Fender Telecaster

A normal tele... maple neck w/ 21 frets. 6 saddle bridge, not string- thru. i dont know how old it might be, its still in very good shape. kinda fiesta red with black pickguard. made in japan, "O" serial number. the whole bridge part is different than on a standart tele; looks kinda cheap to me... lipstick bridge p/u, "normal" tele p/u in the bridge. 3 way selector, vol & tone (plastic?) knobs.

i play all kinds of music, but i prefer blues and new rock a la radiohead & pumpkins etc. i use a boss ds-1 distortion, a boss flanger, a boss tremolo, a big muff reissue, an old mr. crybaby wah, and some old analog delay (pearl...?).
i bought it used, over the internet, and got it like a week ago. i cleaned and fixed it a little, put new 009 strings on it and, man, fell in love w/ it! even without connecting it to the amp it sounds really FULL... loud, nice. you can play that guitar without electricity and still everybody in the room hears it!
once connecting it to my super twin reverb it blew me away. the bridge p/u sounds very tele- twangy, the middle position funky, the neck position looses a bit of volume, but nice creamy bluesy tone.
but once i turn a distortion on, a whole lotta shitty FEEDBACK. the annoying kinda one... well, just keep the fuzz low. it was too good to be true... almost perfect. almost.

action was low, i think the previous owner never really played it. i think it just layed in a corner getting dusty.
y screwed the saddles and the pickups a little up, put new strings on, rubbed the dust & fingerprints away, and it looked like NEW. the finish looks and feels perfect, neck feels soft and fast. 2 & 3th frets are a little worn, but ok... who knows how old it is and what its gone thru... there is a little bruise at the nut (the nut is loose, actually, but the strings press it down...) and near the jack. but no prob. a guitar is made to use, not to hang it on a wall.. haha
the tuners work 100%, stays in tune.

ok, as i said, ive only had it for a week, but man i fell in love with it. ive used it now for about 5 or 6 hours rehearsing w/ my band, and it did stay in tune all the way, i think id definately depend on it. i think ill use it on a gig next week... well, if i find some way to elimiate the damn feedback... *sigh*

hope ill never need em... ill fix it myself.

i own a 65 jaguar, a 66 musicmaster II, a 68 gibson sg custom, a 77 sg standart and some werid 70s les paul copy with a speaker buit in it... my 70s fender super twin reverb and a fender bullet amp.
i think its so ironic, werid; this is the cheapest guitar i own, but it is the one that sounds and feels best. i bought it to, man i dont know, paint it kinda psychodelic, mistreat it, smash it... oh i dont know. i was just looking for a piece of junk that sounds and looks like a fender. ive always had some "disliking" feeling towards squiers (or epiphones). i never "respected" them as real fenders. but hey, this guitar made me change my mind...
if it was stolen id buy another one, for sure, but who knows if i get another one so cheap. or maybe ill go for a "real" fender... but ive really got to like it sooo much over these days, i hope ill never lose it, and ill "respect" it now for what it is: a REAL guitar.
the only thing i REALLY hate is the damn feedback... oh yeah, and the input jack "crackels" ("brrrxkrrrx..." haha you know what i mean!) everytime the cable moves, but we all know how to avoid this one...

id be interessted in knowing how old it is. please help me out, one of you! it is not one of the silver or affinity series. just send me a mail if you have any comments, suggestions or info.
thanks for reading...

This is a 1995 Japanese Telecaster. Sunburst model with a 3-way selector switch and a maple neck and fretboard. The guitar came with a gig bag when purchased.

The guitar has a really great sound through the neck pick-up. The bridge pickup is a little too bright for me. There is a lot of hum whenever I am not touching a metallic part of the guitar. The guitar sounds great in general.

The guitar looks and plays really nice. The guitar was NOS and the factory setup is fine. I really like the neck on this guitar, it is very easy to play.

I just recently acquired this guitar. It seems like it should take abuse easily. I think that this guitar could take a lot of abuse, and still sound great.

I really like this guitar. The guitar does not weigh much, so it is easy to drag around. It sounds really great. Can't beat the quality of this guitar for the price.

Made in U.S.
It's amazing some of the crap that's out there. My local music store is my second home. Along with the Good and the Great stuff is some real SH*T. Those Mexican, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Tiawanese (the list goes on) copies are unbelievable. You watch some poor shmuck buying one of these things and you know he's gonna be playing the blues (like it or not) as soon as he gets it home. They might look the same...but they ain't the same.
Which brings me to the gift I bought for myself (finally). She's a classic blonde telecaster, the standard single coil pick-ups(2).
Volume, Tone, and 3 position switch. As basic as you can possibly get but by no means limited. I read a few comments where the user claimed they could only get 3 sounds off the instrument. Here's some advice, use the entire neck and string coverage. And play something besides doo-wacka-doo-wacka, and you'll be surprised at what this little monster is capable of. Tuners are tight, No slippage. This is a great unit.
It's interesting that you should request info. on body style. I guess something happens when you grow older. When I saw my first Tele ever, I guess it was around 1958, I thought Man...that's the ugliest body style you could ever come up with. Funny how things change. She's a beautiful axe.

