Best non Fender Tele copy ?

[maestrovert]

i had a Pan/Alembic Toploader Tele that was a great guitar....
i've no experience with any other non Fender Teles (aside from homebrew partscasters) such as the Samick or the Ibanez.....
i've the offshore imports in mind, i'm not counting the Andersons, DeTemples, or Suhrs

[roadkillbill]

Well, I've got an Epiphone tele, MIK that's kinda cool, not the pointy headstock one, but the other one that's black w//scalloped edge and mother o' pearl inlay..

And, a JB Player tele, natural finish, maple neck.. probably chinese, and very nice for the price..

Both were under a hundred bucks--I bought them a year and a half ago when it dawned on me that I ought to try out a tele, or at least a tele shaped object, just to see if I liked it..

I've upgraded both with new p'ups, and thought about selling them to replace them with real teles, but for the price I paid, they're worth more as guitars to travel with, or play slide on.

[Jack Wells]

Nelsonic made a pretty decent Tele style guitar but I think Fender put an end to it. It was made in Korea. Some think it may have been made by the same factory that makes the Lite Ash Telecaster. Here's mine as I received it.
......................

Here it is after a neck refinish and a Ferden headstock transformation.

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[robmc_68]

Rondo Music in Union NJ sells two Chinese made tele & strat knock offs ,that really aren,t bad . I live near them so I have noodled around on both. SX is the first , they make a nice butterscotch tele that is as good as any squier,( they also put a nice aged finish on the neck) te other Agile, which is the higher end SX ( I am sure they make them at the same plant,why the name change??) poly'ed necks but good action ,both have the tele twang .
Check out rondomusic.net or go to Harmoney_Cemtral , they get alot of good reviews.

[TELEkinetic]

Originally Posted by roadkillbill

Well, I've got an Epiphone tele, MIK that's kinda cool, not the pointy headstock one, but the other one that's black w//scalloped edge and mother o' pearl inlay..

Me too......I bought it a a players pack for my daughter a few Xmas ago. I was very shocked at just what a great little guitar it was. The neck is not very pretty on the back, but the craftsmanship is solid and the sound is good. I think the cost with a little Crate amp and a gig bag was about $169. A bargain in my book.

[PraiseCaster]

Jay Turser actually makes some decent Tele copies. I owned one, and it wasnt bad at all. Very light, possibly sub 5lbs., since it was always "neck diving" on me, and a good tone too.

But I also played some Jay Tursers that were dogs too, so you really had to sort through the litter............

The neck was ultra thin though, and it drove me to upgrade to a Squier Affinity Special. Still have that one today, though its been heavily modded. Not much "Squier" left too it.

[frogger]

Tokai "Breezy Sound"........Pre lawsuit Tele copy that was too good for it's own good.

[charlie chitlin]

+1 on the Tokai.
Even Duke Robillard played 'em!

[MoOMaN2679]

I like the Hamer T-51's...if you can still find them around. Love them!

[namida]

i have a whiteguard lawsuit greco tele. awesome guitar.

[Mike Rice]

Originally Posted by charlie frey

+1 on the Tokai.
Even Duke Robillard played 'em!

+2 on the Tokai, but therein lies the problem. I've seen a couple Tokai Breezy Sound teles sell on eBay within the last year for over $700!! It may be an alternative, but it's not a money saving alternative anymore.

If you're looking for a reasonably priced alternative, to an MIJ Tele in particular, I'm still quite partial to the Fernandes teles I've played, including the one I own. It's essentially a MIJ '62 Custom RI and I have VZ Vintage Plus pickups in it. Looks, sounds, and plays fantastic.

[sultan59]

Sure like to try one of those Gigliottis Joe Bonamassa plays, kinda spendy, though. He sure makes 'em sound good. Got a brass or aluminum top on there...here's a pic, maybe. That ain't Joe, but it's a better pic.

[TraditionalCountry]

Has anybody here played the Washburn W136 Tele knockoff?
Malcolm

[namida]

Originally Posted by Mike Rice

+2 on the Tokai, but therein lies the problem. I've seen a couple Tokai Breezy Sound teles sell on eBay within the last year for over $700!! It may be an alternative, but it's not a money saving alternative anymore.

If you're looking for a reasonably priced alternative, to an MIJ Tele in particular, I'm still quite partial to the Fernandes teles I've played, including the one I own. It's essentially a MIJ '62 Custom RI and I have VZ Vintage Plus pickups in it. Looks, sounds, and plays fantastic.

The price of lawsuit guitars being sold here are starting to go up too, I think folks here are starting to notice them now. Some years ago, they used to sell for just over $100 according to a guitar-seller.

[namida]

the tele that the rice custom guitars make are truly desirable.

[jericho60]

Originally Posted by namida

i have a whiteguard lawsuit greco tele. awesome guitar.

Interesting, all the Grecos I've seen have been Gibson knockoffs.

[upplehoy]

Early 80 ies Fernandez tele and strat copies were quite good.

[namida]

Originally Posted by ye olde fretmonkey

Interesting, all the Grecos I've seen have been Gibson knockoffs.

It feels kindda spooky to me really as pretty much of the grecos i've seen are lp's or other gibson models too.

I've spotted one on e-bay recently: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...ayphotohosting

Mine looks just like that except for the modifications. I've replaced the tuners with gotoh minis, and it has been converted to a string-thru body when i got it. and i think the first owner was insecured of the brand that he/she scraped the decal off the headstock, but its still quite visible.

heres my tele with me in a jam
http://photos.perfdecastro.com/album...l_102_0136.JPG

I'd like to have another one if i can find one here but they are getting harder to come by

[rusticman]

rockinger makes a very godd copy. hi quality all the way.

www.rockinger.com

[msteurbaut]

Originally Posted by maestrovert

i had a Pan/Alembic Toploader Tele that was a great guitar....
i've no experience with any other non Fender Teles (aside from homebrew partscasters) such as the Samick or the Ibanez.....
i've the offshore imports in mind, i'm not counting the Andersons, DeTemples, or Suhrs

I like this one: