Fender Squier Telecaster Custom

Indonesian made Tele, maple neck, dual humbucker, les paul style knob controls.

I use this through a grip of effects: guitar, Vox wah, Keeley comp, Boss OD (Keeley mod), Fulltone 2, Rat 2 (Keeley mod), Boss CE-2 (Keeley mod), Danelectro trem, Line 6 DL-4, MXR Micro amp, Fender HotRod Deluxe amp. The sound is reasonably good after being setup properly. The pickups are not the greatest but what do you expect for a $200 guitar. There is not a lot of clarity but I will soon remedy that by switching these for a Bill Lawrence L-450N and L-490B. The guitar is very quiet and easy to play, I think it's a better idea and investment to buy a guitar like this which in IMHO has comparable quality and spend a few hundred customizing it to your liking. Then you end up with a unique guitar that is to your liking without having to spend a ton of cash.

I picked this up from my local Sam Ash and the intonation needed adjusting but other than that it felt great and played very quiet. The quality of the neck and body/finish is very nice and well worth the cash.

I wouldn't try to cut down a tree with it but I think it will last. I don't baby my gear but I don't trash it either. After having it professionally setup I would gig this guitar without a backup and I don't foresee any problems. I replaced the tuners with Sperzel locking tuners and put a Graph tech bridge on it as well.

never dealt with them and don't plan to.

I have been playing for about 8 years and I have a Master's Degree in Classical Guitar Performance. I have been playing electric for about 3 years and I absolutely love it. If you are even thinking about this guitar and can scrounge up the dough I would highly recommend it. This guitar is worth every penny. After all is said and done I will have put in about $500 (including original cost) and I can guarantee that it will compare to any $1000+ American strat out there.

I've been playing this guitar for a few months now & I'm digging it for the most part. It has dual humbs, a volume control for each, a tone control for each, and a three-way selector switch (bridge, neck, both). It's a one piece maple neck that is unfinished & I like that a lot. Super smooth and the fretwork is good. Not sure what kind of tuners it has, but they stay in tune pretty well & the bridge is adjustable enough. I did have to spend about 25 minutes setting it up a little better than it was from the factory. Pups weren't level & the action was a bit high. Other than that, she was a beauty off the showroom floor. It looks pretty bad ass too.

It sounds pretty good for a $200 guitar. I play a lot of stuff, but mostly indie rock bordering on punk. Pussy punk if you will. haha.

I'm plugging it into my bass rig right now through a Peavey Maxx 100 preamp and it rocks pretty well. I like the sound a lot aside from the massive pup buzz.

My buddy has a Fender DeVille 4x10 combo that I played it through last night & clean channel it sounded good but when it started getting dirty it kind of came through a little muddy.

The only big gripe is the massive amount of buzz and fuzz I get from the pickups when my fingers are off the strings and when they're turned completely down. I'm guessing I'll swap out the pups and electronics when I have some extra cash, but really it does just fine for now... It could just be better. For $200 what do you expect though?

As said, I spent about 25 minutes setting it up when I got home. Otherwise it plays and feels nice. I particularly like the neck and the body rests well under my belly. The only thing I don't really like is the switch placement. I like to play both pups full on & when I'm strumming hard I sometimes flip the switch. Really, that's more of a technique problem, I guess. :-)

I'm sure that if I treat it well and upgrade some of the parts it will be a good guitar for a long time. I dig it.

It will have to stand live playing... It's my only working guitar. I'll most likely replace the hardware pretty soon. I have another Squier Strat that I've had for 9 years now and it's completely fallen apart, so I don't want to take any chances. I'll be proactive with this one. If the finish wears off, that will be pretty punk rock. It doesn't seem like it will though. I'll be putting straplocks on it as soon as I start gigging again, but the strap buttons it comes with seem solid. I'll have to depend on it & I'll have to use it without a backup, so yes to both of those I guess.

Haven't had to talk to them.

