Just an observation, purely anecdotal, no science involved.

[ping-ping-clicka]

My niece is visiting my mountain man brother-in-law for only a couple of days, then has to return to Oregon where she lives. I could see we weren't making any headway trying to hook up, and I knew both my niece and my wife wanted to see each other since it's been a couple of years since they saw each other, so I made a suggestion. Why don't we get a really nice pizza and head up there? We did that, and had a nice visit, and enjoyed a good slice!

Now I get to my observation. As some of you may have observed for some reason, I have not been particularly enamored of my AV 72 Tele Custom and thought I might want to replace it with something, anything, maybe an accordion or bagpipes. Yesterday, I had the chance to play my brother-in-law's twelve-year-old Mexican Tele in perfect condition, really just like it was coming off the wall at Guitar Center, but it has Texas Special pickups in it he installed.

Though I don't really play much anymore, I kind of got into it, and enjoyed playing the guitar, and thought I might try to weasel it out of him since he has several other guitars and doesn't play the Mex Tele much. I sat there holding the guitar, and visiting, trying to formulate how I was going to approach trying to buy the guitar when SHAZAM! Reality hit me all at once! I have bought numerous, maybe too numerous to count Teles in my time, and the realization hit me that the one I already have, if I would just be honest with myself plays as well or better than any of them, I've owned. A conclusion I had come to long ago when I had my sell off, that being the reason I kept the AV 72! I had somehow forgotten this.

My observation is, a Tele, is a Tele, is a Tele. Your milage may, and quite possibly may vary, but I reckon like the old coon hunter who had his wife read off an ad he had her write for him to sell off a hound. When he heard the ad read back, he said to his wife, I've been looking for a dog like that, I reckon I'll just keep him. I reckon I'll just keep the AV 72. I reckon too, that my son can have it when I'm through with it.

PS:

I sincerely apologize for writing something actually pertaining to guitars, and Telecasters in specific. String Tree's post made me do it!

THAT'ABOUT PARE.... for the course.

 

[Greggorios]

Beautiful! Is that trick photography with the same young lady playing all the parts? Where in the world do you find FOUR hot Bassoonists?
Added.....never mind, it IS four distinct players. I'm gonna check out more from them. https://www.thebreakingwinds.com
Thanks for the heads up!

There's more on YT. They're real, they're talented and cute and they're The Breaking Wind Bassoon Quartet!

 

[dlew919]

Nice story, you are right.
A guy came over to do some work for me and noticed the three guitars in stands in my music room. He said do you play all three? I thought about all the others in cases in my closet. I just said yes I do. He asked how I decided on those three, two were telecasters. I said you play them and they tell you. I was sort of lying and trying to sound sage like. However, I think it may be true, some just speak louder than others on a given day/week/month/year/lifetime.

I think you're being a little harsh on yourself. They do talk to you. I've been on a gretsch kick the last month or so. But I can feel the teles calling...

 

[Happy Enchilada]

I had an epiphany once ... which is not to be confused with an Epiphone, which many enjoy as well.
I don't agree that "a Tele is a Tele is a Tele." To wit:

Another "Epiphone" that hit me in the formative thought process is that I need prolly a main electric, a backup, and one of a decidedly different flavor - hence 2 Teles and my Hamer Special with P90s that does the LP thing well.

I had one of those nifty set neck, two humbucker jobs with the flamey maple (Fender's attempt at gaining some LP marketshare), and it was a HUGE disappointment. Fortunately I was able to unload it at a profit.
By contrast, my MIM butterscotch Tele with SD Hot Tele pickups is an amazingly multi-talented workhorse.
As is Linda Lou, my thinline partscaster with the Bootstraps - Pretzel and P90.
In thinning my herd, I have come to the conclusion that NOT ALL GUITARS ARE CREATED EQUAL.
And the ones that don't win are getting traded off. No room for "Miss Congeniality."

Amps same same: Some are greater than others. I have a newfound respect for my Blues Cube Stage, which I rescued from consignment recently. Same for my Quilter Aviator, only surprisingly not so much. Hmmm ...

Same philosophy with acoustics: 2 USA Guilds - F55 and D40 Traditional. Teton knockaround guitar. And most recently vintage jumbo Guild J30 12 string. All have their different purposes, all pull their weight. In fact, the Teton is getting rewarded with new tuners because it's so handy and dandy.

