Help Me Choose, People!

sloan1874 · August 2023

I've just sold on my Epi Casino, for a reasonable sum, so I'm footloose and fancy free to choose its replacement. After experiencing the attendant tuning problems that come with a completely hollow body guitar, I'm heading towards Tele town. As it stands, I have my eye on two very different, but both very cool models: a Player Custom with '51 Nocaster pickups in candy apple red and a roasted maple neck, and a Vintera Thinline HH in shell pink. I've played them separately, in two different visits to the shop, but not against each other, so I can't tell how they compare back to back, they're also the same price at the moment. I'm interested in hearing from people about their experiences - tuning stability, hum etc - that can help me inform my final choice.

pt22 · August 2023

HH isn’t a tele. It’s tele-adjacent, but not a tele.

axisus · August 2023

pt22 said:

HH isn’t a tele. It’s tele-adjacent, but not a tele.

Pedant!

It would be the Vintera Thinline for me I think.

sloan1874 · August 2023

I stand corrected, though website describes them as HH. So let's say WRHB and move on.

Hattigol · August 2023

Pink.

pt22 · August 2023

sloan1874 said:

I stand corrected, though website describes them as HH. So let's say WRHB and move on.

Hopefully my comment was received in the jest it was meant, but in all seriousness I’d for sure lean towards the single coils unless you really have a love of (or need for) HH.

The telecaster bridge pickup has a sound. Do you want a telecaster shaped guitar with humbuckers, or do you want a proper telecaster?

sloan1874 · August 2023

pt22 said:

sloan1874 said:

I stand corrected, though website describes them as HH. So let's say WRHB and move on.

Hopefully my comment was received in the jest it was meant, but in all seriousness I’d for sure lean towards the single coils unless you really have a love of (or need for) HH.

The telecaster bridge pickup has a sound. Do you want a telecaster shaped guitar with humbuckers, or do you want a proper telecaster?

That's the thing. I went in to Guitar Guitar looking for a Tele custom, but when I tried a player and a custom, neither really grabbed me. Then the assistant said "Try this", and handed me the Thinline with double HBs. I had not considered it at all, but I was really taken by surprise with the way it played and the noise it made.
I went back in on Friday there, and the last one in the shop had sold out! The only one left in the company was in Newcastle. So the guy in the store suggested I try the Player with 51 pickups that GG are doing as a shop special, and I was really impressed this time - it's the sound I have in my head when I think of a Tele, ,and the roasted neck does make a difference. However, I'm not about to repeat the mistake I made with the Casino: I bought that online and didn't really give myself a chance to see if I really like it. So, I've put down a deposit on the Thinline, so it'll be brought up to Glasgow, and I'm going to do a head-to-head on them.

Wazmeister · August 2023

You have to play em, and be open to what you find !

Good luck

dazzajl · August 2023

Hattigol said:

Pink.

It’s this simple.

sloan1874 · August 2023

For illustration purposes:
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/210920374280025--fender-limited-edition-vintera-70s-telecaster-thinline-shell-pi
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/220407383690025--fender-guitarguitar-exclusive-roasted-player-telecaster-candy-a

Funkfingers · August 2023

sloan1874 said:

Epi Casino … the attendant tuning problems that come with a completely hollow body guitar.

Tuning problems are more likely to be due to cheap tuners, a poorly slotted nut and bridge/tailpiece hardware than hollowness, per se. Asynchronous top and back vibration can provide a sort of chorus effect. The other possibility is the quality (or lack of it) of the neck wood.

sloan1874 said:

a Player Custom with '51 Nocaster pickups

A Telecaster Custom has the single coil bridge pickup, a Wide Range humbucker in the neck position, four control knobs and a toggle selector switch on the upper bout.

Two single coils and body edge binding = a Custom Telecaster.

Two rather different animals.

Svartmetall · August 2023

I'd say the Thinline, but it's...p...pi...pink....gah! Nocaster it is.

sloan1874 · August 2023

Funkfingers said:

sloan1874 said:

Epi Casino … the attendant tuning problems that come with a completely hollow body guitar.

Tuning problems are more likely to be due to cheap tuners, a poorly slotted nut and bridge/tailpiece hardware than hollowness, per se. Asynchronous top and back vibration can provide a sort of chorus effect. The other possibility is the quality (or lack of it) of the neck wood.

sloan1874 said:

a Player Custom with '51 Nocaster pickups

A Telecaster Custom has the single coil bridge pickup, a Wide Range humbucker in the neck position, four control knobs and a toggle selector switch on the upper bout.

Two single coils and body edge binding = a Custom Telecaster.

Two rather different animals.

I thought I'd cracked the problem getting the nut replaced and set up by a local luthier, but even then it just became an exercise in frustration. In the end, I felt out of love with the Casino and it would've take a serious transformation to change that.
As it stands, I'm very torn between the two. I like shell pink, it's a cool rock n roll colour and makes me think of soul revues of the early 60s. That said, I love the candy apple red, it just looks the biz with the roasted maple neck. I'm interested in what people have to say about the tuning stability of thinline Teles. Both types are string-through, but are they equal in other respects in terms of tuners etc? I'm not quite clear on the difference between Vintera and Player on this score?

Funkfingers · August 2023

Vintera is intended to appear from a distance like an old Fender. So, replica Kluson Safety machineheads, stamped steel "ashtray" bridge with three saddles. Fingerboard radius will be 7¼" and fret wire relatively narrow.

The Player will have modern Ping Well machineheads, a machined from solid bridge with six saddles, a shallower fingerboard radius and medium-jumbo fret wire.

