Tradition Jerry Reid

I love Teles! This is a left handed T style guitar with a coil tapped humbucker from a push/pull tone knob. Beautiful natural finish with black pickguard and binding. I've read that the company founder used to work for Washburn designing pickups so there's a degree of quality there. American basswood body and maple neck assembled in Indonesia. The neck feels more flat than what I'm used to but nice and smooth. It's a little heavier than a Fender.

I play classic rock and blues and it's perfect for that. It sounds better than my Mexican Telecaster. The humbucker sounds great on the higher frets and has really good sustain. The single coil is a little noisy as with any T style guitar but has a nice bright sound and has a wicked crunch when overdriven. The coil tap is more noticable without distortion. As good as any Fender Tele I've played. With the humbucker it's the best of both worlds.

The action is fine the only complaint is the fifth fret had a buzz. Easily fixed by my luthier when I had it restrung. The pickups are set fine and respond great. Tuning pegs, bridge and hardware is all chrome and in great shape right out of the box. Very well put together.

Very solid construction. Hardware is decent and durable. Finish is great. All the knobs and switches are solid.

The only thing I called the company for was to see if a case was available (it wasn't).

I have a Mexican Fender Telecaster and this is as good or better. Very satisfied. The best Tele-clone for the price I've come across. Love the sound variety and I would definately get another one if it was lost or stolen.

Short be sweet. Nice solid mahogany and beautiful blonde finish with black binding. Three ply black pickguard. Chrome hardware all around. Standard tele style bridge, knobs, and switch plate. Not sure of the machines but they hold tune well. Tapped humbucker in the neck position. Fat-flat neck (very different feel). Everything else pretty standard for a telecopy.

Pretty complex sound for such a simple configuration. For my style play (blues, rockabilly) I really don't need that tapped humbucker and never use it. To me it's a bit jazzish sounding. Played normal the neck pickup is still a bit muted compared to a 78 telecaster of my friend's that I played back to back with to compare. The bridge pickup had almost the exact same sound as the tele except the JR was quieter. The guitar got some decent twang when played in the center switch position untapped, but nothing near the 78 telecaster. I believe it's all in the neck pickup. I'm going to experiment and cut a couple cedar plugs and mount a Duncan STR-1 in the neck. I'll also insulate the whole thing with foil. The sustain of the guitar is really good. I'm not sure if I'll put brass saddles on it or not...maybe as an experiment to compare.

Judging by the finish, frets, set-up and alignment, and quality components, I'd guess this to be something handcrafted by an experienced USA shop. But I know better. The action was perfect the day I got it, very low but no buzz. I haven't changed it except for a small adjustment. The only thing I've done to the set-up was adjust the intonation just a tad when I changed string diameters. I really thought I'd have to be compensated saddles or a 6-way bridge on but this thing is almost perfect on every string. There is nothin "loose" about this axe. I'm not sure if Tradition has there own quality control team over seas or not, but you'd be amazed at this $235 guitar. The only beef I have with this is the stenciled neck markings. I'm not sure what the design is, but I'd prefer plain dots on the neck or nothing at all. That being said, it hasn't worn off at all and is also quality. The frets are great, very even. I owned a 79 telecaster for years and this guitar is a lot tighter than it was.

I don't think I've had it long enough to be fair in a number rating. I've been beating on it pretty steady for nine months now with no visible signs or decay. It still sounds the same. I keep it on a stand in my study. I play it standing, sitting, where ever. I think I could shower with it. The great thing is that for the price I don't worry about it at all. Well built. Check back in five years.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing a mere 27 years. My first electric guitar was a 1979 telecaster which I sold in 1985 for $300. I played acoustic music for year and got the electric itch again about ten years ago. I played a strat copy until last year when I became obssessed with getting a tele again. Well, I can't affort $1500 for a used 79 strat, so I went on the lookout for a copy. I did a lot of research and found out about Tradition guitars. After a lot of debate I contacted Adirondack music in New York and ordered a standard JR for $235. I did this blind having never played a tradition. I have not been disappointed at all and very surprised. My goal was to get a solidly made axe that I could mod if I needed. I really don't need to touch this one but I do think I'll try to put a standard bridge pickup in just to see what it sounds like. I might also put a Bigsby B-50 on her. I would replace it if stolen, especially at the price. Two things I'd like to see Tradition offer. 1, a different neck option; both in markings/inlays and width. They do offer this guitar in a rosewood fretboard, but that's not an option for me (I's gots to have my maple). I'd also like to see a standard tele pickup configuration offered for the more traditional tele enthusiasts. That being said, you can't go wrong with this thing. I've seen them going on ebay for as little as $125 since I bought mine. Check one out soon if you can find a dealer.

