Fender Squier Telecaster

This is an Indonesian Tele that I picked up in 2001. There's not a lot to say about the features on this guitar, it's a Tele pure and simple. It may not have the best quality parts compared to a higher spec Fender but it certainly does the job.

I play a weird kind of post hardcore with a bit of prog so I need a guitar that distorts nicely but cleanly, kind of like the Fugazi sound.This guitar does all that perfectly. Through my '78 JMP 50 watt non master volume Marshall with a Powerbrake I can make this guitar sound amazing, who needs humbuckers? There is some feedback but it's not excessive. I mainly use the bridge pickup which manages to have a nice chunky bottom end,tight midrange and a great Tele style top end zing.

I had to do a little work on this when I got it. The action was a little low and the top 2 strings choked when bent but this was quickly sorted out. The nut isn't too well cut, it hitches when tuning although tuning is pretty stable, even when jumping around a lot on stage, even though the machine heads feel a little spongy. The neck feels amazing with it's satin finish and fits my tiny hands really well. Everything else on this felt pretty cool from the start.

This is my main guitar live with either a JV series Squier Strat or a Jap Fender Strat as a back up and it's never let me down yet. I played it on our last CD and it sounds like a guitar 3 times its price. Unless I can get my hands on a really nice Fender Tele I intend to keep using this little beast for a long time to come yet.

Never had to deal with them

I bought this as I wanted a Tele and this was all I could afford at the time. I expected to have to replace pickups and tuners but I have been more than happy with the stock ones. I have guitars that would be considered "better" but this just feels right to me. I may treat it to a decent set up and get the nut recut, I may even invest in some better tuners at some point, who knows. The only thing I intend to change in the near future is the scratch plate, I think a black plate on a butterscotch guitar is the business and way better than the white one it came with. If it got stolen I would definately buy another...unless I could afford a really good Fender Tele. Overall this is a cool guitar and certainly not a one trick country pony.

This Squier Telecaster was made in 1987, or before, in Japan. It's black with a white pickguard and a 21-fret maple neck. Standard Tele configuration, I bought it new in '88 and was told by the salesman this was basically identical to the regular American Tele. Same American parts, but assembled in Japan. All original. Machineheads have "GOTCH" written on them and seem high quality. (No accessories included in purchase. Salesman offered me cheap case meant for holding cheap strat copies and I bought it. Barely fits.)

Sounds great now. Bought it new, but internally dusty, from guitar shop on sooty Rt. 1 in Edison, NJ. Finally had it cleaned out, polished, and the intonation set after 14 years of electric groaning on a tiny Gorilla amp that I bought at same time. Now I'm on a new 160-watt Fender Hot Rod Blues Junior amp. Fretboard wood has hardened somewhat giving warmer, cleaner, classic Tele sound that works for me.

Great action always, fine solid maple neck. Body and neck are beautiful ... always felt good. Some basics (intonation, wiring) were not set-up right at time of purchase ... the sound would often mysteriously fade, particularly on the forward rhythm switch. In 88 I could not tell the difference. Center pick-up was slightly loose, too.

Cleaned up real nice recently in the shop. Very precise, close action makes it a standout.

Real solid ... finish is tight, strap buttons real sturdy. Seems like many coats of black lacquer on body is not easy to chip. There are a couple of very minor unnoticeable surface scratches and some of the screws holding the pick-guard have started to rust in the New Jersey humidity. Only the two string holders on the headstock seem really cheaply made, but who cares, they still work.

I'd want some sort of back-up live ... no doubt as I would with any Tele, the selector switch is sort inconveniently located ... strum too earnestly or sloppy in rhythm mode and the switch just might dislocate/break ... like any Tele.

I've been playing guitars since soph. year in college and also own a Fender Redondo Accoustic and an antique accoustic "conversation piece." I like the pairing of the Redondo and Tele -- The necks are almost identical so I can practice "electric" leads on the unplugged accoustic. They were both fantastic values, too.

I've had a long relationship with this Tele, countless apartments, living situations, going full circle ... It's held up well. The intonation was poorly set for years. I didn't know what to do about it, being a clueless amateur. All I felt like investing in was a little Gorilla amp. You can imagine what that sounded like.

It's been around the block but I haven't it play it much, so this Tele is nearly new. I needed the new Fender Hot Rod amp, and a pro to do real work on "the fit," to bring out its beauty. It plays like a fine old Tele now, and I want to play it all the time.

I'm glad I made the small investment back when, but I'm not sure I'd go with the new Squier Teles. The necks on the new ones feel much lighter ... a cheaper grade of maple perhaps. I'd buy another Japanese-made Squier any time, although they seem increasingly rare. I think quite a few collectors are wisely scooping these up.

