Fender Telecaster

I actually put this Telecaster together from a body and neck I bought from ebay and electrics that I bought at a music store. This guitar is @#$%^& ugly. I call it my "uglycaster". The body comes off of a 92 USA Traditional Fender Telecaster. It's a top loader, not string through body. The neck came from a 99 standard MIM Mexico telecaster. I put a top loading, hardtail bridge on it with graphite saddles and a graphite nut. It has a solid top and I painted it a walnut color but as this was my first paint job ever, it turned out looking like $%^&. My wife said it had character, so I just went about making it uglier. Sprayed some orange paint on it, splattered orange, red, yellow and blue paint all over it, drug it by the neck across the gravel driveway a few times, hit it with a hammer and then put a clear varnish over it. Ugly. I put Vintage Noiseless Pickups in it, Fender custom shop pots, and a beat up old tele pickguard along with a 3 way selector. The neck is maple and maple fretboard with 21 medium frets. It looks like an old, beat up, well used tele. It doesn't have many features as no tele does, so you can't max it out but this is a damn good guitar and it is the one I play the most out of the 11 guitars I have. I have probably close to $300 in the guitar.

I play blues, blues rock, classic rock, country, electric folk and hard rock with this guitar. It suits it all very well and sounds like a $3,000 guitar and I bullshit you not. VERY Keith Richards sounding guitar. I've got 3 amps at home, one being a Fender Super Reverb (all tube), a hybrid Marshall Valvestate 40 watt amp (tube preamp - solid state electrics) and a little bitty Marshall MG10CD. Sounds great on all the amps, but sounds the best on the Fender. For some reason to me, Fender guitars sound best on Fender Amps. My Les Pauls sound best on the Marshalls. This has the Vintage Noiseless Pickups which are stacked humbuckers so it doesn't make any noise at all. Tele's are NOT versatile guitars. It has a tone that fits basically all types of music, depending on your pickup position but you can't get that "quack" out of it and you aren't going to get that beefy dark les paul tone out of it either, so metalheads - tele's probably aren't what you are looking for unless you get one of the 2 humbucker models. Very nice country twang, good grunge and punk rock sounds on the bridge pickup, middle position is good for classic rock and neck pickup has a very sweet blues and jazz tone. I love this guitar. It has great tone, plays very well, neck fast as greased cat shit and because of its looks - a lot of personality.

Well, I did all this myself. Action is perfect for me and I do like it a little higher than most people. Pickups are adjusted perfectly. Flaws? This guitar is intentionally flawed.

I have no doubt this guitar would withstand live playing. I don't gig myself, just collect guitars, tinker with them, remodel them and play the hell out of them but this mo fo is tuff. Hardware is top of the line fender, no aftermarket stuff. As far as the finish is concerned, well it looks like crap, but I made it that way, but I had a hard time putting dents and scratches in this thing. I drug it across the gravel driveway beat it with a hammer and it still took a lot of time to @$%^ it up the way I wanted it. I have oversized strap buttons on it. It's very dependable. I've been playing the hell out of it for 5 years now.

Been playing for 25 years and building or remodeling them for 6 years now. I'm a tech, so I can do all my work. I have 11 electric guitars, all strats, teles or les pauls and I have 5 acoustic guitars, all gibsons. I don't hate anything at all about this or any guitar I own. I love them enough to say that NONE of them are for sale.

This is a hybrid guitar. Standard tele features with some changes. Laminated top. Has one volume and one tone pot, 3 way selector and has a Fender Vintage Noiseless Stacked Humbucker at the bridge and a Gibson stacked P-100 Humbucker at the neck. The body is made of Alder and came off of a made in China Rockstar Telecaster Copy. The neck is maple and comes off of a made in Mexico Standard Telecaster. It's a natural color with a red tortoise shell pickguard, with a cream pickup cover for the P-100 pickup, and a cream selector switch top. I put a vintage bridge from a 52 telecaster on it and I converted it to string through body. All the electronics are Fender. I put Schaller locking tuners on it. Neck is very fast with medium frets and I made a case out of maple and velvet for it. I do most of my work myself. I pat myself on the back and say that this tele really WOWs people when they see it and hear it. It looks great, plays great, sounds great and the Rockstar body (which is thin like a Squier Affinity Strat) makes it easy on the back because it is light. I'll be modest with my own guitar building and give it a 9, but I bet you would give it a 10.

