Fender Squier Telecaster Custom II

No need to recap the features, its been covered...

P90s sound HUGE. Impressed with the quality of the duncan designed. I play progressive rock and a little bit of wierd stuff like MGMT. Use a Fender Super Champ XD. Noticed a hum when either bridge or neck was selected, not when both were selected. Impressed with this $200 guitar.

Purchased used. The previous owner had adjusted action intonation appropriately. However, i did notice that the fret wire on 18 was taller that 17. I had to file down 18 until the note for 17 could be played. Although it was a minor problem, it was an unpleasant surprise.

It's too new to know. It seems like it will last.

no problems

I'm fairly new (2 years) but I do know whats sh*t and what isn't. I must say at first I didn't give this one a chance but when i plugged it in, whoa. Squier has really done it on this one. It plays as well as my buddies Epiphone LP custom and sounds better too! Forget the named brand labelling, this is the real deal. (I do recommend a pro set-up or just a thorough check up at home).

This guitar looks like a Telecaster '72 Deluxe but with two p90s and a regular tele headstock instead of the CBS strat one. The neck feels nice and has a fine satin coating. Mine is black but it comes in a greeny-yellow finish as well. The body wood is agathis (which is supposedly similar to alder wood) and the neck is maple with a maple fingerboard. Other than that, everything is pretty straight forward really.

I was very surprised and impressed by the quality and playability of this guitar! Technically, I bought it second hand but the original owner had only played it for about 3 hours in total after having it set up. It was in flawless physical condition and the setup was a great job. The intonation is very near perfect and the guitar stays in tune well. Again, you have to take into consideration the quality vs price.

I like the pickups on this guitar. To me, they sound fairly humbucker-ish. They definitely have a nice jangle and I'd say these pickups are best suited to some sort of rock-based genre of playing. I'm not sure whether it's the light gauge of strings on this guitar or the body wood or something else but there isn't a huge amount of attack in the sound. That's the area I'd say the guitar seems it's cheapest. I like all of the pickup positions though. The bridge is nice, the neck is good and has a good balance of warmth and brightness (not muddy at all) and the middle selection on the 3-way toggle switch is very useful as well. These pickups are wound in a way that when you use the middle setting they are hum cancelling. Honestly, the noise doesn't bother me at all and I haven't thought about it (I'd read lots of noise comments). My original guitar was a Schecter Tempest Custom with a Kent Armstrong 'Motherbucker' in it (ridiculous name, ridiculous pickup) and I'd say they output the same amount of noise. It's not particularly noticeable IMO.

All in all, good balanced tone! Versitile guitar.

Mine had been setup when I recieved it and it was done really well. The intonation is great and the guitar is put together very well. I'm not savvy with this kind of thing so I'm not really sure what to look for but everything seems to be put together well and there are no loose or suspiscious looking screws or hardware. Everything is straight and adjusted well. I'd recommend you getting this guitar set up but I'd probably recommend that for any guitar purchase.

I would depend on this guitar in a live situation. The strap buttons seem very solid and the hardware really does seem fine! I found the tuners to be surprisingly nice and smooth and it has held in tune very well. I bought this guitar to be used as a backup but I intend on making it very much the main guitar for now. I'd like to put new saddles on, a new nut and new tuners. I don't think this guitar necesarily needs those things but for the price I definitely think it would be worth doing to have a great sounding instrument with high quality hardware. I can understand why people don't like the feel of the 3-way switch as it's very weak and feels cheap but it's not loose or anything of that nature. The output jack seems completely fine to me but it's such a small price to replace I figure I may as well just upgrade all of the hardware at once.

All in all, the hardware is totally fine and the guitar will withstand hours of playing and hold tune though it does feel a little bit cheap in some ways though I can't quite put my finger on why.

I've not ever used customer support. I can't see that you'd really need to..

I have been playing for about 6 or 7 years I suppose. I use this guitar with an '83 JCM 800 2203 amplifier. If it were stolen from me I'd be really pissed off. Chances are I would replace it because it's so fantastic for the price. I think once I upgrade parts of this guitar I will become a lot more attached to it than I am now. I have a MIUSA Fender 96 Tele too which is a beautiful guitar but I don't really feel that the Squier is inadequate. They sound very different from one another and I find them both useful. I really like the satin finish on the neck over gloss and this guitar is quite light weight too.

Overall, I'm extremely pleased! A fantastic guitar for anyone. If you are buying your first guitar I'd definitely recommend this guitar and as many others have done, it's a good guitar to buy for upgrades or any modding curiosities. I'm interested in doing that at some stage - maybe repainting the body or putting a new neck on..

Highly recommended! Plays and sounds fantastic. Great value.

