Fender Squier Telecaster Custom

22 medium jumbo frets on a one peice maple neck/fretboard, bolted onto a agathis body. This guitar has a standard hard tail bridge with two hot humbuckers. Classic Les Paul set up for the electronics. This guitar was made this year in Indonisia (2009 si the year) so she's brand new, and freshly polished in gloss black.

My sound can be best described as alternative. I really like to keep it pretty clean, so not much distortion, but I'm not afraid to use effects. I'm running this guitar straight through a Peavey Vypyr Tube 120, and it is possibly the best sound I've ever heard. For the price this guitar blows me away, it manages to be full and rich but still bright and articulate. It's really smooth and clean, but still sharp and powerful. I'm hugely impressed by the sound from this guitar, and I beleive for the price you can't find better. Sound is of personal preference but for me this guitar is perfect.

I've never bought a guitar that came perfectly set to my liking until now. The action is high which is how I like it, I find low action to be sloppy, and I'm faster with high action and more acurate. The pickups we're set perfect, and it was intonated. There we're a couple scratches that I polished out, but did end up adding my own removing the plastic covering on the pickgaurd.

This guitar is fairly solid. It's a heavey best, comparable to a Gibson Les Paul in weight, and not much else I picked up besides a bass. I've owned other squiers, and most cheap guitars have crappy imput jacks. From expirience I know that the finish will scratch easy and that the pick gaurd does, and that the imput jack will need work over time. This is the same with any guitar though. It feels like it will last, but no matter what the guitar always switch to strap locks! Stock strap buttons will do you no good.

I've delt with Fender customer support before. They're fairly quick to respond and helpful, but they left me feeling like they could care less. I work in customer service and that's always something that's frowned upon. The people I bought it from however are amazing. I buy all my stuff from a local music store, and I love the people there, ever since I got my first guitar from them. They're super helpful, and just treat me really well (which they should because I spent $1500 there this month).

For the price there is no better deal. This guitar is good enough for the studio, and proof that you can get a whole lot of guitar for not a whole lot of cash. It play's as good as an American Standard Tele, and sounds out of this world. Never do you feel like you're playing a cheap instrument. Squier's Vintage Modified series has always seemed to be the companies top of the line series next to the CLassic Vibe. This guitar was love at first sight, and if it were stolen I'd hunt it down and get it back. I think for any guitarist this is a worthy axe.

Normally, I'm not into cheap guitars - you pretty much get what you pay for. However, this guitar really challenged that old maxim for me. It all started when I was looking for a low-cost H/H configured guitar to use as the basis for a project guitar. I came across this nifty model at a music shop in Presque Isle, Maine. I love Fender telecasters and currently own a 1988 American Standard Tele. I previously owned a 1995 Fender Custom Shop Tele Jr. too. I've also had a Squire strat-tele mix thingy back in the day (ca. 1984). Up until this Squire Tele Custom, I've never had a tele had a model with humbuckers. When I first picked up this guitar, it really surprised me. It played and sounded great. I thought about it for a few days and couldn't get this little Squire out of my head. So I went back to the shop & plunked down $200 and took it home. Boy am I glad I bought it!

The guitar was made in Indonesia. It has the standard features: dual humbucker pu's, 2 vol & 2 tone pots, 3-way selector switch, maple bolt-on neck, medium jumbo frets, solid agathis body, black finish, chrome hardware. Nothing particularly special about this tele except that it has humbuckers in a guitar famous for single-coils. So if you're looking for a thicker Gibson-like tone in a Fender package, this guitar might be for you.

One of the tow clinchers for me buying this guitar was the sound. At the guitar shop, I tried it through a fender G-Dec 30 (an amp I also had at home). The guitar sounded full, but not muddy (like some humbucker guitars sometimes sound to me.) I also tried it through a Fender 5-watt Champ retro tube amp. Through this amp, the guitar sounded phenomenal. I love clean sounds and slightly overdriven bluesy tones sounds. This Squire nailed them both.

