Squier Vintage Modified Tele Deluxe

[mr quick]

Still GASing for a tele. I don't want to spend too much dough on a "maybe, maybe not" type thing so I've been trying out some Squiers at the local music chain store(the only one, I might add).

I didn't really "bond" with the lipstick-pickup ones, although I found the fat matte necks nice. I did however, like the black Vintage Modified Tele Deluxe they had.

Here's a humbucker tele solo that's hard to forget (at 2:18)

specs here:
Vintage Modified Telecaster® Deluxe | Vintage Modified Series | Squier by Fender®


any thoughts on this?

[mr quick]

I just talked to the store manager, if I trade in my Squier baritone I might get a reduced price. Someone stop me!

[christianm77]

I dunno. I'm fed up of cheap guitars. The thing is there are so many toys around at the moment available that are tempting to buy, but I have to remind myself that they are just toys, and it's just stuff that I won't use and will ending up cluttering my space and life.

I have too many cheap guitars I don't play already.

My advice - save up and get a good, professional (i..e. US or Japanese, perhaps high end Mexican) Tele. It will serve you well. If you buy second hand, you won't be losing too much money either if you decide to sell it on.

The more expensive Squiers are good student guitars though, but I think on gigs you notice the difference.

[Boston Joe]

My advice - save up and get a good, professional (i..e. US or Japanese, perhaps high end Mexican) Tele. It will serve you well. If you buy second hand, you won't be losing too much money either if you decide to sell it on.

I'd agree. The Mexican made ones are fantastic deals and there are plenty on the used market.

But Christian, I've got to say, I think my Tele was the least expensive of any of my guitars, and it's the one I use the most. (Granted, it's a Highway 1, which, though inexpensive, was always intended to be a solid player's guitar.)

[rabbit]

Take heart, and don't be too quick to underestimate a good 'Squier.'

[christianm77]

I'd agree. The Mexican made ones are fantastic deals and there are plenty on the used market.

But Christian, I've got to say, I think my Tele was the least expensive of any of my guitars, and it's the one I use the most. (Granted, it's a Highway 1, which, though inexpensive, was always intended to be a solid player's guitar.)

Teles are cheap guitars to make, and easy to make well, compared to say Gibson L5's.

I just worry about inferior quality materials that will age quickly. There's already quite a bit of corrosion on the metal parts on my Chinese made instruments, and TBH while it's all replaceable, it's also hassle.

[MilesPG]

I got a CV 50's a couple of months ago, can't belive how good does it sound, all stock. It's full and warm, and the neck is awesome, very thin neck btw, be careful with those Squiers if you like chunky necks.

[jim777]

A lot of the new Squier basses are very well made for the price, I would assume (but not guarantee, obviously) that the guitars are similar in that regard.

[Boston Joe]

Teles are cheap guitars to make, and easy to make well, compared to say Gibson L5's.

I just worry about inferior quality materials that will age quickly. There's already quite a bit of corrosion on the metal parts on my Chinese made instruments, and TBH while it's all replaceable, it's also hassle.

Yeah, but corrosion on Tele parts just makes them look cool.

[Thumpalumpacus]

YGTII is one of my favorite Dan numbers.

The good thing about Squiers is that you don't spend deep money on a guitar only to find you really don't care for it. "Why not?" I say.

[Al_F]

Yep, got a cv50, it is unbelievably good!

[rlrhett]

Cheap guitar can be really hit or miss. I don't think you can apply a rule like Squires are good or bad. You are just far less likely to find a good one.

I has a Squire Strat that was really bad. In fact, it bummed me out so much that it was so bad and my friend's American Standard such a joy to play that I decided to make my own. 15 years later I now have a side business making custom acoustic archtop guitars with carbon fiber sound boards!

I've seen unplayable Loars, terrible Epi's, and an Ibanez that felt like it had dropped into a vat of polyurethane and some one said, "good enough!"

On the other hand I hear many stories of people who have picked up Chinese made guitars for a few hundred bucks and LOVE them.

No brand/model guitars are all good or all bad. Some just have many more good ones and some more bad ones. If you find a Squire you love, get it.

Word of caution: beware of the insidious distorting effect of GAS and new car smell syndrome.


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[Al_F]

The CV50's really are consistently good. Everything has a catch though with Classic vibes its weight, some are heavy, les paul territory heavy, including mine.

[Boston Joe]

I just looked at the specs on the Vintage Modified. I like the WRH pups, but I'm not sure about the Strat style bridge. I haven't A/B them, but I have this gut feeling that the T-bar style saddles are pretty integral to the Tele vibe.

