Fender Squier Telecaster Custom

Made in Indonesia. Solid-body 6-string guitar with two humbuckers, Les Paul-style controls. Telecaster body made from ash-like wood, glossy black with black pickguard. Satin finish bolt-on maple Tele neck with maple fingerboard, steel jumbo-frets. Unbranded chrome hardware including Grover-style tuners, string-through-body non-ashtray bridge. The main differences from a real CBS Tele Custom: the neck is a Tele, not a Strat; the body isn't contoured; the neck bolts on with four bolts instead of three.

Sounds a bit like an Epiphone SG, which is a comparable guitar. I DI straight into a computer (sacrilage, I know) so I'm not sure how it would fare through a proper amp. It's quiet as you'd expect (they're humbuckers), but there's a little bit of noise from the pots when the gain is high. There's a bit of fret-buzz, but that's probably a lot to do with my crappy technique, plus the fact that the guitar needs to be set up by someone who knows what they're doing. It's not capable of awfully varied sounds- not as fat as a Les Paul, not as cutting as a Strat. I attribute this to the average-quality PUPs and poor passive electronics it ships with. One major gripe- the tone controls have little effect on the sound. As is it's OK for bluesy chords and dirty lead sounds.

I got the guitar 2nd hand in as-new condition- I'm not sure if the previous owner fiddled with the set-up, or if it was just awful straight out of the factory. It stays in tune relatively OK, but the action and intonation needs work. Finish is suprisingly good for a Squier, with only a couple of minor blemishes. The scratch-plate screw holes don't align quite right with those in the body, so the screws aren't dead-flush with the plate. Everything else is OK. I really like the feel of the satin-finish neck- your palm won't stick when it gets sweaty. It came with medium-gauge Fender strings which bend really easily, which I like because it allows a lot of expressive playing.

I haven't gigged this guitar, but I lent it to a friend who did once. I think it would easily withstand heavy gigging, although the finish might suffer after a while. In fact, unmodified it's probably better suited to being a gigging guitar or backup than it is to a strictly recording usage.

No opinion.

I'm not much of a guitarist, but I've played nicer guitars than this. My previous guitar was a borrowed Japanese Les Paul copy from the 70s, which was a different-sounding beast with different strengths and weaknesses. I'd have to say the Squier Tele Custom is very good for the price. It would make an excellent candidate for modification. The main things I would modify would be 1. The electronics, 2. Swap the knobs for real CBS Fender ones (instead of the plasticy look-alikes), 3. Upgrade the PUPs. Then I reckon it would stack up well next to a Mexican 72 Custom re-issue. I'm sure mine would also improve with a decent set-up.

Asian made. Essentially a Les Paul style layout. 2 Humbuckers, 3 way selector. You know.....

Good, but standard (but we love it don't we?)

I play mostly alt pop-rock to hard rock (think anywhere between the Dandy Warhols to Shihad to The Darkness) and this is a great guitar.

Not a huge variety of tones but still very nice. I've played this through a Laney VC30, Fender Hotrod Deluxe & 100w Marshall Valvestate (with preamp valve) & sounds great through all. In fact, it sounded even better through my amps than the store's amps!

You can really get a ball-tearing hard rock or heavy alternative tone through the bridge pickup. Not really bright but very thick & Les Paulish with the gain cranked. Pickups seem to have a high output which is great for controlled feedback as well.

More of a "rock" guitar. Probably not fantasic for Jazz or Blues but hell, Jazz/blues guys try it out you may like it!

Does not appear to be quite as well made as my other guitars, which are American made, ie standard of parts a bit lower, but quality was still very acceptible for the price. No real "flaws" in its construction at all, aside from perhaps when I hold a vibrato note for an extended period of time (20-30 seconds) getting & manipulating controlled feedback, the string starts to "scrape" the fretboard, perhaps due to a cheap laquer? This doesn't happen on my Les Paul or strat.