I've been playing about 35 years now. Have owned a Les Paul, Hagstrom (Mark III), and an Epiphone, and now the Tele. I'm runin' her through a Fender 112 Deluxe (in conjunction with a Korg G3). The sound is clean, true, no buzz, no hum. Even just runnin' clean you can get a great variety of tonal difference, of course depaending on where you play on the neck and you tweaking capabilty.

Had her intonated upon purchase.
Pickups adjusted at the same time.
No flaws whatsoever.

It's a U.S. Fender...built like a brick shithouse.

Haven't had to deal; with Fender as of yet.

Like I said, about 35 years on guitar.
If it was ever stolen, I would hunt them down, find out what they love the most...and kill it.
Favourite feature would have to be the action.

This review is for a new 2000 Mexican Telecaster, purchased as an early Christmas gift for me by my awesome wife. It has a three-tone tobacco sunburst finish, poplar body, big fat maple neck w/satin finish, two single coils, 21 medium-size frets, six very nice chrome bridge adjusters, 1 master vol. and 1 tone. In this pricerange they come without any case, instructions, or wrenches. They even took the pricetag off at the store! But at least you get to keep the strings that are already on there!

I've been playing for 21 years now, and play lots of different styles, not a single one of them very well! Anyway, I have Gibsons and Fender Strats, and prefer Fender over Gibson. I play through Marshalls and Peavey Classic 50s. I originally went looking for a jazz guitar, but couldn't believe the expense. (Nor could I believe that even an Epiphone(gag!) jazz style Regent, without a case, was still $750., and the fret job was terrible, as usual). Anyway, I've heard about dudes getting a decent jazz tone with a Tele, so I tried out this Mexican at my wife's request. I couldn't believe how nice the tone was: it has a nice clarity and sustain, the neck pickup was real mellow and deep, but not bassy, and there's just enough top-end for clarity. Using both pickups sounds funky and a bit like my Les Pauls mid-position selection, and the bridge pickup is trebly, yet still a bit thick. The guitar fits blues very well also, and has alot of dynamics, for a cheap slab of wood. It inspires my playing, and that's what's important.

When I tried the guitar at the store, I played it and checked it out for over an hour. It looked like there might have been a shim in the neck pocket which would really piss me off, so I asked the salesguy to take it apart. Turns out it was only a bit of powdery gunk in there, otherwise the neck pocket was tight. They wouldn't do a whole setup, but the truss rod was very loose, and the action a bit high. Since it played ok, I bought it and set it up at home. The fretjob is decent, but the bass side of the neck is a tad straighter than the treble side, and the treble side of the neck sits up 1/64 higher from the body. I could cry about it, but it's not really that important. And for the price, I can't expect too much or else Fender couldn't sell their expensive guitars, right? -The 3-tone sunburst finish, by the way, is flawless.

If you hit me with it, you would probably kill me! I don't think even Les Paul's are as tough as a Tele. I'm going to play jazz with my wife who plays piano , and I hope it gets all smoked up banged-in a bit for that used look.

I like these guitars alot. They're decent for the money. I'm normally a Stratocater guy, but I'm digging the Tele for it's jazz and blues tones, and the fact that they're so tough they'll take abuse. I think I'd like to get the blond '52 reissue someday, since I'm liking the Tele vibe.

1975 Telecaster. Simple as they come. Natural finish. Maple neck. White pickguard. Two Jason Lollar rewound single coil pickups (See below). Volume and Tone controls. Three way switch. Put a tele tailpiece back on it after having a strat-type one on there because mr speedy lead guitar guy back in '79 said i'd never be able to get proper intonation out of the crappy tele one. Man, we kids sure had a lot of dumb ideas in the 70s. Like you had to have a strat or a les paul, and a 100watt amp, otherwise, you'se a wuss. I'm just so grateful i was too poor to buy any of that crap. Now i've got this beautiful, pristine '75 tele with custom rewound pickups in it that sounds just like a tele should. It's perfect. I've got a classic.