[GNAPPI]

Some "cheap" teles are real nice. The "Classic Vibe" models are inexpensive enough to dump the lipstick pups inexpensively.

If you haven't seen them the Douglas tele clones at rondo
music are less than $170 and are pretty darn good.

Here's mine:

[jazzbow]

Squier guitars are so divisive as well as their quality.
If you do some research you can find previous incarnations of teles, strats and p bass that are quality through and through.

As for durability I think the cheaper affinity series would fail miserably with any prolonged usage as a touring/pit player.

Check out a music shop with the usual wall 'o fender and have yourself a Tele day. Don't worry over the cheapness of parts cause you can change that later.

My jazz Tele journey started with a second hand 60's Squier custom Tele bought for the sole purpose of modding.
I've ended up with my perfect Tele for the same cost of a brand new Squier custom Tele.
For me its a wow guitar.

[Alder Statesman]

As suggested, avoid the cheaper Tele's. There are some decent MIM's out there both new and used.

OTOH, Fender is up to something and discontinuing the American Standard line. You can currently find an Am Std new for the best price in a few years. Only rumors, but it is guessed that only the really high end stuff will be made in the States. This is certainly the case with amps with the MIM Bassbreaker line supplanting the MIA Super Sonics. I agree that the Bassbreakers are not bad and yeah lots of guys dig their MIM HRD's and BDR's. I can assure you my MIA Blues Deluxe was a better amp than the MIM Blues Deluxe Reissue.

I had a hunch early in the year and replaced my Korean Epi and God knows where it was made Mustang for MIA Tele and MIA Super Sonic 22. Am I glad I went with my gut for a change. If you can swing it, get MIA's while they last.

Just my opinion.

[GNAPPI]

Yeah, leave the cheapies alone, ESPECIALLY those Mexican ones... hang on... better buy another brand completely then because I "think" they hire Mexican nationals in Cali. :-)

My Mexican teles are every bit as good as anything made in Cali.

[Boston Joe]

Yeah, leave the cheapies alone, ESPECIALLY those Mexican ones... hang on... better buy another brand completely then because I "think" they hire Mexican nationals in Cali. :-)

My Mexican teles are every bit as good as anything made in Cali.

Yeah, I have to laugh because the distance between the factory in Fullerton and the factory in Ensenada is only 180 miles. You think the foremen and managers aren't making regular trips between the two?

[Peppe]

As many others have already said squiers are really dangerous since one might sound great while another might be a white piece of wood... I own a mex strat that luckily sounds great and is made of really good woods (as my luthier says), but my teacher bought one a few years ago and it was a horrible instrument. If u can try it and then decide, but of course metallic parts won't last long..

[christianm77]

As suggested, avoid the cheaper Tele's. There are some decent MIM's out there both new and used.

OTOH, Fender is up to something and discontinuing the American Standard line. You can currently find an Am Std new for the best price in a few years. Only rumors, but it is guessed that only the really high end stuff will be made in the States. This is certainly the case with amps with the MIM Bassbreaker line supplanting the MIA Super Sonics. I agree that the Bassbreakers are not bad and yeah lots of guys dig their MIM HRD's and BDR's. I can assure you my MIA Blues Deluxe was a better amp than the MIM Blues Deluxe Reissue.

I had a hunch early in the year and replaced my Korean Epi and God knows where it was made Mustang for MIA Tele and MIA Super Sonic 22. Am I glad I went with my gut for a change. If you can swing it, get MIA's while they last.

Just my opinion.

Yeah the missus bought a American Deluxe Tele back in Jan for a reduced price (they have Elites now?). I think they are even cheaper now. Solid guitars.

It seems likely that Fender will mostly outsource to Mexico. They already build their Princetons there.

The workmanship may be no better in the US. But AFAIK the cheaper labour does not account for the full reduction in price seen by the consumer - there are significant savings made in components and materials on the cheaper models.

[matt.guitarteacher]

But AFAIK the cheaper labour does not account for the full reduction in price seen by the consumer - there are significant savings made in components and materials on the cheaper models.

I'd think that that "reduction" in price is more about the INCREASE of price on the upper end. I think the price is outpacing value.

