I prefer an "inferior" Telecaster

[Gardo]

Probably the lowest cost T type I own but plays nice and sounds great
I bought this from the clearance department as a donor for a future project partly because I really like the neck. Advertised as ash body and fat tc alnico pickups. It arrived at my door for under $200. Out of the box the neck was flawless and it was so well setup it only needed tuning to play. I ditched the white pg for black and it’s now one of my favorites
The only drawback is it’s a little on the heavy side which is no problem when sitting.

 

[toanhunter]

I always tell people, when buying a guitar in a shop, wear a blindfold. Pay no attention to the looks, price, or brand. Get what feels and sounds best to you.

or take an audio engineer friend along with you, and blindfold them.

 

[Der_Kruscher]

Reading this thread brings two thoughts to mind: 1) in an audio production course way back in college, my prof really tried to drill into us that we hear with our ears, not our eyes. Folks tended to get hung up on having the faders land exactly on a number, regardless of how it affected the work we were doing - he wanted us to get over that. Similarly, headstock decals don’t really mean much. What’s good is good. 2) A noteworthy custom bicycle framebuilder likes to say, “the bike is the bike.” Folks like to focus on a specific aspect of a frame (the angle of a tube, the length of a tube, etc.), without context…it’s how all of the pieces work together that matters. I think those are relevant thoughts, but it’s still early and it’s possible that I haven’t had enough caffeine yet.

 

[guitarlarry]

About as simple as it gets! Partscaster is a sycamore “rustic” style body, unknown Asian neck, decent tuners, bridge, control plate, neck plate, neck pick up cover, and knobs all aged by me. I wound the pickups so that middle position was hum cancelling. Wired for tone control only on bridge pick up. Amp began construction with an old Zenith transformer and a new Musical Power Supplies output transformer. It is basically a Teeed Deluxe (5E3), but with treb and bass controls and a series parallel connected pair of preamp tubes, 6V6 output tubes, and a 5U4 rectifier. Speaker box is home built pine( Home Depot) and mounts a Mojotone Anthem 12” speaker. All built in the comfort? Of my shop/garage. Keeps me busy in my retirement years.
Guitarlarry

 

[telemnemonics]

The “1 in maybe 400 guitars” by @SuperflyPete reminded me of my decade after decade experience shopping for guitars.
I grab generally affordable guitars to try out which is maybe up to $600 or a little more if something special and seldom seen like a reverse Firebird.

I find less than 1 in 400 that makes me want to actually own it.

Guitars are generally mediocre these days.
Yet on the internet I read raves of how great the guitars are across all brands and prices.
Sure they work, they are functionally adequate.

And I really want something like a JM JM or maybe a 339.
Sorry fans of all the affordable guitars!
To me they are consistently unimpressive!
Cash in hand want a new guitar unimpressive!

Seems like shoppers are impressed by adequate products?
The very rare event when a guitar makes me want it, they are out of my price range.

If I had no guitars I would be happy to buy an adequate guitar.
Not when I already have very good and great guitars.

 

[srblue5]

So it goes
You are completely right

So it goes, so it goes, so it goes, so it goes,
But where it’s going, no one knows.

(Sorry, I can’t resist posting this great song whenever I read “So it goes”)

 

[zekester]

If guitars were made of milled aluminum and had robot-wound pickups, they would be "more similar". But there would still be variation in tone/plyability. Part of this is player expectation and prejudice.

But anything made of wood is at least partially "organic" in the true sense. Each tree has a wide range of wood quality (density, strength, resonance, etc.) with even more differences from tree to tree! And keep in mind, Asian-sourced trees are different than European and North American wood of the same "species". Climate, sunlight, and growing conditions makes the wood what it is, not the mill or factory.