OK, telecasters are pretty simple machines. Single coil solid body sound that helped define what the blues and rock'n'roll sound was to become. It ain't your heavy metal, thrasher, speeder crunch thang you may want. Its the kinda sound that folks that have been listening to and playing music a long time grow to appreciate. A classic sound that loves a big sounding, clean, tube amplifer that loves to get simply overdriven. Mine had some Dimarzio pickups in it that weren't balanced with each other very well and were too trebly, even for a tele. I found this guy, Jason Lollar, on the web at http://lollar.hypermart.net/, found out he didn't live to far away, got in touch with him and actually went over to his shop with my tele for a visit. (he also does mail order, so check him out) For $30 each, he ripped my pickups apart and rewound them RIGHT BEFORE MY VERY EYES!!! very cool. checking things on the way to make sure they were going right. ALSO: check it out, the old school way is to do a scatter wind, which is what Jason does. Plus, you gotta make sure you've got even tension on it as you wind. That way there's no need for potting. Ah, I can tell i'm boring you. You can learn about this stuff for yourselves, it's all out there on the web someplace. Anyway, this tele ain't the jack of all trades, but i don't really think theres a decent guitar that is. Its a guitar that don't want no fancy gadgets, maybe i decent overdrive pedal, but thats it. Oh yeah, with these rewinds there's a lot more sensitvity to the guitar and to my actual playing. Basically, when i got these pickups done my tele was perfect and i no longer felt the need to go looking for a strat. Oh, and mostly i play this through a '74 Fender Super Reverb. Walla.

Its 25 years old. Looks pretty good to me.

maybe the toughest guitar on the planet. lasts forever. mine made it into another "millenium".

n/a

I've been playing for like 24 years, and most of that time i've sucked. Now, who knows? I just know what i like. I've also got a 90s Casino, a Danelectro reissue, a Westone bass, Fender super reverb, Peavey classic 50-212 and a bunch of other music and recording stuff. I used to really want an older strat, but now, with the rewinds, that's over. If i found one, i guess i'd pick it up, but heck, seems like everyone plays one of those, don't they? Give me the road less traveled.

Features weren't exactly what I was looking for when I bought it, but I was pleasently surprised to find how versatile it really was. It has 21 frets, 2 single coil pickups(stock), and standard 3-way switching with passive tone and volume controls(1 ea.). It came with a hardshell case which I now use for my Strat. It is a very gig-worthy guitar.

It is a perfect guitar for my style of blues guitar. It is rich at the neck and twangy at the bridge, and is just perfect in the middle. I like to roll down the tone control for rhythm and then just kick it up for lead. I have a Strat and have used that a lot, but it was always to difficult to adjust. THere were just too many controls to worry about. I switched back to my tele and got a little bit grittier sound and didn't have to worry about the controls as much. I play through a 70's Gibson Lab Series L-11 amp. It has such a great clean tone and that combined with the grittiness of the tele just shines.

I bought the guitar used and i assume the previous owner set it up. It played great, but I found I had to raise the action some when I switched to larger strings. The pickups were set up perfectly, but I felt the need to tinker with them anyway. Just to make sure I had the best sound possible. It felt good and sounded great, so I don't care what it looks like. I didn't even check it for finish flaws or anything like that.

It's the plank, man. Of course it'll stand up to gigging, its just a road horse. I'd take that guitar on the road without a case or a backup and expect it to play fine every night.

Never really dealt with Fender, but the guy I bought it from has always helped me with repairs on any of my guitars with no hassle.

I've been playing for 2 years. THats not very long asnd this was the second guitar I bought. I owned a cheap samick before. I have owned a semi hollow gibson copy, an american strat, a japanese strat, and several other no namers. I like the simplicity of the tele. It lets me forget about the electric part and just worry about the guitar.

I think it's a '99 or '98 Tele. Made in Mexico. 21 fret maple neck, maple fretboard. Looks very much like all the old Teles I've seen, standard 2 knobs, 3-way switch. Except for the Strat-esque bridge. 2 single coils (in my opinion, Fender doesn't make very good humbuckers, and I like a lot of treble!) Poplar body, midnight wine finish looks damn good to me. Non-locking tuners, but hell they stay in tune better than my friends Ibanez with a locking nut and bridge. Fat neck, no accessories. But for 300 bucks, I don't really mind.

It sounds AWESOME. The bridge pickup sounds excellent, the neck pickup works well too. Put them both together and you have a more Les Paul type sound. I play it through a Fender Stage 112, an occasionally a chorus pedal, wah, and echo. It can get a little noisy, but it's the good kind of noisy. It sounds excellent. I like Fender tones, and this one is so versatile I don't see why people think so lowly of it.

The action is just right. Didn't have to adjust it, it was just high enough. The pickups are set up just fine, I moved the neck pickup around a little for the hell of it. The finish is excellent. It all looks and feels great.

It's a Fender. With the exception of the strap buttons, which aren't that bad to begin with I'm just spaztic on stage, the guitar is durable as any. I would gig with a backup, only because I HATE changing strings onstage. But if I don't break any strings then I have no need to use a backup, this guitar is solid.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for about 4 years, and I've had this for a year. In addition to this I have a mutilated Squier Strat and an Ibanez GAX70. They don't get used a whole lot, the Tele gets all the play. I'm quite fond of it. I'd buy another one if this got stolen. I may even buy another one for a backup axe (different tunings onstage). I love how it feels, it's heavy and comfortable. The neck is comfortable, can play for hours on this guitar. It's so unique, you can't compare it to much. Sounds great for every type of music, so buy one if you can. At $300 it's as versatile as a Les Paul, but more treble.