My Tele was made in Japan (the only quality Squier factory) in 1987. It's 21 Fret, maple necked w/black dot inlays, U-shaped neck, medium frets (I'd say), 2-piece ASH body (no Poplar like MIJ Fenders, or composite whatever in other Squiers) finished in transparent Butterscotch Blonde, black pickguard, two single coil pickups (one lipstick, well, you know the Tele set up), string-thru-bridge (not body... it was the weird era) Tele style bridge, 3 way blade selector and 2 chrome potentiometer knobs (I think the pots are 250k, I'd have to check). Tuners are Gotohs. Overall a beautiful, classic, and simple guitar. There is no Fender better than a Butterscotch Blonde Tele.

My Tele sounds great for blues, funk, and classic rock'n'roll. When I need more full, muddy sound, I reach for my Gibson--but I love using this for blues leads and a lot of what I play. I play my Tele through a Laney GH50L halfstack, I use usually only wah and distortion. The neck pickup has some serious problems with being microphonic now (MIJs only downfall was in electronics sometimes), but still gives me killer tone for the blues--bridge p'up is a bit microphonic, but acceptable; it's likely I'll replace them both with Duncans soon. The Tele has that classic twang, it stays bright, even with the tone roaled down (a good thing--it has maintains clarity with the tone pot down most of the way, unlike a lot of solid bodies). The guitar actually can vary in tone quite a lot for the simplicity of features--it can be used for a decent jazz sound, great blues, and awesome wah-ed funk. I only wish this guitar was a bit less noisy at high-volume. The neck p'up screams when I crank it up.

I bought this guitar used, and it was set up very well. The p'ups, action, and intonation all were acceptable (I fiddled around a bit, but I didn't need to make a lot of changes). When I bought it there were some dents, but they only add to the classic charm. The input jack isn't of the greatest quality, and the p'up selector is a bit loose. All pots weren't scratchy, and the input jack doesn't go in and out. It's not in the greatest condition, but I still love it. For the marginal electronics, I'll give 'er an 8--but it might deserve a 9.

This guitar is fine live, but I wouldn't use it on a gig w/o a backup--and this says nothing about the quality of the guitar. I wouldn't use ANY guitar on a gig w/o backup because bad things happen on stage. Strings break, input jacks die, pots get scratchy--anything could happen. It's sheer idiocy to go play a show without a backup guitar, because if your guitar quits out (no matter how nice of a guitar it is, even if it's a brand new Les Paul), you're going to need to keep playing. Anyway, the hardware is excellent--I see no reason to why it shouldn't last. The finish is good, I hope it does wear off a bit, right now the transperancy isn't as much as I wish it was. Strap buttons are solid, but I'd like to add some strap locks. Very dependable. My only beef is some simple electrical bits. One wire attaching the input jack for some reason gets a lot of stress and has come off twice within the last month or so (it's not a big job to re-solder it back on, but I'd rather not bother, you know? Something that trivial shouldn't need to be done twice... maybe I just did a bad job the first time). B/c of that input jack, it gets a 9.

Never tried. I've done the only repairs myself. I bought it used, so I have no idea about warranty.

I've been playing for about 6 years. I own this Tele, a '77 Gibson RD Custom, a '64 Harmony H-15, a '98 Washburn D-10M, an Ariana classical, and a 60s Silvertone Classical. Amps would be my Laney GH50L (I've got a few Peavey cabs to go along), and an old Peavey Rage, I also play this through an Ampeg Jet-15 sometimes. If this were stolen I would have to savagely tear the bastard who stole it into small bits of flesh and feed him to my dog, seeing as how it would be damn near impossible to find another one of these (I know of one other guy who has one)--MIJ Squiers and Fenders are something to be coveted! I really bought this on impulse, but at the time, I was looking at SGs and Les Pauls... kind of. Really, I went out for dinner, stopped by Music-Go-Round next door, played this and the next day it was mine, mine, mine. I wish it had the Duncans I'm going to add probably, and a string-thru-body bridge. I wish the finish was a bit more faded. Good times. Go find yourself one of these--I play it as much or more than my Gibby, and they're quite cheap.

