm interested in info on the pickups.

Was going to keep one of the hollows and sell the other and the Squier, but after looking at all the home-built guitars, I may have to keep the Squier as a project guitar, and sell both hollows to finance it!



And a sibling shot...

[Little Jay]

Going to put the the NGD post here, as it's a Tele. I forced myself to read all 29 pages before posting, and it took 3 days!

So here's the story. I've been looking for a tone that I like without spending a fortune, and have tried a couple hollow bodies--Ibanez AF75 and Washburn J3 (their version of an ES-175). They were OK, but just didn't thrill me. Probably could improve things by upgrading the stock humbuckers, but given the surprising popularity of Telecasters, and impressive videos by Bickert, Greene, et al, I decided to dip my toes in the Telecaster water. (I previously played acoustic and an old Strat, but no Tele.)

So I found a Squier Affinity that was a couple years old, but pretty much unplayed. It has a slightly yellowed pick guard with a while sticker circle, but other than that, nice condition. That is a great guitar for the price and even though the tone wasn't perfect, it was so surprisingly good I decided to look for a full Fender version.

I found a 2008 American Standard at my local shop (so close to the house it's dangerous!) that looks almost mint--like it just spent 12 years in the case. The neck pickup is definitely giving me a nice tone. My only complaint is the pickup switch is close to the volume knob, and when it's in the bridge position, and I reach down to switch to the neck pup, I keep turning the volume down. The Squire has a better spacing.

So I do have a question for the Tele experts. Googling seems to have shown that in 2008 Fender made some changes to the Telecaster. Is there a good summary anywhere of the features of the 2008 model? Naturally, I'm interested in info on the pickups.

Was going to keep one of the hollows and sell the other and the Squier, but after looking at all the home-built guitars, I may have to keep the Squier as a project guitar, and sell both hollows to finance it!



And a sibling shot...

Congratz! Welcome to the dark side! ;-)

I actually like the look of the yellowed Squier scratch plate. Mojo!

So how do they compare in terms of tone and playability? Which one has your preference?

[dreamingJazz]

Going to put the the NGD post here, as it's a Tele. I forced myself to read all 29 pages before posting, and it took 3 days!

So here's the story. I've been looking for a tone that I like without spending a fortune, and have tried a couple hollow bodies--Ibanez AF75 and Washburn J3 (their version of an ES-175). They were OK, but just didn't thrill me. Probably could improve things by upgrading the stock humbuckers, but given the surprising popularity of Telecasters, and impressive videos by Bickert, Greene, et al, I decided to dip my toes in the Telecaster water. (I previously played acoustic and an old Strat, but no Tele.)

So I found a Squier Affinity that was a couple years old, but pretty much unplayed. It has a slightly yellowed pick guard with a while sticker circle, but other than that, nice condition. That is a great guitar for the price and even though the tone wasn't perfect, it was so surprisingly good I decided to look for a full Fender version.

I found a 2008 American Standard at my local shop (so close to the house it's dangerous!) that looks almost mint--like it just spent 12 years in the case. The neck pickup is definitely giving me a nice tone. My only complaint is the pickup switch is close to the volume knob, and when it's in the bridge position, and I reach down to switch to the neck pup, I keep turning the volume down. The Squire has a better spacing.

So I do have a question for the Tele experts. Googling seems to have shown that in 2008 Fender made some changes to the Telecaster. Is there a good summary anywhere of the features of the 2008 model? Naturally, I'm interested in info on the pickups.

Was going to keep one of the hollows and sell the other and the Squier, but after looking at all the home-built guitars, I may have to keep the Squier as a project guitar, and sell both hollows to finance it!



And a sibling shot...

