[FunkDaddy]

Click It!

I made the Facebook album public, so even if you don't have one you should be able to check out the pics

Picked up a Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Thinline today from an inventory clearout. I freakin love this guitar! I'll admit I used to look down on the Squier brand as cheap junky gear, but after reading a lot of reviews on the new "vintage" stuff they've been coming out with I played a few in store and got lucky that this one went on sale soon after. Squier has DEFINITELY stepped their game up. Absolutely love the tone. I'm already looking to sell my Razorback but the Strat might go up on Craigslist too, this thing sounds great clean AND dirty, got a nice bit of punch that really makes driven amp tones shine, suits my music perfectly.

Anybody lookin for a Strat or Tele on a budget, definitely check out Squier, for the money you are getting great gear. I was thinking of a Gibson/Epi ES body guitar for my next electric guit purchase but might instead check out the solid body Squier teles, I was playing a few I really liked.



Bonus: It matches my walls

[Midway]

FunkDaddy, on 11 February 2011 - 05:25 PM, said:

Click It!

I made the Facebook album public, so even if you don't have one you should be able to check out the pics

Picked up a Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Thinline today from an inventory clearout. I freakin love this guitar! I'll admit I used to look down on the Squier brand as cheap junky gear, but after reading a lot of reviews on the new "vintage" stuff they've been coming out with I played a few in store and got lucky that this one went on sale soon after. Squier has DEFINITELY stepped their game up. Absolutely love the tone. I'm already looking to sell my Razorback but the Strat might go up on Craigslist too, this thing sounds great clean AND dirty, got a nice bit of punch that really makes driven amp tones shine, suits my music perfectly.

Anybody lookin for a Strat or Tele on a budget, definitely check out Squier, for the money you are getting great gear. I was thinking of a Gibson/Epi ES body guitar for my next electric guit purchase but might instead check out the solid body Squier teles, I was playing a few I really liked.



Bonus: It matches my walls

Amen on Fender stepping up their game on the Squires. My nephew received one for Christmas and won't put it down. He let me play around with it over the New Year holiday and I was actually envious how closely it compared to my realzy Strat. Especially when I think about how my brother payed about $375 less than I paid for mine. This is a good guitar and will probably age well with proper care.

[Lzi]

FunkDaddy, on 11 February 2011 - 06:25 PM, said:

Click It!

I made the Facebook album public, so even if you don't have one you should be able to check out the pics

Picked up a Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Thinline today from an inventory clearout. I freakin love this guitar! I'll admit I used to look down on the Squier brand as cheap junky gear, but after reading a lot of reviews on the new "vintage" stuff they've been coming out with I played a few in store and got lucky that this one went on sale soon after. Squier has DEFINITELY stepped their game up. Absolutely love the tone. I'm already looking to sell my Razorback but the Strat might go up on Craigslist too, this thing sounds great clean AND dirty, got a nice bit of punch that really makes driven amp tones shine, suits my music perfectly.

Anybody lookin for a Strat or Tele on a budget, definitely check out Squier, for the money you are getting great gear. I was thinking of a Gibson/Epi ES body guitar for my next electric guit purchase but might instead check out the solid body Squier teles, I was playing a few I really liked.



Bonus: It matches my walls

Mark,
Congrats on the great purchase

She certainly looks sweet. In recent years I've played both Japanese Squire strats, and Mexian Fenders that played surprisingly well. One Mexi-Fender that I picked up played so well that I bought the thing then, and there. Yeah, she's heavily modified now. Nut change, Graph-Tech saddles, Sperzal locking tuners, new electronics, the whole bit.
It's the wood, and the craftsmanship that mattered to me. The guit sounded nice and warm acoustically so, I didn't think it'd be much of a gamble once I dropped some great electronics in. she sounds fantastic, and absolutely hammers the front-end of an amp if I want to. The stock stuff was supposed to be Duncan but, it just wasn't for me. Tell ya what though Funk $600/650 later I have one slammin' axe.

How was your tele's playability right out of the box? My Mexi played fantastic. There was one fret I had a slight issue with that snagged my fingertips (I'm picky). The shop told me there were slight inconsistancies but, nothing USA Fender's didn't come into his shop with. He took care of the one rough fret, end did some minor fret work, he cut a new nut, did a neck adjustment to facilitate my choice of string gauges, did an intonation job & set-up, and I have to tell you man, I've played Fender's that were WAY more expensive than this mexi ended up costing me, even after the fret work, and an expert set-up, A new USA strat can't touch this thing now, no way, not on sound or playability....Dream on. On finish maybe but pfffft...who cares! Sound and plability trump looks all day, every day.