I am particularly impressed by the variability in sound between the three pick-up positions. The neck pu is clear and crisp, but not thin at all. The middle position is jangly and full. The bridge pu is round and somewhat throaty, but also very clear (In fact, the Squire bridge pu is clearer and a bit more expressive than the stock bridge pu on my 1990 Gibson Les Paul Classic). As a previous review stated, the sound of this Squire tele Custom is really is a meld of tele twang and Gibson fullness. I can get a clean, bright sounds from the neck and rich, thick tone from the bridge. This guitar offers great tonal color and variety.

Again, I had originally purchased this guitar to swap out the pu's with SD P-Rails. But the more I played it, the more I fell in love with the guitar's sound. So I haven't tampered with it. Why mess with something that sounds so great?

About three years ago, I tried out a few Squire teles at a local guitar shop. (I seem to recall that these Squires were made in China.) These guitars struck me as really poorly made (cheap parts, whimpy pu's, finger-slicing fret edges, bad action and intonation, etc.)

In stark contrast, this Indonesian Squire Tele Custom shares absolutely nothing with the very bad Chinese Squire guitars. The factory set-up on mine was perfect. The intonation was spot on, as was action and the pick-up heights. There is no fret buzz and the neck plays fast and smoothly. My neck is unfinished, which I really love. The maple neck on this Squire is every bit as nice as those on my other US Fender guitars. The neck on this Squire was the other main selling point for me. It is a joy to play and my fingers fly across the fretboard with easy on this Squire.

The body is slightly lighter in weight than my American Standard tele, but not by much. Actually, this is kind of nice, since the lower weight of the Squire doesn't fatigue my shoulder as much when playing for long stints.

Overall the guitar has performed flawlessly. One of the pots is a wee bit crackly, but it's not a big deal.

The parts on this guitar just don't feel quite as sturdy as those on my US Fenders. The pu selector switch seems like it could be a bit weak, but so far so good. Also the tuners feel a bit less sturdy than those on my real tele. (I will probably replace these with Sperzel locking tuners like those on my Strat Plus.) I hope this guitar is as study as my real Fenders, which have traveled far and wide with me to hundreds of gigs. I kind of think that the Squire might not hold up quite as good as my +20-year-old US Fenders. Still I'm hoping that this Squire is a real warrior. So far, so good.

I think this guitar comes with a 5-year warranty. I hope I don't have to use it...

I've been playing guitar for over 30 years. I've played in working cover bands, working original bands, and know I am in a very active church praise band. (Yes, my years of gigging are pretty much over...) As listed above, I have many other electric guitars and have owned many, many more over the years. I like quality and never buy junk. I am almost never impressed by cheap, Far Eastern-made guitars that have flooded the US guitar market in the last decade. But this guitar has really impressed me. I'm not sure if I got lucky and they just happened to make a great guitar when they made mine somewhere in Indonesia. Or have production standards and quality control really improved? My old Japanese Squire from the 80s was a good solid guitar (I kind of miss that old axe.) But the (Chinese?) Squires that I had previously tried out a few years ago absolutely stunk! Somewhere in there, Squire/Fender must have gotten their act together because they hit a home run with this baby.

I know this sounds silly, but this guitar is perhaps the best electric I've ever owned when considering the price and quality. I now play this guitar more than my real Tele, real Strat, and real Les Paul combined. The playability and tone are just fantastic.

I know it sounds crazy and I don't want anybody to think that I'm resorting to hyperbole, but this Squire Telecaster Custom is one great guitar. My only concern is long-term endurance - will this guitar still be great 20 years from now, like my real Fenders still are. I sure hope so. If it was stolen, I would look for another. Hopefully Squire is making them consistently good, so I could find another of equally high quality. Good job Squire.

Standard features of the Fender Telecaster Deluxe - 2 humbuckers, 2 tone, 2 volume, 3 position toggle. Hardtail style bridge.

My set-up is a 66 Fender Bassman head with a Avatar 2X12 open back cab. I play rock, pop, soul, blues. It's OK for the harder stuff, but not at all for the subtler sounds/styles.
As is, this guitar is best suited for rock/hard rock.
The pickups are relatively high output, but lack definition/clarity.