CavemanGrogg · August 2023

Easy, an Elson guitar, no contest.

stickyfiddle · August 2023

My standard answer is “whichever makes you yearn more when you leave the shop”. I stand by that approach in general 100%.

That aside, I love a thinline and the pink is awesome, but imo everyone should have a proper Tele - "proper" meaning single coils, bridge pickup suspended in the bridge plate, etc. That said I already have a proper Tele so the Vintera is a bigger draw personally.

I wouldn't worry about things like tuning stability - they should be equally good (i.e. perfect) provided they each have a proper setup including (most importantly) a well cut nut

Deadman · August 2023

Are you buying new? I wouldn’t personally. And if you like red:

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/px230819411890004--fender-2005-american-series-telecaster-chrome-red-rosewood-fi

There’s also a beautiful 2005 MIM thinline in sunburst that the guy has fitted a set of Fralin blues to and a Fender 6 saddle bridge and he’s only asking £520 for it. Comes with original pups and bridge too. Local to me, just let me know if it’s something you’d wanna look at. Edit..link:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/777377590797219/

fretfinder · August 2023

A Thinline, in any colour but pink. And buy used every time.

duotone · August 2023

Deadman said:

Are you buying new? I wouldn’t personally. And if you like red:

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/px230819411890004--fender-2005-american-series-telecaster-chrome-red-rosewood-fi

There’s also a beautiful 2005 MIM thinline in sunburst that the guy has fitted a set of Fralin blues to and a Fender 6 saddle bridge and he’s only asking £520 for it. Comes with original pups and bridge too. Local to me, just let me know if it’s something you’d wanna look at. Edit..link:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/777377590797219/

@Deadman ;
I think it’s got your name on it!

Deadman · August 2023

Believe me, @duotone I'm sorely tempted mate. It’s a bargain with all the extras eh? Had one before and loved it too, very slim neck which I loved.

duotone · August 2023

Deadman said:

Believe me, @duotone I'm sorely tempted mate. It’s a bargain with all the extras eh? Had one before and loved it too, very slim neck which I loved.

It’s a really nice guitar, love the slightly yellowing pearloid scratchplate & it looks fantastic against the sunburst body finish. @Deadman ;
Does it look like the high E string is a bit too close to the edge though? Also, maybe it’s the angle of the photo but the D &G strings don’t line up evenly with the fretboard marker ‘dots’ imo.

Sporky · August 2023

pt22 said:

HH isn’t a tele. It’s tele-adjacent, but not a tele.

He said "towards Tele Town".

So it might be a suburb, or one of those satellite-villages. Close enough that Tele is the train station you go to if you have to head into London.

sloan1874 · August 2023

Lovely as the thinline is, I'm skipping sunburst this time. The red one is intriguing though... Generally, I align to buying used, whether it's cars or guitars, but on this occasion I'm breaking my own rule for personal reasons. I like the 'one that made you yearn most' approach though, I think that'll swing it for me.

stickyfiddle · August 2023

sloan1874 said:

Lovely as the thinline is, I'm skipping sunburst this time. The red one is intriguing though... Generally, I align to buying used, whether it's cars or guitars, but on this occasion I'm breaking my own rule for personal reasons. I like the 'one that made you yearn most' approach though, I think that'll swing it for me.

It has never failed me yet... It's all about personal connection with inanimate objects, which seems ridiculous but is definitely true.

Pabcrane · August 2023

Based on the first description I would have said the Player - just because I like garden-variety Tele pick-ups more than humbuckers in Teles - but when I read Wide Range and saw the pictures the pink Vintera jumped right out at me. That's what I would go for if all things were equal otherwise when you play them. And I much prefer the split-post tuners.

TeleMaster · August 2023

Funkfingers said:

sloan1874 said:

Epi Casino … the attendant tuning problems that come with a completely hollow body guitar.

Tuning problems are more likely to be due to cheap tuners, a poorly slotted nut and bridge/tailpiece hardware than hollowness, per se.

And/or the inherently problematic headstock shape.

Deadman · August 2023

Yeah it’s messed with my OCD a bit now you’ve said it @duotone!

Good luck in the quest @sloan1874 a good Tele is definitely worth searching for, I love mine. I like the ones you’re looking at but have you thought about putting a WTB on here? I’d never turn my nose up at a decent Squier, MIM, MIJ or whatever but I managed to bag my US for MIM money this year. Not on here but there are bargains out there if you look hard and long enough.

sloan1874 · August 2023

I should have stuck with my Tele plans last time, tbh. Does anybody have an opinion on the Player's bridge? I've seen some complaints that the modern style dampens its traditional 'attack' that the old brass/nickel saddles have.

TeleMaster · August 2023

sloan1874 said:

I should have stuck with my Tele plans last time, tbh. Does anybody have an opinion on the Player's bridge? I've seen some complaints that the modern style dampens its traditional 'attack' that the old brass/nickel saddles have.

Meh who cares. At least you can intonate it properly unlike the traditional, non compensated traditional bridge.

sloan1874 · August 2023

That's a very good point. I've seen people saying that the closer you get to the end of the neck, the more out of tune it can sound. I guess the other question is on roasted maple vs plain. I suspect it makes a marginal difference to UK dwellers and matters more if you're in deepest Florida with 100 per cent humidity, but it feels nice.

TeleMaster · August 2023

sloan1874 said:

That's a very good point. I've seen people saying that the closer you get to the end of the neck, the more out of tune it can sound. I guess the other question is on roasted maple vs plain. I suspect it makes a marginal difference to UK dwellers and matters more if you're in deepest Florida with 100 per cent humidity, but it feels nice.

Just get what you like more it makes no difference here.

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