I have a relatively inexpensive squire. Never owned a fender. Mostly play acoustic. I'm frankly very skeptical about supposed levels of increased workmanship for the more expensive fenders. The truth is that most manufacturers build a good, better and best. They install different design "features" in cheaper models which are really no "cheaper" in terms of production costs, which have the effect of making the cheaper model look like a piece of crap next to the "good" one. Neck profiles, for example, are not really a hand finishing factor. There's no cost advantage to having a different neck on the squire, but there is a very serious advantage in terms of marketing and "sellability". It's more about purposefully designing flaws as selling points for the next level than merely decreasing costs. To a large degree, Squires are DESIGNED to sell Fenders, just as Corollas are designed to sell Camrys.

I'd like to have a fender eventually, but I hate the pricing on them. I'd almost rather give money to some custom builder than these old companies whose production costs (and quality control apparently) steadily decrease, while jacking prices beyond what seems reasonable. Maybe I'm wrong. That's just the vibe I get from hearing people talk about buying them.

[christianm77]

I'd think that that "reduction" in price is more about the INCREASE of price on the upper end. I think the price is outpacing value.

I have a relatively inexpensive squire. Never owned a fender. Mostly play acoustic. I'm frankly very skeptical about supposed levels of increased workmanship for the more expensive fenders. The truth is that most manufacturers build a good, better and best. They install different design "features" in cheaper models which are really no "cheaper" in terms of production costs, which have the effect of making the cheaper model look like a piece of crap next to the "good" one. Neck profiles, for example, are not really a hand finishing factor. There's no cost advantage to having a different neck on the squire, but there is a very serious advantage in terms of marketing and "sellability". It's more about purposefully designing flaws as selling points for the next level than merely decreasing costs. To a large degree, Squires are DESIGNED to sell Fenders, just as Corollas are designed to sell Camrys.

I'd like to have a fender eventually, but I hate the pricing on them. I'd almost rather give money to some custom builder than these old companies whose production costs (and quality control apparently) steadily decrease, while jacking prices beyond what seems reasonable. Maybe I'm wrong. That's just the vibe I get from hearing people talk about buying them.

You are probably right, but as much as I think Squiers are cool, I wouldn't trust one to gig with TBH. Snobbish? Perhaps.... But I have a lot of experience (20 years+) gigging low end instruments heavily. Build quality generally not an issue, electronics and metal parts, more so.

Personal taste - well, I tried pretty much every Tele in the shop including the lower end stuff, and in the end asked after the one that didn't even have a price tag on. It happened to be a American Deluxe, second hard (win!) My wife ordered one off Thomann just because she liked mine so much (no really) and I can confirm it is a really good guitar IMO and very similar to mine. I think they are pretty consistent from my limited experience.

I think you just have to try them as someone else said, but I also feel with a higher end guitar that it will have better components and finish and will need less messing around with. I can also sell it on - I was really happy about it being second hand.

Anyway, just my 2p's worth. I might also add that one of the things I actually like about Fender is all their non-custom shop model guitars look pretty much the same unlike Gibson. The high-end Squiers look great, the Baja telecasters are knock outs to look at, I can't see that they make them 'look cheap' at all.

If anything the American Deluxes (now Elites?) look a little lack lustre - the paint jobs aren't classic and they have modern bridges etc, funny truss rod adjusters on the new models. To me, they make concessions to the player rather than to the eye.

As always YMMV...

[matt.guitarteacher]

Most of my money has gone into acoustic gigging instruments. I'm not a gigging jazz musician.

I have no doubt the fenders are better and more consistent. I just have a problem with the amount of value per dollar.

All of the technological improvements which have benefited lower end manufacturing are present for upper end construction costs as well. Yet, prices outpace any kind of logic. I think most consumers would be shocked at the decrease in human labor, even in upper end instruments in recent years.

1997's $600 acoustic guitar is now being sold for $150. This is even evident in fender's entry-level acoustics. Fantastic inexpensive acoustic instruments. There is so much more difficulty in building consistent acoustic instruments versus solid body electrics, in my opinion, whether you're talking human labor or machine labor.

I just can't sink that much money into something that, for now, is more hobby. As a musician you have to compete in the commodities market with collectors who, I guess, ate hanging out on a wall somewhere?

I'll eventually look at modding whatever I've got probably. The fact that modding these guitars is still so viable, even while low prices from modern manufacturing has undercut the financial benefit of "tweaking your own" for almost any other product (besides electric guitars), says something about the value versus price IMO.

[christianm77]

I'd be seriously tempted to try one of these if I was shopping for a tele now. I just think they look great. Pretty credible guitars too by the sound of it.

Reverend Stu D. Baker Signature Midnight Black - Guitar.co.uk