Getting a Telecaster...

MartinBush · September 2023

Hi all

For a long time I just had the one electric guitar. In fact that was my only guitar.

Now I have an LP, Jet Strat type, Yamaha acoustic and Squier Sonic Mustang. All good guitars regardless of price.

I am now curious about getting a tele as I feel there's a gap in the range of sounds I have.

My question is whether the tele (it will almost certainly be a Squier of some sort) would sound vastly different to the other two single-coil guitars.

rze99 · September 2023

Vastly different, no. Distinctly different, yes.

Maybe what you would most benefit from is a P90 guitar in your arsenal, such as an SG Special

MartinBush · September 2023

I ashamed to say that I don't know what a P90 sounds like

LionAquaLooper · September 2023

Another thing to consider is how a tele feels. Might provide you with a slightly different sound but if your hands can't get on with a tele then what's the point.
You might already know the following: most teles tend to have fatter necks for one. It might suit you better than your strat and Mustang, maybe not. The body edge is also cut 90 degrees traditionally, so again you may not like this and you might think it's annoying.

rze99 · September 2023

MartinBush said:

I ashamed to say that I don't know what a P90 sounds like

Then you DO need one

Vintage-T · September 2023

Tele's and Strats/Mustangs are all distinctly different imho in spite of all being single coil. They're definitely their own thing. If I didn't have a fancy(ish) tele, I'd defo go for a Classic Vibe one, they're incredible value for money.

rze99 · September 2023

Greg will show you

rze99 · September 2023

MartinBush · September 2023

That SG sounds great actually - I have just never been keen on the shape

I do like his playing though.

OilCityPickups · September 2023

The only thing I can advise is go try one ... they are very much their own thing. I have five Telecasters so I'm probably a bit biased, but they are addictive. P90 guitars are great too, but can be a bit more 'noisy' than a Tele. I gigged for years with a Les Paul Special with P90s and had to be very careful about turning down when not playing. Of course you could get a Tele with P90s ... and make everybody happy :-)

slacker · September 2023

In my band the other guitarist and I have used one or two guitars in any given rehearsal. We have used Les Paul's teles strats Ric's gretsches an es125 and a wilshire.im not going to attempt to remember what drive pedals we've gone through. End result we always sounded like us in our band.

A Tele won't make you sound different. Get one because you want one.

slacker · September 2023

Forgot a couple of SGs

slacker · September 2023

And a jazzmaster

CaseOfAce · September 2023

I don't have a Mustang (or have ever played one!) but a telecaster won't sound vastly different to a strat on the neck or bridge only settings.
The bridge sound on a telecaster is a bit more "controllable" than a strat if that makes sense (not as spikey). Plays very nicely with dirt.
What the tele does have is that both pickups on / middle position rhythm sound - which the strat doesn't have - it's sort of "chirpy" for want of a better term.

It's much more about feel - a tele is completely different to the contoured strat - plus the control layout needs adjusting to.

At the end of the day though I concur with what Slacker said above - it won't make you sound vastly different.

I would add if you are thinking about P90s ... just remember ... HUM !! They buzz like crazy. All part of the charm...but .. it's noticeable.

rze99 · September 2023

The Greg Koch Gristle 90 does Tele With P90s (but noiseless). I have one of these and it is rather splendid.

MartinBush · September 2023

Cheers chaps.

Someone above said "get one because you want one" and I think that is my main reason really

I'm very pleased with the quality of my Sonic Mustang so I'd be minded to get a Squier again.

WBT2079 · September 2023

I have a few teles in my hoard, fender and squiers, and have had a couple of other brands along the way.

Squier wise I have the 50s and the 60s classic vibes, and a vintage modified thinline with Fender WRHB. Of the 50s and 60s (both single coil) I would say they do sound different so going and trying them is a good idea. Neck wise they have the same profile and are a slim C with 42mm nut. Neither of them are the lightest teles I have, but are not the heaviest either. The 50s is pine, the 60s Is nyatoh.

I have my favourite tele, but of them all on a day to day basis my 50s CV is the one I automatically pickup when I pass the guitar stand, or take downstairs to noodle on the sofa with. It’s great.

GoFish · September 2023

Teles and P90s are both good choices for branching out, so to speak. I loved the honeymoon months of p90s. Great for rock, not tooooooo dissimilar to low output (!) PAFs. Smoky, authoritative, full bodied with notes of burnt oak in the bouquet....