It is exactly what I want for a lot of my music. I like pure, no nonsense rock and roll - classic rock, hard rock and blues rock. That's it. Don't give a fuck about anything else. This guitar does it very well. Running it through a Marshall MG30DFX and that does the trick. I have a footswitch for changing channels and that's all I need. It's got the Fender Vintage Noiseless pickup at the bridge and that P-100 at the neck so you can go from Twang to fucking Bang at the flick of a switch. Very versatile. Anything from Hard rock to classic rock to blues rock, pure blues, country - shit it will even hang in there with metal. I love everything about it - I built the mother fucker. Again, I'll be modest and give it a 9, but again, you would give it a 10.

Don't know. Bought it in pieces and put it all together. Everything is adjusted perfectly for me. I set it up.

Well, I been banging away on this fucker for about 2 years now but I never gigged with it. Along came a baby girl and I missed my first children growing up because of music, so I'm a stay home - play home dad now. It will most definitely handle gigs, but I wouldn't gig without a backup even if I had one of those $4,000 Merle Haggard Tribute models.

Never dealt with Fender. I do better work than they do though.

I'm 54, been playing since I was 10. I have a lot of shit, mostly I make my own guitars or at least highly modify them. I'd track the mother fucker that steals this down and rip his head off and shit down his throat. I won't lose it. It's priceless.

Mine was made in 1976. It's simple. It's clean (time capsule clean). It's all natural (in finish and equipment). And it's a Tele; a cutting board with a long handle and a few strings attached ;-)
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Ash body. Natural stain (gorgeous knotted wood on back; very unique). All original. And in virtual museum quality condition.
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I give it a 10 here only because it's a Tele...and ya can't want too much in the way of features or you wouldn't want a Tele.

While my musical style ranges a bit, I'm more into jazz 'n blues than anything. For blues, it is sweet. For jazz, it's far too thin...but am liking it more and more. Odd, I know.
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This particular Telecaster has all the snarl, bite and bark you might associate with a Telecaster, yet also possessed the warmest neck pickup of any Fender I've ever played. And more versatile than I ever figured a Tele could be.

Have to trim my rating to a 9 on this one. While it's a beauty, the upper frets weren't rounded enough or polished. However, I guess I'm a bit spoiled with custom shop guitars and am used to having everything made as it should have been made; by a person, not a machine. Everything else is perfect; tight neck pocket, great fit, and the most beautifully unique wood I've ever seen on a Telecaster.
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Only thing on my Tele wish list, just in case Santa-Fender is listening in: Please bring me a Tele with a wider nut width; 1 11/16" would be nice. Thanks.

Built like a tank. Body. Neck. Knobs. Switch. Abuse it? Don't know why anyone would. But you could...and it'd keep twangin' 'til Tuesday.

Don't know. Never tried calling them.

Yeah, I paid a pretty penny for it...but it was in MINT condition. No, I don't mean, eBay-promised "mint" condition. I mean, like right out of the friggin' factory wrap not a spec of use on the thing MINT condition. Yes, a lot for a Tele...but --- hell, even the case was MINT...and the sound was warmer than any Tele I'd seen.
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Once took it into my local GC. Plugged it in. Then proceeded to play and compare it to every other low- to top-end custom shop & relic Tele in the place. Blew them all away. Customers kept stopping by asking what model it was and its price. Then they'd go up to the GC guy and ask if they could order one. He'd come over and then have to tell them that without a time machine there was nothing he could do.
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Have had many offers for it; last one was upwards of $2800. Must be crazy...but I can't part with it just yet. Only reason it gets a 9 and not a 10 is: I had to pay a ton for it...that and I'd really like that wider neck/nut width. Yes, I know Fender doesn't make it...but I'm wishing.