I've been playing bass for 14 years & guitar for 9. I have another Squier Strat that doesn't work, a Squier P Deluxe that doesn't work, and a Reverend Rumblefish that kicks a ton of ass. I needed a $200 guitar just to have a working one & this one actually felt and sounded the best of all the other $200 guitars I played. I was super reluctant to buy another Squier after previously owning two that fell apart, but this one seems a lot more solid than the ones I have. I'm not sure if I'd replace it if stolen or lost. I'd probably just get something for $200 used on eBay. I probably should have done that anyway, but whatevs. I think the thing looks cool as hell, has a surprisingly great neck, and has a lot of potential with some new hardware and electronics thrown on it. I played (the $200 models from each & I don't remember exactly which models) a BC Rich, Ibanez, other Squiers, a Schecter, an ESP, a Yamaha, and a Peavey. I just think this Tele Custom sounded and played better than the others, not to mention it looked better too. I with it had better pickups and electronics and I wish the stock pickups didn't make so much undesireable noise, but otherwise I think it's a pretty darn good cheap guitar.

Made in Indonesia, Humbuckers, Alder body, Black color, Thin Maple neck, etc.

For Rock and Punk it is great. The pickups are aggressive. I use it with a Big Muff and a Vox Pathfinder for practice and a Marshall Combo otherwise. The humbuckers are adjustable to produce both warm and clean sounds, although I usually use distortion from the amp. I rarely play the guitar clean. The pickups do buzz when the volume and tone knobs are on high.

Action needed work. Something rattling inside the body that does not affect playability. One major complaint is the plastic protective sheet over the pickguard. The plastic ran under the tone and volume knobs, the pickup selector switch and the neck of the guitar. I had to remove all knobs and switches to get all of the plastic off. This is very disturbing because it is easy to scratch the guitar when trying to remove tiny bits of plastic underneath the knobs and especially the neck.

The Telecaster seems reliable enough. I think it will last at least a few years without needing any major adjustments or replacements. I play it constantly and nothing has failed. Overall I think you get what you pay for. A $200.00 guitar is going to have issues that have to be dealt with.

No experience with Fender.

Played for 5 years. I would buy the Fender version not the Squier if it got stolen. Since I am in college money is an issue. I would save up the extra cash for the extra quality. The best thing about it is the way it looks and sounds. The maple neck and black body are gorgeous together and the pickups add a touch of variety in the black body.

Yeah its a Squier Tele Custom Humbucker-Humbucker. Indonesian made. 22 medium-jumbo frets on a one piece maple neck. The finish on the neck is thin and a lil dull, but has a thin shape and its smooth to the touch. The body is agathis, its black and lustery. 6 saddle string through body bridge w/ no tremolo. 3 way switching, and independent vol. and tone controls for each pickup (nice, like a les paul, the switch is even similarly placed). Tuners are pretty generic but they wind smoothly. Nothing came with this but the strings, and it was very close to being in tune (is that weird for buying off the internet?)

I love the Rolling Stones, especially Keith. This is as close to the '72 RI tele that I can get. I keep it always in 5 string open-G tuning. My amp is a Crate 30 watt. When played clean, it has that sweetness you'd expect from a humbucker (in either position). I mostly play Stones style, heavy one finger bar chords and small chord voicings laced with twangy fills. Overdriven, its nice for that sound, hot but deep, it has a heavy bottom end that doesnt drown out the top end like on cheap humbuckers, and the top end is bright but not bitingly so. The lack of variety is a bit apperent, because the neck and bridge pickups are so similar. If you play the bridge humbucker but near the neck, it sounds the same as the neck pickup. the middle position is a bit darker, more bottom end, deep and a bit mid-rangey. messing around with the volume and tone controls can provide interesting tones, but not a lot of variety, turning down the tone and volume kind of makes it a lil muddy through my amp.