I know little about wood, but any general assumption that wood sourced from the East is inferior to wood sourced from the West would be illogical. It could well be that USA sourced woods are losing tonal quality while Asian sources are improving. This may become even more evident with future climate changes. Growth ring spacing, growth rate, and lignin qualities are all important factors in producing what mere humans perceive as superior tone. Interweb ordering of guitars is partially responsible for placing many inferior instruments into the global "guitar stew" because people don't get a chance to let the instrument speak to them before buying. This may have the long-term effect of dumbing-down of our ears and expectations. And many people buy based on appointments and appearance and not tone. Everyone has different priorities on how to spend their disposable income.

I agree with most of what you'd asserted, Boreas. Your statement, "people don't get a chance to let the instrument speak to them before buying", has me puzzled. When you go into a music store to purchase a guitar, you play it for, what, 10 minutes there? There's no way the instrument can "speak to you" in that short a time frame, and especially if you're not playing it through your amp and pedal setup. It would have a chance to audition for you if you were able to have the guitar for a week, but no one's gonna lend it to you for a week. So, to my mind, purchasing a guitar sight-unseen online is only marginally worse than playing it for 10 minutes in a store. You pays yo' money, and takes yo' chances.

 

[Skyhook]

anyone can explain what the heck that is all about!!!???

Simple... you're rooting for the underdog.

 

[P Thought]

anyone can explain what the heck that is all about!!!???

You have bonded with its personality and if you listen it will tell you its name

 

[curt mcgirt]

Not pretending I am good enough to tell the difference between a vintage Tele and a reissue. Or a difference between a "this US re-issue" and a "that US re-issue" and a "this or that MIM issue"... not at all. Not even close. Nor do I care, honestly.


What I am talking about is this - I have Teles that, spec-wise, should kick the living daylight out of my favorite Tele, I mean... no contest. And even when I play them I realize and clearly hear things like "yep, that pickup is more clear than the other one", "wow, the neck pickup is so much more articulate", "the bridge pickup is fire, just the way I like it!", "this neck shape is killer!!!", "OMG that rosewood fretboard!!", etc... However, my favorite Tele and... ok, going out on a limb here... potentially my favorite guitar overall is a... gasp!!!... what???? A lowly Classic Vibe Squier '60s Custom Tele!!!??? Yep!!!
Something about that Tele, when I pick it up, makes me feel like it's my baby and I need to love and protect it... and yes, I have taken my meds today. Somehow its "inferiority" to my other Teles makes me care for it more... and I am not only talking about its physical presence, it's about the character, even if imperfect!!! The tone I get out of it is technically inferior to the tone I get from my other "better" Teles but, for some reason, I like the faulty, inferior tone of it more... in my mind it has more character (fight?) than the other more "perfect" Teles. Idk, honestly, I am probably going crazy like the rest of you Tele guys on here already are (way to derail your own thread, right) but... anyone can explain what the heck that is all about!!!???

Yes! My 25 year old mim tele with one Wilkinson and one squier pickup plays and sounds perfect and stays in tune like no other guitar.

 

[Boreas]

I agree with most of what you'd asserted, Boreas. Your statement, "people don't get a chance to let the instrument speak to them before buying", has me puzzled. When you go into a music store to purchase a guitar, you play it for, what, 10 minutes there? There's no way the instrument can "speak to you" in that short a time frame, and especially if you're not playing it through your amp and pedal setup. It would have a chance to audition for you if you were able to have the guitar for a week, but no one's gonna lend it to you for a week. So, to my mind, purchasing a guitar sight-unseen online is only marginally worse than playing it for 10 minutes in a store. You pays yo' money, and takes yo' chances.

I try to give any instrument I am interested in adopting at least 15 minutes of hard playing. Either it turns me on, turns me off, or is meh. If it turns me on, it is "speaking" to me. Sometimes I think about it and return a couple days later. If it is still talking to me, good chance I will buy it. It doesn't mean it will be my favorite guitar or I won't someday release it back into the wild. Also doesn't mean I always made the best choice - sometimes guitars and ears can have off days. But life is too short to sweat these things.