Factory set-up was pretty god awful. I replaced the stock bridge with a Gotoh brass hard tail Fender style bridge. This really improved action/playability and to a lesser extent, tone.
Black poly finish is fine. The frets should be considered deadly weapons (fret edges are sharp and over extend the finger board by just enough to pose a modest threat to your health). I filed the fret edges down, adjusted the truss rod, replaced the bridge and lowered the action. It plays pretty damn well now. Next move is to throw a TV Jones TV Classic in the bridge and the clarity problem will be solved and this guitar will be stage/recording ready.
The rest of the electronics are acceptable - I don't waste much time worrying about that kind of stuff. If it works, it's fine.

If you take the time and spend a little money to upgrade the parts you deem lacking, you can save yourself hundreds of dollars on a fender.

Haven't needed it, so N/A.

Been playing 26 years. This is a decent guitar as is, but it can be a very good guitar if you replace the cut-corner parts that made it cheap in the first place. All in all, a little work can save you hundreds of dollars if you're like me and don't care about what it says on the headstock. Not a "main" guitar, though, for an experienced player.
On the wish list for this guitar would be real Fender humbuckers, and a better bridge.

I've been playing since 1976 and have gone through dozens of guitars since that time. On top of that, I am an admitted nit-picking freak when it comes to the sound and design of a guitar. Compared to most I've got a pretty good basis of experience to offer an in-depth review.

My Tele Custom is older - coming out when Fender first started offering this model. I bought it off of a guy who picked it up for his son and then promptly tossed it into his closet. The guitar had maybe 20 minutes playing time so it might as well have been considered new. I think that I paid $120 for the guitar and a hard shell case.

Lately, Fender has started offering the Squier Custom in different finishes. Mine is black. Not exactly the color I'd chose, but it could be worse.

I don't need to tell you the various features offered on the guitar. It's been repeated a hundred times in previous reviews. Instead, let's move onto the other categories...

The Squier Custom isn't going to blow your socks off with craftsmanship or finesse. It's "blocky", heavy-feeling, thick, and very much a "rocker's" guitar. My other Tele's (I own a '66 Tele and a '74 Thinline) feel more dainty by comparison. The overall stoutness doesn't make the Squier less of a guitar. Rather, it actually serves to make me appreciate it more.

The original pickups weren't bad. As a matter of fact, they were FAR above what I expected. Even so, I had a couple of Seymour Duncans lying around so I thought I'd toss them in to see what the guitar might sound like with a pair of quality pickups. I also added a set of 500K pots (since that is the standard to use with humbuckers.)

The difference was surprising. All of a sudden it was as if the guitar had cleared it's throat and was able to speak clearly. I can get warm thick bluesy tones or sharp piercing lead tones that cut through like an audio ice pick. Think of combining a Les Paul with a Tele and that is the range of sounds offered. Again, I know this because I own a few Les Pauls and the two Teles I spoke of earlier.

I have to admit something here. Despite having a terrific sound that easily matched (and often surpassed) my other guitars I felt somewhat hesitant playing a Squier on stage. Yes, the guitar sounded and played absolutely awesome, but that damned "Squier" name made me feel as though I was being judged by everyone who looked to see what I was playing. In a fit of self-absorbed vanity I sanded "Squier" off of the headstock, ordered and installed a couple "Fender" and "Made in the USA" decals off of Ebay, and then covered over the heantire head with a few coats of StewMac polyurethane spray. I even added a "Fender Custom Shop" decal to the back of the headstock, as well.

Now before you being to think that I am pathetic for chaning the name on my guitar, I have no intentions of ever selling to anyone under false pretenses. The crazy thing is that everyone who comes up to check out my guitar cannot seem to get enough of it. They sit down to give it a few strums and 45 minutes later they're still at it. This includes many of the top guitarists in my area!