>> Made in Indonesia, 2007
>> 23 frets
>> 3 way selector, two volume controls, and two tone controls
>> Maple neck
>> Medium-Jumbo frets

Great to play :)
Looks awesome :)

I'm a young guitarist, and have only been playing for around a year and a half, and recently bought my first electric. A Fender Squier Telecaster Custom II in black. I only have basic equipment because I'm learning, so I play it normally through a Fender Frontman 15R amp.
I play anything from Blink-182 through to Death Cab For Cutie on this guitar, and this guitar plays all styles well.
I play with the basic pick-ups that were in the guitar when I bought it. I can't say it is noisy, because my neck pick-up hasn't worked from day one, so that's going to be fixed soon. Although, the one pick-up that works, works brilliantly, and produces a high quality sound.

Apart from the neck pick-up not working at all, I would say that the guitar was set up quite well. When I first had it, the three higher strings were slightly rusted from in-store demonstration and use, though I did speak to the guy at the store and he replaced the top strings free of charge.

I have no idea if it will withstand live playing, because I only play at lessons and in my living room at home. The hardware does seem prety strong, and the strap buttons are very solid. Finish wise - I think that it will last, and won't wear off with lots of playing because it seems as though it is a good quality piece of equipment.

I'm getting the neck-pick up repaired soon, and I spoke to the company and they sorted it out with our music store, and it is under warranty (7 year warranty).

Other than this guitar, I own a Fender Frontman 15R amp, and some random cheapo nylon string acoustic which is practically worthless haha.
I would probably by the Fender Telecaster '72 if ever something happened to this one, although this guitar is great for a beginner like me.

i got a "blonde" one(which is a kinda off yellowish green color) a few years back and i loved it from the start. the only things is i upgraded a few things and it's a much better guitar than it was out the doors of the music store, and that's impressive. it was already a great guitar. i've replaced all the electronics with switchcraft components exept the pickups. i put a tusk nut on it, the strings starts widdling their way into the (plastic)nut causing tuning problems. replaced the string trees with roller ones, and replaced the saddles with string saver saddles. i was going to re-finish it with another color and it turns out that no paint stripper would take any of the finish off of it, i have no idea what the heck they used, but you can bet the finish it comes with will survive for years of playing. i ended up sanding it down and i loved what was underneath the gloss. it actually looks blonde now, and in some places, i sanded it thinner and in some, down to the wood. so it looks like an instrument that i have been playing every night for 15 years.

i play all kinds of music, from punk to gospel. and it does all of them just fine, not a one trick pony. i've played it through many amps....didn't sound very well with solid state amps, muddied up real bad when palm muting and over all playing. i've used it through a fender roc pro 1000 and it sounded amazing. through a blue voodoo 212 combo and it was a unique sound(very middish) handled well with low gain over the high gain. and now i'm running it through a peavey classic 50 4x10 combo and i think it may be a match made in heaven for me. it has that "clash" guitar sound that i love. and it's extremely responsive with that amp. the softer i play the cleaner it sounds, the harder the dirtier. it's sounds like a fat dark tele. i love it.

when i bought it it wasn't set up too shabby, but i did have to make some minor adjustments, no idea why but the strings were rusted to hell when i got it and i had to adjust the neck a little bit. other than that it was good to go.

i've been beating this guitar up for a few years and have had one problem with it...the neck pickup has a tendency to go out on me every once in a while, i mean it just wont work. so i open it up, jiggle some wires around and it comes back to life. it's no problem though, the bridge pickup will work fine if it comes to it, just a little more jangly. and with all the add ons and change outs i've done on it, i'm always positive it'll make some noise everytime i plug it in.

never bothered or needed it.

i've been playing for 14 years now and people always look at me funny because it's a squire and my main guitar, but they are impressed when they play it and hear it. i always say that it's the best "lower" priced guitar that i've ever played and owned. it would be a sad day if it dissapeared, i would def buy another one. it's a very versatile guitar, not nearly as fat as a les paul, but not as nasal and jangly as a tele(which there's nothing wrong with that sound by the way). seems to fit right in the middle of it.

No need to recap the features, its been covered...

I love it. I love tele's anyway and always wanted to try a P-90 one. For a cheap squier it is incredible. I have owned more Tele's than is probably healthy in one lifetime, and have loved some, and sold others on, unimpressed. No. 1 factor is always the sound of course and I am not sure that this isn't the best sounding Tele I have ever owned!

I learned a long time ago that the sound that comes out of a tele has little to do with how much you pay for it, I know others will disagree but I have paid a lot for USA built vintage and new teles, Japanese ones, built my own partscasters, and had various copies and squiers. There is virtually no correlation between price and tone in my experience - and this guitar proves it.

I have a blonde one - they only come in blonde or black, and I hate the way black bodies show up every fingermark. The finish is pretty good.

