Fender Squier Telecaster Custom II

Looks the business, black body and pickguard, with two Duncan designed pick ups and the Les Paul style toggle switch. Nice feel to the maple neck (though obviously not as smooth as the real thing)Cheap looking tuners (see below)

Great sound - I wanted something different from my faithful old Strat and I got it. The nearest Fender to a Les Paul without going over to the Dark Side. Noticeable change in tone and oomph between the pickups, and I particularly enjoy the middle setting through my Fender Twin.

This is where the complaints start. The tuners are crap! Even taking into account that this is a budget model, there is no excuse ? Fender ? for producing an axe which doesn?t stay in tune for more than one number. I tried changing strings but to no avail. What a contrast to my trusty Strat and my Silver Series Squier, both of which take all form of abuse without so much as losing a semi tone! To add insult to injury I can also confirm, as reviewers below have mentioned, that all the screws on the pickguard were tangled up with the protective plastic; the toggle switch was loose, and the intonation was out. Oh, the volume pots are already scartchy too!

I will probably buy some new tuners for this guitar, otherwise it can never be reliable enough to take to gigs on its own. Being of limited technical ability I'll get our local guitar tech to give it a good seeing to; but if I wasn't a loyal Fender fan (and a patient man)I'd probably take it back. Just as well it sounds good...

As well as owning a ?real? Fender Strat, I have one of the early Squier Silver series Strats and have to say that its build quality and sound are more than a match for the Fender big brother. I have played for thirty years, and currently I use a Fender Twin and a Boss ME50 for colour. My decision to get the Telecaster Custom II was based on the fact that we play a lot of Stones covers, I really liked the look of the thing and as mentioned above it?s the closest thing a Fender player can get to the Les Paul ?option?. Reviews were also encouraging, but I would suggest that you give this guitar a really thorough run out in the shop, otherwise you might end up with a "Friday afternoon" model like mine.

Recent production Squire Tele, Has two Duncan design "p-90's" with a Gibby style control layout, and Strat style string thru hardtail bridge. Dealer included Fender Gig bag, and basic set up in price. Basic woods & finish servicable tuners.

VERY fat..but possible to get a bit of twang on the lead PU. Actualy sounds more like a Gibby than my buds LP DC with P-100's. Hum cancling is VERY effective..with my MIM Strat my FM 25 is a box of bees..pretty quiet with this.

Frets not bad, intonation & action not bad..dealer had done a quick set up . As others have mentioned..the plastic covering on this is a PITA..esp on the PU's you need to destring the guitar TOTALY dissasemble it in order to remove all the plastic "shipping protection" I intended to get the model with HB's and had researched IT..when I went to get it I noticed it had p-90s..cool, I went for it..not knowing about the plastic..If I had known I woud have made the shop take it off. If you get one of these DO NOT buy it thru the mail or with the plastic on unless you want to spend two + hours dissasembling your new guitar.....sheesh.

Should be OK for the amateur player, not really a pro level piece

Well they are geting a testy email on the plastic..we shall see if the gift me with something to "ease my pain" Probably tell me it's the dealers fault..

Playing a while, been jonesing one of these since the HB version came out. Cool budget guitar. Shame about the plastic.

Made in Indonesia, 2 Duncan designed P-90s, black Fender Custom pickguard, 22 frets, separate volume and tone controls for each pickup, 3 way Gibson style pickup selector switch, maple neck, agathis body, cast, sealed tuners, six saddle, thru body adjustable bridge and yellow almost transparent finish.

This guitar is great for playing punk, power pop & surf. I used it with a Crate VC50212 amp and a Vox Cambidge Reverb amp with a Boss digital reverb and a Boss tremelo pedal.
The tone of the P-90s are definately more warm than the alnico single coils or DeArmonds, but more clarity than a dual humbucker. I was pleasantly surprised by how quiet the pickups were, especially in the middle position.

When the guitar came out of the box it needed to be set up properly. The neck was ok but the bridge saddles were a bit off and the action was set high. I had to raise the neck pickup slightly. Nothing was loose and the input jack seemed stable. The high-E tuner was slightly crooked. The fret ends seemed properly filed. I have played a similar guitar in a music store where the fret ends were pretty bad. There were some blemishes in the neck's satin finish and some tiny black specks in the body's finish.

