Tele made in Indonesia Worthless?

[Ronzo]

Is this the model you own?
https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/squier-vintage-modified-72-telecaster-thinline-615525

 

[jrblue]

The problem is that they're churining them out by the billions so people ca get new ones so cheaply that the "used" price drop isn't a big advantage. Well, and there are a trillion used ones out there, too.

 

[Deeve]

I have four Indonesia-made guitars. All play well. Three are Squiers, one is a Jackson Rhoads.

These potential buyers would have gotten “The Big GFY” from me. They were trying to leverage your inexperience to their advantage. You did well to resist their low-balling.

Plus one on this -
I prepare for low-ballers, either telling myself to ignore those calls, or, if we're in the conversation already, by offering them links to "something that's in your price range..." inevitably damaged, badly modded or in otherwise poorer condition.

A real "glass-bowl" from Cream City Music tried to do that when I offered up my Trini Lopez on the VG hotshot.
His name is John.
I sent him links to the cheaper (for a reason) ones.
And later my consignor got me thousands more than I originally asked.

Peace - Deeve

 

[Boreas]

I love mine. I put a short-scale Gibson-spec rosewood neck on it. My pickups are great. Just took a few tries to get the heights where I wanted them. Most improvement was with a switch to 500k pots. Probably my favorite Tele out of seven. While it may not be worth a great deal, it is hardly worthless!!

 

[lmjmitchell]

I have two Yamaha Revstar guitars that were both made in Indonesia.

They have far better fit and finish than anything I've ever seen from Gibson and seem to be equal to any Fender I've owned.

 

[RobRiggs]

I’ve got five or six Ibanez “premium” series guitars made in Indonesia. I’d put them up against any non-custom shop U.S. made Fender I’ve ever owned or played. They’re well made, play beautifully and sound amazing. No complaints here.

 

[DugT]

One of the best guitars that I have owned was made in Indonesia. The craftmanship was flawless. It is an Ibanez AR720.

EDIT: I just remembered this guitar was made in China, not Indonesia. Oops.

 

[naneek]

unless it has manufacturing defects, it certainly isn't worthless. But it is worth noting that not all the indonesian made squiers are good ones.

when I took the neck off my indonesian squier tele I had a nasty surprise in the form of four sets of off-center screw holes through both the neck and body.

their solution resulted in a truly unique engineering achievement: none of the screws are in direct contact with the body or the neck. I had to reassemble it like a jigsaw, but somehow it all holds together.

I actually love this guitar, but it's a total pos. I could never sell that guitar in good conscience. I spent a long time fixing the frets and I actually really like how it plays and sounds. The body was made of 9 or more pieces of wood cut up like pie slices, but I refinished it and put in different pickups.

I learned a lot working on that guitar. I guess I'm just lucky to be the owner of the worst telecaster ever made in indonesia.

 

[richiek65]

I don't know @ Teles, but I have 2 guitars made in Indonesia that I love.
First is G&L Legacy Tribute (Strat). Yeah, I replaced the pickups, but that's pretty much it. And it's great.
Second is Hamer Special K (LP Special). This one was so well crafted and had great P90s in it that I didn't change a thing and it's also ... "great."
So I think it all depends on which Indonesian factory produces the guitar. Same thing when Korea was building all the low-end stuff: Some of the factories turned out great stuff, others not so much.
OK, so that was no help. But in the end, do you like the guitar? Then keep it and piss off the cork sniffers.

I also have an Indo-Hamer, it's top quality and the P90s are huge

 

[DFB1]

If Indonesian guitars are worthless I guess I can stop GAS'n for this.

 

[Squiretele777]

I think all of my MII guitars are great players. That doesn't mean that if you bought a guitar for $179 that you should expect to get more than that in resale, but it's not like it's inherently bad because it's made in Indonesia (or China, Mexico, et al).

I payed $575.00 plus i payed $130.00 to have 2 coil splits installed

 

[Squiretele777]

I have had excellent experiences with three Bootstrap pickup sets. Made In Ohio, USA. They are the best value in aftermarket pickups I’ve found.

One more thing: if you do order from Bootstrap, check with Ryan, the owner, what set(s) he would recommend for coil splitting. I’ve had experience with an Epiphone 339 Pro that was good, and it had usable tones when split. Almost all the coil-splitting configurations I’ve experienced other than that were disappointing. JMO.

Yup i,ve sent him a question about the Vintage Clean Humbuckers,and ask him how they are for coil spliting,i guess i,m looking for that tele bite in the bridge when coil split to single,and still have the warmer sound in humbucker mode,if thats possiable,,just waiting to hear back from him.Thanks.

 

[Squiretele777]

I have four Indonesia-made guitars. All play well. Three are Squiers, one is a Jackson Rhoads.

These potential buyers would have gotten “The Big GFY” from me. They were trying to leverage your inexperience to their advantage. You did well to resist their low-balling.

Thanks i,m keeping the guitar and going with a set of boot straps,,i do love the guitar,,,just a matter of finding the right pickup for the country sound i like.

 

[Squiretele777]

I wanna say a "HUGE THANK YOU" to everyone that gave me great advice,it helped me decide to keep the guitar that i love,,,and thanks for the heads up on these Boot Strap Pickups,i,m ordering a set od Vintage Cleans,,i already have the coil split pots installed,,,should work out pretty good...Thank You All...Regards.

 

[Matthias]

Indonesian guitars are generally good. Some Indonesian Squiers are about the same standard as many 90s MiJ/CIJ models… Cheaper woods and electronics but well put together with good necks. You get some slightly worse finish/fit flaws on Squiers due to lower price points equalling wider QA tolerances, but the MIJs also had their flaws. The more modern guitar factories have perfected and automated their workflow, the better quality has got and your Squiers today are the same quality as the mid-range guitars 20-25 years ago.

 

[Telecastoff1]

I can't speak for the Squires, but I do own two Indonesian-made G&L ASAT Tribute Tele-style guitars. The quality and workmanship is excellent on the two I own. These are very stable, great playing and great sounding guitars. I gig with these on rotation with my Telecasters, and they perform flawlessly. These are keepers.

 

[scottser]

i had a squier anniversary fat tele made in indonesia. a fine guitar, and i often regret selling it.

 

[hemingway]

So people just give away used Squiers?

What a crock.

You came to the right place, OP, and I hope you're reassured. Second-hand pricing rules are the same for Indonesian guitars as for any others. A good guitar is a good guitar.

 

[24 track]

Yes,i love the guitar,all except the pickups,,it,s well made,nice neck,,yup i,m keeping it,,replace pickups,,,the rest is all good on it.

I dont have that model of squier but I will tell you that mine is the first fender guitar american made or other , that I have not wanted to gut entirely , I did replace the switch to a fender 3 way and the pots to CTS and an orange drop for the green chicklet but none of that affected the tone of the guitar , the pickups , the set up, intonation action were perfect for me , so this BS about where it is made has no bearing on any thing , if its a player then its golden , I have had more issues with american made fenders and gibsons than I have had with my asian ones.

if you dont like your pickups get a set you like and try them it cant hurt , if you sell it keep it stock , no sence in sinking money into it for your tone , you will not get that back on the resale , if you decide to sell it

 

[carpenter]

Seems like opportunity to buy something good for cheap. I want one now. Thanks!