Karera Telecaster

Copy of a standard Tele. Made in Japan or China, depending on who you talk to. Not a lot of information available on this brand, and I've never heard of them before.

Mine has gold body, with gold hardware and a tortoiseshell pick guard. It has a very cool vintage look.

I have a lot of 'rock' guitars (Jackson, LP, 7-string, etc.), and was looking for something a little bit 'lighter,' for doing pop tunes, jazz band, stuff like that. This guitar has a pretty snappy sound in the bridge - pretty raunchy for ZZ Top-type stuff. Neck pickup is a bit dark, but works nicely for blues and jazzy stuff. Definitely not as 'thick' as my LP, but that's what I was looking for. On clean settings, the pickups are pretty quiet, distortion gets a bit of a hum, depending on which way you turn. I haven't played this guitar in a loud band yet, so I can't comment on its susceptibility to feedback, RF interference, etc. Unlike other reviewers, I found the controls to be very smooth and quiet, once everything was tightened up.

I traded for this guitar, so I can't comment on its factory setup. However, this guitar is a perfect example of how much good a proper set-up can do for an instrument. Initially, the neck was rather bowed, the strings quite high, and the bridge pickup nearly touching the strings. Also, the nut grooves were too deep, causing buzzes on the lower frets, but a few layers of Teflon tape fixed that. After a few hours of tinkering, the neck is straight, the pickups are balanced, and the instrument is quite playable. Definitely not a shred guitar, but it's a Tele, not a Jackson.

Finish isn't amazing. From 5 feet away it looks great, but on close inspection, there are a few swirls and runs. Fretwork is pretty nice - no sharp edges anywhere. Given that this is a 'cheap' guitar, the model I got is pleasantly surprising.

Some people love these, some people seem to hate them. It seems like quality may be hit-or-miss with this brand. I lucked out, I guess.

I wouldn't gig without a backup, but I would feel comfortable using it for gigs, as long as feedback doesn't become an issue.

This guitar doesn't feel bank-vault solid, but a guitar like this isn't going to.

As far as I know, the company is long gone. Too bad.

I'm a music major in college, so I spend a lot of time with my guitars. I got this one to use for softer stuff, like the jazz band, where a screaming Jackson just wouldn't sound - or look - right. This guitar has a very cool visual vibe, pretty decent hardware, an overall nice sound, and - after a set-up - plays respectably well. I can't comment on whether or not it nails a 'real' Tele sound, but it sounds nice, and not harsh like a lot of cheap guitars. I was wary of all the 'THIS IS A PIECE OF CRAP' reviews, but I have not been disappointed at all.

My Karera Tele is silver with gold hardware and a tourtise shell pickguard--nice retro look. I heard they were made in China, and are no longer produced. Everything is true to the real thing except the non string-through bridge.

To my ear it sounds very close to the real thing. It does very well with Blues,Country, Jazz and clean guitar playing in general. This is what I play, and the Karera handles it fine.

I bought it used and the former owner thought it had bad electronics. However, it turned out to be an incorrectly adjusted bridge pickup. The strings where actually touching it and muting partially while playing. This was an easy fix.

I have used it to gig and it is dependable and solid.

I bought it used.

I've been playing for 25 years and own lots of mid-range guitars. I have owned many Gibsons and Fenders in my younger days, but no longer can afford them due to family expenses. The Karera is a formidable substitute for a genuine Tele.

The Karera Tele copies features CRAPPY everything. All of the hardware is the cheapest I've seen. Unfinished/sharp fret edges... man! everything is just terrible. This came to me (hiding) in a group of guitars that I purchased at an auction. The crappy Wal-Mart and Sears guitars are light years ahead of the Karera.

Crappy volume/tone and switch pots. Noisy. Non-insulated wiring. The electronics have more of a Chinese crappy-ish look to them... though I think this is Japan. You'll know what I mean if you've collected cheap Japanese '70s guitars.

No set-up. Un-tunable. I did make an attempt to set it up... but when adjusting the saddle screws, they only stripped under the normal string pressure.

Makes a good decoration for a restaurant or nightclub.

I'm a 20 year guitar player. This is crap. I can't believe people expend so much energy into a scam like this guitar.

Basic cheap tele copy made in China, white satin finish, red pickguard and rosewood (?) neck, no accessories, bought on ebay

I bought this as a pure fooling around guitar to keep here at my office, my equipment for recording is at home, and I always wanted a tele but didn't wanna spend a lotta dough. It doesn't sound bad through my zoom gfx processor, the neck action is what I was worried about (Paid $49 for the guitar but $30 to ship, so I was concerned the action would be high and unfixable) It sounds great for a guitar under $100

Light weight but not noisy, controls are NOT like butter, but they work without noise, they just have to be "forced" more than you would think to turn a knob, but not bad. Pickup switch works well, gold hardward looks darn good with the white finish, and stays in tune well. The action is nice after some adjusting, though it is not a string-thru body deal, the string ends on the back of the bridge. Sustain is ok, not great but not horrible, and pickups seem to be pretty quiet. I enjoy playing this thing, sue me!

Not sure, have only had it a few days, but I pick it up every day!

How do you get hold of Karera guitars? My seller said it was made by Samick, maybe he speak with tuning-fork-ed tongue?

For $49 I would buy it again, I think it is decent overall and it looks way cool! I love the satin finish and the gold hardware, maybe I should pass it off as a rare one-of-a-kind Highway 1 and make a couple grand? Just kidding, it is a cool cheap guitar, go get one and have some fun with it!

Made in China in 2002. Standard Telecaster copy. Two cheap pickups. Tuners and other hardware (all gold) much better than expected. Pretty good neck. Nice pickguard.

Body with everything removed weighs only three pounds. It seems to be made of balsa wood.

Terrible sound. Grooves in nut cut too low, so most strings buzz unless I use a capo. Bridge pickup works acceptably, but the sound isn't good. Neck pickup has screws of different length and no springs, so it can't be raised. Useless.

I bought this to use for some experiments, but what with the bad nut and balsa wood core, I'm just scavanging it for parts. With an hour of work I could turn it into something some kid could have fun with. The hardware is decent, and it would cost me close to S100 to buy the same hardware from Stew-Mac. With a new nut, the neck would be very usable.