Which Telecaster Exceeded Your Expectations?

[Blues Twanger]

For me it was my Vintera 50s. It's a great guitar with and all the extra wood in the neck really does something to the sound.

Ironically it also led me to a Tele that did not meet my expectations, the Vintera 50s Road Worn. I loved the regular model so much I wanted to go to the next level of authenticity with a nitro finish, but the relic is cookie cutter and obvious and the neck being mostly stripped is something I don't like at all.

 

[Rbert0005]

Counts for me. Way more tones that come out of it than I expected

Do Esquires count? View attachment 1021545

 

[JeffBlue]

Me, I have to build all of my Fender style guitars because nobody gives me what I'm looking for in a tele.

Homemade brasstop tele build

Edenhaus Mahogany body/Fender neck/SD pickups

Warmoth Black Korina/Bloodwood build

Warmoth Black Korina/Padouk/SD & Bill Lawrence pickups and self custom lightning bolt sound hole

Warmoth Swamp Ash body/Fender neck/SD pickups that I gave to my son

Guitar Fetish Paulownia body/Edenhaus neck/SD pickups

Warmoth Black Korina body/Waermoth neck/SD pickups

Warmoth Alder body/Fender neck/SD pickups/ custom pickguard

All of these teles are exceptional in sound and playability.

 

[itstooloudMike]

Hey man, we s’posed to just imagine it? Post the pics!

 

[Wrighty]

Yep, see what you mean, thanks!

 

[saleake]

I watched it for six months before I bought it. And then I didn’t bond with it for about six months. But now it’s my #1 Telecaster.

 

[Mur]

I like 'em all ..

 

[NiceTele]

Really enjoying my 2020 Vintera Road Worn Tele- best sounding pickups I think that I've had in any Tele over the last 40 or so years, and that includes a lot of Teles old and new. One heck of a good guitar for the price.

 

[Jazzcaster21]

This summer (with school money) I bought a demo Classic Vibe Tele from Sweetwater and once it got set-up I was pretty impressed, especially at the price point. It feels good: the neck is very nice and the thickness of it makes it feel like it's wider than my American Pro II neck, which is actually the wider of the two, but just by a bit.

The CV sounds good too: It's got more of the an old school twang than the AMP II does and the CV sounded pretty awesome when played through a 60s Fender Deluxe BF clone, with no FX. I would say based on all that, it far exceeded my expecations. I have yet to gig with it but, I will be soon. Oh yeah and it's got a bone nut!

 

[pippoman]

Squier Bullet!

I bought this as my first electric with the expectation to replace it later. I’ve tried other “nicer” guitars and even bought one. But this guy is fantastic and I play it often. Nearly 2 years since I got it, and I don’t feel the need to “upgrade.”

View attachment 1022046

Hey Al, was yours playable out of the box or did you have to do some stuff to it? The reason I ask is I bought one recently and haven’t had time to work on it, but I wouldn’t consider taking it to a gig playing like it does. I haven’t had it long (a couple weeks) and I’ve only raised the action a little and added a touch of relief on the neck, but it needs some attention. Still, it looks too cool not to fix it. Did you keep yours stock? I have another loaded switch plate with CTS pots ready for it and an upgraded bridge & saddles. The stock tuners are questionable, but we’ll see. I have 3 other Teles so I’m not in a hurry. No pic = no guitar, so here’s the pic.

 

[Killing Floor]

My MiM actually is a better guitar than I thought I paid for. I haven’t done a thing except set the action and intonation. I love it and I bought it as a backup but it is fantastic. Changed my assumptions for sure.

 

[Cheap Trills]

G&L Broadcaster I had played some recent G&L guitars, which were good, but not the same as those 80's and early 90's ASATs once I tried them. Now I've owned a few, including a Broadcaster with the maple body and ebony fretboard. Just a great guitar

 

[Jakeboy]

The used USA Hamer T51 I picked up this year…

 

[jvin248]

.

I bought a Blacktop MIM a decade ago intending to clean it up and flip it, but a couple of mods and it's stayed around. Lovely chunky all maple neck.

Converted to Esquire humbucker with a 4-way switch.

Also a Triple Tele.

.

 

[pippoman]

View attachment 1022202
I watched it for six months before I bought it. And then I didn’t bond with it for about six months. But now it’s my #1 Telecaster.

Tell us about it. It looks killer by the way.

 

[Call Me Al]

Hey Al, was yours playable out of the box or did you have to do some stuff to it? The reason I ask is I bought one recently and haven’t had time to work on it, but I wouldn’t consider taking it to a gig playing like it does. I haven’t had it long (a couple weeks) and I’ve only raised the action a little and added a touch of relief on the neck, but it needs some attention. Still, it looks too cool not to fix it. Did you keep yours stock? I have another loaded switch plate with CTS pots ready for it and an upgraded bridge & saddles. The stock tuners are questionable, but we’ll see. I have 3 other Teles so I’m not in a hurry. No pic = no guitar, so here’s the pic.

FWIW/Disclaimer: I'm mainly a bass player, with a good bit of experience with acoustic guitars also. I have a general sense of what makes a good stringed instrument; but I'm pretty green with electric and haven't gigged on one, just a home player. So take my assessment with a grain of salt!

Neck: I'm pretty picky with necks. The Bullet neck was a touch rough on the back, like they skipped a few passes of sandpaper at the factory. I considered sanding myself, but after 3 months play time I had it buffed down naturally. I'm pretty sure I gave the frets a light touch up, but haven't needed more since. Not exactly rolled edges, but not sharp either and I haven't wanted to roll it at all. I'm actually quite fond of this neck!

Set-up: Pretty darn close out of the box. After I got it dialed in, I've only needed minor saddle adjustments over the (almost) 2 years, don't think I've even touched the truss rod since. So pretty stable imo.

Hardware: I'm in the "if it aint broke" camp here, but It's doing well. Tuning holds fine (if not great) and the bridge is acceptable.

Pickups: not super picky with electronics, generally. I thought about 1 or 2 humbuckers for this, but I just haven't and honestly the desire has passed (for now.) I almost always play the neck pickup, and I do like the middle position too. Maybe I'm not a fan of the Tele bridge pickup, in general- but I think this one may be a tad... off (thin, weak, or bright?) I can get a decent country twang, but can't really get a thick rock lead tone. I pretty much avoid the bridge pickup. The switch gives me a crackle every now and again, and I imagine the jack will be the first thing to fail, so if I do anything It'd be those 2 parts, at minimum.

But so far still stock. My generally thoughts on cheapos are if you like the neck and balance, go for it. I can and will change hardware and electronics myself, so that never scares me away from an otherwise nice guitar.

Hope that helps, keep me posted!

 

[Willie Johnson]

This guy--saw it hanging with the used stock at GC for next to nothing and had to grab it. I think it started life as a Black and Chrome model; I changed the pickguard, switch/pots, and control plate/knobs, and took off a string tree, but the rest is like I found it. Nice alnico pickups, both measuring around 7k dcr. It's a good one.

 

[Fiesta Red]

You knew what my answer was going to be:

 

[Dadzmad]

This one is perfect for me - a 60's Baja. It's stock except for an EVO refret done by the previous owner due to her allergy. (I would not have known if not told by the shop) I particularly like the neck profile, the PF fretboard and the stock pickups.

 

[MelodicBend]

I played an old Carvin TL60 a while ago and it felt like cotton candy in my hands. Absolutely ridiculous guitar.
The shop was charging a premium and it had a couple of disconcerting dings. Otherwise I would have bought it on the spot.