I always knew a tele lay somewhere in my future (being a Fenderino) and one day, it was the right time. It was love at first play. Even though I had tried some before, nothing is the same imo as having one in your rig with time and headspace to really try it out. I surprised myself by liking the twangy /steel saddled attack-y cluck more than the tradition rock grunt from blackguards. They are definitely Fender single coils, but the muted round neck and the sharp, slightly nasal bridge (like a much better Strat bridge pickup) are very versitile. The middle position is my home now - only a Jazzmaster middle position gets right in the ballpark imo.

There is some really good advice above. Get one that you want to and know that other won't be that far behind... Both deserve to be tried, if that's your bag baby.

Supportact · September 2023

Who cares how it sounds? You'll have a tele and thus be well cool and others will envy you. Sort out your priorities.

swiller · September 2023

yeah grab one for sure, tele is different. You may actually think its more similar to the LP than the single coils under ownership, it is kind of more suited to those jobs than a strat for example.

I have a recently bought USA std and previously owned a CV60s custom 2011. The latter deffo is a much better guitar than modern cv squiers. In fact id say if you are going on the squier route, deffo pick one of those up. 2009ish-2013 made in china and a custom, with binding. Shouldnt lose money if you can pick one up as they are quite sougt after. 300-350 is about right second hand, so more moola than others, but well worth it. I agree with this chap whole heartedly.

Pd1020 · September 2023

Check out a Schecter PT Special - sweet P90 in the neck, all twang in the bridge.

theatreanchor · September 2023

A Tele sounds like a Tele. It can also sound like a Strat or morph into a far more ferocious, heavier beast. Once I was cured of my Telephobia, I was a total convert.

https://youtu.be/fg3G9IMyF_Y

jeromegreenday · September 2023

I always had a love hate relationship with tele's
Had a MIM esquire, ash, harmonics all over the neck, sold it for some reason
Had a MIM Muddy waters Tele, my god that was a tele alright! Sold it,
Spent a fortune doing a 1:1 Jeff beck Esquire partscaster, sounded great, sold it
had an offset seam Alder tele with a slab board Brazilian rosewood fretboard, best feeling tele ever, sold it.
Had a gorgeous 50 odd year old Jedson Tele, the authentic wear was incredible, sold it as the neck was to slim.

I realised I was destined to own one, got an swamp ash partscaster of ebay for just shy of £300, it sounds amazing, the only thing that lets it down is its D profile neck.

Get one then decide what you play and what you want the pickups to do, you can have absolutely spanky clean chicken pickin pickups or very throaty gritty pickups, very versatile guitars. The thing I love about Tele's is Strat owners will swear blind an 11 screw pickguard strat sounds worse than an 9 screw pickguard, Les paul guys will pimp their own mums out to get a couple more millimetres to make it a longer tenon neck. Teles. just a neck screwed to a slab of wood and it sounds like a Tele!

MikeC · September 2023

I've a superb handmade tele made by a fellow fretboarder that is a bit P90 like in the pickup department that is for sale here...

slacker · September 2023

Oh and one piece of advice do not play your friends actual 50s esquire into a Samson era bad cat.

darthed1981 · September 2023

swiller said:

yeah grab one for sure, tele is different. You may actually think its more similar to the LP than the single coils under ownership, it is kind of more suited to those jobs than a strat for example.

I have a recently bought USA std and previously owned a CV60s custom 2011. The latter deffo is a much better guitar than modern cv squiers. In fact id say if you are going on the squier route, deffo pick one of those up. 2009ish-2013 made in china and a custom, with binding. Shouldnt lose money if you can pick one up as they are quite sougt after. 300-350 is about right second hand, so more moola than others, but well worth it. I agree with this chap whole heartedly.

I've got one of those.

It's brilliant, nobody can have it.

MartinBush · September 2023

Cheers again all.

Can I ask what the difference in sound is between a solid body and thinline - both with single coils?

I have always fancied a thinline since I saw Richey Edwards with one, although I once played a friend's US version and didn't like it. Seemed to have a very flat and wide finger board.

However, soundwise is there a lot of difference?

Roland · September 2023

LionAquaLooper said:

Another thing to consider is how a tele feels.

CaseOfAce said:
It's much more about feel …

At the end of the day though I concur with what Slacker said above - it won't make you sound vastly different.

… but it might make you play differently. The surprising thing about a Tele is the way it feels. I don’t mean sitting with it on your knee in a guitar shop. It’s how the Tele hangs from the strap, how the strings feel when you bend them, how it puts that mid range bite in the note when you hit it hard.

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Getting a Telecaster...

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