So far I have rehearsed with this guitar and it stayed in tune pretty well with 10 - 46 gauge strings. The bridge seems to hold up with my strumming hand resting on it. I think the true test will be playing in the summertime, or in a high heat environment where sweat can wreak havoc on it. It seems pretty dependable so far. I would choose this guitar over a less expensive Epiphone Junior that I own.

I puchased from Musician's Friend. They offer a warranty. I would hope that I could contact Fender directly and receive some kind of service if I needed it. Fender lets the customer register their products online.

I've been playing over twenty years. My main guitar is a Rickenbacker 370, which has a great biting tone but it has a very narrow fretboard and less sustain than most other guitars. My other gutars are a Epiphone Junior DC, Jay Turser SG and a Guild D-25. Amps Crate VC50212 and Vox Camridge Reverb.
I like the weight and feel of this guitar. It plays great for what I do. The sustain is really nice, the pickups don't sound noisy. I would definately replace this guitar if it were lost or stolen. I'm not going to even bother trying to compare it to other Fenders I have played. It's a great value for the money for the tone alone.

Buget tele with quasi-p90 pickups. Agithis (think buget mahagony) body and maple neck. A sort of updated rendition of the tele deluxe.

sounds like my old les paul special with p-100s in it. The whole point of this guitar is the pickups. they work fine, respond well and sound like the soapbars in lower end gibsons, which is the idea. Minimal hum for the species great for punk -hard rock -blues and so on. turn the volume down and you get a solid dry gibsonish clean tone. I compared it side by side to both a rick 330 and a les paul standard and it about splits the difference.

Um, lets see...you buy a guitar for $230.00..about what the pickups retail for by themselves, what do you think its going to look like? The materials making up the guitar were all generally fine but the phrase "slapped together" does come to mind. I had to adjust/tighten or re-install almost everything on the guitar, including the tuning keys which were barely hand tight. a couple hours of set up and I had a first rate second rate guitar. Low rating mainly for the frets which were like barbed wire where there ought to be binding.

the neck and body are o.k. wood. the knobs bridge and other hardware are trash. the body finish is great, nice blond with woodgrain visible. The neck finish is way too thin and I'm going to refinish it soon.

Huh? you bought a tele for 230. You want What? Hope you get along with your dealer

I wanted a cheap reliable beater to hang out with and leave the good guitars in the closet. I got what I paid for. The pickups are as advertised- servicable p90 clones. Compared to the other teles I have at hand (gnl and fender custom shop) its a toy but would I gig it? sure. Good overall rating for being what it purports to be: a cheap guitar with good pickups.

Bought new. I've always wanted a Tele, but whenever I've played one I havn't liked the bridge.
(I play with a pecussive style and bash me hand against the tray!)

P90's and a maple neck appealed, and it looks great.
Tuners have plastic bushes and seem stable.
String trees not too good(but cheap to replace with good ones.)
The neck is not yer flash pencil-thin type, but not Jeff Beck cricket bat either.

This is the reason to buy this guitar.I love the sound. Flattered with a Line 6, and Fender Hot Rod in the shop, I was delighted to get it home and find it still sounds great through my tranny Crate 60W.
Add Digitech screaming blues pedal, and it's brilliant.
From just-breaking-up-Keef-style, to wailing Gary Moore (if I had the talent) The P90s cut through.

The nut is crap- high e much too close to the edge, and unevenly set.
But at this price, and with such great sounds, a proper set up is a gift.
DAMN PLASTIC COVERING! took ages to get off, and had to rem,mover strings to get it off around the pickups.
Nice finish, string-through furrules not perfectly straight, but no problem.
Nice bridge, good fretting

Tele's can take a bashing, and I'm confident this will last.
Dodgy plastic tip on the switch, and cheap knobs.

Would look great with chrome knobs like on an ordinary tele.

never tried

As an alternative to my Mexican Strat (which I've fiddled with- SD pickups, better bridge) This is great. Very happy that for so little cash you can have a guitar that plays OK and sound brilliant.
Well done Fender/Squier - the timing is good too - it's the perfect guitar if you wanna get that indy/blues Jet/Hives/Strokes sound on the cheap.
Buy one and spend #40 on a good set up, and you have a bargain #200 guitar that will last for years.