Factory set-up was a lil off. The first thing I noticed was the switch was in need of tightening. Action was good, but intonation was jacked. I dont play with a bottom "E" (in my case "D") string on it, and I'm glad I dont cause when I did have it on there tightened the saddle all the way down and still it was off. The nut needs to be worked on at the 6th string, and the other strings were off a bit too, but I adjusted those to be ok. Neck was good, no gaps or anything wrong. Pickups seem at a reasonble height and tilt, maybe the bridge pickup could be tilted up at the treble end for more brightness, I dunno. The finish is shiny, and dent-resistant but easily scratches.

I'm not in a band as of now but If I was playing live this would be my main guitar for sure. It should withstand years of playing, although heavy road use could hurt the thing. The strap buttons are solid, the hardware is great. Gig without a back-up? Well, If I absolutley had to I wouldn't be afraid of anything going wrong. The thing is a tank of a guitar.

I've been playing about 2 years. I also own an Ibanez GRX-40, its like a strat but S-S-H, a kind of cheap knock-off but decent in it's own right. This guitar is good beginner's guitar, and perfect for novice to intermediate because it has features but nothing that makes you sound any better than you can actually play. I like it because it looks and sounds similar to Keith Richard's main tele from the 70's. I don't like the nut, and that the pickups can be muddy at times, but thats most likely 'cause of my amp. The best thing is the killer looks, and the pickup and controls arrangement. It's the best real tele you can get for that price.

Made in Indonesia. In my opinion, a far better reproduction than the Mexican made versions. No need to list the features again here. Mentioned many times over what this guitar is about.

Mine was flawlessly put together.

I play all styles of music and this guitar can do it all. Really. I play through a Peavy Classic 30 and/or a Fender Twin depending on the size of the stage or venue. This axe sounds great in either amp. Not much variety when switching between pickups. Probably because they are identical. Usually one of the two pickups is different on more expensive guitars. But hey, I can change one later or install a tap switch. The way it is, this guitar just sings in a tube amp. Period.

In my Twin, the brightness comes through as good as a Standard tele custom. In my Classic 30, the guitar is very bluesy in a midrangey sort of way. The difference in sound of this guitar compared to the American or Standard version is the wood. But hey, for under $200 bucks, it is a steal compared to over $600 or over $1000 for the other versions. So I am not picky about wood. I have an amp and guitar modeller (Digitech and Roland) if it came to that in a studio situation.

After setup was done by a tech, something wonderful happened. The guy played a few jazz and classical chords through his Twin. The guitar and his playing had a sound that made everyone in the store stop and come to see. The tech was impressed and said it sounds as good as his '72. I was impressed the way he made the guitar sound. Reminded me of what someone said long ago. It's not the axe, but what the person can do with it.

Unfortunately, the one I bought was not in tune and the intonation was WAY off. The nut has to be filed to lower the 6th string more, intonation set, and the toggle switch screw tightend snuggly.

Otherwise, the paint and hardware fit and finish was superb. No flaws anywhere in the paint, tuners, knobs, neck, etc.

This is my second Indonesian built Fender authorized product. I think Fender will find that the Standard line should be built in Indonesia, not Mexico.

I will never buy a Mexican Fender product. The quality is not there. The wood tone is good, but I looked at several Tele Customs from Mexico and all had neck alignment problems, AND bridges that could not be adjusted properly without a total redo. Sorry, for over $600, there is no excuse Fender. None. I learned my lesson from the two (yes, two) Roland Ready Strats (made in Mexico) that I bought new direct from Fender that had neck problems and defective electronics.
I dumped them quick.

I believe this guitar will hold up fine. I cannot see anyone bashing one of these around. They will be collectables one day. I bought a molded case for it as I feel a gig bag is just wrong for this guitar. Low priced Strats and Teles are a dime a dozen. But this design is not.

But there are people out there who don't give a damn, so those will be the ones who'll say the guitar is cheap and junk.

I never gig without a backup, and I have a few choices to use.

Never had a problem with Fender Customer Support. Always helpful even when I was pissed about the Roland Ready Strats. They do have people there that are passionate about the products. When you get such a person, it is a joy.