I'm forever being told, "Man, the Fender Custom Shop really does put out an awesome guitar! I'd love to have one of these!" That's when I tell them that the guitar is nothing more than a slightly modded Squier Custom with a different decal. You should see their eyes. At first they're incredulous and then they begin to realize that they, too, could have something like this for less than $200. I've actually had a few friends go out and buy the same guitar and make the same changes that I did.

One of the most common complaints you'll find in the reviews is the set-up. I can understand people ragging if the finish was bad or if the metal plating pealed off at an early age, but a guitar set-up is an easy thing to perform. Anyone can do it. There's really no reason whatsoever to whine that the intonation is off when it takes 20 minutes, a tuner, and knowledge enough to use a small screwdriver to make things right.

That said, my Custom was in bad shape. The edges of the frets were so sharp that I literally cut my hand when I first tried it out. In some places the hung out over the edge of the fretboard! I bought the guitar anyway, but those fret edges were the worst I've ever seen on a new guitar. It took a few minutes of careful filing before they were just right. Again, not a big deal, but it does make me wonder about the lack of quality control at the Fender factory.

The finish is black and while I first thought it might be thin simply because the guitar is a Squier, I have now come to see that the finish is almost indestructible. I'd love to have the same type of paint on my car. Stray shopping carts and boneheads opening their doors into me would be a laughing matter. Seriously, the finish is amazingly thick on this guitar.

The neck is rather thick which adds to the feeling that it's built like a tank. I've considered shaving the neck slightly so that it is more like a Strat. I may do that if I grow a pair of balls. As it is now, I like the guitar too much to mess with something that is working perfetly well.

I have the action low. It could go lower without buzzing. I don't do this because when I switch guitars on stage I prefer the action to be the same for each guitar.

The bridge is a typical no-nonsense piece of work. The tuners were adequate. I changed them out for a set off of an American Strat neck (that had broken in two due to a drunk falling into it). The knobs are kind of thin and cheesy. My Thinline knobs feel thicker, but knobs are knobs. I'm not going to whine over something as insignificant as a new thousandths of an inch of plastic on a guitar knob.

I did all of the work myself on this guitar. Yes, it's been modded and, yes, no guitar can be 100% reliable all of the time. Still, there is nothing on this guitar that would give me reason to doubt it's reliability.

The neck is a four-screw type so it's not going to go anywhere. The humidity doesn't seem to have much of an effect at all on the tuning of the guitar. I added a couple of roller guide trees to the headstock (replacing the friction type of string tree). I can't say that it made much difference, though, because there were no tuning problems before.

Dunno. I never think about calling them mostly because I expect to talk to some guy in India who can only recite sentences from a pre-ordained fact sheet. I figure that I am better off figuring out the issue myself.

I'll give Fender a "5" on this category.

I have been playing forever it seems. I've opened up for some big name acts and now have settled into doing a few hundred (if not more) studio gigs each year. I certainly wouldn't say that I'm the greatest player in the world - far from it! Even so, I am sought out enough to where I make a pretty damned good living off of the guitar work I do.

I play through a Vox AD120VT that has been reworked (terrible factory workmanship, but a terrific amp once the problems are sorted out). I own 26 guitars including Les Pauls, Strats, an old Dan Armstrong, a '59 ES-345, a very cool '63 Gretsch 6122 Country Gentleman, and even a Kramer aluminum neck prototype model I picked up from their factory in Neptune. On top of that I have a few basses that I've collected over the years.

And yet... it's it's own unique way this silly little Squier Tele Custom is able to keep up with most, if not all, of the other guitars I own.

It'll never be collectable. It'll never be worth more than a couple of hundred bucks. But it plays well and gives me all I could ask for.

How many guitars can make that boast?

Indonesian-made, two humbuckers, four controlknobs and a three-way toggle switch. Many of its features have already been mentioned in other reviews. I have to say that I bought this guitar for its fantastic appearance and its Gibson-like configuration.