After 30 yrs I stared playing guitar again. Years ago I was a "Fender Guy" owning a Mustang and a Jazzmaster. Upon looking for a new guitar I picked up a Standard Strat that didn't show me a thing, but upon purchasing a Standard Telecaster the fun came back. This rig is the lower priced Telecaster $ 299.00 from Musician's Friend. For the price I must say this is some guitar. It has the 9 1/2 neck(radius) the standard components and the best finish in dark wine that I have seen on any guitar. The tone on this rig is unbelievable, you can adjust for the sharp fender twang all the way down to mellow. One again the finish is super, no run, marks, etc. And it's made like a model T. Solid and reliable. I love the thing- for the price is has put me back where I left off. For the price the bag was not included. But in dealing with Musician's Friend( great bunch of people they are) I have no fear about the quality or that they will back their guitars. The neck on the rig is maple, and I DO prefer t over Rosewood. It a prettier looking guitar with the maple neck,although it my first guitar with that type of neck, I find it easier to see, and eassier to "handle."

Given my age, I have seen a lot of music come and go. For the oldies this fits right in, for some of the newer music it does real fine, the tone is adjustable.

Action is great, I haven't set it up at all. Didn't really need to. Just placed some Ernie Ball's on it and I am off. The finish is tremendous. The pikup sitch know did fall of the first day but...hey..spot of glue !

The band I was in before carried everything in the trunk of the car, I think this would handle that real well, but I don't think that I will be doing that ! For an in expensive guitar this at the price is far over the Standard Strat- and would pass through a gig w/o a back up. All the hardware on thye guitar is SOLID !

Never delt with Fender but their guitars have always been solid. Musician's Friend are a "regular" Nice people and always ready to help- I highly recommend them. And with their prices- I can't see shopping anywhere else

Been playing off and on 30 yrs. Mostly OFF ! In the past I have owned a Silvertone guitar(Didn't everyone ?), a Gibson, Fender Mustang, Jazzmaster, Standrad Strat, this is far away and above some of those- except maybe the Jazzmaster. I person I met one day stated that a Tele was better- he's right it goes nicely with the Princeton 65 I have. I dunno if it was stolen I would get another- then find the guy who took it and beat him with it. It certainly would take the abuse

Body sunburnt: lacquer was damaged by nylon I put on to protect color anbd body from scratches

Dance music FENDER TWIN REVERB 100w A little bit but sound is great Full sound I mounted flat wound normal ( not scaled strings ) I Like. That strings have strong sustain and heavy basses. Light strings are also good but I dont like for my job. Too much noisy(wired and not flat wound)

Perfect intonation from 1 to 12 fret on all strings ( electronically measured)

I use it in Home studio recording

Not necessary for me some support for Telecaster . My model is bundled with FENDER TWIN REVERB 100W.They both great.

It's very important for me , emulate electric guitar sound and acoustic steel strings guitar sound . With my model it is possible.

I bought it new in 1967. I've done several modifications... including a Mighty-Mite neck pickup to match the gain of the stock bridge pickup, and a Shaller bridge. The saddles have been polished so I never break strings. The pickups were potted to stop that high-pitched Tele squeal at high volumes, and the cavities and pickguard are shielded. It has a 5-way switch with an 'off' position, then a neck with highs rolled-off position. The final 3 switch positions are standard. The original cream finish got pretty banged up so I stripped it. When I found that it is a gorgeous piece of ash... some nearly burl, I had it lightly oil stained and finished with clear laquer. But that was in the early 70s and the finish is worn badly again. The body finish matches the stock highly flamed maple neck. The maple fingerboard's laquer came off ages ago and has heavy finger staining from the 1st to the 10th fret. I've had jumbo frets put in. The stock tuners are poor but I don't feel a great need to replace them.

It can do it all from Zep, to Blues, to Jazz, to chicken-pickin. I've had several different amps but I've used a Mesa Boogie Mk IIB for the last 15 years. I just purchased a Rivera Sedona because I wanted a do it all amp for electric and acoustic guitar. I use some pitch/delay rack-mount effects. Even with the shielding and potting, it's still a bit noisy but hey, they are single coil pickups.

It was well set up when I bought it. Fit and finish WERE great. Though the 3-piece top is not bookmatched (it had an opaque cream finish), it is striking and very good looking.

This guitar has seen some hard use and abuse and still keeps rockin' on. Can take a lickin and keep on pickin.

I've been playing since late 1964. This is my all-time favorite guitar. I can get any sound I want with it. It plays like a dream. I also own an 80s Asian Fender Strat, and a '68 Gibson L5CES. I have a 50's acoustic archtop with a solid carved top and a Taylor Dan Crary Signature dreadnaught. Lost or stolen? I'd just cry. Afterward, I'd console myself by going out and getting a custom quilt-top T with gold hardware and Joe Barden or Lindy Fralin pickups.