2004 Made in Indonesia, 22 frets, agathis body, maple neck, 2 vol, 2 tone, 3 way switch, 2 Duncan Designed P-90 pickups, hardtail string thru bridge. Tuners appear to be non branded Gotoh. Neck is 7.25" radius C shape, Med Jumbo frets. No accessories, 2 wrenches for trush, saddles.

Mostly into rock music and never tried P-90's until now. Used to Humbuckers, hum cancelling single coils. Sound is like nothing I've heard before, kinda like a humbucker but warmer and not muddy at all. Very versatile. On Clean Channel, it sounds bluesy with great tone. On Distortion, it rocks hard, warm but also great clarity. P90's are single coil so there is some hum but its really very quiet compared to a normal single coil. Middle position is hum cancelling. I actually don't hear really any hum until I go near my computer monitor.

Action was pretty decent. About as good as any other factory guitar, I like it a little lower and will adjust. Flaws: the pickup selector switch fell inside the pickguard as the nut to hold it came off in the both. Fixed it in 30 seconds. There is a small spot on the neck where clearcoat ran but its not even really noticeable and never feel it. A tiny nick where the neck pocket meets the neck but also not noticeable.

I think it is dependable. I've put it through its paces. I would gig with it but always take a backup no matter what you're playing.

Bought it from Musicians Friend and they've always taken care of me so no worries but won't rate this category as I have had no dealings with Fender.

I've been playing for 10 years, this is one of three Squier's I currently own. I own a M77, a 1995 Strat, and now this. Sold my USA Strat Plus so I could buy some more gear to experiment with (hence this guitar in my possession). I've owned ESP's (the best), Nashville Tele, Fender Jagstang, USA Strat, Les Pauls. This is an awesome guitar. Wish the neck was more like a MIM though. Just wanted a P90 solidbody and this was cheap and fit the bill. I am pretty impressed with it and definitely would talk my friends into owning one. For the money you can't go wrong. As Squier quality can vary, I'd recommend buying from Musicians Friend as they ship the fastest and have a good return policy!

The features are already listed below. This is the black one and didn't come with any extras, although having two tone nobs to play with is a nice change for a tele!

This is great for blues/rock. Those noisy p-90's have a lot of tone for sub #200 guitar and can cope with anything I throw their their way. I was really pleased with the neck pu as I wasn't expecting it to sound as good as it does, it's nice and shimmery (for want of a better word) for clean stuff. If you roll off the tone slightly at the bridge it screams like a good'un. It's hard to describe what it sounds like because it's quite distinctive. But if you get the chance, try one and you'll be gining from ear to ear. For a cheap guitar, it's got gig worthy sounds.

Ok, like so many others who have pointed this out, this is the area where the guitar is let down. It's not that the materials are that bad, it's just not put together very well. Admittedly, it won't fall exactly fall apart on you, but if this is your first guitar I would advise that you get one from a shop (as opposed to on-line) and ask them to set it up for you. The inotation on mine was awful, but if you know what you're doing (it's not brain science) then it's simple to sort out.
The tone and volume knobs are really flimsy and (on mine) are set all wonky, so much so that one of them rubs against the guitar. The paint job looks like it has been touched up with a brush on the back before the laquer was applied and don't get me started on the nut! However, (and this is a big however)there is nothing technically wrong that i can find that cannot be sorted out easily and cheaply. Knobs and nuts (oh my!) can be replaced to result in a guitar that is great value for money. The neck is quite a chunky c-shape, but my girly hands deal with it fine.
I'm planning on having it repainted, reassembled and set up and I bet it'll end up being an amazing, CHEAP guitar!

Haven't had this too long so I have no idea how reliable it'll be, only time will tell. The hardware is only 'ok' but does the job fine so I can't complain. After a set up, I'd gig with it (haven't yet) and probably get some stunned faces from hearing a squier that sounds this good. Always have backup and starp locks though, you never know what might happen. I was doing a quite a large gig once and the strap came off the guitar which made me drop it and break a couple of strings in the process!

Never dealt with them so I can't say.

