Fender Squier Standard Telecaster

No sense in being redundant, the last reviewer covered everything very well. The only difference is that mine was crafted in Indonesia in 2008 and it's candy apple red with a rosewood fretboard. The pickups on these telecasters are alnico magnets, not ceramic magnets and that makes a difference. It sounds better than a Fender Mexican telecaster with its whimpy ceramic pickups. Mine did come with the hex wrenches to adjust the truss rod and the bridge saddles as well as a cheap connector cable. Telecasters don't have a lot of features but to me the beauty of a telecaster is in its simplicity. So, I give it an 8 for features.

Sounds pretty friggin good actually. I bought this on impulse from a friend who needed money and it was only a couple of weeks old. I had bad experiences with Squier in the past, but my friend needed the cash, so I bought it. Glad I did. I play blues and blues rock (a lot), classic rock (sometimes), country (sometimes), hard rock and southern rock (quite a bit) and once in awhile I have a metal mood. This is NOT a metal guitar, but it handles all the other styles quite well, especially blues and blues rock. You can get that early Jimmy Page sound from Led Zeppelin's first album on it very easily. As I mentioned above, with the alnico pickups, this guitar sounds a LOT better than the Fender Mexican Standard Telecaster, made in Mexico with its ceramic pickups. I have several amps. I have a Marshall AVT Tribute Model AVT20XT, which is a tube hybrid, a Rockers T15R, 15 watt, all tube class A amp, which is basically a Laney LC15R clone. I also have a Peavey Valveking Royal 8, which is a 5 watt all tube amp and two solid state amps, one being a Guyatone Zip 355 and the other being one of those little Marshall MG10CD solid state amps. This amp sounds best on the Marshall AVT20XT and the Rockers T15R. The other amps sound better with humbuckers. I'm not much into effects, once in awhile I'll stick a crybaby wah, a big muff and a chorus/delay pedal in front of the amp, but rarely with a telecaster. Is it noisy? Of course, it's got single coils and they have that great single coil hum, but if you like single coils, that ain't no big deal. This telecaster is twang city on the bridge pickup. Bright, rich twang with quite a bit of output. The middle position takes a bit of the twang away and is good for some country and classic rock songs. The neck pickup doesn't have a lot of output, but it is very good for blues. If you want to do hard rock or metal with this guitar, you are going to need a good overdrive or distortion pedal. With the big muff I can get some pretty good punk and grunge distorted sounds, ala Green Day, etc. I love Telecasters and this one is no exception. I will give it a 10 on sound, because it sounds like a telecaster is supposed to sound.

I can't really rate this because I bought it from a friend and he had it setup at the shop where he bought it. The setup was just fine when I got it. I did raise the neck pickup just a bit to get a little more volume out of it. Everything else is fine. The guy took good care of it and it is in perfect condition.

Now this is my issue with Squier guitars that I have owned in the past, so only time will tell. It will withstand live playing, because I have gigged with it and the hardware on this one seems a lot higher quality than the Squier Standard Stratocaster I had before. Finish looks good, strap buttons are solid and right now I could say I could depend on it. I never play with a backup. My band plays a pretty big variety of music, because we take requests, so I will keep a Humbucker equipped strat, a single coil strat and a telecaster on the stage with me, so I can change guitars depending on the songs. I would never gig without a backup though. I made that mistake years ago with an $800 Gibson SG and it died right there on the stage. So I have always had a backup since then. School of hard knocks. I'm not going to rate this here though because, as I said, as far as Squiers go, time will tell.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 45 years and pretty much exclusively play stratocasters and telecasters at this stage, although one of my strats is humbucker equipped. I have the gear I mentioned above, plus two strats, two other telecasters and I play Epiphone Acoustics. I believe I would get another one of these if it were lost or stolen. I'd probably try and find one of the vintage blonde ones. I didn't compare it to anything, I bought it to help a friend out in need of money. This is a great guitar from beginner to stage player level.

Mine is candy apple red with a rosewood fretboard, crafted in Indonesia sometime in 2008 according to the serial number. All the features have been covered, so no since in being redundant. It's a telecaster. About as simple as it can get but to me the beauty of a telecaster is in it's simplicity. So, I'll give it an 8 for features since it has the upgraded alnico pups in it.