One crit is the fret ends could have been better rounded off - I have seen worse but I will probably get them done some time.

The nut was cut OK on mine out the box (I have seen other Squiers with nuts not cut low enough)

The jack is loose already, time to fit an electrosocket!

Action out the factory is irrelevant to me, I always do a full setup anyway. No problems setting it the way I like.

For gigging, fit an electrosocket, don't think twice, just do it. That joke thing they fit in the factory will let you down pretty soon.

While you are in there, maybe put a better quality switch in and you are all set. Leave everything else alone, it works great and is well made.

This is a superb sounding and musically inspiring cheap guitar IMHO. I hope they are all as good as mine out of the factory.

I hope the guys that made it in Indonesia get paid a fair wage - they did a good job.

Flawless Mary-Kay finish (over ASH), black (70's) pickguard, six saddle string thru bridge , string trees and adequate tuners stay in tune just fine. Twenty-two medium frets on a single peice of maple, very smooth and familiar to play.
Two volume and two tone controls that respond just as they should, Three way large toggle to fetch the very best of these DUNCAN DESIGN P-90 pick-ups

Sound always comes from the hands but this value market guitar sure helps a LOT! A sound heavier than a single coil, less "DESTROY" than a humbucker. Smooth rich Jazz thru a Polytone and Fender G-dec, add tremolo get the DOORS, clean up with a Blackface or Tweed and seriours blues are found, add fuzz/distortion get Smashing Pumpkins.

If you rake your fingers over the pickguard on mine... you get a vinylizer effect. What I mean is, the pick guard has an issue that causes a great deal of static when your hand touches it while strumming. This will be fixed with a little aluminium tape use for heat shield or for air conditioning duct sealing. I like to laugh with the guys and add a little vinyl sound at the end of a tune by squeegee-ing my index finger back and forth across the plastic. I like.

Bought it from Pierre Nicol at EMF in Granby for a song... and change. Set-up by a pro who likes what he does. The routing looks precise, the fit and attention to centering of the parts, indicates that the floor manager in Indonesia was doing a fine job on the day mine was made.
Screws are all counter sunk properly, no tool marks, drips or debris.

The guys in the packaging dept. spared no expense in wrapping it up. Goodgolly, there was a lot of clear plastic on this one, they may be paid by sq. foot.
Fabulous sounds.... effeminate. I'll say "The out of the box experience" was a good one.

I know it will handle a lot of playing, I change guitars a lot for live, Baritone, another "real Tele" with bigsby, blah blah.

No problem.

5 year from Fender, I have 2 fender dealers not far from home. If they want Christmas cards, they will fix it.

Playing 25 years, 50 amps, over 100 guitars. Today I own a nice lightweight Polytone and Fender G-dec, Pheonix (japan) Tele with Fender 56 tuners, pickups and Bigsby, Value market Baritone, others.

The body is nice to look at, espescially from Squier. It is all high gloss black with that massive blck pickguard, it just looks so retro. The setup is just like a Les Paul with 2 P90's. Two volume, two tone and a 3 way toggle switch. Like I had said before, it has 2 Duncan Designed P90 pickups which, for pickups that are built in Korea, totally kick ass, HONESTLY! I played the Godin LG SP90 with the 2 Seymour Duncan SP90's and these sound almost identical. I think if you were to put these pickups in that guitar they would sound the same. It actually has a string through body design, can you believe that, with a hardtail strat style bridge and just some basic tuners but they seem to work

Like I mentioned before, great. I was looking for a good guitar with P90's on a tight budget and tried the Epiphone 56 Goldtop, Godin LG SP90, Hamer Sunburst and this Squier. The Godin was almost my choice but I just can't get into this space age design body style they have going on, but if you like the look of it try it out because it really rocks. It has a very Different sound then any other single coil pickup and has alot more power then the average ones to. I find you get very good note definition when you use single coils but alot of them just dont have the beef behind them for me to rock hard enough. Thats where P90's come into play. These P90's are awesome lots of power and lots of clarity, a good backup for a Strat or a Les Paul or just use it on its own (like I do). My only quarrel is the hum these pickups produce, the 60 cycle hum seems to be alot crazier on P90's but it is'nt bad enough, for me anyways, to put it down. I am probably going to by a hum eliminator and a noise gate. Bottom, line these pickups rock, very Dean Deleo.

The action, off the rack, was great, intonation was perfect, no body flaws and pickup height was awesome. Great guitar for the price, seriously. Now, I have heard and read alot of bad reviews about the way these guitars come "out of the box" but I think this one was setup and had a good once over before it was put on the shelf because it was an excellent feeling guitar right away. On another note it is a very heavy guitar, espescially for a Fender/Squier. Must be agathis wood.