It's a '97 or '98 Tele (that's when I bought it) made in Mexico, with 21 frets on a Maple neck. It's pretty much a standard Tele= 1 volume, 1 tone, two pickups (3 way selector, pickups are neck and bridge Standard Tele pickups). Arctic White finish over a Poplar body. The bridge is the Tele/String thru body style. It's not the kind where there is a part of the bridge covering the bridge pickup, but it isn't the Strat style. The fingerboard is also Maple and it has a 25.5 scale.

Some people say that Teles were made for one thing and one thing only= Country. Well that's the one thing I don't play and it suits everything. I've used it on jazz, on hard rock and on blues and it always, as long as it has a good enough amp, sounds great. I use it with my Squier Amp, MT-2 Boss pedal and, occasionly, with a wah wah pedal (Bespeco Weeper). It can be a bit noisy when the distortion is crancked up but other then that it is fine. The neck pickup can give you a great blues/gibson les paul type of sound, the treble is great for twang and using both give you somewhere in between.

The guitar was setup pretty well, only things I can remember was that the neck pickup was quite wobbly, but a screw driver easily fixed that. Everything else was fine exept that the slot between the neck and the body is a bit to big.

Fender makes guitars that are built like rocks. You can drop them from 6 feet onto the floor and (provided you don't throw it neck first) the worst that will happen is there will be a small dent and it will go a bit out of tune. However, doing so is not recomended. It's hard to know how long it'll last because i've only owned the guitar for 3 years (approx.) but so far so good. Only thing that can be a bit unreliable is the strap buttons but other then that it's fine and yes, I have used it on gigs without backups and the worst that's happend is that i've broken a string or one of my pedals has screwed up (which can't be blamed on the guitar :) ).

I've never dealt with the company, it's never needed repairs and I can't remember how long the warranty is.

I've been playing 5 years and this has been my main axe for 2.5 years. In someways I wish I had had more money so maybe I would have bought a different guitar that caught my eye (Godin LG) however I've come to like my Tele. If it was stolen or lost I don't know if I'd replace it because it would be kind of like if your dog died so you bought another that looked exactly the same and you named it the same, y'know? I love the sound and the diversity of the tone and the feel of the body. That's one thing i don't like about strats= the body isn't thick enough. I compared it to the guitar mentioned earlier and to a more pricy Tele but I bought this one because a) I knew Fenders were good and b) it wasn't $800, it was $299. I'd like if it had the tilted back headstock that gibsons have to give it more sustain but I'm only pointing out the bad parts. For $300 bucks (or $200 for you americans) you can't go wrong with this baby!

It is a 98 model, and it's made in Mexico It has 21 frets with a maple fretboard
It has to pots, volume and tone with a 3-way selector. The pickup configurations is standard tele S/S It's stock pickups. The finish is red metallic, very good looking. It has a Tele-style bridge. It has stock tuners that are non-locking. The scale of the neck is 25 1/2 with jumbo-frets

The sound is very good to my music style, wich is grunge. I use a Marshall VS30 thru this effects: Boss DF-2, Big Muff, Boss DS-2 and Boss CH-1. The guitar is not very noisy at all, a little on the dist pedals, but wich guitar does not do that? And it got a very bright sound in clean mode. The guitar is has much variety. It can produce a bluesy sound, country, metal, rock and of course grunge. I like neraly everything about it.

The guitar was not properly adjusted at the neck, it was like a banana. The pickups was great.

This guitar will withstand a gig, 'cause it is a Fender, built like a tank. The harware is great, the tuners will keep the guitar in tune for ever! The finish is also great! The strapbuttons will hold, they are solid! I can gig without a backup, thats for shure!

Never dealt with them.

It is a great guitar! Nothing more to say about that!

Going by a combination of features/serial number it's a 1976 Fender Telecaster.The bridge has been replaced with a modern 6-saddle type (at least it's intonatable...) and the machine heads and pickups have been replaced with what looks like a '70s-era Gibson Humbucker at the neck and a reissue '52 Tele pu at the bridge.Very basic guitar,which is one of the reasons I love Teles so much.Very heavy (much,much heavier then most Les Pauls I've played!).Maple/maple neck,ash(I thimk???) body.Glossy '70s Fender blonde/natural finish.Relatively thin neck,but then I'm used to a Gibson...

It does everything I expect a Tele to do,except a thicker neck/neck and bridge tone due to the humbucker.If you've ever heard PJ Harvey,Jeff Buckley,Unsane,Shiner,Jr Brown,Muddy Waters,etc you know that Teles really can cover all the bases in a wide variety of musical situations.Great for basically everything except a really dark tone,which I rarely need anyway.The bridge pickup could be a little beefier,though.

Being a 23-year-old (just like myself) guitar,it's seen some use,but like any good Tele has stood up to it.The finish is really funky in some places,lots of small weather checking-type spots which just add character.The action,from the store,was like butter but I'll probably need to raise it a little for slide.Some of the mods were a little half-assed in that the holes for the original bridge/machine heads were not filled in,which is no biggie.Also where the pickgaurd was cut to allow the 'bucker to fit could have been a little better done,but again,not a huge deal.The action,relief and intonation are all dead-on though,I'm really impressed.