I am absolutely thrilled by the power of the clean sound. I drive it through a number of stompboxes into a Marshall JCM2000. Together with the distortion from my amp I also get a true rocksound, very much like the 70s 80s sound (not bad for a 72 custom lookalike). The only drawback is the muddy soloing sound you get in the 'rhythm' position. I prefer the Epi or Gibson guitars, because this one lacks sustain.

Now here is the tricky part: as I unpacked the guitar from the box I immediately noticed that some of the screws in the pickguard were askew. Also, the cupshaped input system was not very tight. After playing three times I pulled this cup and the whole input socket out of the body! Stunned, but not shaken, I decided to repair it myself (I was still pleased with its sound) and noticed that underneath the pickguard were more holes than there were supposed to be! Appearantly some worker at the factory had had problems with getting the pickguard in the right place. I used a bit of woodfiller, drilled new holes and replaced the cupsystem by a regular steady input coverplate. I have never had this experience with a new guitar before in my life! Still, the necks plays smoothly and the guitar still rocks!

I think the initial problems are dealt with and believe I can rely on it. Time will tell. I use it intesively (six times a week) and haven't had any complaints yet.

I haven't dealt with them, so I wouldn't know

I have played guitar for more than 30 years. I have owned guitars on both ends of the price range and this is remarkably cheap for a reasonably great sound. Also, its playability is very good. The looks of this guitar was the reason to buy it and so far I haven't regret it either. The clean sound is magnificent, its overdriven sound has a unique retro rocksound, but in rhythm position it shows that this is not an Epi or Gib. At one point I thought I would make it look like a relic by deliberately damaging it a bit, but then I thought: keep playing it intensively and it will become one in time. The people at the Indonesian factory have done their bit in this relicing process anyway!

Someone gave me a honey colered with black faceplate. It looks like a recent model, perhaps the last 3 to 5 years. Solid Top. Standard Telecaster provisions. Hardshell case. Maple neck. Looks OK. Never played.

Sounds like a Telecaster to me and I've played the real Telecasters. I use a Crate DXJ-112 amp. Excellent bright tone, I find myself constantly pulling the tone down for Rythm and Lead work.
Great for that driving R&R Rythm with a good punch when in Lead mode.

Poor Setup (if any) at factory.

This guitar was never setup ANYWHERE including at the factory. I am dismayed by the hardware used in the bridge. The screws for adjusting the intonation were too long causing them to butt against the string and bending them further and further way for any type of intoation set. Fender put their name on this poor quality crap?

I set the intonation myself after I took a hacksaw to the long screws in the bridge.

Will withstand playing but I had to set it up for my liking. Hardware appears robust but the aforementioned bridge screws should be considered again. I have gigged with this guitar and it performed OK, However, I would not use this axe without a backup.

I can't speak indonesian so customer service is a moot point. Fender put their name on this crap so let them deal with the mediocre reviews that they are getting.

Overall rating 5, and it served me well in rehearsal.

I'm not sure what year mine is,nor do I care.It's Indonesian made,has 2 humbuckers,3 way pup select switch,2 sets of volume and tone controls,made out of Agathis,which I'm told,is almost like a mahoghany type of wood,and has a glossy black finish.Too bad it couldn't have a Sunburst finish,but for $200.00 bucks,you can't be choosey.The pups are passive,which I prefer,and I believe that they're general Squier stock pups.It also has 22 frets,and as far as asscessories go,it came with 2 allen wrenches,one for the truss rod,and the other for the bridge saddles.

First of all,let state right off the back that,unless you're using a effects processor(aka Digitech Rp series)this is not a guitar for Metal.If you're playing this straight through your amp,you'll realize that this guitar is great for Blues,Country,and Classic Rock.I haven't heard any hum at all from the pups,which is grteat.And with the 2 sets of volume and tone controls,you can get a wide variety of tones wiith this guitar.I love playing this clean straight through my amp,but when I kick in the distortion,I noticed that the pups can get a little of a Bassy tone to them.If I use my Digitech RP 50,it screams.All in all,this is a very versatile guitar that can produce a variety of tones.I like it.