'99 or 2000 Indonesian Squier tele. kind of a beige color with a white pickguard. Regular tele features. Rosewood board, satin finish on neck. 6 individual saddles (not barrel). The neck on this guitar is excellent. The satin finish makes it a breeze to play and it's thin (not fron to back, from E string to E string) which is kind of cool for guys like me with little hands. The frets were pretty well done, too. On the thin side. Tuners are standard cheapo crap, but this guitar stays in tune surprisingly well. I'm not possitive, but I think my LP Custom goes out of tune more often than this one! I bought this used from some guy who sanded off the "squier" on the headstock and replaced it with a fake ass "Fender" lick n' stick. I took that off and replaced it with a nice sticker of a pinup girl:)

Came with nothing but the guitar.

OK, when I bought this, it sounded passable. It was certainly far from inspiring though. The bridge pup actually sounded decent. Not great, decent. The neck picup was muddy. Chords sounded indistinct and just blah. I opened it up discovered very cheap electronics. Everything from the pots to the jackplate to the switch was cheap. I gutted the guitar and rebuilt it and now it sounds killer. Here's what I did:
replaced all electronics (switch, pots, caps, wires, jack...everything)
replaced pickups with Bill Lawrence (290l and 280n I think)
replaced flimsy jackplate
installed DPDT switch for 1/2 out of phase option
replaced badly cut (and backwards!) nut with new bone nut
replaced bridge with traditional 3 brass barrel (with compensated barrels for correct intonation)

now, all that ran me about $200 since I did the work myself, and like I said, I just love this guitar now. I can get raunchy Keith Richards sounds, good chording on the neck, great tele lead sounds, country...etc. Everything you'd expect from a good tele. I've got 7 guitars, but I find myself playing this one when I go to just grab a guitar at home and play. guitar gets a 6 for stock, 9-10 with my mods.

everything was fine except the nut was horrible. The strings were spaced so close (on an already small neck) that I couldn't play open chords and have open strings ring. Nut was also put on backwards. odd. I've set the action to where I like it and there is still a little string buzz on the neck. I'm not having much luck getting rid of that, but it rarely can be hear when I'm playing through an amp. Paint is fine but seems a bit cheap. I guess time will tell. Pickup selector (and all electronics) were cheap and felt it.

This guitar feels solid, like a tele should. One thing I really like about this guitar is that I don't worry about scratching it, etc. It's my "beater" guitar, and I think it'll take whatever I can dish out. Finish, as I said, seems a bit cheap. I hit the lower horn on a table edge and a 1/4 inch paint chip came off, but whatever. Knobs are cheapies, but I'm not going to bother changing them. They don't have the screw to keep 'em on, but they seem fine. Strap buttons also seem cheezy somehow, but I'm not worried about them falling off or anything.

N/A

I've been playing 10 years. I own 2 Les Puals (Custom and XR-1), 2 MIJ Fender strats, a highly modded Epi Sheraton II and a Yamaha acoustic. 2 Marshall heads (JCM 900 and Jubilee 2555), 4x12 Marshall slant cab. Fender Blues Deluxe. Bunch of pedals, recording gear, etc. I have played lots of guitars in my search for good tones (not THE tone, just a few really good tones....that's why I've got more than one guitar). This thing is a great addition, given all the mods I did to it. I would not suggest you buy this unless you're willing to put some $ and time into it. If you had to pay somebody else to do the work, it would probably not be worth it. If you're looking for a good project guitar to upgrade/mod, this is it. Of course, as with any offshore Squier, play before you buy....quality varies quiet a bit. If I lost it, I might buy it again, but I might not want to go to all the trouble I went to this time. But I hope I never lose it, I like it very much. My favorite feature is the very comfy neck. I bought this because I like working on guitars, but also because I tried a bunch of teles in the stores, but none of them sounded great, so I figured I'd just build my own to my own specs. And that's exactly what I've done.
Again, rating is 9 with my mods, 5-6 without.

Well, it is an older generation squier telecaster, there aren't many guitars that are simpler. It's a plank with a neck and a bouple of pickups on it. The tuners are horrible stamped metal pieces of garbage. The bridge is a rather large hunk of metal, but the strings do not go through the body, so there is not as much sustain as a standard tele. It has a pair of standard tele single coils. I scalloped the fingerboard and tung oiled the neck so now it plays excellent, like a Malmsteen strat.

The guitar sounds horrible clean. It has that disgusting twang that is unsuitable for anything other than country. However, when running through massive distortion, the bridge pickup gets a great Master of Puppets era Metallica sound to it, while the neck gets a nice Pearl Jam quality. I would not play blues on this guitar as it does not have that fat strat sound that Stevie Ray Vaughan has.

