So - who plays a non-vintage style Tele?

[Televolution]

i certainly love the old Teles, and the Relics and stuff are great. i also love nitro finishes, ash bodies, ashtray bridges, and bakelite pickguards.

but, call me a sinner, because i also like:

-Strat neck pickups in my Teles
-modern 6 saddle bridges
-9.5" fretboard radius necks or even flatter
-sealed tuners
-22 frets (on occaision)
-all sorts of wood other than ash or alder
-compensated saddles
-finishes that are more durable than lacquer

anyone else not afraid to admit that they've actually found merit in the 'improvements' over a Tele in vintage form? in all honesty i would have to say that most of them have been either improvements or added versatility to an already great guitar.

so who else here is a blasphemer?

[Nick Fanis]

First of all I adore partscasters!
No currently made Fender can fit my likings and specs.
I HATE vintage frets so JUMBOS are a one way strret for me and lets face it modern brass bridges intonate better and SOUND great!I also prefer modern locking tuners both for ease of stringing and durability (they also tune up better...).
I also LOVE GRAPH TECH SADDLES cause I never break a string with them and they sound great.
The only VINTAGE thing I really like is vintage sounding pups with a BASE PLATE thank you 8)
but I also LOVE Bill Lawrence pups who are anything but vintage.
I also own LIGHTWEIGHT ash or alder guitars but this is for comfort reasons.
I also don't buy the whole vintage/nitro hype.
The vintage radius combined w/ jumbo frets is still my fave...

[Doc]

I do. Mahog body, dual buckers, stainless wire, 6 saddle bridge and a poly finish. It is my number one. My other 2 tele's are more traditional.

[Raymond]

but I like the 6-saddle bridge myself. Probably because I'm obsessed with perfect intonation....I also love top-loaders, which seems to be one of the Tele cardinal sins, and...the ultimate sin: I would sell my MIA Tele to buy an ASAT Classic!!!

[skepticult]

I have a six saddle bridge, 9.5" radius, and locking tuners on mine. I do have a Bakelite pickguard, but it's got 8 holes...

The main thing that stopped me from buying the '52 RI that I so desperately wanted was the frets. I like gigantic frets. The neck radius wasn't such a big deal, but those tiny frets truly suck.

There I said it.

I would dig a vintage style bridge, but only for silly cosmetic reasons.

[aln413]

i got an "00" amer stan tele thats my # 1 and love it!!!

[lenny]

i play a american deluxe power telecaster!! I ADMIT IT
and know what
it twangs like a muther***r, intonates perfectly, has bigger frets and a flatter neck than vintage (both improvements in my book), no 60 cycle hum("noiseless" pickups), also has the fishman power bridge piezo's, which give it a lot of additional sound options(i hardly use em tho haha, bridge pickup tone all the way up is mostly my thing). the finish is beautiful.
hmm what else. abalone dots (beautiful). it does have an alder body, and its not light.
i will get yelled at
but to me its better than the old ones. i can get all the twang of any 52 reissue, and it plays easier for me with the more modern neck. if i could get a 12" radius on one i would do it(mine has a 9.5")
to me i get all the twang and tele vibe, with some modern improvements

[daweed]

I also love the six-saddle bridge. That's where I rest my hand, and it sits nice and comfortable there!

[Hucklebilly]

I like everything about the modern teles (mine's a 97 Am Std) except the bridge. It's a purely aesthetic thing with me, I have to admit. The telecaster is a classic piece of American design, and the original bridge somehow ties it all together for me. Perhaps it's because the tele is really just a flat slab of wood, but with the vintage bridge, with the raised sides, and the round barrels (echoing the round volume and tone knobs) gives it a more three-dimensional look. The modern bridge is flat flat flat and rectangular and just looks wrong to me. I like the better intonation of the modern bridge, and frankly, it sounds pretty twangy to me, but as hard as I try, I just can't get over the look of the thing. I'm not a purist by any means, and I'm all for improvements, I just wish Fender could have come up with a better looking bridge.