This guitar sounds pretty dayum good. I was surprised to be honest, because I have avoided Squiers like the plague over the years. It sounds better than a Fender Mexican Telecaster with the wimpy ceramic pickups in it, that's for sure. I play blues, blues rock, classic rock, country and sometimes hard rock. I use this with a Roland Spirit 30, a Peavey Classic 30, a Laney LC15R, a Peavey Valveking Royal 8, a Fender Studio CE amp and an Ace Tone Mini 8. The only effects I use are a big muff, a crybaby wah, a chorus and a G2 occasionally. It's not very noisy at all. Regular single coil hum, which is to be expected. It sounds like a tele is supposed to sound, nice twangy bridge pickup, nice bluesy neck pickup and good classic rock sound in the middle. Telecasters are not known for their versatility, but hey, with the right amp and effects, you can get any sound out of this you want. I really like it, and I would not pay another $150 for a Fender Mexican Tele with ceramic pups, when this one sounds better. Great Tele sound!

Now here is where Squier sucks. The setup was horrible. I had to adjust the neck, the intonation and the string height as well as the pickups. There are no screws on the outside of the pickguard to adjust the neck pickup, so you have to remove the pickguard to adjust it. Other than that, the guitar was flawless. I spent about 30 minutes working on it and had it playing and sounding the way I want it.

I think this guitar would withstand live playing. Lots of professional musicians use Squiers. After all, it's a piece of agathis and maple with some pickups on it. Hardware is fine, strap buttons are good, it's dependable. I would never gig without a backup.

Never dealt with Squier.

I've been playing 45 years and have a couple of other telecasters, a few strats, a les paul and the amps I mentioned above. I play Gibson and Epiphone acoustic guitars. I would probably get myself one of those Japanese lawsuit telecasters if this were lost or stolen because they are better than anything Fender makes. But, I do love this guitar.

This guitar is "crafted" in Indonesia. Sam Ash didn't give me any hex key tools when I bought it. C-shaped neck is very comfy and access to all 22 frets is reasonable, especially on the treble side. It has the standard Tele set of controls. The neck is not quartersawn, but being made from maple, it seems reasonably strong. It has a very light satin finish to it, which I like for low friction. The fret board is a nice piece of rosewood (Indian or African, I suppose). Frets are medium-jumbo. The sticker said the body was Alder/Agathis. Sam Ash website specs say the body is Agathis. Can't tell, since it's under a coat of glossy black paint. However, it sounds louder acoustically than my other guitars, with the exception of my full hollow body. The strings are String-thru body style, with 6 individually height adjustable and compensatable for string length.

I have a wide range of music interests. Everyone knows a Tele is the go-to guitar for that twangy country clean sound. Many may be suprised that a Telecaster makes an excellent jazz axe, too. Shift over to the neck pickup and roll off the tone a tad and you're there. The late, great Ted Greene was a master of jazz guitar, and he often played out with a his vintage blond tele. Now, this Squier won't win any awards for a fancy finish, figured wood, or super-smooth fret work, but it will satisfy someonoe looking for a very affordable axe to leave standing in the corner for easy access when the mood strikes you to get in some play time. This guitar is quite versatile, because you can pair it up with a couple of pedals and a decent amp to get a wide spectrum of sounds. I happen to like plugging it into my PODxt Live, because they go together like peanut-butter and jelly!

I wish my dealer had offered it in a natural finish...butterscotch would be awesome, but it was only offered in black with a matching, painted headstock. The pickguard has a mirror treatment, which is kind of cool.

Factory setup was so-so. The pickups were adjusted low enough not to have the magnets overdamping the strings, but high enough to capture some sweet tone! I lowered the bridge saddles to get the neck action improved. It gets fairly low before fret buzz becomes an issue. Neck relief was OK...no need for truss rod adjustment. I had to adjust the saddles along the scale axis to get the intonation acceptable. No problem, but one would think that the factories could automate the process by now.

Teles are generally built like tanks and with a polyurethane finish on the body and neck, I'm sure it can take a lot of abuse and come back singing sweetly afterwards. You get diecast tuners that are smooth and work well for tuning. The nut appears to be a hard, synthetic one, probably made of plastic, but looks a lot like bone. The headstock has two string trees. It stays in tune very well. Other hardware items seem to be quite good. The bridge has a deep chrome treament and the bridge components seem well made. If the Squire Standard is anything like its Fender cousins, you can depend on it to last and provide years of enjoyment.

Got the guitar from Sam Ash. I haven't personally had to go back to them for support, but they exchanged a Boss pedal for my daughter with minimum hassle, so I think they should stand behind their other merchandise.

Been playing off and on now for 30+ years. Now that I'm hooked on playing a Telecaster (at least, sometimes) I think I'd look at either building my own from kit parts or perhaps looking at upgrading to a Fender. It'd be nice to have one that showcases some beautiful wood grain. The thing I like best is the high value this guitar offers. It's got great tone for low bucks, and there's nothing about the sound of the stock Alnico pickups that makes me want to upgrade to aftermarket pickups. They are that good!