Paid $200 (2005 Made in Indonesia, you know the features.

Mine is a cherry sunburst, mint green 3 ply guard, cream binding.
Mahogany body, this is a "beefy guitar", incredibly durable, if the proverbial "gig without a backup guitar" exists, this is it! Overall, its just a fantastic looking guitar.

Very flat,wide and substantial maple neck, setup was fantastic, able to get very low action on this baby. This guitar was made to play the blues.

If you don't like the sound of this tele, you don't like teles!

Neck humbucker (tappable, no less) is full and rich with tone, tone, tone. The tap is very subtle, not a tremendous difference but it's a nice feature and useful.

The bridge tone is classic old style tele, think any of the old great bluesman of the past, great, classic stinging lead tones available, all you want, really just makes you drool its that sweet!

Middle setting is great too, lets just say its all great. Only quibble I have, and this is just really more of a taste thing, is that the bridge pickup sounds more vintagey than hot, I almost always go for more "brawn", but on this guitar I think vintage is the way to go, it just belongs on this axe.

This thing was setup perfectly for me, low action, couldn't be better. Finish was great, really cool looking cherry sunburst finish, binding was flawless.

Only issue, and it's not for me, was that the ferrules on the back were not in a perfectly straight line, a few of them were a bit "off", but really, who cares?

Like I said before, you could go to war with this thing, its the most solid guitar I have ever held in my hands.

Tradition guitars have a lifetime warranty, so they are confident of their product and so am I. Dont expect to ever need to call them, I'd bring it to the dealer for any issues, I'm sure there wont be any.

It's ridiculous that I paid $200 for this guitar, it will go toe to toe with any tele at any price.

If you are on a budget and need a tele, do yourself a favor and find a dealer who sells these things. It will change your mind forever about so called "budget" guitars.

I will keep this short. It is a tele custom knockoff but a darn good one. Only frills this has is a humbucker in the neck position which is tapped with a push/pull tone switch. No inlay work on the neck with markings being painted on. Nothing to do with sound though.

This is the good part, my main guitar is a true vintage tele custom with the same pickup set up less the coil tap. I bought this guitar to fill in while the vintage is getting refretted. I used to be snobby about only american made vintage guitars, this thing kicks the original tele custom in the but hard and runs off and leaves it. The neck is more like a strat so it is a much more playable guitar for blues and rock. Stock pickups are better than fender american stock any day of the week on any comparison.

Action could be a bit better but it is as good if not better than entry level fender american products. The neck looks kinda cheap (It was). The body is flawless as is the binding on the front. Tuners suffice and look slick, work well. No burs on the fret ends, it has rather tall frets. As in the other catagories, it is a bargain.

Time will tell, I will return after a year of gigging with it.

This catagory can only be rated a 10. Like I said, I have long been a vintage snob, this thing changed my mind and will have me relooking at some of the other guitars even the ones made in Indonesia. Go get you one, you will not be dissapointed.

2005(?) made in Indonesia. Lefty Tele clone. Bridge pickup with a Tele ashtray and a neck HB that can be coil tapped. Bridge pickup ohms out at 7.8k Ohms and the HB at 15k - 7.5k tapped. Solid mahogany body, and it looks like mahogany through the finish too. Black pick guard. Nicely applied cream body binding. This one is the sunburst model with the Indian rosewood FB. Has MOT (mother of toilet - aka plastic) pearly-pearl inlays in the fretboard. Inlays are well-done. Decent tuners that feel decent and hold tune fine. Frets are nicely finished - no sharp fret ends. Nice action right out of the box.

I like blues and classic rock. This guitar sounds great for that stuff. The pickups are great! Bridge pickup can do the Tele twang too. Neck humbucker sounds huge, and the tapped coil sounds great too. Nice flexibility in this guitar.

Setup was really good out of the box. Outstanding for a $240 guitar! Guitar looks great overall! I didn't do anyhting to the setup except put some Snake Oils pure nickel strings on it and clean the FB with lemon oil. Fret board has some nice grain with some interesting streaking.

I changed the input jack as I didn't like the "feel" of the stock one. It worked, but the Switchcraft I put in feels better. Personal choice - nothing more.

Bought from Adirondack Guitar. This is the second guitar I've bought from Adirondack, and it won't be the last.

Been at it for over 20 years. This guitar is a great value! It looks/sounds/plays great! I'd own another if it was lost/stolen. It floors any MIM Tele I've had my hands on - and it's cheaper! I've got a couple LP clones (Agile), a Strat clone (Fernandes), an Epi Dot, and this. There are some great clones being made, and this is one of them.