[Darrell]

I have an AS B-Bender and an MIM Standard with a vintage bridge.

I have talked to a lot of folks about the ole Fender Bender. It gets a lot of grief. I find that it has very good tone, although a little heavy.

But for the price, it is hard to beat. It stays in tune, intonation is on the mark, I like the 9.5 neck, jumbo frets, love the sunburst (not always available in the vintage style guitars...this one truly looks like the "pic of litter"). I have been told it isn't worth a darn and to unload it for something else...but every time I play it I feel "satisfied". So it stays.

Buy the way, I have never seen a neck get so dark, so fast. It is the fastest natural relic I have ever seen. Maybe it has something to do with sitting in a room with 3 windows in it...I don't know.

[Darrell]

of those Callaman ferrous bridges for my AS bender

[ye olde fretmonkey]

well, my #2 is a 92 MIM Standard toploader that's been modded with an EMG active p'up and no neck p'up or switch, all black, black control plate. The previous owner sanded down the back of the neck too, so it's a pretty fast playing guitar.

When I get it all together, my Partscaster's gonna have a Fiesta Red Peavey body (poplar?) with the stock bridge p'up, 2 60s Danelectro lipstick p'ups and 5 way switch, and an early 80s Tokai Tele rosewood-board neck (from TDPRIer Chip Thomas).

But I still prefer my 50s Classic...

[f85]

I have an early 90's MIM tele that now strings thru the body and has a modern saddle bridge. It now also has SD pups: a lil 59 and STK-T3b (a stacked humbucker based on the broadcaster pup). This is my main guitar.

I have had other guitars, and I really, really like my ASAT (it has a super clean tele sound), but the one I always run back to is that MIM beast I call 'Old Blue'.

[curtisstetka]

I have an '02 American Tele upon which I have visited the following abominations:

-5 way super switch for additonal series, and out-of-phase sounds
-Kinman pickups (they're really humbuckers, people, fer cryin out loud!)
-Earvana nut

I really dig the staggered tuning keys, the steel saddles, the straplocks. The modern Fender tele builds upon its tradition in a very cool, respectful way.

[television]

I've owned two 52 re-issues, a MIM 50's, a telesonic, an american standard, an american series, a MIM, and a MIJ 62 re-issue.....but the three "teles" I've kept are a 1993 Hamer USA T-51, a 1994 Hamer USA T-51, and a 1998 ASAT Classic....all three are truly great guitars. The T-51's have 12" radius, larger frets, Sperzel locking tuners, Wilkinson bridge, and Duncan pickups. The ASAT has large frets and six individual locking tuners....but still has a little bit of a vintage vibe.

[NashTele]

I play 99% of the time on my 96 American Tele "Stock". I don't even like relics. Hell...i still buy the old unwashed stiff wrangler jeans. I'll relic my stuff naturally!

[Kelsey]

All 3 of my Teles have modern 6-saddle bridges, Fender-Schaller deluxe staggered tuners, no-load Deltatone controls, full modern C-profile necks (2 of 'em are a bit chunkier than the norm), 9.5" radius fingerboards, and medium jumbo frets. The only vintage Tele-like guitar that I have is an '88 ASAT.

[Doc Leon]

My #1 is an '01 American Special Thinline - med/jumbo frets, 9.5 radius, modern bridge, light weight and a killer tone! My 52RI doesn't see near the same playtime.

[S0C7]

I've got a 52RI right now, but my Music Man Albert Lee turned me on to more modern instruments. I've got a VERY close eye on the new American Deluxe Ash Tele coming out this year.

http://www.music123.com/Item/?itemno=126716

Zoom in on the pic and drool. All the modern features with a neck profile like my 52RI, with bigger frets, most likely a satin neck finish, and all the other ginchy modern stuff.

Looks like a winner to me.