Here's where the shit hits the fan.I was told that these were made by Cort for Fender in their Indonesia factory.They should've done a better job.It seems like this was just put together and shoved in a box and shipped off to lord knows where.I had to tighten the tuners,imput jack,3 way switch,and the neck plate.The saddles were very high and needed to be lowered and reset accordingly.I also had to intonate it and put on a new set of strings,which made a big improvement.I didn't see any flaws though like,frets being too sharp,loose wiring,etc.In that aspect,I was lucky.Mine is one solidly made beast.

I believe that I could gig with this and not have to worry about a backup.Once I did a complete set up and intonation on this guitar,it came accross as a very durable instrument that should last me a long time.I see no need at this time to do any modifications to it as far as changing any of the hardware,although I'll probably get some Graph-Tech saddles for it,which I have on my MIM Strat.I don't have any tuning issues with it,and plus there's no fret buzz,which is big for me.

Fender is always great to deal with.No problems there.

I've been playing for over 35 years and I have played some Squiers in the past,and have never been too fond of them.This one puts some credibility to the Squier name.I beieve that this is one of the best guitars that Squier makes today.It's a welcome addition to my set up which also includes a 2006 MIM Fender Sunburst Standard Strat,1997 American made Peavey Studio Pro 112,and a Digitech RP 50 effects processor.

the looks for one, blonde, my faourite tele colour!, the p-90 designed picks were the biggest draw, more so the price ??100 near brand new.

this guitar reflects my playing perfectly, the p-90's are superb, i play alot of pearl jam, rem etc so i can get some real blues or harsh attack, i have found a massive difference between the neck and trem pups.

i play through a combo rig of a jcm 900 4102 and a laney vc 30 and use a DD6-BF2-Moreley wah and dod chorus and it sounds great.

this guitar is better than any standard squier and i can't believe they go for the price they do!

i've had problems with mine, just had to have 12, 13 and 14th frets stone ground down as they were a little lumpy and coked the notes for lead playing

other than that, great finish, quiet (noiseless) pickups, no string buzz and the paint work is great

have noticed a couple of tiny cracks on neck joint, but no concerns

never gigged her yet, but built lika a preverbial house

got my own guy for this :)

a great guitar, better than beginner or budget, a real workshorse, looks the biz, an eye catcher, no a shred machine but cool and chunky blues machine

Two Seymour Duncan pickups, two volume and two tone knobs, three way selector, through body strings, squier standard tuners, 22 slim frets, maple neck. Indonesian built, date uncertain, this century definitely. Beautiful cream body with black scratch plate (going up above the neck for the selector switch like the telecaster deluxe). Rated 9 since there is no cut off without dropping the volume on one pick up.

This sounds fantastic, the bridge pickup is spiky and perfect for squealy lead and chords, cutting through the mayhem with ease. The bridge pickup is deep and rich, dripping with tonal depth. The crossphase selection is beautiful, chords sing and lead seduces. I play through a Fender Princeton 122plus and the combination is fantastic, at low volume for practise and higher volume for live. There is a little noise when distorted from the bridge pickup, but only when it's not playing, when it's going the guitar punches through the crappiest of in-house PA's. I play nu-wave influenced materiel and the chop and skank the tele gives is unsurpassed. I have a Korg Toneworks which I try and use as clean as possible, with only a touch of phase or chorus, or really overload the distorted models for that No Prisoners attack. The tele shines throughout.

I bought this used from a great shop Rockshack in Leeds, England, It was in good shape when I bought it, but had a little trouble getting the intonation perfect so took it back and they did a full set up for free, bringing the strings down as requested. The set up job was perfect, low action really suited it and it is incredibly playable. It just feels right. The neck is thinner than a lot of teles I've played and when a really established gutarist came round for xmas I couldn't get this guitar off him, despite the Strat and Tele standard sitting in the rack.

The pickups are great. The electrics are fine, although I would like to find the reason why when there is distortion selected the guitar buzzes at rest, this might be a cause for pickup upgrade.