Hey...it's a boat paddle with string and a couple a pickups! Features? We don't need no ostinking features......

It's a tele! If you play a tele, you know how this baby sounds. Many out there have a dislike for 70's Fenders. I sure did ( pre-concieved from other peoples opinions ) till I happened on this one. This is a great guitar. It was originally a creamy white color and has turned into a butterscotch pudding ( not like the 52 RI though ) yellowish color over the years. I bought it from an old fart that had it sitting in his closet since 1974. The action is low. The bridge pickup is pretty darn twangy with the classic spank leading the way. The neck pickup really surprised me. Far from being muffled and weak, it has a beatiful, bluesy tone and matches well volume wise with the bridge unit. The first thing I did was wire up a new control plate with 250K pots and a new three way. I carefully stored the original with it's 1meg pots. If I ever decide to sell it, I'll re-install or include the original plate. The 250's warmed up the tone and the taper of the vol and tone are now what I expect. The 1megs were more like on/off switches!

Cna't comment on the factory action, fit and finish as I got it 33 years after it was made, but as Fenders do, it has held up very well.

Teles have to be the most relaible electric ever made. As far as gigging without a backup, I have in years past when all I had was one guitar. These day's I have 19...but I still gig with one as I'm too damn lazy to carry more than that to a gig. My homebrew USACG tele is my #1. It's actually a far superior instrument in tone, playabilty and feel to the 71. Don't get me wrong, the 71 is plenty cool and a great guitar. If it was all I had, I'd be a happy man. That said, the homebrew is so nice I hardly play anything else....but since ths is about the 71, nuff said. Teles are jsut cool guitars. I have three right now and my eye is always peeled for another. I prefer the ones I make to the store bought Fenders, but the Fenders are nice.

See the review from "brandonito" below, which I wrote right after I got this guitar. Pretty normal '70s Tele...not a ton of features, but it doesn't need them, and it does what it does VERY well.

After playing this guitar as my main instrument for 5 years now, I have to say it's really propelled my playing to new levels. And it DOES get a dark tone, as well, it's just that now I know what to do with it! I use it all the time with a variety of amps (Marshall, couple of old Gibsons, Silvertone), and it's always toneful and very versatile. TELES RULE!!!

Aside from the weight, it's great!

Built like a brick shithouse. has proven to be gigworthy.

FENDER CS SUCKS!!!

Indispensible. If I could only have one, this'd be it.

2003 Mexican Telecaster in "brown" sunburst. I'd call it tobacco but I think that's a rude word in the States now. Not sure of the body material but it looks like one piece. The neck is maple and seems to be one piece - no separate fingerboard. I'm not sure what profile & radius it is, nor what size the frets are. I haven't counted them either! Fender enthusiasts will know. Angled pickup at the bridge & covered chrome at the neck - both single coil. 3 way selector switch, rotary master tone & volume controls, all in chrome. Don't know what type the tuners are but they're chrome too & do what they're supposed to. That's it - simplicity itself. Can't rate it too highly for features but if you want a Telecaster this is what you want.

Now this is what it's all about. With the stock set of 9-42 strings this sounds exactly as the Telecaster is supposed to, and has done since it was first designed. Purists will say that modern materials, electrics & pickups have altered the true Telecaster sound somewhat, but that characteristic twang & bright jangly tone is there, and the neck pickup gives you that nice beefy Keef Richards rythm tone. The pickups give a fair bit of buzz & hiss on high gain, but this is what you'd expect. Played clean with the bridge pickup & the tone wound up it gives a lovely clear jingly-jangly sound more like a Rickenbacker, and overdriven would cut through anything. Think Radiohead in "The Bends" mode. I play mainly Indie/rock style stuff, & particularly like this for single-note picking 'cos the separation is good. I play through a Boss GT-3 into either a Kramer 15W solid-state or (more usually) headphones. I've found I have to have a dedicated set of sound patches for each guitar because of the difference in output & tone - what sounds good with my Les Paul generally doesn't work well with the Telecaster.