Uhm,well,it's a good ol' American-made Tele.They've made these for 50 years now with very few changes,and there's a really good reason why.I haven't had the chance yet to really put it through its paces but my guess is that it will be reliable as any other Tele.The finish hasn't fared as well as some of the other guitars I own,but I buy to play, not display.

Fender CS is not the greatest in my experience.

Haven't had a whole lot of time yet,but I am a Tele fan from way back, I anticipate that it will do its job nicely.If it were stolen or lost I would be very pissed and replace iit when I could afford another one.

This is a regular stock Telecaster from 1974. It has a 21 fret maple fretboard with a rosewood skunk stripe on the back of the neck, 2 string tree string retainer at the headstock, stock Fender tuners, white body ( which has turned to a mellow off white ), black pickguard, stock pickups and a stock 3 saddle bridge. The simple 3 way toggle switch and single volume and tone controls adorn this simple plank of wood.

Sound........well, a basic Telecaster can be a disasterous treble squeller in the hands of an "Artist". In the hands of a musician, a Telecaster can be a guitarists delight. The treble pick-up alone can be used all night long on a gig. By incorporating the tone control, the treble pick-up can be exceptionally bright but thick sounding, as well as, dark and throaty. The sensitivity of the pick-ups is very expressive. Picking attack, palming, placement of picking make this guitar a very versatile instrument. I find that the simplicity of a Telecaster makes it a very complex instrument to play and understand. No whammy bars or bells and whistles that are the flavor of the day in the guitar world can compete with this instrument. Listen to Roy Buchannon and Danny Gatton. No foolish big hair, piercings or tatoos made these monster players better than the rest- just extreme talent and a basic but complex guitar. I play Les Pauls, SG's, Firebirds, Parkers, Strats but a Telecaster is the most rewarding and humbling solid body guitar I have ever played.

I purchased this guitar used and have played it extensively in bars, concerts and recordings. This Telecaster has seen the smoke, booze and bar fights like a good guitar should experience. My Tele has it's scars but still has all it's original parts and soul. There's a nice rub mark on the body from my forearm, some nicks and dings but no luthier would frown upon this beauty. This Telecaster has played a lot of music. It's set up to handle slide and regular picking. The action is not far from the fretboard but not close either. The stock pick-ups have all the flaws and favoratisms associated with reviews of this guitar. It's a barebones guitar that'll show an audience that you're either a player or a poser.

This is probably the most durable solid body design ever made. I don't treat my guitars like shit. I respect them. Guitars are the extention of my creativity, skill and talent. I can play a gig with just this one guitar.

Never had the pleasure to call Fender. I just have an experienced luthier and take care of the Tele myself.

This Telecaster rates a 10 with me. I've played some really great guitars and have owned over 100 guitars in my life but a Telecaster is very special. A Telecaster is as good as the person playing it. Anything that I wish it had?...........maybe not as many current variations.....just play a basic Tele. I bought this at a reasonable price 16 years ago, the current "vintage" prices are fucking nuts. Don't fall for the hyperbole with the vintage market. A vintage guitar or an expensive guitar will not play itself. A competent guitarist can make a cigar box with strings sound good. Learn to play your instrument and not be the flavor of the day.

beautiful guitar. 2 pu's. 1 lipstick and one single. Totrtoiose shell pick guard, laminated top, maple neck, 2 controls, tone and volume, and a 3-way switch. i wish it had more controls, like les pauls

I play rock and for phat power chords and barre chords, this thing rocks, however it kinda licks when u try to solo on it. it is a little noisy, put that is because they are single pu's, and my Fender 110 champ amp kinda blows. I did use this guitar thru Marshall Halfstack it was the sweetest thing ever

awesome action and wicked looking. It is the same guitar Jakob Dylan used in the "One Headlight" video. No flaws whatsoever

it's lasted 10 years and it hardly has a scratch on it. These guitars are like a light bass!!

?? i dunno

love it for rhthym, hate it for solos. I use a les paul as well so i have both the rhythm and lead sections covered.

Early 90/s custom shop model.Set neck with mahogany body and neck,ebony fretboard,killer quilted maple top,jumbo frets,american standard trem,roller nut,locking shaller tuners,2 dimarzio coil splitable humbuckers,3-way switch and mini toggle switch for coil spliting.To many features make this a very versatile axe,only drawback you can not split the pups separately (you can have either both of them full or both of them split)

It does not sound like a regular Tele but has a unique voice.Very resonant it can do the Gibson thing very well but with more air and clarity (due to the trem springs and ebony board that give more highs).You sure can cover lot of bases with this one.

