Austin AU762CR Tele

Black '62 standard, tele copy with the standard tele equiment, pickups, bridges, volume and tone knob. Some very nice tuners I only have to tune my guitar once a week, at most, and I am really picky about what's in tune. Bought mine new in 2006 says made in China. Smaller frets. After I restrung the guitar myself I noticed that whenever I play the g string open it buzz uncontrolablly. Problems is that the strings run against the string's saddles, like a bass. The high strings buzz real bad. Just shove a piece paper between the strings and springs. Not many features, expect less is more.

I play alot of early electric blues and jazz, (howlin wolf, muddy waters, robert nighthawk, Django reinhardt, Christan, etc.). I also play a bit of british invasion stuff,(yardbirds, Led Zepplin, Hendrix) and to top it off some alternative (Dinosaur jr, Pavement,Modest Mouse) and it is absoulty perfect for all of these. With the bridge pickup and the tone knob all the way up it has loads of twang. Switch to the neck pickup and turn down tone, it is absoultly perfect for jazz. This guitar is bright and pure. This thing blows away the Fender Standard Telecaster.

The action on the guitar higher than normal, which is the way I like it. The guitar is well setup. The finish on the neck is perfect, many cheap guitars become sticky in the summer because of really heavy finish, or feel coarse because there isn't enough. A real fat neck, if you like that.

never had any problems

no expierence

I have been playing for three years now,owned this guitar since my squier se-100 (terrible guitar). I love the clarity,raunch,twang, and overall warmth. It plays fanatastic too. I choose this over the Epiphone Speacil II, better sound and playablity. I run this guitar through EHX Double Muff fuzz pedal, and into Fender pro Junior tube amp.

Cream colored "62 Standard" (not 62 professional) with maple neck and board. Made in China. Standard Telecaster contours and electronics layout (two pickups). Nice headstock hape. Tuners are Chinese Schaller copies. I took the guitar apart as soon as I got it to be sure it was a solid wood body as advertised and not a plywood. Indeed it is. Probably basswood. Came with a hardshell case. The setup was amazingly poor. I bought it cheap after talking with an Austin representaive and getting a good vibe. I had to file the edges of the frets, repair a gouge in the neck pocket (easy... fill it and sand it), steel wool the frets which were dark gray and unpolished (though leveled), and remove and reset the nut, which was off-center slightly. I also elected to spray another 4 coats of polyurethane over the entire neck, back and fretboard, and dabbed poly into the truss rod hole. The factory finish on the fretboard was lame. But the neck was really fine. The body finish is excellent, except for an overzealous chisel job in the neck pocket. I also brushed polyurethane into the pocket to seal it and bond the unfinished pocket to the outer-body finish. As I said, I took the whole thing apart. The wiring was good. All heavy gauge. The hardware is all good. "Allparts" grade stuff. The pickguard was cut a little hastily in some areas, but an easy thing to file. Came with a decent TKL hardshell case.

Features? It's a telecaster.

After all my "renovations" I put it back together and set it up for 11 gauge strings. I found the sound to be ridiculously good. Very warm, but definitely a tele. It plays great. Tuners are solid. Truss rod needed quite a few turns to handle the 11's, but she came around and is holding steady. The strings are top mounted in the bridge... body does not have string-through ferrules, but will support them (i.e. holes are predrilled in bridge plate). I may drill through the body and set it up as a string-through, but it really sounds fine the way it is and I'm not sure it's worth risking chipping the finish on the back of the body.

Terrible factory setup. See my description in "features." I was able to get it into great shape. The basic elements are quite good. Hasty assembly.

I'd take it out without backup. Not much to worry about once you've got it set up properly.

Couple year warranty. I called Austin before I bought it. Super folks at Austin.

I play professionally. I have three high quality custom strats. Needed a telecaster but had no budget. Took a shot. Got a diamond in the rough in need of a serious polish. They make higher end models which are probably great right out of the gate.

I made my decision to pursue this guitar after reading the first review here at harmony central. I'm glad I did. Obviously the price is stupidly low. I think they sell retail for like $200 or less. If you've got time to fuss with them, they're better than Squiers. All the squiers I've played are plywood. If you can afford a real Fender, yeah, buy a great non-Squier Fender. But if you're looking for some raw ingredients that can be trained into a fine tele, this is the way to go.

This gem of a guitar was made in China. This is meant to be a low price replica of a '62 Telecaster. THe features are pretty much along those lines. 1 Lipstick Pick, 1 single coil, and a 3 way switch, all stock. Maple neck and fret board. The bridge is a standard Tele style bridge with a hole for the slanted treble pickup. The color is a cream color. The tuning engines are sealed type. I bought it for a discount due to finish flaws, but normally on their main line guitars, they do a good job.

The sound on this guitar is very likable, although the pickups are just a little too hot to be a true Tele. However, the pickups do give you a vintage sound. I took it for a test drive at my last big band rehersal, and other than a little hum(which is normal for Teles), it did the job. Also a good rock/funk/blues guitar.

This thing played well out of the box. This is one of my best playing guitars!!!Did not have to do any adjustment. Action is nice and low!!!

I have already played live with it, and it went over like a smash!!! As far a durability, so far so good.

I have been playing 30+ years. I have owned guitars in all price ranges. I own too much gear to list, but I will happily say this is my second Austin Purchase. I love the way it plays, looks, and sounds. This guitar takes me back to old LP's I listened to from the 60s. Other than that hum, there is really nothing I do not like about this guitar. If I were to lose this one, I may upgrade to the Era 62 Professional model.(The higher level Austin Tele model)

This should be a definite consideration for a decent Tele ax on a budget.