Been playing for about 9 years now and am the proud owner of a squier thinline pro-tone (I love that thing) and this which are played through a vox ad30vt. If this were lost or stolen I'd save up for a PRS SE soapbar as it's superior in build and has a touch more complexity to its sound, but then, for double the price of this thing, it should have. I'm really pleased with it as I'm a skint post-graduate and like to get the best out of my money. This is a cool beast but I don't think it would be a good first guitar due to the assembly, but then maybe that's just mine.

Solid black Telecaster, Agathis body with a bolt-on maple neck and two 'Duncan Design' P-90/1 'Soapbar' pickups. It has separate volume and tone controls for each pickup. It has a Tele-style bridge with string-thru body, non-locking tuners and came without a gig-bag

Good for blues-style playing, the soapbars have a bark which sets them apart from the traditional Tele single coils. I have read that the P-90/1s are actually humbuckers but there is sufficient hum to make me wonder about the accuracy of this statement

The action was crap straight from the factory. The nut had to be re-cut to prevent it choking on three of the strings. There was a screw missing from the scratch plate and minor paint marks on the neck. The action was way too high and the neck adjustment was non-existent. Intonation way out and the strings had no life left in them straight out of the box. So why did I buy it? Well all of these factors were grounds for me to bargain down the price significantly. And, yes, it was a new guitar! It just seems a pity that Fender should allow such a poorly finished item to hit the retail shelves and that the shop should do nothing to fix things. I might just find this acceptable in the Squier Bullet line, but not the Standard line. Shame, Fender, Shame! I was also disappointed in Coda Music. They advertise in UK guitar mags and one unhappy customer can undo so much paid for advertising with a single critical report such as this.

Once properly sorted (as it should have been at the factory) and a new heavier set of quality strings installed, the guitar plays like it should have a long life. Then again, only time will tell. The scratch plate is large enough to protect the front finish. The rest of the unit looks pretty durable and the neck already has a satin-like finish that makes the cleaned-up action play really well.

It's a Squier. Fender don't seem to care about its budget brand. You only get quality if you are buying USA or Custom Shop. Even my son's Mex P-Bass has quality issues. My local dealer here is Australia has always done the right thing on servicing my other guitats, so I am not particularly perturbed about Fender's attitude. And no, I would not go back to Coda Music. When I telephoned them during my stay in the UK to express my concerns about the contiuned choking on the nut after a reasonable 'play-in time', I simply got the 'Put a bit of soap on the nut' advice. So much for professional service!

I own a variety of good and budget gear - Gibson LP Studio, Steinberger 'cricket bat', Martin accoustic, Ibanez Artcore, Fender accoustic, Pod 2 and Roland Cube 30 amp (I do strictly lounge room gigs these days!). I like to play a variety of music styles, including rock, blues and jazz and have been playing for nearly 40 years.

While I very much like the Tele Custom tone, I am still niggled by the indifferent quality of the finish. If my Tele was stolen, I would probably look for something else with soapbars, rather than go back to Squier. Maybe invest more money and go for a cheap PRS soapbar. The P-90s have an edgy sound which appeals to me but Fender has an edgy quality that does not!

This guitar is a 2004, Crafted in Indonesia Black Tele Custom II, purchased form Music123. The features have been described pretty well, so I won't go into them in great detail.. This is typical tele, with the difference that it has two P90 pickups and individual vol and tone controls for each pickup. It's got a 3-position toggle swithc that lets you have neck, neck+bridge and bridge sounds. Non-locking, but sealed cheap tuners, but they actually seem ok. The neck is a medium sized C-shape that's fairly comfortable. The frets are more vintage style than modern jumbos, which I prefer.

I'm really into the blues and rock, and this guitar has the exact sound for that kind of music. They're P90's, so yes, they are noisy. I cut my teeth on an LP Jr with a single P90, and got used to it, so I don't even notice. The sound is the main reason I got this guitar. It's a $220 guitar and it sounds like a $2000 guitar. The pickups are Duncan Designed and they really, really sounds great. It doesn't do the soft jazz, sound that well, but the bluesy, slightly distorted and full crunch raunch sounds it totally nails. I'm extremely happy with the way this guitar sounds. Bridge and neck sound amazing. Neck for rhythm and solos and bridge for solos and rhythm -- both work really well.