The finish is lovely. I heard it is based on the old Olympic White fenders would yellow in the sun and become a gentle cream like this one. The neck is maple, as a tele neck should be, and smooth and dry. The only thing I have changed is that the screws holding the black scratchplate in were silver and I have replaced them with black screws. The guitar is perfect now. Rated nine because of needing a professional set up and dist buzz at rest.

Live I swop between this and my Indonesian Tele standard, which I'll review whe it comes back from a much needed refretting. There would be no need to swop in many cases, but some songs deserve the rishness of this guitar, and some need the fiercer attack and twang of the standard. Live it has held up, occasional gentle retunings, which isn't surprising considering the abuse I give it. I use D'darrio 9s. The hardware is fine for the time being, the finish is thick and durable, never had a strap come off.

I can depend on this guitar, it is a great guitar, and, like most guitarists when they have that lump of wood that warms from their body heat and expresses their creativity as though it is an extension of their souls, I have become firmly attached to it and would rue the day it was stolen or broken beyond repair.

I would use it without backup, but not without a set of spare strings ( you know the score).

Professional set up from the talented boys at Rockshack, Leeds, UK, other than that, perfect.

I have been playing live for 20 years now and owned in my time a wide range of guitars. My current set up is a Strat, a squier tele custom and a tele standard, going through a fender princeton 122plus, via a toneworks, a cry baby and a Boss Loopstation. The two teles are indonesian Squiers.

If I lost my custom I would immediately hunt for another indonesian squier as I have found they are consistently good, while the koreans I have tried have felt like toys.

My custom just feels right, it is hard to explain, but I know there are guitarists who feel the same way. It's MINE, in more than just ownership, it fits me. I know where to attack the strings, where on the fret to slur, where to chop and where to ring: where to make it squeal, growl, slice the air and embrace the audience.

There are some songs I need to cut through the mayhem, and I'll use my tele standard (again squier), and where I need to funk them up (strat, second selector, heavy compressor), but for everything else my custom does it all, beautifully.

Shiny black bowling ball Poly finish, satin maple one piece neck, hardtail bridge with string through body. Made in Indo. 22 Fret (I think). Dual Humbuckers with a LP style wiring setup. Mahogany's long lost cousin Agathis body.

For a long time I thought the pickups sounded the same, just muddier in the neck and more ice pickish in the bridge. But after adjusting the pickup height and finding an overdrive pedal that complimented the sound I'm pretty happy with the pickups. On clean settings the neck pickup is wonderful. The bridge pickup is a bit anemic. With mild overdrive the neck pup gets warm and fat. Think of an SG with the tone rolled off a hair. The bridge pickup isn't great, but it gets the job done. The guitar would really bennifit from better quality pickups and pots.

Out of the box the fret edges were sharp but the intonation was pretty close. After playing it over the last year the sharp edges have been worn smooth and the neck is starting to get a nice broken in feel to it. I probably logged about 400 hours on this guitar in the last year (figuring roughly 1 to 2 hours a night 4 or 5 nights a week). The output jack cap gave me some problems, but I was able to fix it fairly easy. Overall this guitar needs to be tweaked and peaked to get dialed in, but it will reward your efforts.

This guitar takes abuse and smiles. It will ask you if that's all you got and give you the Bruce Lee crazy eye look like he gave in Enter the Dragon. I try to take good care of my gear, but sometimes bad stuff happens, like drunk people at house parties deciding to start slam dancing in the living room. It's worse when you're the drunk that knocked over you're own guitar, and the cymbals etc... Other then the jack cup issue, the guitar still looks and plays as good or better then new.

N/A, haven't needed any customer support.

This is a second review for more of a long term opinion. If you're on the fence about this guitar but think it looks "cool" you might be a bit dissapointed. Even at the paltry sum of $200 there are better playing and sounding guitars out there. If you're a Tele player and want to add a different sound to your line-up this is a great addition. The shortcomings are fairly mild and for a couple hundred dollars you could really make a nice little axe out of it. It's really grown on me and I think it would be worth the investment. Another bonus is that the routing will accomadate Buckers or P-90's (obviously since the Custom II has P-90's).