Ok, I'm not sure how some of this stuff made it out of the factory, but since I'm holdng it right now...
The nut string spacing is inconsistent, some of the fret ends had burrs, the tuners are terrible as they detune by free will if trying to tune a string down, the electronics were poorly done (the switch does not select both pickups in middle position, only the bridge pickup, and the pots will make scratching noises and cut out the sound if turned all the way on or off), the strings buzzed a lot if the action was set too low, the bridge height adjusters are quite sharp, and the jack has come loose on occasion. On the other hand, the neck is one solid piece of maple and is straight as an arrow, the body is very heavy and makes up for some of the sustain loss of the bridge, the finish is excellent for a guitar this cheap seeing as how it's lasted for the past three years perfectly, the wood is quite strong; I've hit the neck on quite a number of things and there's only a small dent that is barely noticable, the neck pocket is nice and tight, and the guitar is well balanced.

Well, it has a tendency to snap high e strings after a couple months of heavy bending, no other guitar I've had does this. It's an incredibley solid guitar, especially for being so cheap. Also, none of the hardware has even a hint of rust. I'd like to replace the tuners, the nut, and the bridge, rewire the electronics, and get new pickups. It has withstood much live playing, and only once have I broken a string live. Unfortunately, the rest of the strings went down a semitone, so I had to compensate. I want one of those Hipshot Trilogy bridges so that doesn't happen again. I don't like straplocks, so the standard Fender straps ar really nice. I like small strap buttons so I can take the strap off easily, and, well, these are really small. I use it all the time without a backup, and I've only ever broken a string once (see above). I think the only time I would regret not having a backup would be if I had all the strings break. But what are the odds of that happening? I usually replace strings before they get too bad, though.

I've never had to deal with Fender, and I don't think I will ever have to. I can work on my guitar myself, and I don't really want any more Fenders (I'm kinda sick of them, they comprise a vast majority of the guitars I've owned).

Well, I use it for Yngwie style stuff, and it sounds a lot like an Yngwie guitar what with the low output pickups and scalloped fingerboard. I've been playing 4 years and I just finished my first year of my college music education. It's fantastic for shredding, but needs a lot of distortion to sound good. If it were stolen, the only thing I'd really be losing is some sentimental value. I'm getting a new guitar soon, and I want a Steinberger or a GMW custom guitar. This thing was great when I got it as a novice, but now that I know enough about guitars, I notice its flaws.

Mine is the current Squier Standard Telecaster, made in Indonesia. The blonde finish/rosewood finerboard model. This is a classic Telecaster, regardless of it being a "low end" Squier model. I also have a 1994 Fender Tele Special, which is a great Tele too, but this Squier is every bit as good. It's so good, in fact, it's hard to put down. I have owned 6 Teles since 1979 (including the 2 I have now) and this Squier is one of the best I've had. It's amazing a quality guitar can be had for so little! I have A-B'd it against higher-priced Fender Teles, and it holds it's own. I bought this guitar last year, to throw in an airplane cargo hold for a mini tour I did in Germany, so I wouldn't have to take my Fender Tele, thinking that this one would just be a "cheapie" for the trip that would be disposable. Wrongo, as this is a great guitar, and has all the character and personality of a "real" Telecaster. It IS a real Telecaster!

The sound is great. Really. I mean, it may not be perfect, when compared to a 1950's Telecaster, but it sounds really good and has that Tele twang. It especially sounds good in open G, a tuning I use a lot, a la Keith Richards. It's got that classic Tele mojo.

OK, I know it's made out of cheaper wood than a higher priced Fender, but who cares?! I mean, that doesn't inhibit the sound or playabilty any, as far as I am concerned. It's a fairly weighty wood too, at least compared to my Fender Tele, but I prefer that anyway. My main axe is an Ampeg Dan Armstrong "See Through" plexiglass guitar, anyway, so weight doesn't bother me! Also, this thing played right and stayed in tune from the minute I picked it up in the store!

It is solid axe. It survived 2 6,000 mile plane flights as checked baggage in a stock Fender hard case, so I'm not worried about it holding up. Everything about this Tele seems really sturdy.

N/A

Again, this is a "real" Telecaster. I don't care if it's a Squier, it's a great guitar, and holds up well when compared to any Fender I've played, including my own. It's tough, well made and cheap! I can dig it, a true guitar for the masses. I mean, guitars have gotten REALLY expensive (witness the Gibson line of the last decade!), but these Squiers are done right, and are affordable. I also picked up a Squier Standard Stratocaster, and much of what I have said about the Tele here applies to that guitar, as well. I wasn't expecting to enjoy this guitar this much when I bought it for my trip! So, my advice to anyone considering buying a Tele, keep an open mind about the Squier versions, they are really good!