The fit and finish of the body is fine, especially for a $220 guitar from Indonesia, even for a $500 guitar from america for that matter. But on the neck, there were some fairly bad sharp edges to the frets. I spent the first our filing them down and now they're fine. They didn't look to be unfiled in the first place, but seemed to be suffering from shrinkage due to dry climate or colde weather. I'm disappointed in the rough frets, but it was remedied fairly easily.

It's too early to say, but I would say it's pretty solid.

I bought it from music123 and they took way to long to ship it. It took over a week before it went from 'Shipping' to 'Shipped', which means it sat in the warehouse waiting to go on a truck. It came via FedEx and once it was sent, it only took 2 days (48 hours) to get here. My guess is they have a low cost deal with FedEx to bundle it with other shipments that are going this way. I don't know, but it was annoying. I'm not expecting much support from Fender on this.

Overall, I give this guitar a 9. It would have been a 10 if the frets didn't need any work. The guitar sounds great and plays very nicely. I immediately can get a good groove going and I really like the sounds. Aside from the edges, the frets themselve will support fairly low action (4/64 - 5/64), so they're are no complaints there. The intonation was right on the electronics all work great. I really am glad I got this guitar, especially for such short money. I would recommend this guitar to everyone who wants a serious blues sounds. It does really, really sound good. The execution is good enough considering the price, but you have to know what you're doing when you get it to be great. If you don't feel comfortable doing the adjustments yourself, a tech might charge you 50-75 to get it right. I do think it's a really good value!

Duncan Designed P-90s
Indepedendent tone and volume controls
Agathis body
All-maple neck/fretboard with dot inlays
Medium-jumbo frets
25-1/2" scale
Handcrafted in INDONESIA
Black 'scratch and dent' finish
String-thru

I ordered this realizing that quality was a crap shoot (I read the reviews). Nevertheless, I was intrigued because the + feedback was glowing.
My take: aside from the fact that this is indeed a 'scratch and dent' item (some nasty scratches below the pickguard), this thing is the bomb!!! I concur with previous reviews that the nut is junk, and I'm completely frustrated and baffled by the 'plastic wrap' that covers nearly everything but the strings, but son, what a sound!!!
Setup was perfect (I guess I lucked out), but it was evident that no effort whatsoever was made to tune the thing.
Nervously, I tuned, and frankly expected to be disappointed. Not so.
The sound of this instrument is VASTLY superior to a Standard (MIM) Tele, although it isn't 'typical.' I'll go one further -- it sounds vastly superior to the overrated Highway 1 Tele which costs $600.00. The neck is full bodied with a beautiful shimmer when one tweaks a note. While the tone controls don't have a lot of throw, they are useful for variations of the essential sound. The point is that while you don't get a good 'jazz' sound by rolling off the high end, you get a good jazz sound with the tone wide open. Middle postion isn't quacky, but colorful and powerful enough for blistering rhythm.
Bridge position is bright but not thin, and not a bit brittle.
This guitar, IMHO, would suit any professional rock, blues or country application. In my collection of a baker's dozen of guitars, this rivals my best, in terms of sound. It's gonna get a lot of play.

Excellent set-up. Playable out of the box.
PUs seem to be where they need to be, although I'll seek a pro set-up.
There ARE quality issues w/ this guitar, but FWIW, it's very sturdy (heavy too). I imagine that a luthier would have some constructive suggetions about what needs to be fixed, but for now it's a really fine player.

It feels very sturdy. Time will tell.

I have a hunch that customer support for this axe is non-existent.

I own a ton of cheap guitars. I don't have an aversion to more expensive ones, but it has been my experience that ya really got fork out $ to hear a substantive improvement in the tone dept.
I own:
'81 Fender Bullet 1 (the best!)
MIM early Squire Strat
Squire Jimmie Shine Showmaster (a one-trick pony that does it's trick wonderfully)
G&L Tribute Legacy (sometimes love it, other times ?)
Oscar Schmidt Delta King (good meat and potatoes guitar)
O.S. OE40 (best jazz box for the money)
Peavey T26 (very cool relic from the late 70's)

If I were 20 years younger I'd be answering the classifieds for "Roots rock and power pop band seeking guitarist" with my Tele Custom II. It deserves to live its life in grueling one-nighters.