How many here NOT come to the Tele via country music?

[PeteMac]

I know many, many of you have, and my thoughts are that "country" music is more of an American cultural thing.
Don't get me wrong . . . I don't hate country or anything, I just don't "get it".

So how many got a Tele for reasons other than country music.

(... and feel free to elaborate.)

[repeatofender]

I got a deal on a Tele I couldn't pass up, then learned what it was all about from there.
I was a Strat-cat and still am to a degree, but a Tele in the middle position is now one of my fave tones.

[Muddslide]

I didn't develop an appreciation for country music until the mid-1990s. By then I'd been playing guitar a good 15-plus years.

In fact, I really despised anything that smacked of country prior to that. But I was already a Tele-holic from my very first days playing.

When I did discover country music, it was by way of old pre-bluegrass, pre-WW2 country. From there I developed a knowledge and deep love of lots of styles of country music up through the outlaw stuff of the 70s.

[e-merlin]

As much as I enjoy Country music, I didn't buy a Tele because of it. It just feels comfortable and sounds like the sound I have in my head. I'm really more of a Rock or Blues guy.

[shuie]

I was never really into country music. A friend told me about the Telecaster. I didn't really believe him, but I trust the guy. He has BTDT since before I was born. Low and behold, he knew what he was talking about. Later on, after I could wrap my head around it, he told me about the Esquire. Now, I'm a fan of old school country music. So, I guess the converse is true for me. I "got" country music because of the Tele.

[ne4tt]

Steve Cropper, Roy B, Albert Collins, Jimmy Johnson (Muscle Shoals).

BB King and Gatemouth Brown played 'em.

jamie

[Jenix]

I bought a telecaster not for country but for rock. Alot of indi/alternative bands play tele's now. Alot of bands used tele's its no longer just country thing.

[Tim73]

I'm definately into country but the tele came to me through Waylon Jennings at the start of the Dukes of Hazzard, Andy Summers on the Police videos in the late 70s, Keith Richards throwing cool shapes in the early 80s, Steve Cropper on Mum's old Stax records & my punk rock youth listening to Joe Strummer with The Clash. It's all a big melting pot.

[Mark Davis]

Roy Buchanan is what inspired me to get a Tele I had an ES335 before that.

So Id say blues/rock more than country.

[Bill]

I never really listened to country music growing up, although I did play a little acoustic folk and bluegrass when I first learned acoustic. The only thing I played on electric was blues. I don't think I paid attention to any specifically Tele players before I got my first Tele. In fact I always thought Teles were a pretty homely guitar.

It took a major earthquake (literally) for me to get my first Tele, 20 years ago. But I still have it!

[franchelB]

My wife (my fiance' back in 1992) bought my Tele when we went looking at our engagement "deal". I was looking for something different as a "backup" for my Les Paul Deluxe, and I just didn't care for Strat simply because EVERYONE was/and is playing a Strat! So...

pardon my french, what the heck does country have to do with a Telecaster?!

[giginthesky]

i still can't name more than 10 country songs but i bought my first tele when i was 13. (it's my avatar)

[Yoni]

I got a tele cuz of Roy Buchanan and Kieth Richards. I can't stand country music.

[XKnight]

I don't listen to country music, but I have a Tele.

[morroben]

I'm not a big fan of straight country music. I became infatuated with the tele in the early '90s after realizing that both Frank Black and Gordon Gano were playing them.

[Octave Doctor]

Some of the guys I jammed with in the early '70's had teles, but we didn't play any country, mostly rock and blues. The first tele I bought was a slab board '60, so getting LZ I sounds was a piece of cake. The later models seemed more twang oriented, so I went with strats up to the turn of the century.

Now I've got different guitars for different sounds instead of trying to get everything out of a strat (although I still have six of them).

[dean]

Never been a strong country fan (although I've come to appreciate it - or at least the history and significance of it). I think my first draw to the Tele was listening to James Burton and his early rock contributions. Added to that was the influence Muddy Waters had on me as I got into the blues. Now, I can't imagine a better electric guitar than the Tele - the middle and neck positions are my favorite sounds in amplified music.

Dean

[sean79]

Blues and blues-based rock. Not country. I don't hate country or anything, but back then, I wasn't listening to much of it.

[mistermullens]

I played a Strat forever, but a couple of years ago, I had two realizations about Strats. 1. I just didn't like the sounds anymore, and was never completely satisfied with them and 2. I only used the neck and bridge pups so why did I need that one in the middle. Moved to a Casino, but was quickly turned on to Teles via the Squier '51. It all happend very quickly. That's the short version.

[tristanavakian]

I consider myself basically an English art-rock guy...

I am the lead guitarist in a musical based on the music of Queen, and I noticed that the BMG (the mass produced Red Special clone) nailed Brian's tone on everything but the solo from Crazy Little Thing. I picked up a Tele in a music store and played it on the neck pup, and there it was. (Of course it was one of Roger's Nocasters on the original recording).

Switched it to the lead pup, and started playing some dirty blues and it was all over - had to have one.

Radiohead had become a reference point for my clean tone, and my Strat wasn't really doin' it.... also I had been gravitating towards country-type picking and pedal steel bends in my leads.... I have 11 other guitars, and when I finished dialing, they would all end up sounding Tele-ish anyway. In short, there was a Tele-shaped hole in my arsenal - it was time.

Now it is the first thing I pick up. When I do a session I lay down a guide track with it that contains most of the rough ideas. Then I orchestrate with other guitars. But the Tele always stays in there somewhere. It has a toughness and immediacy nothing else has.

On the subject of British rock, although Mick Ronson was most famous for the LP Custom he used during his Bowie years, he played a Tele throughout the latter part of his life.