I fell in love with the Telecaster

[Trane]

This might be the first time I post in this section of the forum, but....

It really does have it's own unique personality.

Yeah, the Telecaster is often used in bands whose style/genre of music I don't particularly appreciate...

Fot the longest of time, I thought that guitar was best suited as a rhythm guitar, though Roy Buchanan's Tele playing showed me it was possible to play superb lead with it, as well

But it (Tele) seems suited for what I'd call "Americana" music... it seemed best suited to "twangy" guitar playing.

[Plasmatopia]

I played one (brand new American Standard) at a jam session about 20 years ago and really loved the feel of it. I liked how it cut through when playing lead at least with the amp the owner had (though I don't remember what he had).

I have a modded MIM Strat from the early '90s that is (finally, after all these years) now sounding pretty good. But I still want a nice Tele some day. Hard to justify when I only play bass 99% of the time...even harder when I really need a nicer amp.

[kid_runningfox]

I have two Tele-shaped guitars: a Frankenstein Thinline fitted with Seymour Duncan and Ibanez humbuckers and a mid-80s Kahler-equipped Washburn Tour 24. Obviously, neither is a Tele in the purest sense of the word, but they do have the body shape, which is probably what I like most about them. In particular, I much prefer the way that the uncontoured body of the Telecaster fits against the body of the player when compared with Strats, for example. For me, it results in a much more natural angle for both the left and right hands, making playing much easier, and things like rapid alternate picking and palm muting are consequently much more comfortable. Not that I dislike Strats and their ilk, I hasten to add.

I pick a 'proper' Telecaster one of these days - nothing does what they can do anywhere near as well as the real thing. I have my eyes on an absolutely KILLER MIJ Squire JV series Tele owned by a good friend of mine, which has had the bridge pickup re-wound so that it delivers the same level of output as a P90. Trouble is, the owner keeps refusing to sell it to me. Bastard.

[digestif]

The guitarist from my 90s band "The Dissidents" had a great sound on his. We weren't a prog band, but we had some prog tendancies. It had a great sound for arpegios, atmospheric chords, it could definitely have a place in prog.

[Mikhael]

I don't think I'll ever own one, although I would like to. It just seems the cash always needs to be spent elsewhere (the curse of a multi-instrumentalist). The Tele is a bit too limited for what I need, though in places it would work great.

[Yehuda Kotton]

The tele is a very deceptive guitar. If its a good one then it can get great "fat" sounds. Otherwise you're stuck with too much brightness. Here's my '68:
tele.jpg

[JSS]

I have one of the spalted maple ones, with set neck, all mahogany, two humbuckers w/coil taps. Pretty much an SG, from what I've read (never played one). I really liked it, but was curious what "a real tele" was all about. So I got a Baja with an ash body, big ol V neck and an ashtray bridge, with twisted tele neck & broadcaster bridge pickups. I added some Rutters compensated saddles. Sounds great. The mahogany tele is very jealous now.

[luvyesmusic]

Speaking of John 5 and telecasters, I watched this the other day. Pretty entertaining. Steve Howe also owns or owned a Broadcaster.

[Onomatopoeic]

I own Telecasters with various pickup configurations, bridge types, and body woods (both solid and semi-hollow), along with various Strats, other Fenders, Gibsons, Ibanez, Gretsch, Dean, DBZ, Michael Kelly, Brownsville, Turser, Yamaha, Parker, Epiphone, PRS, etc.

The Telecaster is basically the guitar equivalent of the Swiss army knife.

[Speare-shaker]

When my brother and I were teens, I got a set of Ludwig drums and he bought a '64 cream-colored tele with a Bigsby arm. He still has it (and I still have the drums). We played each other's stuff all the time and so I learned guitar from playing my brother's tele. Still the best neck and fingerboard for me. That tele sat for years in his basement and when he dug it out, it was sitting in a couple of inches of water had been for years. He figured it was ruined. He stripped off the paint and discovered the wood wasn't even fazed--the paint had protected it. He mounted a new bridge and replaced the front pickup which was shot. He didn't have the expertise to repaint it so he varnished it in its natural wood grain and it's beautiful! Still plays like a charm. He was selling off some of his guitars and basses recently. I wanted his tele but, of course, he won't sell that one.

[eporter66]

I have played a few and though Strats are still my sonic preference amongst Fender guitars, the Telecaster is probably the most comfortable guitar Fender ever made.

The only thing I dont like about the Tele, is I wish the body had the contours of the strat, or at the very least, where your picking arm (just below the elbow) sits on the tele can get a little uncomfortable, because it is square. I wish they shaved that area back like they do on a strat. I love my tele!

[Nijinsky Hind]

The much less expensive SQUIRE telecaster was making a big hit for a while... I have a squire strat and a mexican strat... The squire is lighter, faster and sounds better to my ears... Crunchier sound... Must be the cheap pickups. Hahah.

[at least 100 dead]

The Tele is the most beautiful guitar ever created.

I have a Classic Player Baja MIM and what always amazes me is the wide variety of sounds even total hacks such as yours truly (I make Syd Barrett sound like Steve Vai) can coax from it – it can be really bass-y and fat if you want it to. Can’t go wrong with the Tele.