[bri]

Love the 9.5 radius, the med jumbo frets. I have the middle pup on a blender so I can add what I need to the bridge pup, (a SD 5-2). That gives me my signature tone which I can't get on a vintage style Tele. This axe is the ultimate for me, however, I also own a Strat, also modified which I kinda like.
Brian

[robrecht]

.. a fender standard tele with mods: placed a gibson 500T screaming ceramics humbbucker at the neck and a seymour duncan quarterpound for tele at the bridge.
it sounds sweet!

[pc]

Count me in as a sinner.

I bought it used with the Graphtech saddles and a Tele Vintage Noiseless set already in. It's a 2000 transition American Standard/American Series.

I added the middle (Strat) VN pup, Stew-Mac Mega switch, brush chrome pg and Schaller locking tuners.

[fenderfreak]

i also have a oo tele and i love it

[thursty]

Got me a brand spankin' new '03 Am Series for Christmas, sunburst/rosewood.
It's a beaut, and plenty authentic for me.....

[e-merlin]

I'm open to experimentation. Fret size, pickup config, body wood, tuners, and controls are all fair game, as long as I can have a Maple neck with a 7-1/4" fretboard radius and a 3 saddle bridge. Well, I guess I don't need the 3 saddle bridge either if I use a non-Tele bridge pickup.

[Emmitt O.]

...................traditional and non-traditional and really like them both.

Here's a picture of my three tele's. On the left is a G&L ASAT Deluxe with two humuckers, saddle lock bridge, medium jumbo frets, maple fretboard and a push/pull coil cut on the volume pot. Neck is 12" radius.

In the middle is my '62 Custom Tele (USA), which is about as traditional as them come. 7.25" radius, standard rosewood fretboard and etc. Love this guitar.

On the right is my G&L GbL LE with three small MFD pickups, ebony fretboard, 12" radius neck, medium jumbo frets, saddle lock bridge and a toggle switch for that bridge/neck pickup combo. This guitar is semi-hollow and the lightest guitar I own.

To me this is a real mix of trad and non-trad. I really like the Tele body shape the best.



Take care.
Emmitt O.

[Tom A.]

This is my '52 RI and my Deluxe, I love the Deluxe just as much as the '52 RI. :D

[91xlntS-3]

My first Tele was a '72 Blonde w/maple neck/fretboard. From then on I was hooked!! I used to play Gibson's (L.P.'s, firebirds, S.G.'s, Melody Maker's,etc). Have owned just about one of everything that has ever been made, but I always come back to the Tele design.
My favorite axe isn't a Fender, it's a Peavey Generation S-3. Tele style body (chambered Mahog.) with flame maple top, 3 Hum-Cancelling design single coil p-ups, six saddle bridge (barrel style, steel saddles) reg. sealed tuners, Maple neck/fretboard. This was one of the first 2 of these guitars to hit Indianapolis in 91. Honeyburst finish, which has aged beautifully, like and old L.P.!
What I wanted was a Tele guitar with 3 p-ups and wired like a Strat--and that's exactly what I got!! My little "Honey" has been by my side since July '91 and I just can't leave home without her!
Also have a Mex. Std. Tele that I just added a set of Gold Lace sensors to. Can't really see paying the difference for the Amer. Std. Tele over the Mex. Std. and I have yet to play one of the Highway 1 series tele's that even comes close to the Mex. Std's. The older/vintage guitars are nice, if you want to collect them, but I'll take a newer guitar any day of the week. They can always be replaced!!

[denny]

I reversed the control plate and installed a 5-way switch. I think that the only thing wrong with the original TELECASTER design is the control panel. The knobs are in inconvenient places, and the original knobs are way too big as well.

denny

[Blaster]

I just like bigger frets and the 9 1/2 radius.

I actually have a 62RI along with my Deluxe Tele and MIA Tele and I like them all.

I feel that my new Teles sound like Teles too