One thing to watch out for is consistency of construction. The shop that I bought it from had several of this model on the shelf. I tried them all and the one I bought was superior in every way to the others, so perhaps test/play throughly before you buy as there may be consistency issues from guitar to guitar.

I use this as my backup to the Les Paul when gigging. When In play seedy places, this becomes the main guitar (I don't take the expensive ones into the jungle). It has always kicked ass. No problems at all. You could play this without a backup even though I don't.
For the price I give it a 10.

Such a good guitar I've never needed to call Fender.

I've been playing for 13 years and would buy this again in a heartbeat if lost or stolen. I had wanted to find the 1970's Fender version of this for a long, long time but they were very hard to find, and then when they started appearing on the 2nd hand market they had become "vintage" and people were asking around AUS$3,000 which was a little out of my range.

When I saw that Squier were releasing a budget veersion of this guitar I jumped at it. They usually retail at about AUS$500 but the shop I got it at had them on sale for AUS$329, which is a true bargain for what I bought. I've never bought such a good value guitar before.

Yeah, it seems that on this website people only ever praise stuff highly, but in this instance I think its deserved. I highly recommend this guitar.

I play heavier louder music, and once set up for .11s this guitar can deliver absolutley brutal sounds while retaining an amazing amount of clarity. The tone controls need no adjusting and I have mine taped down at 8.5 and 10 respectivley. However with a little tweaking this guitar sounds great playing any style. The guitar can make the classic "Tele" sound, while the humbuckers allow much more flexibility and quality of tone. Absolutley fantastic.

While all in working order, the first thing I did with the guitar was lower the action and tighten the truss. One of the saddles was put on UPSIDE DOWN. However, a novice such as myself could fix the problems without so much as breaking a sweat. Room for improvement.

Fender must be devolping forcefield technology. This guitar would outlive cockroaches in a nuclear winter. However, I have broken it- having never owned a guitar with the telecaster lead jack i put it down with the lead still in it ripping all the wiring inside the guitar. That cost me a fair amount in repair bills. Also the plastic covering for the pickup selector has snapped off (I broke this mid-set). However the guitar has never stoped working, never been unplayable. Not only can this guitar withstand gigs, it can withstand MY gigs.

Bought this from a dealer. They were nice.

I have been playing this guitar for 9 months and cannot live without it. I prefer this guitar to my genuine Fender Strat. I wish I'd bought a proper stand for it before putting it down on the floor with a lead in, which led to a painful period of seperation. If it were stolen I'd replace it without delay. The sound of this guitar is mind boggling, somewhere between a classic tele and a Les Paul. The only bad thing I can think about (when pushed) is the classic tele head. The Strat headstock is much more attractive in my opinion. In the shop I played a whole range of more expensive guitars (PRS, Epiphone, Gibson, Ibanez, and other squires) but they couldn't hold a torch to this guitar. Thanks Keef, for attatching your name to this.

Two Humbuckers, threeway switch, agathis body, maple neck, chrome hardware and black finish. They say it's a 7.25 radius but it plays more like a 9.5. Through the body stringing. I've had mine for five months now so I have had time to give it a good evaluation with a variety of amps and effects.

I really agree with the last poster that the Custom really has some nice sounds in her. I have played her with a variety of amps and effects and with a little adjustment on both the amps and guitar, it really sounds good. No noise at all. Pots function very well as does the threeway.

I had to do a setup for intonation, pickup height and string height but other than that she was in good shape. Very tight neck pocket. Finish is very nice. The neck is unfinished maple and is on the thick side with unrounded edges but easy to get used to. Overall, the materials and construction are very good. It's just amazing what's coming out of Asia these days!

Very well made. I replaced the stock strap buttons with Fender/Schaller locks but other than that the hardware seems fine, on a par with the MIM's. Time will tell.

Have not used them.

Very good sound and build quality for the price. An outstanding value and that's why I give it a 10.