Been playing for over 30 years, all styles of music with a variety of artists. I own wonderful guitars and this one is a new favorite.

I ordered and paid for one from Guitar Center and they still can't get it for another 2 months from Fender. Two weeks later, Sam Ash had a sale and had received a few. They must have purchased all the stock Fender had at the time. So, eventually, I will have two.

Because I am proud of this purchase and the sound, It will be in my rotation of axes on stage. You cannot beat it for the price. It seems that the American and STandard versions are hit-and-miss when purchasing them, so why spend the extra money? If Fender can establish quality with the price points of each line, maybe, just maybe I would consider buying American. For now, this Squire version is smart money spent.

Made in 2004, crafted in Indonesia.22 frets, agathis body in stylish black. Two high output humbuckers. It has yer standard tele body shape with a unusual pickguard shape. Fixed string thru body Fender style bridge, no tremolo ofcourse. No brand tuners which do the job quite good. Has I think a C shaped thin neck, thinner than an average strat. No xtras on this one. Just a cardboard box.

Sounds quite loud and rough. Suits my blues rock style good. Pickups can be a bit noisy. But this baby is made to rock and I mean ROCK! Just hit it and you'll know what I mean.

Set up was quite ok, had to do some tiny adjustments. Nut was cut kinda sloppy so that had to be adjusted.

Gigging?Yes. Built like a friggin'tank but then again it IS a tele. Strap buttons may have to go in the near future in favour of straplocks. I will gig with it! And without backup.

dunno.

This is one of Squier's latest line of "Standard" gold-line offerings right out of Indonesia. I bought this new just after their release and, I see, they are still as hard to find as that proverbial needle in a haystack. The spec is as follows:

* 22-fret maple neck
* solid-body (I can't remmber the type of wood, see the other reviews) - it sounds great! But only available in black at the moment.
* telecaster-style body crossed with an SG or Les Paul, somewhere between the telecaster '72 and deluxe.
* two high-output humbuckers with chrome covers.
* two controls for each pickup - seperate tone and volume plus Les Paul-mounted pickup selector switch above the neck on the shoulder.
* String-through-body fender bridge.
* tuners are Squier's famous no-name but they're sealed-back and outlast a two-hour-long set and I don't play lightly! so pretty impressive!
* thin(ish) telelcaster neck with what I'm assuming are medium frets - nice and easy to play on.

This guitar is everythign I've been looking for - just not in a Les Paul! :) In temrs of features, the only thing it misses is a coiltap, but we'll get to that. So it gets a 9.

This is where this gutiar fails slightly. Another user mentioned a buzzing whenever your hands aren't in contact with the strings. mine has taht too, but I've worked out how to fix it now, it's just poor grounding work under the plate. My main suggestion for this is to get some alu-tape and shield the inside cavity and make sure the bridge is grounded - mine wasn't!

I play what we often hear reffered to as "indie with a twist of everything"; basically we don't push our distortion up too high, we play with a lot of bluesy tones and at some points go a bit old-Oasis-ey or Strokes-y. For this, I coudn't ask more, It does sound absolutely excellent, although when you push the humbuckers too high they do start to break up slightly, but since I don't ever push it that high (well, not usually..), it really isn't an issue.

I play through two Laney 100watt pure-valve amps on stage and one 50-watt Laney for home/studio use. Laney amps are very picky when it comes to what guitars it makes sound good and what guitars it makes sound bad (it used to hate my original 62 Fender Stratocaster, and my Black beauty Les Paul), but it loves this.

The stock pickups are pretty good, overall the sound produced was pretty similar in tone to the Epiphone SGs, just slightly birghter and with mroe definition to the tone. However, the pickup selector switch barely makes any difference - both pickups sounded the same so I've exchanged the neck pickup for a Seymour Duncan Jazz II, but that was more for personal prefernace than fault in the original. It does give it just a little more edge on my scope of sound.