Don't sleep on the Japanese, look what they did with cars. It might not be long before the Japanese Squires become more desirable than a USA Fender. And nobody talk to me about the Fender custom shop either. My friend down the street spent over $7000 on a strat that was suposed to have been hand made by the same guy who builds Clapton's strats. The guitar was gorgeous, played like a dream BUT, when my friend tried to screw the trem arm in, he discovered that he couldn't get the trem arm to thread, EC's "expert" builder had threaded the block so poorly that it would not accept the arm, the threading did not even match...Nice hand made, expert luthier quality huh? 7k for what? He retturned the guitar, and I don't blame him one bit. If this guy truly builds Clapton's strats maybe EC should start playing Squier strats. Fender's current custom shop get's the Lz WHATEVER award...Custom my ...
No thanks guys, I'll customize my own guitars thank you. Judging by the work I saw on my friend's strat (whose name is also Mark btw) The Fender custom shop will never get any of my money. A pair of guys here in the town I live in used to work for Fender's custom shop, they are supurb luthiers. That's why they left and opened their own shop. Anyone want a custom strat or tele? PM me I'll give you the name of the shop. Bring your BIG checkbook, and perhaps your stock portfolio as well you're looking at 10 G's! These guys build for Nashville's elite. Nice fret work, and set-ups as well. They did a great job replacing the cheap plastic nut on my mexi-strat. My intonation is deliciously spot on perfect now, and I don't have even one slightly dead note on the entire fingerboard. Sounds harmonics on every fret now! I originally bought the guiar which was supposedly a scratch and dent for $200. Don't offer me 2 grand for her now, I won't sell it.

Fender who?

Play the hell out of that pretty tele Funk, Leo sold what WAS Fender in 1965, who cares what it says on the headstock? Sand it off with 0000 steel wool! Write Funkcaster on it with a gold autograph pen, outline it with a fine-point sharpie, if you take your time it'll look better than the decal anyway lol.. If Leo played one of the new USA Fender's he would probably puke himself green. If I were Leo, I know I would, no probablies about it.

[Jimmy Spider]

Squier teles are mighty beasts. Especially that new custom series. I had a Squier Vintage Modified 2, had a single coil at bridge and middle, mini humbucker on the neck. That was great but I needed to cut down to 1 electric guitar, and my Danelectro had to stay.

But yeah, you got the next guitar I had my eye on. Reckon the soundhole makes a real difference to the tone? At least it looks rad as hell.

[FunkDaddy]

I'll be honest and say this is the first Tele I've really sunk my teeth into, played a whole bunch of them at the store but not to the extent of sitting in my studio experimenting with my virtual amps where I'm most comfortable, so I couldn't say exactly what the differences in tone between the Thinline and the solid-body Teles are. I can only say this guitar sounds sweet and could very easily be the only guitar in my collection without a problem. The 3 pickup positions are very unique from one another to my ear too, not like my Strat where the 4 pickup positions besides the bridge sound very similar. Maybe I'm missing something there?

The bridge pickup is very raw and twangy. The middle position is my favorite for dirtier amp tones, very punchy. The neck is nice and warm, I could even hear a nice jazz tone there.

You asked about playability out of the box and it was setup perfectly straight out of it (literally, I bought it in a box from the store...I know I know, risky risky) Got it home, tuned it up a few times after stretching out the strings and breaking them in a bit. Away I went!

Not sure on any modifications just yet, I really really like it as is

Now to sell my other guitars to get money for more!

[Neal K]

I hope to see your guitar on the wall of a Hard Rock Cafe someday!

Neal

[Lzi]

Jimmy Spider, on 15 February 2011 - 02:24 AM, said:

Squier teles are mighty beasts. Especially that new custom series. I had a Squier Vintage Modified 2, had a single coil at bridge and middle, mini humbucker on the neck. That was great but I needed to cut down to 1 electric guitar, and my Danelectro had to stay.

But yeah, you got the next guitar I had my eye on. Reckon the soundhole makes a real difference to the tone? At least it looks rad as hell.

Jimmy, a hollow body always gives a resonance to the tone that a solid-bodied guitar isn't capable of. This particular model of tele sounds especially sweet.

LOL Hey Funk, if you ever have the need for a loud, obscene cacophony of feedback to end a song trainwreck style, I'd bet this guitar would be a top contender for the job.
RESONATE on 11 BABY!
*At these amplitudes real amps can make your windows a distant memory in milliseconds FUN FUN FUN...make certain you mic the window to, it may sound bangin'! lol...You can't do this with an amp model very effectively. The tiny feedback (if you really wanna call it that) signatures DI'd amp models give you back blow major chunks...Use speakers, it's the only way to get great sounding feedback. Want it to sound like Jimi has just landed? HAHA! Take a small combo amo crank it, run two, three overdrives in-line, crank them all too. Put the amp on a chair aiming upward at a 45 degree angle so you can get up close and personal, throw a 57 up, put a cheap PZM in the back of the amp, and make the speakers beg you for mercy!
**Remember to flip the phase on the PZM...Cook until done.