Maple neck/ alder body... non-locking tuners, which the peg fell off of??? That's never happened before. Muddy electronics. fretwork is surprising good, however the bridge is quite possibly the most uneven one i've ever played, chalked full of that pleasant buzz every player searches for. For the price paid, the body itself (alder is capable of solid tone) and a nice maple neck with rosewood could make this guitar worth it if you're looking to experiment with it.

Well, the electronics have been replaced and where in dire need of changing. This guitar can NOT be bought without aftermarket pickups. They're too muddy, but the tradional bridge pickup did pick up a fair amount of 'tele twang', which wasn't what i was after since i wanted a rhythm guitar. The capataticors are alright, but i put a 'black ice' on to give it some crunch. 5 only for the alder body at a low price.

Other than the bridge, a tuning peg and it's inability to stay in one piece, this guitar has minimal tuning problems, the bridge causes all major problems, but that went soon after I realized it wasn't going to fly.

I broke a tuning peg, smashed the input jack in, the straps don't work without either a strap-lock or some duct tape, but damn does the body stay together!!! I LOVE ALDER!

I tried calling... to no avail.

The body made for a great guitar to mod and it's had pleasent results. I've spent an additional three hundred dollars on this guitar to give it one of the most unquie sounds I've ever heard and it has a solid tone. Straight ahead rock, but I can throw down blues just as easy with a pickup switch. I think it should be noted that my severe lack of sodering knowledge may have resulted in the unlikely tone, and I've had a few practice problems with major feedback and the guitar wavering in working...

Korean Squier Tele, black. Year - mid 90's?!

22 frets

2 single coil pickups, ur standard tele with single cutaway.

wow my first electric guitar i was so excited the day i got this guitar with my 15 watt squier amp.

the pickups are okay, not great but not trashy either. nice tele sound a little bit thin though.

all quite nice, the neck is comfortable to play and when i got it i was just a beginner.

the action is nice not very very low but i have no problems bending the strings and stuff.

the bridge however is a little weak and prone to bit of rattle every now and then. especially the top e string buzzez and rattles and can get a bit annoying sometimes.

otherwise i think its a nice instrument.

i tried sanding the top off actually (i wanted a butterscotch finish!!) now its just got a lot of funny looking scratch marks over it and looks grey !! but i still love it although its pretty ugly now.

nice apart from the rattling e string.

overall i would give it the thumbs up.

good for beginners, i would recommand it. i havent tried the newer chinese or indonesian ones but i like my korean tele.

Nothing special. Three way pickup slector, tone, and volume. No special doo dads or gadgets.

The best damn guitar ever. I replaced her with a thinline telecaster, only because I like the quality tuners a bit more; but mainly I needed another guitar so I could have a backup. A decent amount of the time, I still take the stage with my squire tele, and leave the "real" tele resting behind my amp incase a string breaks. I play in a punk rock band, and we do some nice country / folk progressions. This is perfect.

I run a JCM 900 100W head, and that's all I need. Turn the gain up, and I'm ready to tear up. Switch to clean, and I'll bust out the softest folk chords you ever heard.

I bought mine used, but everything was set up great. Buying it used from a shop is probably better anyway, cause a good shop will "set up" your guitar properly, and wouldn't buy a shit guitar in the first place. A good shop wouldn't.

This guitar kicked ass from the first song I played with it, and years later it's still amazing.

She's covered in stickers and duct tape, but... yeah.. I guess the finish is fine underneath it all.

Everything's solid... except for one thing....

Get a new input put in. These tele's shipped with a shit screw in input that the road / playing gigs will not tolerate. For like twenty bucks, a shop will take out the existing input, and put one in that screws into the body. Much better way to go.

I'll play this guitar till the day I die. My only reason for having a backup is incase a string breaks. But one show, my top e snapped in the first song, and I looked over and the only guitar was my friend's piece of shit raptor. I said no thanks and switched it out the string in the middle of our set. Hey... sue me. I'm a telecaster man.

Never dealt with them. Never had to.

Oh yeah.. this is also the most comforable guitar in the world to play. The neck is as fat as a baseball bat, and the action is soooooo sweeeeetttt.

i traded 2 cheap guitars for this. 21frets 2 coil pickups. 3 way tele selecter switch. two tone copper color. i had to change necks. put mexican made strat neck on the tele body. now it is perfect. i wouldnt sell it for less than 1lll.oo dollars. ha there is no way to replace the feel and the pleasure, or the sound. i play gospel music and it is perfect.

action is good after i changed necks, fit and finish is great

strap buttons are fine hard ware is great it is really dependable and i cant say any more about it

no