I'm going to give it an 8 in this section, just because the buzz drove me absolutely bonkers for ages and the tonal variety you would expect isn't quite there. But it does sound great! I think it's more suited to the more old-rock, indie, blues, jazz style (think Radiohead - the Bends era, it's stunningly close) than anything else. If your'e looking for a humbucker gutiar to play Metallica riffs through, this isn't your guitar.

When this came out of the box I was expecting to atleast spend a little time droping the strings, setting the intonation but none of that needed doing at all! It was ready to play right out of the box (it was even in tune!). The only thing I will say abotu the setup is that the nut had a few little stringy bits (somebody else mentioned this too). It's nothign to worry about, you just need to take a tiny file down there when you next string-change otherwise it'll bond with the string and you'll lose your tone, sound, and strings!

The pickups were at the right height, the black finish looks good - I compared this to one of the "actaul" Fender telecaster '72s (I was gong to buy oen until I saw this!) and the finish coming out of the Mexican factory is truely terrible. It's like rubber but the finish on this Squier is brilliant, it's not too thick, it's not too thin, it just lets the tones out.

Again, this section gets a 9 - the nut is the only fault, and it's not even really a fault, it's just there! Most peopel would never even give it a thought.

I have been playing guitar professionally for almost 20 years now and I've spent the entire past year on the road across Europe, and now I wish I'd had this gutiar with me then. I would use this live without even a secound thought - I already have been doing (before and after the pickup replacement) and it behaves really well! The only problem I had was a snapped string that whipped across my face but that's nothign to do with the guitar!

In gigs I always carry a backup, it's nothing to do with the reliability of my guitar, or anything like that, it's just a matter of principle - i don't get paid if I don't play! But I would still feel confident playing this one without.

The hardware would last, I'v eno doubt about that, especially when you consider how good the "no name" tuners are. The strap buttons seem solid to me (what does that mean anyway?) And I can definatly depend upon it, I already do!

CBS Fender. I wouldn't even bother trying... If I ever have a problem with this gutiar, it's got a year warranty which is useful and I know the shop I bought it from would respect that, no questions asked; but it's easier for me just to get my technician to look at it, or give it a bash myself.

Apart from being an excellent gutiar, there is another thing you have to consider here - these were released late last year and are a brand new line of gutiars from a fairly respectable manufacturer. How many have you seen around? apart from just looking unique, there really aren't all that many of these around, certainnly not like the Stratocasters and Telecasters that dominate everywhere. If you're going to buy one, do it in confidence because it's a fantastic gutiar but do it now, because these are almost certainly going to become collectors pieces if kept in good condition!

The sound of this guitar is great, and considering I nearly bought a Mexican Fender for three times the price, it's fantastic value. Would you rather buy a top-of-the-range guitar from a slightly cheaper company or a "budget" gutiar from somewhere like Fender where the only thing they've got going for them is their famous name? I tried this against the Mexican Fenders and absolutely everything about it was better. Even the finish is of a better standard than those gutiars comign out of the Mexican factories.

There was a point where Fender's Japanese Squiers actually out-did their own USA-made Fenders... I've no doubt that Fender will never let that happen again, but this is about as close as you're ever going to get, and for a price difference of #400, need I say more? :)

This guitar isn't going to suit everybody - if you're going to play metal, buy a Ibanez or a Jackson, but if your'e going to play anything else, this is going to be a fantastic investment. The only problem is the buzzing, but that only seems to have happened in some of them, and if you're going to play at volumes where it's going to be noticable, then you really shoudl have it shielded anyway!