The paint seems strong and thick and I do beleive it will withstand live playing. The hardware seems fine, not the highest quality (no big name stuff) but very workable and holds its tuning very well. I am positive I can depend on it but I always have a backup, no matter what I use. The only quarrel I have is the neck. The Squier website states that it has a "Gloss Polyurethane Finish" but that does'nt feel very strong, protection wise I mean. I am just worried that a couple years of harsh and ever changing Candian weather might really do a number on the neck and it could require a replacement. But we will see, plus I like the feel of the finnish, it is soft, non sticky and very fast.

Have'nt had to deal with them.

I have been playing for 14 years and I currently own a Fender Telecaster (mexi), an American Standard Stratocaster, Gibson Swamp Ash Studio Les Paul and this Squier. I run them all through a Traynor YCV40 for my clean channel with a Marshall JCM800 combo for my drive/distortion channel with an A/B switch to change amps (SWEET). I use an MXR double shot distortion, marshalls beautiful amp distortion, Boss OD1, Danelectro Rocky Road and a Dunlop Jimi Hendrix wah and all 4 of these guitars equally. We play a kind of Army of Anyone meets Breaking Benjamin style of music so you need versatility when it comes to guitars. I need one more guitar to acheive my "total ton plan", and that is a Gibson ES-335 and I will be done. But as far as a guitar with P90's go's I dont need another one because I now have all the P90 I need in this sweet, inexpensive little number. If it was stolen I would be calling my insurance company right away and if you look in the sound column you will see that I did in fact compare it with several other lower priced, P90 equipped guitars. All in all it was a great purchase on my part and I would'nt trade it for anything, maybe one day if I get sick of the hum I will put some Seymour Duncan SP90's in it, but until that happens I am content. $340 Canadian is a small price to pay for such a great guitar, thanks Fender/Squire.

If you're a p-90 fan this guitar has 2 tone and volume knobs and a switch, i don't think anything else in this price range with p-90s does.everything else about the guitar is decent or average quality, i have no complaints.

well p-90 equiped guitars are not for everybody but i sure dig them. I play a sort of retro 60"s/punk and this guitar sure delivers on the british invasion 60s jangle. It's also great for distortion with a nice subtle jangle on the high end, a little noisy though ( nothing too bad) but that just makes it all the more retro. It would also make a great blues guitar..If you're lookig for a strat or les paul sound than you won't like it but if you want to find your OWN sound, keep an open mind and spend some time with it.

The guitar came mail order from elderly instruments and all the set up work had been done by them, the action and intonation were flawless, the hardware decent, the only thing about it that seems cheap is that it doesn't say "fender" on the headstock. A lot of people can't deal with that...But if you want a great guitar and don't buy in to status symbols you should check it out!

like i said earlier, it has average hardware, the woods and stuff seem comparable to the mexi-strats and teles. I woulld have a back up though, no matter what guitar i play.

i have had no problems so i dont know

Ive been playing pro to semi pro for 10 years, and have owned a standard strat, a peavy T60, a 1967 fender mustang and a couple of other Squires. this is the first Squier I've owned that is really nice, it has a lot of charachter and a fantastic sound. Other people on this website have had trouble with quality control but that was all taken care of for me. Just get it from somwhere that gives you a free set up which i guess it needs judging by the other reviews

Blonde, tele string thru, maple neck/fb, 2005, pair of P90s, agathis body.

Stock PUs lack dynamics and nuance. Potentiometers are barely adequate.

Cheese grater fret ends and aweful nut job. Hardtail bridge was mis-aligned so that the strings were not passing over the pole pieces of the bridge PU. Selector switch tip was broken.

I am a professional guitarist of 35 years. I bought this guitar knowing what I was getting into. I replaced the neck with an old 1983 Squier bullet neck, switched out the stock PUs for Jason Lollar vintage P90s, rewired the the vol/tone pots with CTS pots, re-aligned the bridge---now it is a drop dead looker AND player! This guitar is a good deal for the pro as a spring board for modifiying and up-grading, or as a entry level guitar for the novice.

blah blah blah ,you know the deal

when i first got this guitar it sounded awesome.I play it through a Fender Pro JR with a TS9 and an analog delay.unfortunately when i play it on gigs the P90's were very noisy.so I made some upgrades.I added tuners from a Mexi Tele,added graphite string trees so tuning was no longer an issue.then I swapped the PU's with Dimarzio DP164's,they are P90 humbucking PU's.Now the Guitar is a monster.I also added a push-pull tone pot for the neck PU so when it has both PU's on I can put them out of Phase so now i can also get a kind of a strat sqawk.Change the PU's you wont be dissappointed.

basic black and i always set up my own guitars

it is now a great gigging guitar and never play without a backup

dont know,its a squier

when i got it, it was a 7 .now its a 10