I have bought many guitars online - both new and vintage - but I rarely return them. Indeed, most end up being meh, so I alter them, or return them to the wild.

 

[Skyhook]

That is so true. I'd never part with my 2015 Mexican 50s Lacquer. It punches way above it's weight.

View attachment 1386251

Is that thing stock?
It looks an awful lot like my 2014 MIM Classic 50's except for the humbucker.

 

[filaiy1022]

I had something similar happen to me. I'm a drummer but I like playing the guitar for fun and went out looking for a great telecaster, presumably the last guitar I'd buy for the foreseeable future. Expecting to be paying $2k for a great one, I quickly realized there was something about a used $800 MIM standard neck - MIM 50s body (don't remember the series name) mutt I played. It just rang clearer and sustained better than all the other ones I played, even the extremely high end ones. Nice and light too. When I took it to get some fret work, the luthier commented on how great the guitar was so it's not just me.

 

[ChicknPickn]

If I were not able and willing to do my own setups, I’d have missed out on a lot of goodness from those $400-$500 guitars, such as the MIMs. The posters here have shown me the way.

I get the feeling a lot of players hardly realize they can adjust pickup height and angle. Or that the lowest possible string height often is not “the best.” Or that a poorly cut nut makes the most expensive guitar a dud.

 

[Whitebeard]

Not pretending I am good enough to tell the difference between a vintage Tele and a reissue. Or a difference between a "this US re-issue" and a "that US re-issue" and a "this or that MIM issue"... not at all. Not even close. Nor do I care, honestly.


What I am talking about is this - I have Teles that, spec-wise, should kick the living daylight out of my favorite Tele, I mean... no contest. And even when I play them I realize and clearly hear things like "yep, that pickup is more clear than the other one", "wow, the neck pickup is so much more articulate", "the bridge pickup is fire, just the way I like it!", "this neck shape is killer!!!", "OMG that rosewood fretboard!!", etc... However, my favorite Tele and... ok, going out on a limb here... potentially my favorite guitar overall is a... gasp!!!... what???? A lowly Classic Vibe Squier '60s Custom Tele!!!??? Yep!!!
Something about that Tele, when I pick it up, makes me feel like it's my baby and I need to love and protect it... and yes, I have taken my meds today. Somehow its "inferiority" to my other Teles makes me care for it more... and I am not only talking about its physical presence, it's about the character, even if imperfect!!! The tone I get out of it is technically inferior to the tone I get from my other "better" Teles but, for some reason, I like the faulty, inferior tone of it more... in my mind it has more character (fight?) than the other more "perfect" Teles. Idk, honestly, I am probably going crazy like the rest of you Tele guys on here already are (way to derail your own thread, right) but... anyone can explain what the heck that is all about!!!???

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The best guitar is the one that sings to the person playing it. Age, condition & cost don't matter. If it sings to you, you'll be inspired to play it.

 

[Greenstreet]

Have you assembled a Partscaster. Talk about personal connection to an instrument. I have 2 of them. The one in my avatar and a Nashville. They are my main, "go to" instruments. I'll never give them up. Disclaimer: I don't have a "superior" Telecaster to compare them to, but the tone and playability is AWESOME.

I remember seeing a show on PBS back in the 1970s about an elite school for young violinists, if I recall correctly it was somewhere in Switzerland.

It was a five-year program, and in the first year, in addition to their musical studies, they learned all about different woods and what characteristics to look for in woods suitable for musical instruments.

They spent weeks in the mountains looking for just the right maple for a violin back and sides, then they looked for spruce that had grown in certain conditions that would produce the tight, evenly spaced grain that makes the best violin top plates.

They cut down the tree with an axe, cut to an appropriate size using hand saws, split the logs into billets using a hand-axe, and stacked the wood to cure.

In the second year, they split and joined the billets, cut the tops, backs, and sides, and carved the top and back plates, all using nothing but small hand saws and chisels. They steam-bent the sides and assembled the violin bodies using rabbit hide glue that they made themselves.