As a collector of guitars (highend and budget), I was very keen to obtain a Squier Custom Telecaster and bought mine in early December 2003. It had only just been delivered and hadn't even been taken out of its delivery box. It was however well set up without the need for any trussrod or action adjustment. I paid #195 for it, it was made in Indonesia, has 23 frets and like most other Telecasters it has no tremelo system. There is a three way selector that switches between the two high output humbuckers - this is sensibly placed above the fretboard as opposed to below where you can inadvertantly hit it with your fretting hand whilst playing. You are effectively forced to play using the neck pickup as it can get a bit unconfortable on the knuckles if you favour the bridge pickup as the saddles tend to be a bit prominent. I have found it does go out of tune very quickly as the tuners are made of cheap materials. Compared to a cheaper Squier tele, the maple neck feels much inferior, the finish is very poor which lets it down badly - the lack of satin finish is a bad ommission. This would have taken it to a level unsurpassed on instruments of similar class - bad move by Squier. The overall look however is very high and given its shortcomings it is still pleasant to play.

The action is fairly low and the humbuckers give a very satisfying rock sound, switching between the two however does kittle to change the tonal range. It definitely does not have the range of the Squiers that have single coil/humbucker configurations - and if you are in the market for a Telecaster - I strongly advise you to go for one of those unless the look of this one is something you cannot live without. It is very noisy, with ample sustain/

As covered in the previous sections - well set up, but let down by the finish of the neck that made it feel cheap. Everything else was well made and adjusted - nothing loose.

I would use this to gig with and yes the finish seems capable of holding together through several years of heavy use but of course this is a speculative opinion as I have only had it for 8 weeks.

12 months warranty - told to take it back afetr 3 months to be checked - but having done that with previous instruments - all that is done is it is looked at and nothing is done. Never had dealings with Squier.

4 years playing - @ 45 guitars - too numerous to list. I would not replace it if stolen - I like the look more than its playability. I did not compare it to anything else.

This is a maple necked telecaster with 2 humbuckers and the same switch / pot configuration as a les paul. They were issued in 2003 but very difficult to get hold of in the UK. I wanfed one because it had 2 humbuckers (My other guitar is a normal Squier Tele) but liked the idea of a Maple neck.

Very good sounding guitar acoustically. The pickups are bright and perfectly acceptable although the bridge pickup can lose definition so I will probably Kent Armstrong it. Good sound through a Marshall TSL will get lots of use on the rockier stuff that we do (Wildhearts, Mott)

Best guitar I have ever received. Plays like a dream and pickup balance is perfect (Well done Academy of Sound)

Only had for 3 Weeks but seems a well made solid instrument to me. Will get lots of live use and I would gig with no backup if I had to

Never had any proble with Squiers. Good solid reliable guitars

I spent 6 months tryng to get one of these and am very happy with it. If it got nicked I would get another. This is a well made quality guitar at a budget price. I used to have an american strat but it did not suit what I play (The Pirates to Motorhead) and I started using Squire Teles (Indonesian). You can leave them overnight in pubs and not get to worried. To be honest I don't think there is that much difference in quality and I think this is a superb guitar. My only change will probably be a new bridge pickup but that is more habit than anything else (I would probably do the same to a PRS!!). If you like maple necks, Teles and fancy the 2 Humbucker option this is worth a look if you can find one.

I believe everyone has commented on the features of this guitar already, giving it an 8 for the individual tone and volume, but there's nothing else much to it

i LOVE the sound this guitar has, the neck pup is really bassy and bell- like, and the bridge makes this radiohead like sound I really like, when you switch to middle position it goes a little bit thin but you can fix it cutting the tone down on the bridge pickup
I give it a 10 because it exceeded my expectations

the action is perfect for me after I put .10's on this baby, a little string buzz when I drop D but I am a heavy handed player so I give it a 10 cause I really like low action

haven't had any problems with it yet, everything looks really solid and the finish has no flaws that I have noticed

I already played live 3 times with it and aside from a small problem with a faulty cable, it played beautifully

never dealt with them

I have been playing for about 4 years I haven't owned any other guitars but I have played many, and this sound is more to my liking (very warm) I love the feel of the maple neck and the telecaster vintage body if it were stolen I would cry a lot, I look forward to spending a long time playing this baby.