Specs; (some specs may not apply)
Model Name: American Standard Telecaster®
Series: American Standard Series
Body:
Ash on:
(721)** Natural, **add $100.00 for Special Wood Requirements,
Neck: Maple, Modern “C” Shape,

(Gloss Headstock Face with Satin Urethane Finish on Back of Neck)
Fingerboard: Maple (P/N 011-0502), 9.5” Radius (241 mm)
Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo Frets
Scale Length: 25.5” (648 mm)
Width @ Nut: 1.685” (42.8 mm)
Hardware: Chrome
Machine Heads: Fender® Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines
Bridge: American Tele with New American Standard Bent Steel Saddles and Stamped Brass Plate
Pickguard: 3-Ply Parchment On:
3-Ply Black On:
(721)** Natural,
Pickups: 2 American Tele® Single-Coil Pickups (Neck & Bridge)
Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups
Position 3. Neck Pickup
Controls: Master Volume, Master Delta ToneTM,
(The Delta ToneTM System Includes High Output Bridge Pickup and Special No-Load Tone Control)
(721)** Natural, (Ash Body),**add $100.00 for Special Wood Requirements,
(Urethane Finish)
Strings: Fender Standard TensionTM ST250L, Nickel Plated Steel,
Gauges: (.009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042),

[jim232777]

I actually like the look of the yellowed Squier scratch plate. Mojo!

Yeah, it actually looks OK with the sunburst color, but the white circle kills the effect!

So how do they compare in terms of tone and playability? Which one has your preference?

Well, I'm just now replying because I spent yesterday evening comparing them!
First of all, the Squier has several cheap parts that I'm sure are well-documented. For example, the pickup switch has almost as much sideways movement as in the normal direction, and the audio plug moves a lot in the output jack. However, some things aren't as bad as I've heard. I saw a youtube video that suggested replacing the tuners in an Affinity would be a good upgrade, but I haven't had trouble with them. Reasonably smooth, and stay in tune pretty well. That said, the Fender's staggered tuners are quite a bit smoother. So over all, the upgraded hardware is noticeable, and a point for the Fender. (As I did mention above, the Am Std pickup switch is too close to the volume control, so deduct a few points from it's score however.)

Some old reviews/descriptions of the 2008 Am Std mention the satin finish on the back of the neck. While it's less glossy than the front of the neck and the body, its far from what I would call satin. The Squier on the other hand has a true satin finish and is my favorite part of that guitar. It's neck isn't one-piece, though, as it looks like a maple veneer fretboard, much like you see with rosewood. It's hard to see, but visible. No skunk stripe. Until now all I've ever owned are rosewood, naturally without the high gloss found on the Am Std. The Squier has satin finish on the fretboard as well as the back, so I tend to like that. Other than finish, the Am Std has the nicer neck though, with bidirectional truss rod per specs. I'd call this a draw or narrow win for the Squier.

Finally on tone, I spent much time last night switching back and forth, playing the same thing on both guitars, focusing on the neck pickup and jazz sounds. Left the amp settings unchanged. I did the unscientific comparison of recording each with my cell phone and listening to it with headphones. In a tune dominated by highs they are hard to distinguish, but one dominated by the lows the Fender definitely had a richer, mellower tone. I'm playing them both with the light strings they came with, so that could have a huge influence. Unless I decide it's worth 2 sets of identical strings, changed at the same time and repeating the test, tone is a clear victory for the American Standard. Maybe I'll do that.

There is, of course, the fact that the Fender is string-through-body, and the Squier has them anchored to the bridge plate. Leo designed the through-body for a reason...

So over all, the American Standard--it does live up to the reputation as the nicer guitar to play. The Squier Affinity turns out to be an incredible guitar for the money though. Since it was a couple years old with the annoying sticker circle on the guard, the store gave it to me (and threw in a Fender gig bag) for $150. It's an enjoyable guitar to play. When I decided to get the better model, I figured I would sell it , but now I'm thinking it becomes a long term project--replace the electronics and find a pickup with a killer tone. Maybe then I transfer everything to a custom body & neck--all the partscasters in this thread have me drooling!

And just for fun, I'll add another picture. All of them being sunburst is purely coincidental--both the new Teles just happened to be deals that came along. Makes a great theme picture, though.

[Little Jay]

Jim232777, thank you for the elaborate review, much appreciated and very educational!

[Mark M.]

Jim, I have a set of Vintage Style Tele pickups that I swapped out of my 50’s Classic Lacquer. They sound good and would likely be an upgrade from what you have in your Squire. I also have a white single ply pickguard that came from the same guitar. I’ll throw that in. PM me if interested. The price I listed in the For Sale forum is flexible.