[Lzi]

FunkDaddy, on 15 February 2011 - 11:59 AM, said:

I'll be honest and say this is the first Tele I've really sunk my teeth into, played a whole bunch of them at the store but not to the extent of sitting in my studio experimenting with my virtual amps where I'm most comfortable, so I couldn't say exactly what the differences in tone between the Thinline and the solid-body Teles are. I can only say this guitar sounds sweet and could very easily be the only guitar in my collection without a problem. The 3 pickup positions are very unique from one another to my ear too, not like my Strat where the 4 pickup positions besides the bridge sound very similar. Maybe I'm missing something there?

The bridge pickup is very raw and twangy. The middle position is my favorite for dirtier amp tones, very punchy. The neck is nice and warm, I could even hear a nice jazz tone there.

You asked about playability out of the box and it was setup perfectly straight out of it (literally, I bought it in a box from the store...I know I know, risky risky) Got it home, tuned it up a few times after stretching out the strings and breaking them in a bit. Away I went!

Not sure on any modifications just yet, I really really like it as is

Now to sell my other guitars to get money for more!

I've recorded this type of tele, as well as many solid bodied tele's. You know that "spank" all the Nashville guys adore? It also helps to have a great amp which uses EL84 bottles. I believe the hollow body helps to smooth the "spank" over, which leaves you with a much smoother tone. It's still bright though in a "warmer" kind of way than a solid tele or a strat.

Strats need pickups that sound different. You put the same three pickups in any guitar, and you'll usually get the simular results. The stock pups that Fender uses are ok...If you ever get crazy, or bored, and want some great pups man, check Lollar pickups, they are all of the rage with the Nashville tele crowd. The single most necessary mod you should seriosly consider do to any Squier or Mexi-fender is to put better tuning machines on.
Tuning stability is hyper ctitical.

[Simple Simon]

Lzi, on 15 February 2011 - 12:08 PM, said:

... who cares what it says on the headstock?

If each instrument was judged on its individual merit, no-one. But we live in a label/brand-obsessed world.

Lovely looking guitar, Mark. I've never really been a Tele player, but I have long admired what others are able to do with them... especially those sound-hole models. You mentioned the jazzy quality of the bridge pickup, and that's exactly what I associate with that format. There's something of the Gibson 335 in that sound, but it they retain their edge in a way the 335s never could. Enjoy!

[Jimmy Spider]

I love teles for anything other than country, haha.

That razor-sharp clarity on the bridge pup means it holds great note definition, (even through a big muff!) and the solo neck pickup is all the clean tone anyone ever needs. A little bit rounded, jangly and sparkly. Play some open-voiced chords high up on the neck with lots of reverb and a touch of distortion on a big amp, and you'll be indie-fabulous in no time.

[Lzi]

Simple Simon, on 16 February 2011 - 03:28 AM, said:

Lzi, on 15 February 2011 - 12:08 PM, said:

... who cares what it says on the headstock?

If each instrument was judged on its individual merit, no-one. But we live in a label/brand-obsessed world.

Labels are labels. One tele isn't going to play or sound like the next tele. Now, a tele is definately not just a tele, soundhole model or solid body. Some of the custom builders out there are putting the current Fender to shame. Fender pickups are mediocre, thin sounding, and noisy. The shielding which manufactuers use is shamefully lacking. Sure, they build their guitars for less money, and more people can afford them because, they've skimped on almost everything. Mark's reported that his new Squier tele is nice. I'd be willing to bet that it's probably made quite well being from Japan. I know more than one player who buys Squier or Mexi-Fenders and does exactly what I did to my own Mexi-Fender...Rip the electronics out, toss the cheap pot-metal bridge and tuners, have a good nut cut by a good repairman and make their own masterpiece. You'll never get a guitar made better than one you'll put together yourself if you do it correctly. Change the pups out and these inexpensive guitars actually begin to sound quite good. Leo is DEAD. Want a real nice strat or tele without breaking your bank account? Build it yourself.

[Lzi]

Jimmy Spider, on 16 February 2011 - 07:36 PM, said:

I love teles for anything other than country, haha.

That razor-sharp clarity on the bridge pup means it holds great note definition, (even through a big muff!) and the solo neck pickup is all the clean tone anyone ever needs. A little bit rounded, jangly and sparkly. Play some open-voiced chords high up on the neck with lots of reverb and a touch of distortion on a big amp, and you'll be indie-fabulous in no time.

The only way I like bridge pups on Fender guitars, strats or tele's is if you re-wire the guitar so that the bridge pup has a tone control, you then, roll off the tone control in the same manner that Clapton uses for his "woman tone" on the neck pup.. Re-wire the tone potentiometer that's for the middle position (useless on a strat IMO)so that it controls the bride pup.

I'm in the middle of re-working the electronics in the strat I built a few years ago. I was actually considering the removal of the middle pup, and either having each pup have it's own volume and one master tone control or, have a master volume with each pup having it's own tone control. I did have a humbucker in the bridge slot but, I already
have two other strats with hubuckers in the bridge slot. I'm thinking, I want a strat which has one single coil @ the neck, and a slightly over-wound P-90 single coil in the bridge position.