Having been a Gibson/Epiphone officianado for the last 4 years, I pretty much assumed that Fender would be the poor cousin, but I was pleasantly surprised at how solid this guitar is. It weighs nearly as much as the Epiphone Les Paul, and the neck feels lovely & smooth & beefy. Your fingers fly round the bottom two thirds of the fingerboard with no problem at all, the only part I'm not too keen on is the way the action was set - a little too high for my liking, making upper register stuff a bit sticky. Although over a year old, mine has no flaws at all that I can see apart from a very slight dent on the neck, and it looks & feels as though it can withstand pretty much anything that my other guitars could under normal use. The quality of fit & finish is fine - no gaps or misalignment anywhere, all the frets are set well & unworn, & the intonation from the 6 adjustable saddles is perfect to my ear anyway. I like the way the maple fingerboard looks - I'm used to rosewood, but the way this has been polished makes it look a bit like a pale version of burr walnut. The body has nice graining where it's visible through the finish, but it actually looks better on the back. I wonder if this one was supposed to be a lefty & somebody at the factory got confused.

I don't play live (believe me, the world is a better place without it) but I've no doubt it could be relied on as my only guitar in a live situation. The only thing is, I can't imagine not using my Les Paul for most of the gig, & swapping to this when the song needed something a little breezier. As I've only had it about a month so far, reliabilty remains to be seen.

Never dealt with them & hope I never have to, although I've heard Fender Europe are quite helpful when it comes to problems. Surely most of us would nip down to our local guitar shop, though.

I've been at it 4 years, & also own an Epiphone Les Paul standard, an Epiphone Zephyr Regent archtop electric/acoustics & a truly awful Encore Strat rip-off (OK, it was my first guitar & I didn't want to spend too much). If it was lost or stolen I don't think I'd be quite as gutted as if I lost the Les Paul, but I've hankered for a Telecaster for a long time because of it's simplicity & tone so I'd probably replace it eventually. Incidentally, I don't think it's worth coughing up the extra for the American version - I looked at a few & I don't reckon they are as good for fit & finish as the Japs or Mex's. Sorry, guys.

I bought this guitar in 77 can't remember the cost not much by todays standard.
It has the standard configeration, two single coils, 5 way switch, vol,tone controls. It's finished in blond laminate with maple neck and fingerboard, made in Japan.

Likes,You can't mistake the sound of a Tele',dislikes, the same.
That may seem a little harsh, this was my main guitar for many years and served me well.

As far as i can remember this guitar only needed a little fettling to stop some E-string buzzing.
The finish was good, though not outstanding and the tone pot was slightly bent. I managed to get the action quite low without buzz and without the need to mess with the truss rod.

Can I depend on it, well yes, it never let me down.
It has gained a few marks and chips over the years and there's very slight wear on the fist frett of the A string but it still plays well.
Over the last few years the electrics have become a little troublesome, soldered joints breaking, humming, but nothing that can't be fixed.

Never had to contact them.

I've been playing for about 30 years now and still enjoy getting the old girl out to play, would I get another one-yes. Good guitars have a sound of their own and the Telecaster is one of the good ones

Standard Telecaster with no vibrato, maple neck, black finish. Old style bridge. Standard tele pickups. Basic Guitar.........

For playing country music it is a must have............

This guitar was set up great when I picked it up from the store

I have had this guitar since 1978 and it has spent many nights from a smokey bar room to outside in the rain, to everything in between.

