best bargain TELECASTER

My gosh, for 300 bucks this might be the best budget guitar on the market period:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ ... sku=519376

Mine just arrived yesterday, and I can't believe how cool this guitar is... especially for the $. It blows away the Mexican made "Fender" standard. Fit, finish and neck are all great, pick ups are very quiet, but they do what a Tele should. Body has nice pine wood grain showing through. Awesome action out of the box. Was considering this for a project guitar to convert into an Esquire, but for now I may just change the pickguard to white & add a switchcraft jack. Everything else seems to be of stellar quality.

Can't say enough about this guitar.... perfect for anyone that's considering a Tele without spending mucho dinero.

All I can say is that you got very, very lucky!

Being the cheapo that I am, I play Squiers in music stores all the time. I have literally played hundreds of them. I have found exactly 2 out of these hundreds that have been good. The first was a $189 Strat at Guitar Center. The second is a $279 black Tele Thinline that is still at Daddy's Junky Music in Shrewsbury, MA. I've seen every mistake and defect I've ever thought possible in a guitar with Squiers. The most common are the necks looking like roller coasters....then there's the tuners. Pull on the string and watch the tuner unwind.

You should buy a lottery ticket with that luck!!! Congrats....I love finding cheap but good guitars (I have a Stagg for my son.....worst reviewed guitar on the planet, but I found a good one used.......and had but sold an OLP Benji Madden sig which was very nice, but became redundant with later purchases)

jack

I'm with you Jack... Years ago I bought a Squier at that same Daddy's - it sucked!

walrus

Nah, the best bargain is to get the kit Tele from our very own Don:

http://www.sagamusic.com/catalog/images/TC-10.jpg

There's a lot of internet buzz about those Squier Classic Vibe series, and I have to say they do look very cool for the money - the whole series does.

Jack FFR1846 said:

All I can say is that you got very, very lucky!

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I really don't think so. There's dozens of Telecaster fanatics on the very well respected TDPRI board raving about these guitars. Not only that, but I own 3 much nicer/pricier Japanese made Fender Teles, and the fit, finish & overall quality of those have nothing over the Squier. Aside from a few expected cheap parts (namely the jack), this thing is pretty amazing... again, for 300 bucks.

For the record, I've always viewed Squiers as a joke too. Never played any I liked much at all until a few from the Affinity series in recent years. I'm converting mine into an Esquire so it will end up costing me around $450 total for the guitar, upgraded jack/pots, etc., new pick up & pickguard, but to me this guitar is worth well over $450 as is.

fungusyoung said:

For the record, I've always viewed Squiers as a joke too.

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I don't really view them as a joke. I go into places with an open mind. I tend to look for the jewel at the bottom of that haystack. I'll usually walk into a store, look for the cheap guitars and see if I can find something that plays really well for close to no money. That gets me playing a lot of Squiers, Peaveys and a ton of no name Chinese brands. I've found a few good ones (usually buy them) but play a TON of total junk.

I'm glad that people are finding good ones. The prices are certainly a lot more realistic. Maybe they send all the bad ones to my part of the world .

jack

Well, here she is all done & waiting in NJ for me to pick her up next week.....






Always wanted an Esquire, and this guitar felt like the perfect platform. Plus, I'd found THE pick up to use in the bridge some time ago... Harmonic Design's S90, which somehow replicates the growl and attitude of a P90 while maintaining the mojo of a Tele!

Very cool looking Tele Fungus! Congrats!

My daughter's first leckie was a Squier Strat she picked out at Sam Ash about 4 years ago. Shortly after she got it I found this website about how to improve it. We've never made the suggested upgrades because she got a Les Paul clone that she loves. But I might take on the project for the exercise, and because I might be playing it a little more often myself!

Click Here: :arrow: Squier Strat Re-work

Thanks or the link to your work, neat to have a guit. with your dna in it. I bought a bargin used USA made peavey preditor a few years ago, replaced the tuners,, but otherwise its pretty stock, except for the buckers at the bridge, S.D. hot rails me thinks, about 80 bucks. It pretty much looks and behaves like a strat, 5 way switch, I am a fingerpicker, but spending more time with a flatpick, and am watching all those chicken pickers out there...way cool but It'll take me some time to grow new styles, as I'm an old fart, I mean geezer, I mean your as old as you feel, no....bad back screws that up...hmmm I guess I'm a younger guy in an older body, or something......hmmmm.... I'll have to get back to you on that.... who wants to remember the sixties anyway? the 50s were better.......oops.......I'll shut up now..... :? Steffan

Thanks, Mark! Yeah, Fender/Squier platforms are often GREAT for mods. Leo knew exactly what he was doing in spite of how upset modern day FMIC folk get about people swapping genuine Fender parts for even better stuff (or much less expensive/comparable quality parts).