Why are some celebs playing non Fender brand teles?

Because they feel like it? Because they like their custom built Teles? And why does it even matter?

 

As much as I like most of my Fender made guitars and amps - and I'm not a celebrity btw - I feel that in a world of checks and balances, that we need all those other manufacturers to help in pushing things forward and forcing the rest of the participants to create an improved or more desirable product, or go bust.

If there was only one maker of coffee making machines, one car company, one TV manufacturer or one golf club or ski manufacturer, wouldn't the world be a dreary place? Like the Soviet Union of years gone by, and so un-American.

Thank goodness we do have the Fenders, Gibsons, Gretschs or whatever, or even the Kirns, the Andersons or G&Ls, to keep things moving along. It simply keeps all the other competitors on their toes, and guess what? - we are the beneficiaries.

Imagine if we only had Gibson to wreak havoc on the party, by telling us what we can buy and what we need - a la Henry J. of recent times.

Long live Fender I say! ........ and long live the rest of 'em! ..... and thank goodness we (and let's include the celebrities in this) do have a choice on what we choose to eat, drink or play or which paper clip we can use.

 

the nicest tele I have ever played or held was not a Fender, it was a Kirn!

 

...because they like 'em?

Personally, the only Fender I'll buy right now is one at least as old as I am.

For my money, G&L have the Tele / Strat market nailed.

^ this here's just my opinion...

 

It's probably case by case. There are too many good reasons.

Probably the main reason is endorsements, the maker probably gave them the guitar for free just so they'd be seen in their hands. I seriously doubt they have a big problem with how Fender Tele's feel and all that. Most guitarists are happy with stock setups and don't require a neck with a particular shape, and such.

 

Hear! Hear!

A great interpretation of the word "Freedom", me thinks!

 

I agree. For under $1300 new, under 1000 used, or under 500 imported(still excellent, have had 2), I don't think any mfg has a thing on G&L. All I play anymore.

 

It's probably whatever they feel best playing or are allowed to play. Personally I'll stick with Fender as I've played quite a few G&L guitars and I just don't get along with them. Don't get me wrong they were better than I thought they'd be but nothing I could sink my teeth into. It's all personal preference for everyone and ain't nothing wrong with that!

 

Sponsorship/endorsement deals, as noted by Antigua T? I remember a comment in guitar mag interview many years ago - "what brand of strings are we supposed to be using this week".

I suspect a lot of these folks couldn't care less about the name on the headstock as long as it works and more or less fits their image.

 

I know there are some players like G E Smith who seem really passionate about having their Tele look and feel a certain way, but I think most of the time the artist just pretends to be picky so we'll think they're super discerning, and to justify the tiny changes that make their signature model different from a stock guitar.

 

Doesnt bruce springsteen use a kubicki made by phil and his son?

 

There was a time when people made music and corporations made electric guitars.
Now that we can buy our workhorse guitars from actual people, why wouldn't we?

Guitar players and guitar builders have more in common and are much cooler than corporations, in a way it would seem odd to walk past your neighbor to buy from some distant corporation, if your neighbor could make you exactly what you want for the same money or less than you would pay the corporation to make you exactly what you want.

At the same time if you have little money to spend then the corporation can deliver a lot of guitar for little money by having them made in foreign factories.

I'm still a sucker for the squiggly branding, and don't really have the budget for a quality custom build.
But none of my Fenders have even two parts that came from the factory together, each is custom.

 

It's a simple guitar that's relatively simple to build so there are many custom builders of Teles who'll make one to a buyers specs that may be different than any stock model Fender produces and far less costly than a Master Built Fender.

If I wanted a custom Tele built to my specs it would not come from Fender's Custom Shop.

 

Plenty of guitar makers out there with their own vibe and way of getting you to the tone in your head. Custom guitars can be tailor made to fit you and help you bond with the instrument...rounded fretboard edges, bigger frets, custom pickups made for what you play, and a having a small builder there for you, should you need a change made here, or a tweak there, or a repair made. Fender would be there for you too, if they made a model with your name on it.

 

No, his Fenders are set up by Kubicki

 

+1 Also maybe Fender just don't build the best of their own models. Mark Knofler has used Schecters in the 80s then Shurs and I gather he knows what he wants.
I have made a strat parscaster I won't sell. We had all had such experiences

 

All the secret mojo leaked out of Fender decades ago.

 

boy howdy

 

This ^^^