Never had to deal with Fender

Been playing since 1969 and the Tele is the best playing electric I have ever had hands down.I don't play much any more but I will never get rid of the Tele...I have owned a Gibson SG (1969) an Epiphone electric(a 335 copy), an Ibanez, a Carvin, a Fender Jaguar, a Fender Stratocaster, A Peavey, and countless flattops. There is nothing like a Tele. The only bad thing is when on stage, if you have a loud stage volume they feed back quite a lot. It just sounds like a mike squeel. (Drives sound men nuts). I could have changed the pickups but then it would not be quite the same as a standard Tele so I opted to live with the feedback..........

This is a great guitar. With 21 frets, two volume controls, 3-way toggle switch this guitar id very versitile. I enjoy playing a variety of different musics from rock to blues. I like the toggle switch in witch you can change from a beefy humbucking sound to more of a strat sound. My particular guitar is of the tri burst sunburst color.

ON this guitar it suits my style of music. I play rock music from classical rock to modern rock. I use a Crate gfx halfstack. On this amp my guitar sounds great. I use chorus, chrous flange, grunge distortion ect. ON the strat sound on this guitar it sounds very smoot and bright. you can make a variety of different sounds on thios guitar and that is what I like best about it.

THe action and the set-up of the guitar are great. THe pickups could have used a tad of adjustment but were overall very good. On my particular guiatr there were no such flaws.

This guitar will definetly withstand live p[laying. have even used it during live shows. The hardware on this guitar is amazing. I think this guitar will last me a life time. This guitar is a dependable guitar and I don't need a backup during live performances.

Overall, this guitar is just wonderful. After playing this guitar for a year now I have fallen in love with it. I like how on this guitar you change from a humbucking sound to a great strat sound. If I ever lost this guitar I would definetly by another one of these.

This review is for my Fender Standard Telecaster (Made in Mexico)
Basic Specs:
Traditional Telecaster poplar body
Maple neck and fretboard
Die-cast machine heads
Standard Tele pickups (neck & bridge)
3-position blade controls
Master volume, master tone
3-ply white pickguard
Standard Tele bridge with 6 saddles
This Made in Mexico Telecaster has to be among the best Values in all of Fender's lineups. I am a telecaster fanatic and own a custom shop tele, '52 reiisue, American, and a Nocaster. This guitar really holds it's own with the top $$ teles.

For features I give it a 9 simply becasue, well, it's a tele and at this price level there no goodies included like a gig bag or case (though I bought the Fender deluze gig bag for it). Teles prove you don't need alot of features for a time tested unique sound.

Ohh the sound. I honestly find only slight tone (twang) difference beteen this MIM standard and my American teles. ISince most people buying this Tele would also buy value amps, I'll mention this Standard Tele sounds very traditional, rich and typical tele through my smaller Frontman 25 amp (which is a great amp for the money too).
So a 10 for the sound from this Standard.

Once again Made in Mexico no longer means "cheap" from what I am seeing and hearing out this guitar. I have the Brown Sunburst which rivals some of the best fininshes I have ever seen, period. The action on this guitar was set very well. WSo well, that I have yet to make any adjustments. Everything fits well and again the assembly of this tele rivals that of the american teles I own. For all of this I must give a 10 rating a the suprise of the year for me.

C'mon this is a fender tele. Timex probably made up that saying by looking at a telecaster first. I expect this guitar to be around for generations to come.

I only dealt directly with fender once back in '98, and was quite pleased with thefriendly treatment I received for a not so important issue (replacement tuning knob). The Fender rep had me go to my authorized Fender dealer where it was quickly exchanged. Their website for speficific inforamtion is also tops - which I was able to obtain other info I needed through their site! So for their very well laid out web site chock full of data, and the one-time contact a few years back, I give Fender high marks in this category.

Again, this is not only a value leader, this is a solid guitar worthy of playing with teles 5x the price. I highly recommend this guitar to all skill level players.