Tele visions

Take a quick look at this quintet or Telecasters from Fender and Squier. Prices vary from RRP $1,599 down to RRP $699 though allow a few percent off these prices for the 'street' price. This isn't strictly a comparison but more an observation on how these instruments feel, the build quality, the sound and the features. So without further a do..

American Special Telecaster®

This is the most expensive of the five and justifiably so. This comes out of the same shop as the American Fenders and the guys that assemble these share the canteen with the Fender Custom Shop master builders. This is a repaint of the popular Highway One series, alder body in either white or three tone sunburst. A one piece maple neck finished in satin poly making for a slick feel. Not my cup of tea but someone will love the clunky jumbo frets. It's fitted with the now famous Texas Special pickups for that tubby Tele tone.

They still have their trade marked Grease Bucket tone control system which does do as they say (that's a change) but for me the first mod I'd be making is to kick the bucket for a regular Tele tone circuit. The best thing about this guitar is the perfectly milled brass chrome dome knobs and the chunky brass bridge saddles. I'll give this seven and a half Neil Diamond plectrums out of ten as it comes in a Fender Deluxe gig bag..nice.

Road Worn® Player Telecaster®

Ooops! Some one got the controls arse about. No, just kidding. The reversed control set-up was in fact one of the original modifications guys would make to their Teles so they could access the volume control for those 'swell' effects. Another mod was to slap the old P.A.F. in the neck position and what's good enough for the customer is good enough for Fender. I found this guitar all a bit back-to-front really but for a low-down-dirty blues breaker this slightly worn scrubbed down Mexi made model is a singer. The single/hum or hum/single can be a miss-match made in heaven. The impedance of the single coil pickup(s) being half that of the double coil humbucker is really affected by the value of the volume and tone pots used. 250kohm pots are generally used with single coil pickups to 'tame' the brightness and 500kohm pots are used with dual or humbuckers to give them some brightness. This sort of works with a S/S/H layout with a humby in the bridge position with 250kohm pots as you get crisp sounding neck and middle puppies plus a dark and roaringly fat humbucking bridge pickup. Rock out!! Reversing the layout as in this RWP Tele with 250kohm pots allows the usual Tele twang from the bridge puppy but makes for an extremely woolly neck pickup tone. This guitar would be a great instrument for the blues guitarist but for a Tele this is radical IMO. As this isn't a 'real' Tele I'm only giving it six and a half Neils.

Standard Telecaster®

Here's the off-the-line bog standard Telecaster out of Esanda Mexico. Fender claim this is NEW for 2012 although it looks the same to me. The only difference I can find is they no longer provide a gig bag. This guitar has the same neck as the Road Worn Player above except this one has a nice non-grip satin finish. The pickups are Hot Single-Coil pickups which doesn't tell you much. There may even be ceramic mags underneath? Not being a fan of the 'modern' bridge and the cast saddles I was surprised how the MIM Std in fact did sound so Tele-ish. This particular guitar was rather heavy but I'm sure you will find a nice one that plays well and won't be such a stack of bricks around your neck. A 'good' one of these would make a great modding platform but factor in the no-case thing in the price, a possible pickup upgrade and some bent steel saddles. Not bad for a first Telecaster at under a grand. I'll give it seven out of ten Neils but look around and be prepared to spend an extra few bickies.

Classic Vibe Telecaster® Thinline

The setup and build quality of these Chinese made Squiers are well worth nine and a half Neils alone although they have slipped slightly since the initial Classic Vibe series was released. I love the thinlines, they are nice to wear. The glowing white pearl pickguard has always been part of the thinlines. Of course you can't look at the CV's as being true replicas of their original forefathers as the series is designed to a price. (i.e. leaving out a pickguard screw on the CV Tele Custom) but this instrument has everything you need for some hot chicken' pickin'. The one piece maple neck is extremely blonde but it does look great with the brown mahogany body. I love the unique Fender F hole but why oh why do they paint black behind it? A proper Tele string through ashtray style bridge holds it all together at the right hand end and slotted Kluson vintage style tuners at the other. The pickups feature Alnico 5 pole pieces which I find are tooo bright. These will make any effects you use really zing. The finish is beautiful and the chambered body is feather light and resonates well. You won't be the only one around with a CV Thinline but you wouldn't be the only one with a metallic green ute either. If you can get over the toy-like feel of the Classic Vibe series (compared to the real deal US Fender versions) all the CV's are superb instruments. I'd give this seven Neils as the icey pickups let it down a little IMO.

 Classic Vibe Telecaster® '50s

This was the one everyone went nuts over when it was first released a couple of years back and rightly so. This is a little ripper. It has a pine body just as the yeoldies had, see through grain under vintage white poly, brass saddles (albethey light weight), a one piece vintage tinted neck, slotted vintage style tuners and all set off by a single ply black pickguard. The pickups feature Alnico 3 mags which sound great. In fact the CV50 sounded more 'Tele' than any of the above guitars. The vol and tone pots were responsive and perfectly matched the pickups with no buckets, coil taps or special caps of any kind. A true Tele working how a Tele should. The only mod I would be doing to this baby is a new nut, the one I tried had a ping on the third string that could be heard during bending. Hey it's a Tele and the strings get bent on Tele's okay? The CV50's feels a little more real than many of the other CV's, the neck and playability is fantastic. This is a 9.99 golden Neils and by far the best bang for buck in this quintet.

Anyone have a thought on any of these Telecasters then please leave a comment.