Fender Squier Telecaster Custom II

New 2004 black Squire Telecaster Custom With Duncan designed P-90's. Three way pickup selector switch and volume and tone for each p-up. Neck is satin maple and the strings pass through the body. Body is agathis. For a cheap Indonesian made guitar it's not bad, with some exceptions that I will elaborate on further on down.

I play many different musical styles and own 8 guitars (1 is a bass) including: 1980 Gibson SG modified with a DiMarzio Super Distortion at the bridge wired for dual sound and Kahler/Gibson roller whammy, stock mid 80's japanese made Stratocaster black with HSS p-up configuration and stock Fender locking trem, stock 1960's Kalamazoo (Gibson) with 1 single coil at the bridge and vibrato (very gritty sounding but very noisy at high gain), Cheap Rogue bass, mid 80's Ovation 12 string acoustic, 60's Harmony archtop acoustic, Martin acoustic which I built from a kit (awsome sounding guitar and quite a lesson on the art of guitar building) and the Squire Tele custom. I play through a Digitech GNX3 into an ADA Microtube 100 Stereo power amp and then into a closed back cab with a Celestion Sidewinder and a Fender 2x12 open back cab loaded with Celestion G 12H 100's or a Fender 4x12 cab wired for stereo with Jensen speakers. So as you can see I can get pretty much any sound I want. I have always wanted a Tele but I am not a big fan of 60HZ hum and this Tele was cheap. I have never played through P-90's and I was Quite surprised. This axe can do it all from twang to scream and in between with almost no hum even at high gain. It's a good low cost way to expand your palete of tones.

Here's where the problems start. First let me say that I got this axe from MF and the first one showed up with a broke off selector switch, so I sent it back to MF and they shipped it both ways no charge. The 2nd one arrived yesterday and low and behold the same thing happened. It must be the way they are packed, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has or will experience this problem. Putting in a new switch would not be a problem for me but on the first one the strings were all shifted toward the high E side making the low E much farther from the edge of the neck and the high E much too close to the edge. So I sent it back hoping that I would get one that was even. No, the new one is the same, and in addition the bridge p-up's volume knob does not stop dead at 0 or 10, it has what I would describe as a mushy zone at both 0 an 10. The pickgaurd screws are all crooked, the fret ends are poorly finished the finish on the neck gets dirty very easily. The action is "OK" but I would prefer it to be lower which I will adjust. Am I being too critical? I don't know. I have decided to keep this one and do the repairs myself instead of sending it back and hoping that the new one will be right, this is very disappointing. Once the above issues are adressed I feel that this will become one of my favorites even though it's more of a "beginner" for me. I've been playing for about 27 years.

To early to tell, I will put on a different set of strings (10's) instead of the crappy ones that came on the guitar and solder in a new switch and maybe replace the pots if I can determine the cause of the spongyness of the bridge volume pot. Everything else seems to be solid and I don't forsee any problems. I would gig with it but I would always have other guitars around (I always do anyway.

Haven't had to deal with Fender so I don't know bout them, but MF has been very good, so I will not give a rating for this category.

As I said above I've been playing for 27 years and have had quite a lot of gear, but most of the guitars I've owned I still have. If it were stolen I would be pissed off but I would not go out and buy one immediately. I would have to weigh all my option due to my experiences with this one(or two). If the switch thing hadn't happened twice I would give it a better rating (obviously) because I realize that this is a shipping and packaging issue and not of the guitar itself, but the mushy knob and the offset strings are another matter. I know it's cheap but c'mon. So I am going to rate this guitar a little higher than I should just because of the sound which is really nice considering the price.

Same features as the Squier Telecaster Custom but with "Duncan Designed" p-90 pickups. Blonde finish with one-piece maple neck and fretboard, agathis body. 2 Vol, 2 Tone, Hardtail bridge. New for 2004. The "blonde" finish has more green in it that I expected. Kinda looks like baba ganoosh-- you know, that eggplant dip?

As a backup to my real Telecaster Deluxe, you can't go wrong for the price.

It sounds closer to my friend's 1990s Gibson SG with P-90s than a tele. It has more bite and brightness than the SG probably due to the maple neck. I was impressed with the bridge pickup. I expected it to be to brittle and piercing like other cheap Telecasters, but this one has the right amount of body to it. Since you have a tone knob for each pickup, you can always roll off a bit it you want.

I guess the best thing I can say is that I am happy with the tone as a backup to my 1978 Telecaster Deluxe. Any cheap copy guitar that can hold its own up against an original costing 5 times as much is just great in my book.

Set up was really bad. Frets are bad. Pickup hights and poles are bad. A few finish flaws as well. After a few days with 11-52 gauge strings, I noticed a hairline crack in the finish at the neck heel. The nut is crap. I polished, filed, adjusted, and tweaked everything that I know how to do. I am gonna wait a few months and then take it to a Pro for a set up. I have a feeling that more could go wrong-- or at least more adjustments will be needed later. If this guitar was made out of wood that was not cured properly, the truss rod will need attention in the future. I plan to have a new nut put in when I get a real pro set up.

After a few months and some attention from a Pro, I'll post another review. ok?

Telecasters are the most durable design, but I'm not ready to give this guitar a thumbs up quite yet. This is one of my back-up guitars. I would not use it as a main guitar.

n/a

Overall, I'm happy so far. I think for the price, its a great guitar. I am familiar with the design since it is based on the Fender Telecaster Deluxe. My 1978 deluxe is my baby. The Squier Tele Custom with the humbuckers is cool too- but I thought I'd like to try this one for the p-90s. I'd recommend this guitar for beginners, tele fans, and Fender fans who like something a little different from the classic tele. Slap a real tele neck on there and upgrade the pickups and this guitar would be a Modded Fender to be reckoned with.