So I'm getting there - and lightening my load is therapeutic. I'm putting together an acoustic act like I did back in my halcyon college days and looking for a partner, so it's doubtful the electrics will get that much use going forward. And since they don't figure into my future plans, why have a bunch - especially when some are less fun to play and redundant? So it's doubtful the electrics will get that much use going forward except at the monthly blues jam. Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for 1978 ...

Good Luck!

 

[Painter644]

It was kind of disappointing, I'd hatched up this little plan in my mind, that if I ever got the chance I'd wrangle that Tele out my BIL. Then... It was just kind of an anticlimax! Oh well, I've bought a lot of golf drivers and putters with the same feeling when it was over. At least this time I got stopped before my wallet made a lunge outta my pocket!!

Truthfully, drivers and putters haven’t changed much in the last 15 years or so (putters are mostly all copies of Ping Ansers). The allowable specs on drivers make them pretty much the same, but the advertising….

 

[Painter644]

If a pizza is just a pizza and a tele is just a tele does that mean a strat is just a strat? Or is there some wise analogy hidden that I am not seeing?

Uh-oh, pizza wars! Thin/thick, bland sauce vs spicier sauce, absurd toppings or traditional; teles w/hb in neck or bridge or singles, or just one (Esquire actually). Pick ‘em…

 

[Toto'sDad]

Truthfully, drivers and putters haven’t changed much in the last 15 years or so (putters are mostly all copies of Ping Ansers). The allowable specs on drivers make them pretty much the same, but the advertising….

I can attest to that fact. In fact in my heyday, I had a Mcgreggor Jack Nicklaus driver that was smaller than today's 3 woods, that I could drive short some short par fours with under the right conditions. I've NEVER had a modern day driver its equal.

 

[Timbresmith1]

The main thing wrong with Ding-Dongs is that they are not the size of a frisbee.

They used to have beef tallow in them. A ding dong the size of a Frisbee might allow an engineer to swallow some twine and produce a candle…

 

[mexicanyella]

They used to have beef tallow in them. A ding dong the size of a Frisbee might allow an engineer to swallow some twine and produce a candle…

Yeah, unfortunately now I can’t not visualize that.

 

[Willie Johnson]

It did occur to me the other day that my Squier Cabronita and my Squier Standard Tele don't sound that much different from each other. One's got a maple fretboard and humbuckers and the other is rosewood and single coils, but both have a bassy neck sound, treble-y bridge sound, in-between sound in between. There's such a thing as too much thinking.

 

[Painter644]

I can attest to that fact. In fact in my heyday, I had a Mcgreggor Jack Nicklaus driver that was smaller than today's 3 woods, that I could drive short some short par fours with under the right conditions. I've NEVER had a modern day driver its equal.

Yeah, persimmon and steel, can’t beat ‘em!

 

[TeleTex82]

I had to read this a couple of times ro make sure you didn't sneak in a punchline in there somewhere .

In all seriousness, that's the beauty of the Tele to me. It's simplicity means that the general experience of a Tele is pretty consistent, whether you're talking about a Custom Shop or Chinese knockoff. The quality of the parts and fit/finish may vary, but let's be honest, a Tele ain't rocket science. Though they are magic...

 

[boris bubbanov]

TD I’ve been thinking for years, “It ain’t the tools, it’s the artisan.”

Yeah.

But some days, the Artisan just doesn't show up for work. He's called in sick again. Or distracted or something.

Most of the guys here know, they're not on the cusp of being discovered - The Latest Thing Since Clarence White. It can be hard to get motivated, sometimes. What's worse, I finally own a dog that doesn't like loud music.

 

[Toto'sDad]

Yeah.

But some days, the Artisan just doesn't show up for work. He's called in sick again. Or distracted or something.

Most of the guys here know, they're not on the cusp of being discovered - The Latest Thing Since Clarence White. It can be hard to get motivated, sometimes. What's worse, I finally own a dog that doesn't like loud music.

The thing I liked most about 1959, is that you had to drive at least thirty miles to find any LOUD music. I like playing music, and I Know this seems awfully one way, but I can't hardly stand listening to ANYONE'S music unless I am ready for it. I guess what I'm saying is; I know where you dog is coming from.