I Have two of the "JR" model teles.One is natural with a maple fretboard and the other is tobacco sunburst with a rosewood fretboard.The bodies are solid mahogany.They both have a (push-pull tone control) coiltapped humbucker at the neck with a single coil at the bridge.The maple fretboard has black fret markers,that I think are painted on and the rosewood fretboard has pearl inlays.I was concerned about the painted markers,at first,but I think they have a finish clear coat over them and they have held up well.It has a rather flat radius,but frets as easily as my 7.5 radius teles.The necks on both guitars feel great and play easier than most any Fender tele.I have ever played.The tuners are OK,they stay in tune pretty well.

Both guitars sound great.For the money($229)I have not found anything better.I play mostly blues/rock and they work great.I think they would be suitable for country and the humbucker handles heavy stuff pretty well also.I use them straight thru a Vox AD50VXT with amp modeling and the settings for the Fender 2x12,Tweed,Vox AC30 and heavy metal amp settings sound great.I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe that works well with both.I purchased the maple neck version first and was so impressed with the sound ,I thought I would get a rosewood version .The sound is very close ,with the rosewood being very slightly warmer ,as you would expect,but not much.The single coils are not nearly as noisy as my Strat.pickups.I'm very satisfied with the sound.There is no 'icepick in the ear'with the single coil at the bridge,the coiltapped bucker in single coil mode at the neck is very usable with no mud,and the humbucker is nice and fat when needed.I have talked to the national and international sales reps.and they said all of their pickups were designed by one of the owners that I understood to have passed away recently.

The guitars were both set-up great.I was told that they are set-up at the warehouse before they are shipped to the dealer.They know how to set-up a guitar.The action is low and plays like butter.The maple neck version had some fret ends pertruding,but that was easy to fix with a micro-file.To be fair,under the magnifing glass the fret ends were so polished and rolled I hated to file them.I did buy the guitar in the winter ,so the neck could have dried out a bit.The rosewood neck version was perfect.As far as fit and finish,both are great.They have tight necks,good hardware and quality finishes.Both have binding on the tops(black binding,black pickguard,black fretmarkers) on the Natural top (very nice combo) and creme binding,black pickguard,white pearl fretmarkers on rosewood,on the tobacco sunburst top(very classy).Where I ordered from sent me very good pictures of the guitars ,so I was able to see what I was getting.

I forsee no reliability issues.They are built well and should hold up fine.I'm just a living room player,but I feel these guys would hold up fine to gig play.

I talked to their national and international sales reps.(possible owners)and got my questions answered.I have not needed any repairs.i believe there is a lifetime guarantee.

I'm an old dude,been playing off and on for 40 yrs.(geez I'm old)I got back into playing electric about two years ago.I have about fifteen guitars or so.Les Pauls,70's strat,50th anniversary deluxe strat.,a indonian Tradition strat.I got off of e-bay for $86 that plays great.Once I saw the quality for the bucks Tradition guitars offered I picked up a Jerry Reid Pro and a Special(their high end line ,both Tele.based and made in Korea)Even nicer than the guys I am reviewing.I would replace these if something happened.For $229 it's a steal.Please check out the Traditionguitars.com web sight and there is none better to get a guitar from than Dennis at Andirondack Guitar in NY.I am not in NY and had these guitars shipped to my door in a Gator hardcase for around $300 bucks.Hard to beat.

First off, I didn't list this guitar with the Reid "pro" or "artist" listings because mine does not sound like the ones in those catagories.
Mine has a maple neck with medium frets that are somewhat high, interesting black "T" shaped neck markers. I was told the body is mahogany, and judging by the weight and tone, I believe it. It has the typical telecaster style single coil/humbuck arrangement, and it has a coil tap for the buck (nice touch). Looks like a vintage telecaster with the exception of the fret work is much better, the headstock shaped a little different The body is bound, dark blue metalic. Very nice color and well done. The tuners have no name on them, but they look like schallers or gotohs, they function and look like they are pretty high quality. I got the guitar off the rack, no box , no allen wrenches no nothing, didn't even think to ask, wanted to get it out the door and home before the store owner changed his mind. The pickguard is hmm I think it is 3 ply, may be two, but I think it is W/B/W ( the white actually being more of a vintage cream color)
An interesting feature is the strap buttons. They almost look like they are made for strap locks, they look very beefy, and are rounded on the ends, they look like what I have always thought strap buttons should look like. They are a VERY nice if seemingly insignificant touch.