2004, Indonesian made, 22 medium jumbo frets, two humbuckers with volume and tone controls for both, three way switch. Agathis body with one piece maple neck, chrome hardware, standard ping tuners and through the body stringing. They come in any color you want as long as it's black! I wanted a Tele type body with something other than single coils. I had looked at both the MIM Tele Deluxe and Custom but really didn't want to spend $700.00 so I started looking the Squire Custom and Custom II

I am really impressed with the overall sound of the Custom with the stock humbuckers. It's a little harsh with everything on 10 but roll the tone down to about 7 and the volumne to 8 and it sounds as good as many high end humbuckers. They don't have the WHAM! in your face power of a Les Paul but have enough umph for good ole rock and roll. Sounds good with all of my setups which range from practice amps (Pathfinder 15, MicroCube) to the big guy's (Bad Cat's) I use a variety of effects ranging from a Eventide rack unit to pedals. Again, overall a very good sound.

Setup was all right out of the box but I always do a complete setup myself with any guitar. Intonation needed adjustment, new stings and a little tweak on the neck. Other than that it was good to go. Finish was excellent. The neck is one piece unfinished maple and does not have the rounded edges like some the higher end Fenders. It's a chunky "C" shape, which I happen to like. Neck pocket is very tight. The nut is all right but sometime down the line I will replace it. Pots are quiet and the three way switch seems to be OK. The little hardware things can be addressed later at very little expense.

Very well made with attention to detail. Strap button are solid.

N/A

If you have noticed, I have not made statements like "For 149.00 or "At this price what can you expect" and the reason is that the Custom is a very well crafted and gigable instrument and I?m talking about stock with no replacement parts. I own some very high end axe's, which of course have better overall materials and fancy inlays, but this Custom holds it?s own in the sound department. It used to be that anything made overseas or at a really low price point was a piece of junk. Well, things have changed! If you can get over having the ?Squier? on the headstock, which I have, then I think you will be pleasantly surprised with the quality and sound of the Custom.

2004 Indonesian made.. you know the rest

I play mostly emo/hard rock like Hundred Reasons, Copperpot Journals, Reuben etc and this guitar is perfect for it. Partly why I bought it is because it is basically a cheaper version of the guitar Larry Hibbit from Hundred Reasons uses, and I'm not disappointed. However, I have a really wide music taste, and also play indie stuff like Bloc Party, Coldplay or The Bees, and its fine for that too. Basically, you name it, it'll play it. I'm not really one for effects, but it sounds awesome with some distortion, and is suprisingly loud. Slightly limited tone-not much difference betwen pickup settings, although I find it's difficult to play with distortion and both pickups up because the sound gets muddy. Generally pretty rich sound, would probably sound much better with a better amp than mine (nasty Watson little one).

Factory set up was great-didn't change a thing. Nice low action, good sound, no aesthetic flaws, although one of the tone knobs is a little wobbly and just recently I've had problems with the jackplug coming loose. However generally no real complaints.

Definitely play it live-built like a tank. Hardware doesn't sem too bad bar points above. Finish is beautiful-I have knocked it pretty hard on several occasions and can't find a ding or scratch anywhere! Strap buttons are very solid, although I will be replacing them with locks simply for my own peace of mind. Undoubtedly I would gig with it minus backup.

Never dealt with them, though I might be contacting them over the jack plug and loss of sound.

I would definitely consider buying another one if it was stolen- I love it. It looks fantastic and plays beautifully. Big thanks to Steel City for some great customer service-they chucked in a discount card plus gigbag all in with the price.

I just bought a black one (tele) custom made in indonesia. med frets 4 control knobs(2) volume (2) tone 3 way selector very nice finish very nice neck.string through rear body vintage like

I played it at the local shop on a full stack line six. and it sounded great.. both clean and dirty. no noise. very rich sounding and bright. It doesnt seem to make a whole lot of varition in sound! but, I love the sound it produces. like the others had stated very keith richards sounding.I love the guitar

The guitar was set up fantastically I dont need to do nothing. maybe raise one of the pickups as a prior reviewer suggested. that's it. the frets were smooth everything appears tight. alright" let's move on.

