Cheri/Chevy Telecaster

Basic Tele Design with a beerbelly-friendly shaping on the backside. I modded mine with a four-way-switch. So it get's a 7 for being ab bit above standard Tele.

I added a four-way switch and replaced the complete wiring with shielded cable. With these mods the guitar is silent and offers a nice variety of tones. The pickups have only little output but a very nice tone. The neck-pu is very warm, but not dull, the bridge-pu delivers the classic tele-sound (maybe a bit softer than the original). With the fourth position (both pickups in series) I can get a nice gain boost an a thicker sound without touching my amp. I once owned a Fender Tele from '67 - the Chery is better !

The setup from factory was not too bad, I just did some minor adjustments. The woodwork ist good. I really like the neck - I tried the guitar in the shop and my left hand fell in love with the fretboard. The finish could be better, there were some minor flaws in the laquer.

Turning around in a narrow corner of my flat I accidently hit a wall with it - next I dusted off the guitar and went to repair the hole in the plaster. It's build like a tele, so what should go wrong.

what support ?

Hmm ... if it were stolen ...NO ONLY OVER MY DEAD BODY !
I really love this guitar. I actually sold my other electric.
For me it's a 10 but if I have to rate ist realistic a 8 is fair.

Cheri(first though it said "Chen" on the headstock)"Basic" Telecaster, classic black body, white scratchplate

Bought in 97 for #65 shopsoiled new . Hey,it's a tele copy you're expecting fancy gizmos?? I've done everything on this guitar, rewound the pickups,moved the bridge,new nut, multiple wiring insurrections.eteffingcetera.

Made from koreanwood -nice and solid anyway.

Good narrow tele neck.

I like tele type guitars and play anything good from LZ to Beethoven via some Iggy Pop and country on it .- I like the old mudsucker.

OKey diddly dokey, it was ok ish with the stock pickups but ....the bridge needed moving as it couldn't be intonated properly - this led to me breaking a pickup wire (amateurs!!) and eventually to rewinding both pickups. Eventually the tone pot and switch died and now the vol pot is on the way out.



I don't have time for any other hobbies apart from this guitar.

In it's defence it was ok as a cheapy knockabout guitar and can't complain at the price. it did the tele (copy)_ thing and even gave good Led Zep 1 tones as standard so 8/10 there .some fret unevenness/buzz as well. I happen to like my pickups, well someone has to, so now i give it a 9 cos the neck pickup is a bit too "scatty" wound--- mea culpa.

Now gives a decent range from jazz to LZ, even sounds a bit acousticy in the middle position.

Now it does a good bright tle, but not as sharp as a Route 101 Rincon
and as the pickups are low impedance i'd say it has a unique sound.

Dislike minor fret buzz.

The action sucked mellons . Stock PUs ok. all body routs ok, but frets 14,15 and 16 too high.Tuners are dung and will fall off if you sneeze-BUT_ strangely enough they keep it in tune quite well.Nut was most excrement. stock wiring was quiet - although the original tele-type vol and tone knobs fell off after about ,ooh, 4 days. Good solid wood body though, sustains and sings well for a single coil gtr,esp with new strings (10s).neck not in pacifica league ,but stilll very good for price.

Major components are solid - before mods it had been hit into a wall- in a drunken rock'n'roll moment and it can take the obligatory tank running over it.

I dont know how long this co. lasted for , they seemed to sell well in Europe

Fantastic guitar to learn about guitars on for this- 10/10.
As a guitar to pick up and walk out of the shop for #65 - 10/10.
As a guitar you paid full price for - you'd regret it so 4/10.

Anything else you'd like to share?- My LOVE..Humbugs and kisses.

My Cheri has a solid body coated with clear lacquer and a maple neck with 22 frets. It is a copy of the classic Tele with a modified headstock. The PU's had been changed to ROCKINGER Tele set (german brand). I have changed the 3-piece bridge to a 6-piece because I was not able to tune the guitar correct . I also changed the volume pot from 1Meg to 250k because the original one was to trebly ( there also had been a cap and a resistor at the vol pot which I eliminated too)

This modified Cheri is one of my favourite guitars. I use it from Jazz to Rock, and in every genre it has a killer sound. When playing jazz I roll off the treble and only use the neck PU. Whis Rock I use all combination of all PU with full treble.