In the third year, they carved the neck, the heel, and finally the peg head scroll, then assembled the "white" violin.

In the fourth year, they gathered madder root, sandarac, pine sap, and other resins and oils to make their own varnish, and finished the instruments using hand-made squirrel-hair brushes.

In the fifth year, the finish had cured properly and the instrument was finally ready to string, set up, and play.

I can't even imagine being that intimately connected to an instrument, but it must've been an amazing experience.

 

[Stanbowles10]

Not pretending I am good enough to tell the difference between a vintage Tele and a reissue. Or a difference between a "this US re-issue" and a "that US re-issue" and a "this or that MIM issue"... not at all. Not even close. Nor do I care, honestly.


What I am talking about is this - I have Teles that, spec-wise, should kick the living daylight out of my favorite Tele, I mean... no contest. And even when I play them I realize and clearly hear things like "yep, that pickup is more clear than the other one", "wow, the neck pickup is so much more articulate", "the bridge pickup is fire, just the way I like it!", "this neck shape is killer!!!", "OMG that rosewood fretboard!!", etc... However, my favorite Tele and... ok, going out on a limb here... potentially my favorite guitar overall is a... gasp!!!... what???? A lowly Classic Vibe Squier '60s Custom Tele!!!??? Yep!!!
Something about that Tele, when I pick it up, makes me feel like it's my baby and I need to love and protect it... and yes, I have taken my meds today. Somehow its "inferiority" to my other Teles makes me care for it more... and I am not only talking about its physical presence, it's about the character, even if imperfect!!! The tone I get out of it is technically inferior to the tone I get from my other "better" Teles but, for some reason, I like the faulty, inferior tone of it more... in my mind it has more character (fight?) than the other more "perfect" Teles. Idk, honestly, I am probably going crazy like the rest of you Tele guys on here already are (way to derail your own thread, right) but... anyone can explain what the heck that is all about!!!???

Ha ha, this made me laugh, its a sickness my friend and you're clearly not well! Love it though man, if the Squire is your baby, it must have something. I actually bought a 'Jet' Telecaster Custom for £299 here in the UK. It has top specs, rosewood fretboard, roasted almond neck, locking tuners, belly cut and great sounding alnico pickups. It played better than any of the other teles in the shop that day, including American Proffessional 11, although not quite on a par with the Amican Vintage 11 63 tele. At a more than a 6th of the price though it went home with me and is now a 5 string tuned in open G . I get you man, I really do

 

[telemnemonics]

I agree with most of what you'd asserted, Boreas. Your statement, "people don't get a chance to let the instrument speak to them before buying", has me puzzled. When you go into a music store to purchase a guitar, you play it for, what, 10 minutes there? There's no way the instrument can "speak to you" in that short a time frame, and especially if you're not playing it through your amp and pedal setup. It would have a chance to audition for you if you were able to have the guitar for a week, but no one's gonna lend it to you for a week. So, to my mind, purchasing a guitar sight-unseen online is only marginally worse than playing it for 10 minutes in a store. You pays yo' money, and takes yo' chances.

I slightly agree with you that it is hard to know a piece of gear is going to be an asset to what I already have.

But ten minutes?
Is you mom tapping her fingers on the amp scowling at you?
If you are that tempted to buy, do you really give up after only ten minutes?
I might go back several times if the guitar has a chance of not being sold within the hour.
May even bring my amp in to try the guitar.
In the old days amps were portable and got dragged all over tarnation!

Still though the other factor is that any guitar I want and can afford is outstanding.
It is not hard to tell a guitar is outstanding.
This is part of the mystery of all the online fans raving about how great the cheap guitars are these days.
I’ve played probably over 100 Epi and Squier because they get so much love on the net.
Even bought a very nice Epi 335 Pro and played it for a couple of weeks after a setup.
As it seemed in the store, it was just a workmanlike mediocre guitar.