Will see about that

I have called fender awhile back (many moons ago) and they were superb then.

I give this guitar a 10 I was at another guitar store just prior and the sales offered me a mexican strat maroom color new like, with a gig bag. for $200,00 bucks. I passed it up... I had a hard time because of the name (fender)but The mexican strat was not as well built as this squier nor did it have the looks& sound.So I said hell with the name and bought the squier it's better made.Heavy!!! this guitar!! the tele custom is "heavy" it was alot heaver than the mex strat. for the price looks and sound I will rate it high.You know what I really love about this tele is you get a strat feel without the knobs continually getting in the way knocking my volume down.

Black finish, 2 humbuckers, 2 volume controls, 2 tone controls, 3 position toggle--this is more of a Tele Deluxe than a custom, really. I also own a black '72 Fender Telecaster Custom re-issue, with the neck humbucker and bridge single coil pick-ups, so the 2 humbuckers and Strat-type bridge definitely make it more like a Deluxe.

It's a great sounding guitar, very powerful and Les Paul-like, again like a Tele Deluxe. A bit limited on some of the traditional Tele tones, but hey, that's why I own 5 Teles!

Set up pretty well coming from the factory. I only needed to make a few minor adjustments.

I am literally amazed that $200 can buy this much guitar! It seems very durable, well made and compares quite favorably to my Fender Tele Custom, which was over 3 times the price. It seems like it will be very relaibale and that it could be used without a backup, no problem.

I've never needed to call Fender for anything, and I have owned Fenders for over 25 years.

I have 16 guitars, and 5 of them are Telecasters. I have been performing and recording professionally for over 20 years. My style is similar to Keith Richards and Rich Robinson, very open G oriented. In fact, I decided to dedicate this guitar to strictly open G tuning. Through my Marshall half stack it sounds killer. The Squier Telecaster Custom is a great value for the money.

My Tele Custom is a 2004, Black, 22-fret, One-Piece Maple neck(which seems unusually cool. It means they had to do a specific run of necks that were solid, instead of the usual being capped after the truss was put in.)It's your basic Les-Paul tone/volume/switching set-up, which I like, as I only play teles it broadens my arsenal considerably. The pick-ups are a little on the weak side, but very usable. Circuits are of course passive. The bridge is a strat type hard-tail string through body. I would like to change it to a standard strat two-point tremelo. I haven't worked out the posibility of that yet.

I tend to go for as much twang as humanly possible, but I thought this guitar would be nice for non-twang stuff. And it definitley has no twang whatsoever. It reminds of a Gibson SG sound-wise. Which is cool. If the tremolo installation is too difficult, I will probably put in a tele three-barrel bridge with a sinlge-coil pick-up. Making it a little truer to the original Tele Custom. The neck goes perfectly with the intended sound of this guitar, I absolutely love the feel also. It's thick and you shredders out there won't like it.
If this neck were rosewood capped it would just be way too dark sounding. But the solid maple really adds to the cut. It really helps where the humbuckers start to give out. The main problem with this guitar is that there is just not enough tonal difference when switching between pick-ups. I've found if you lower the neck p/u and make it level, then raise the bridge p/u and angle it to where the highest part is closest to the high strings....that is about the widest variant in the tonal range. It is truly a quiet guitar, which is so strange from a tele purest point-of-view. I use a DanElectro echo pedal running through a little Fender 15R. It sounds great. I'm not into tons of effects. Most of the stuff I play is real minimalist.

I play mostly old country(Merle/Waylon/Etc.). The action is well-suited for that stuff. It's a good guitar for striclty backing music for a vocalist. It's really not the best squier for leads. Although it can scream if needed. When I bought this guitar I compared it to an actual Fender(Mexican) that was exactly the same, and construction wise this guitar showed better craftsmanship. The finish had a little more luster and was more even. I also have a Squier Standard Tele. Both guitars are from Indonesia and in my opinion, they are making the best over-seas Fender product. Nobody can beat the Fender standard for book-matching the body pieces. The hard-ware looks great, I will be curious to see if it stands the test of time.

I have professionally guitar-teched for bands and have seen all kinds of guitars. This guitar will totally hold up in live situations. I've finally gotten over the Squier stigma and wear it proudly. Not having my Squiers very long, I just don't know how durable they will be for the long term. They certainly seem to be well crafted instruments. I would definitely trust this guitar enough to go without a back-up. I may go a week without playing it, pick it up and it's still in tune. And it stays in tune when I play consistantly.

I do my own repairs, but I know Fender/Squier have good warranty programs for defective equipment.

I've played on and off for about 15yrs.. Both of my Squiers were gifts from my wife. One for Christmas(Standard), and one for Valentines Day(Custom). She thought I needed a creative outlet. And I must admit that I love playing both guitars. It's great that Squier has up'd the stakes in budget guitars. I would just never spend $1000 on a guitar to sit on my couch and play. But I've always wanted a Custom Tele. Both of my guitars are basically vintage re-issues, with a few modern appointments. And it's just cool as hell to get the guitars I've always wanted and not break the bank. I'll leave my e-mail for anyone who has modification suggestions. I got both guitars for around $475 with tax and new strings. You can't beat that with a stick.

Right, Indonesian tele, deluxe/72 custom hybrid, one piece hard maple neck/fingerboard, black gloss solid agathis body (I think theres a blonde version) thru body stringing, squier tele standard chrome hardware with 2 buckers & a hardtail bridge... read previous reviews etc etc. I think squier are doing really well here feature- wise, compared to a normal tele theres alot going on, and with the solid wood, thru body strings, and high quality neck and good finish they're starting to make a mockery of #500 mexican 72 customs and the like.

Bought this guitar for its drop dead looks (Oi, Keef!) to be honest and and i bought it mail order too, which i NEVER normally do! I think the previous reviews get it more or less right when it comes to the sound, the stock pickups aren't perfect abit muddy/hummy but, its a #170/$200 guitar and theyre about what i'd expect. The electrics are a bit cheesy too, yet don't show any signs of letting me down though. More importantly the guitar sounds great acoustically - loud and resonant - i'm binning the pickups anyway and getting some quality 'buckers. The neck quality is excellent, nice matt satin finish, no fret issues, stays in tune etc etc.

No REAL issues problems with this, niggles include; the ferrules sometimes come out when changing strings (not really a problem -glue?). Nut isnt great but this isnt as bad as some reviewer's guitars, it just doesnt bother me, the pickguard plastic is a bit flimsy, this doest bother me either (Its a scratchplate for gods sake) More importantly the body and neck finish are great. i e the basics are right. Upgrade everything else and you've got a very tasty guitar.

Withstand live playing? (it does) Will the hardware last? (Definitely, the bridge is particularly high quality)Finish robust? (Yes, where it matters)Strap buttons solid (Yep) Can you depend on it without a backup? (Strange question, a million dollar 50s tele can break strings cant it? If you can afford a back up, great)The pots & switch look a bit cheesy but work absolutely a1 so far.

Not bothered.

Playing for about 10 years,Owned a 74 fender mustang, 97 rick 330 12, Ibanez artist & various lumps of firewood. Ive always been a Keith fan (Open G "start me up..ne ne ne etc") and after playing 72 customs against this there was no way i was going to fork out for another three four or five hundred quid for the various mex/Jap/USA combinations - Sorry, but as a previous reviewer has mentioned, the difference in quality just isnt there. I'm interested in tone, not what type of grain swirls are in the neck maple. Teles are rightly famous for being the first affordable, mass produced solid electrics, they were intended as tough workaday tools not expensive ornaments and i think the squiers are probably the inheritors of that tradition. This guitar aint perfect and im replacing the pups (possibly with regular tele bridge s/coil assy) becase the stocks ARE cheesy, the electrics maybe oneday too..mmm perhaps some sheilding, it'll cost about #70 to make this into a s*** hot guitar thats about #240 in all, brand new (including postage).Blimey!