I AM NOT A TELECASTER FAN. I love the sound of Don Richs guitar on the old Buck Owens albums ( I am not much of a country fan either, but back when country was still country there was some very creative musicians involved). I normally hate telecasters , because the vast majority of them I have played ( been playing 40 years) suck. For some reason very few I have played will intonate well and set up with low action. Also, the necks just always felt odd to me.
Having said that, I bought the guitar without plugging it in, I didn't care what it sounded like, I knew it would be your typical run of the mill telecaster tone. Boy, was I wrong. I got it home and it sounds very bright like it should but MAN it has TONE. This thing sounds like it could do the best sounds Keith Richard ever got. I cannot describe how fat and wide the tone sounds. and CLEAN.
I have wanted a telecaster sound for recording, but can get close with my strat. I intend to use it live, the band I am in does stuff like "Heart of Gold" and some other kind of vaugley country stuff that I do fake steel guitar on. I think this would be a great rock guitar too, I can imagine doing some Zepplin on it.

I tweak every guitar I get. I look at guitars very closely in the store to see if I can make it have the action I want. The only guitars I have ever bought I did not do extemsive work to is a Japanese Yamaha SG that I got a few years back on ebay, it came with a setup exactly as I prefer, and some of the more recent Korean guitars, which always seem to be super well made and set up close enough that you can get good action without fret work.
This guitar is in my studio right now, with the exact setup it came with. I just bought it a few hours ago, and the setup is PERFECT. Perfect intonation all over the neck, you can blow on the strings and they fret, very close action with very negligable rattle. I asked the shop owner if he set it up, he said it came that way from the shop.
The workmanship on this guitar is fantastic. Far better than even the Korean and Japanese guitars, which are typically flawless on the rack. It was made in indonesia ( I have an indonesian strat that is hands down the best strat I ever played as well). I seen NO flaws. the switch feels beefy and solid, the pots feel perfect, the thing is in every aspect excellent.
The fretboard on this guitar is something I normally don't like. It is FLAT. I normally like small body guitars to have a lot of radius. This guitar feels exactly perfect with a flat radius, whoever designed it did their homework, it is a perfect shape. ( I have rather short stubby fingers).
I have always like the way HAMER guitars frets were finished. Older Hamers had kind of rounded ends on the frets, I always called them bullet shaped, because the ends of the frets kind of resemble the tip of a bullet.
The frets on this axe look just like old Hamer frets. Nicest fretwork, bar none, I have ever seen on a new guitar. Very tight workmanship and the frets have a beautiful hone on them, polished very nicely, not file marks or visible lines. Polished looking, like the ball out of a ball bearing.

The only potential problem I can imagine is neck change. I have very warm hands, and typically maple neck guitars change shape on me while I am playing them. ( I know that sounds nuts, but they do, the neck gets warm and the action changes, and it drives me nuts).
The only strat I have had that does not do that is the Indonesian Squier I have now. It seems to hold a setup for a long time .
I suspect this one will be fine. As far as the other stuff, I am confident it is not a problem. If I buy a guitar that has a garbage jack or switch or something , when it huffs I fix it.
I intend to use this guitar live next weekend ( which will suprise the rest of the band).

It is an Indonesian guitar, so I trust I won't need customer support. Tradition has a web site, and appears to go to great lengths to make a good axe, I cannot imagine them wrecking the reputation they are building by saying "byte me" to customers with a problem.
I seldom use customer support anyway, the way so many things are made now, I pretty much know when I buy something that I need the tools to work on it, because as often as not most things need altered.

First, I was not looking for a guitar when I found this one. I was in the shop for some bass stirngs. I am tired of passing up a gem only to regret it later. I picked this guitar off the rack, just kind of while talking to the sales guy about general B.S., and the guitar blew me away, it just felt THAT WAY. I played it for a while without plugging it in. The salesman told me in passing that it had a mahogany body. I kind of assumed it was a 600 dollar axe. On the way out I casually asked him how much it was , and could not believe it when he said $258. That was yesterday , this afternoon I called him and told him I would bring him 230 for it ( the amount I had, plus, I always dicker price). He said fine, and put a sold sign on it til I got there ( I live about 40 min from his shop).
Playing for 40 years, own tones of guitars, a few amps, and a studio. I do my own fretjobs and most of my electronic work ( with the exception of tube amps, I leave that to the guys that know how not to get electrocuted).
I would indeed replace this guitar if I ever found another like it, if it ened up missing. I suspect it is just one of those "gems" but who knows, could be that Tradition guitars are like typical indonesian guitars, very consistantly great quality.
The only possible thing I don't like about it is that the neck markers are black. I would prefer abalone inlay ( but I would have expected to pay an extra 80 bucks or so for that at LEAST). However, the black looks fine, which is to say, this is in every aspect if I had a tele style guitar custom made, that I would have it made, aside from the fact I would not have had black markers and I prefer laquered necks to satin finish on them. Very small considerations at $230 bucks.
I like the guitar just as it is, and doubt I will alter it. It is possible that in the future I would take the finish off the neck and yellow it and urethane it, but man, it is so perfect now I hesitate to even change the strings.........