I had to change the action at the saddle, that's it

Two words - rock solid

not needed

I've been playing for 25 years now and I own 48 guitars (you see, I'm 48 years old). This was my first Tele and I haven't regret it for one second that I've bought this gorgeous guitar. By the way it sound the best with a 30 year old german Echolette combo (18W)

No Cheri reviews as of yet? Well, short introduction.
Cheri made budget-priced strat and tele copies. I paid DM 480.- for
my Telecaster, but nonetheless, this is a very solid piece of gear.
It was made in '92 or '93 I guess (bought it new in 1993).
The company had to change its brand name to Chevy later due to legal issues,
or so I heard. The guitars were made in Korea, I think (removed the
sticker from mine).
Mine is an exaxt copy of a Fender Tele with a slightly modified headstock.
It's got 22 frets, and the stanard Tele electronics. It sports a solid
maple neck with skunk stripe on the back and a solid ash body (2 pieces).
The woodwork is extremely well done, better than a Fenix and not "budget"
at all. Stock, it had a black finish (others came in sunburst). The back
of the body is slightly carved like the back of a strat, if not as excessively.
As for the hardware, there's a flat Tele bridge with 6 round saddles.
String-thru-body setup. The rest is classic Tele. Very nice, sealed tuners.
The fretwork is perfect, the frets being a cross between vintage and jumbo.
Ah yes, the maple neck is ONE piece and pretty thick (fat D shape in the
upper registers, slight triangle towards the headstock. If it's finished,
it must be a very thin satin finish, but I doubt it's finished at all!
Everything is rock-solid. Dropped it several times, and it still works
like a Tele should! The hardware is of the heavy-duty solid kind, too.
The stock pickups were Cheri's own, very well done and good sounding.
I exchanged the bridge unit for a Duncan Broadcaster unit.
No accessories, no frills, what do you expect from a Tele???

Ok, we're talking Telecaster here. Variety? He, he... it does its thing
admirably well. Can't believe this thing was that cheap!
I play 70's rock style, using it with a Vox AC 30, tubescreamer, chorus
and delay. It sounded good stock, but now I've stripped the finish
(beautiful wood!) and put in the Broadcaster pickup. This thing is as
in-your-face as it gets. With the Duncan, it's not trebly or gritty at all,
it has that Tele ring and even through the Vox, the sound is round with
an edge, but not shrill. Great. That's the sound I was looking for.
Through the Tubescreamer (ts 10/808 mod) it's pure heaven.
The guitar sustains forever, due to its solid construction. I can feel
the vibration in my belly and in my left hand when fretting.
It's surprisingly heavy, but that adds to the sound, I think.
On the neck pickup (stock Cheri), the sound is very thick. I use that
for the rare solo with the TS 10/808, the tone is fat and singing.
If I turn down the volume knob, there is no high loss whatsoever.
There's a resistor and a capacitor on the pot, that's the secret I think.
The tone pot has a wide range, so I can get that fuzzed-out tone like
on "Cant't You Hear Me Knocking" on the Stones' "Sticky fingers".
I tried an open-G tuning, and instant Keef.
Overall, great bangy, clashy tone with a lot of impact and a bell-like
clarity. I like the quick response and the straightforward operation.
My main guitar, I plain love it.

Honestly, I can't remember the factory set-up, but I was in awe ever
since I picked it up. As I mentioned, the overall workmanship was damn
near perfect. Nice frets, great neck. Poor quality wood? You should see
this thing! Three pieces of solid wood, that's all! When I stripped the
finish, I was surprised. Just two blocks of nice grained ash.
The hardware was solid and has been ever since. Even the pots are still
fine. The nut is well fitted and precisely cut. Strings are anchored
on the back in brass(!) ferrules. I use .010 to .052 strings and it can
take them no problem. I'm thinking about switching to brass saddles, though.
As one would expect, changing the pickups has been a good idea. The stock units
(especially the bridge one) are somewhat flat-sounding, but far from
obnoxious. You could have gigged with this one straight away.

This thing will survive any abuse. Except for a flamethrower.
It's a Tele after all.

Didn't have to deal with them.

I've been playing for 19 years. I owned an Ibanez RG 550 for a long time,
but eventually I sold it. The sound was muddy and I didn't like the Floyd
Rose unit. The Tele is just the right plank for me. If it were lost,
I'd go for a Fender and stick a Duncan Broadcaster in there. But
I don't hope so! It should be clear by now that I love this guitar.
Those Cheris were incredible bang for the buck, I don't know if they still
make them. If so, I would consider getting their Strat also.