How are you buying guitars that are so marginally good enough they do not stand out?
Why buy if a guitar shows no signs of being particularly good compared to the racks and racks of guitars?

I did grab a cheapo in I think 2023 which was a late 90s Dano for maybe $250 and a really good example of an iconic cheapo guitar.
At home it continued to be as great as it instantly seemed in GC.
So easy to recognize as great, and so cheap!

But I recorded it side by side with what I have and it was no asset to the musical function guitars perform.
To be fair I was selling my house and moving so it would be a bit of a burden to add to the piles of guitars.
I half wish I kept it as an image guitar, and it did have a special lean stringy tone, but it was just not enough of an asset.

So again, how does playing a guitar in a shop even just for ten minutes not tell you it is outstanding among the thousands?
If it is not outstanding, why try to convince yourself to buy it?

The whole “speaks to you” thang is fun to say but really we judge a guitar, the guitar does not judge us and speak to us.
If it stands out it is clearly better or outstanding.
If not clearly outstanding, buying is just relief for GAS.

 

[Swingcat]

Not pretending I am good enough to tell the difference between a vintage Tele and a reissue. Or a difference between a "this US re-issue" and a "that US re-issue" and a "this or that MIM issue"... not at all. Not even close. Nor do I care, honestly.


What I am talking about is this - I have Teles that, spec-wise, should kick the living daylight out of my favorite Tele, I mean... no contest. And even when I play them I realize and clearly hear things like "yep, that pickup is more clear than the other one", "wow, the neck pickup is so much more articulate", "the bridge pickup is fire, just the way I like it!", "this neck shape is killer!!!", "OMG that rosewood fretboard!!", etc... However, my favorite Tele and... ok, going out on a limb here... potentially my favorite guitar overall is a... gasp!!!... what???? A lowly Classic Vibe Squier '60s Custom Tele!!!??? Yep!!!
Something about that Tele, when I pick it up, makes me feel like it's my baby and I need to love and protect it... and yes, I have taken my meds today. Somehow its "inferiority" to my other Teles makes me care for it more... and I am not only talking about its physical presence, it's about the character, even if imperfect!!! The tone I get out of it is technically inferior to the tone I get from my other "better" Teles but, for some reason, I like the faulty, inferior tone of it more... in my mind it has more character (fight?) than the other more "perfect" Teles. Idk, honestly, I am probably going crazy like the rest of you Tele guys on here already are (way to derail your own thread, right) but... anyone can explain what the heck that is all about!!!???

I've had LOTS of guitars thru the years of playing professionally for over 50 years.
I've had several VERY INNEXPENSIVE, and many expensive guitars.
I've had Gibson L-5's & Super 400's, a few New York Epiphone Archtops, American Tele's, Gretsch's, Guilds, etc...
A couple of innexpensive guitars have stood out as wonderful guitars!
First, although still FAIRLY expensive, I have and have had several Chinese Eastman guitars, one of which I played against a collection of REALLY expensive Vintage Gibson & Epiphone archtops yesterday, and found that my Eastman AR805CE kicks butt on ALL of them!!
Beyond that, I had a $300 (NEW!) Hohner flattop that smoked almost every other flattop I've ever played, and actually rivaled my $5,000 Goodall!
I had a Mexican Tele that was WONDERFUL! I had a Mexican Jazzmaster that was every bit as good as any American one!
I STILL HAVE a $79 Kustom 10 "practice" amp that I love and actually use in many of our bi-weekly performances!
So WHO CARES what the headstock says! The audience doesn't!

 

[Henry Mars]

I had a G&L ASAT Tribute (Tele). I paid around $300 for it. There were two issues one was static build up ( easily fixable) and the other was that it was bottom heavy. It sounded great but it was uncomfortable for me to play for what ever reason.
I sold it for $200 to a guy that is still using it and he loves the thing. He could have bought anything.
Play what you like and like what you play.