Very well built and this quilt top is simply breathtaking!Medium size neck (american standard profile) with 12? radius make for excellent playability.I normaly like fatter necks but this one is really great. Plays more like a Gibson than a Fender.

You can not bash it around like a normal Tele so I baby it.It is built like a tank though.

Fender customer support has always been good to me

This is a unique guitar,they don/t make them anymore and this only means that it will become highly collectable.If you want versatility with personality try and find one you will not be disapointed.This one is a keeper.

This is a 1978 American Telecaster. Features are very basic, volume, tone and 3 position switch for the two pickups. The bridge pickup is the original Fender and the neck pickup is a Fender blue lace sensor. The neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard. This model has the traditional 3-barrel through the body bridge. Original Fender tuners. Was purchased with a hard (no-name) case. As is well documented for this era this guitar is heavy by any standards. I have however purchased a fat and comfortable strap for it and the weight is no longer a problem. What can I say, it's an American Tele and has no special features.

I play primarily blues and traditional rock and this guitar certainly gets it done for me. I'm using it with a Fender Super 210 tube amp, Morley Wah, Boss Chorus, MXR distortion, and a Boss Overdrive/Distortion pedals. Frankly, I generally don't use the distortion pedals but prefer the amps overdrive with the Wah and occasionally chorus. The guitar is somewhat noisy through the original bridge pickup and is quieter with the Lace Sensor. The blend of the bridge pickup with the Blue Lace Sensor is my favorite position with the amp drive channel wound to just to the edge of its breaking point. Lightly picking keeps it clean while strumming or heavy picking kicks in the overdrive. Setup in this manner the guitar sounds rich full and great. On the clean channel of the amp and switched to the Fender bridge pickup a very bright clean sound can be achieved. This guitar has a great Fender Tele sound but the noise can be noticed when on but not playing. Strangely the noise level drops when the strings or other metal parts are touched. If anyone has any advice on this situation it would be appreciated.

This is a 1978 Tele but looks like it just came out of the box. Other than a couple of minor chips on the body this guitar is beautiful. The finish is high gloss throughout as was the case with Fender form that era and I wouldn't consider changing it. The neck is as smooth as glass and the rosewood fingerboard will last forever. The chrome on this thing is untarnished and brilliant.

I've owned the guitar for 3 years now. The Blue Lace Sensor is because the original neck pickup crapped out on me. This has however been the only problem with it. Everything I read tells me that the Tele is possibly the most dependable guitar ever made. I have no reason to disbelieve

No Clue.

I'm 48 years old and had played for a couple of years when I was in my teens. After not touching an instrument for 30 years, bought this guitar about three years ago and probably have averaged 2-3 hours a day with it since. I have a Fender Super 210 tube amp and also purchased a Takemine Electric/Acoustic. I don't remember the model number but it's full size and has a Mahogany top. (More about that in another review). The only thing I wish I had asked when I bought this guitar was would you accept a check for the Taylor you're selling for $600cdn. (that's about $400 US) Assuming I could afford it, I would certainly buy another Tele of this vintage or older if this was lost or stolen. In fact I have been offered enough for this one that I could buy a new Strat and half-another Tele but will not part with this guitar. What I love about this guitar is it's a classic. Growing up as a teenager I remember all the big bands I went to see used them and it was something I always wanted to own. I think that when you own a top quality instrument you become attached to it and maybe if my first real guitar was a Strat it would have been my love. I've tried others but have gotten comfortable with this one. Kinda like marriage.

compared to my last guitar where the only thing that worked was the volume control it seems like it has a lot to me

i bought it for blues, but it can even play metal. when i first got it my friends thought i was nuts, but then they came over and were blown away.

i cant find any flaws

i've never had any problems

never had to deal with them

i've had mine for about a year and a half and i love it. when i bought it i was thinking blues but most of the people i play with are into metal, and it works for that. one of korns guitarists used one for recording their self entitled album, i think.

This is a standard tele from Mexico, a "mexi-tele" made of the finest balsa wood and tinfoil available.
The bridges are rusted, the tuners are a little better than using twigs and gum, but man, for $60, this thing is GREAT!
I didn't even play it for a month, but when I finally picked it up and started messing with it, I was totally pleased.

This thing has the true authentic Telecaster sound. I guess the pickups will rust eventually as well, but man, for a disposable Telecaster, this thing is great.

The action is so crappy, I use it primarily for SLIDE guitar.
The finish... lemme put it this way. I don't get upset if somebody drops their brick collection on the body.
The frets seem to be made out of solder, but maybe it's aluminum. They've got grooves dug into them from playing only a year, and maybe once a week at that.
But again, for $60, this thing was a steal. I use it MORE now than my real strat. Kinda depressing if you think about it.

It seems to be pretty sturdy and reliable. I haven't had any problems YET.

No Habla.

After all my bellyaching, I'd STILL have to give this guitar high ratings. It plays as good as any $400 tele (except for the frets being crappy) and the pickups give me that kickass tele tone.
Worth every dollar I paid for it.

This is a 1977 Tele I bought used for $250!The guitar had no case and the idiot who was selling it had it painted black with spray paint! I striped the guitar of all color and now she looks great in her natural ash finish.I have replaced the neck pickup with a S.D.Alnico II pro hambucker.The guitar came with the most amazing bridge Tele pickup I have ever heard.It is a 70/s Schecter Quarter Pounder and is the most punchy pickup I have ever heard (SORRY GUYS IT IS SIPMPLY IMPOSIBLE TO FIND ONE OF THOSE,THEY DON/T MAKE THEM ANYMORE). This guitar has one of the thickest baseball bat necks (I love it and it sounds so mauch better thatn the new skiny american standard necks).Only drawback:HEAVY!,HEAVY!,HEAVY! (It is heavier than my Les Paul Custom!).Talking about features:come on be serious it is a Tele (I have added a nice tortoise shell pickguard though)

The best Tele I have ever heard.It is heavy,beaten and ugly but she smokes all other Teles (even the mega priced custom shop models) The bridge pickup has all the twang in the world and the neck humbucker alone is pure jazz!The combined pickup possition is as funky as it gets!

I have installed jumbo frets.The neck plays beautifuly and the action is great (I use 011/s). The guitar is extremely beaten but it is a Tele it is SUPPOSED to be beaten.

This thing is a leathal weapon.Built like a tank,and heavy. It will outlast all of my guitars!!!(and me !)

Fender is a great company they have always replied when I asked for their help (I live in Greece!)

Don/t listen to the crap about 70/s Fender guitars being inferior. They have gotten this rumour out only to devaluate them so they can buy them for peanuts and than sell them for a fortune!! 70/s Teles RULE!!!!

It's a Japanese Fender Tele made in '94. I got it as a steal from a store-$245!! It has the normal Tele setup but with a vintage 3-prong bridge. It's got a fantastic neck pick-up (one of those silver ones). It has that fantastic telecaster tone. The bridge pick-up is less than desirable. I turned the tone up and used this pick-up and the tinny high twang killed three cats next door. My friends ears started bleeding. I think I might get it replaced. The strings come through the body and it has a beautiful sunburst-wood grain (photo) finish. The stings go through the body. the fretboard is smooth with nice frets and fantastic action. The tone is great! It sounds great clean and with properly set distortion. I'm in love with it except for that nasty bridge pick-up (wich is actually fun to use because of that abrasive sound!).

The sound is sweet and full of that Telecaster character. (except fer that dern pick-up :). I'm in a modern rock band and we get heavy and fast at times. it sounds perfect. we also have tons of clean stuff. of course, it sounds perfect! as long as the tone level is kept in check, then it is a dream.

The action is PERFECT. I can fly on it! It's set good to where it won't rattle too much on the low strings. Everything is in great shape!

This guitar would be the most durable guitar in the universe. that is if you didn't mind dings and scratches (haha). I think they give the guitar character. but the finish is very easy to tear into. it could get some dings from hardly anything. It only has two, and they weren't by me. Personally i'm going to be carefull when plugging a cord into it. besides that, i can gig out and play as hard as i could and everything would be great. sturdy parts.

I got no papers or anything on the guitar. it's under no warranty or anything, but the Fender folks are nice enough. i suppose i could get it fixed some where if it ever needed it.

I saw the guitar, I had to have it, I sold my other piece-of-crap guitar and bought it. I would probably buy it again 99 times out of 100. It's the greatest deal that i've had. It's a great sounding guitar and a very high-quality import. I've played other americans and imports and none have been better. I don't even care about the stupid bridge pick up. maybe I could do something neat with that sound. who knows?

it`s a vintage telecaster. solid body, it was made in the `60`s. it`s pretty heavy but the weight is very good distribuited i replaced the original pickups because they literaly "died", i placed blue lace sensors instead.

i play mostly hard rock and blues and this guitar gives me everything i need. I use a marshall valvestate. it sounds great with this guitar, a lot better than ith my oter guitars(a PRS eg model, and a floyd rose strat). GREAT tone! belive it or not, with only two single coils i can get a lot of sounds.(very differents)

i never saw it original, but if i see it great with 30 years on, i guess it was better new. there was only one BIG problem, the bridge was the vintage 3 piece bridge. and it was giving me some problems, but i changed it fo a new one, a 6 one, and no it`s a lot better, although, the neck as made for a less wider bridge.

the guitar was made to last !! well man, what can i say, it has 30 years on it`s shoulders and it`s still like new! that`s what i love about it it once fall from the strap, and nothing happened to it, i guess this is a tank not a guitar. i changed the strap buttons and put on some straplocks, you never know what can happen.

i`ve never have to deal with the company, anyway i guees the warranty expired a long time ago.

i`ve been playing for 5 years now, but i`ve been really interested in guitar info, so i know a lot. i also own a PRS and a standard strat if stolen, i would definitely would buy another one.