I want to buy a Telecaster - DONE! Guitar is being returned

I do not have enough funds to get a U.S. Telecaster. 
I am seriously considering a Squire from Musician's Friend for $179, no tax, no shipping and comes with a 2 year warranty for another $20.
I apologize to all the wonderful guitarist out there in advance for wanting to purchase such a cheap guitar but my purpose is to get more twang for my country songs than my 1979 Fender Strat that I have been using for years.  This would be my second electric guitar of my life. 
Been doing lots of research and seem to have narrowed this down. 
 
Does anyone have a comment or recomendation about this purchase that you can share?  Thanks.  Here's the link to the guitar:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/squier-affinity-series-telecaster-special-electric-guitar/515115000839000
Rimshot

Thanks Mike, sorry I didn't see that thread.  I'll look for it.  I am hoping for a good tone and that it stays in tune! 

Rimshot

I just purchased a Tele.....crafted in China.

$430 with hard case shipped.  



Nice guitar. 

3 PU on it..... a tele, strat, and a humbucker. sounds good. 

The Classic Vibe Squire line is very good.  Cheapish, and really nice.  I got a Classic Vibe Jazz bass, and it is just fantastic.  Check them out.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/squier-classic-vibe-telecaster-50s-electric-guitar

Sidroe, thanks for the reply and good tips!  

Guitarhacker, what a great looking guitar!  Can you send me the link of where you purchased it?  Thanks much.

Firebird, my pedal steel friend!  Hope you are doing well.  Thanks for the input!

Sven450, thank you.  I too shop at Musician's Friend.  I will check out that link.  

Thanks to all.  

Rimshot

http://www.sweetwater.com/c590--Solidbody_Guitars Look around.

i would start searching the pawn shops.
these days, lots of folks have had to unload their 'toys', and you want to put your hands on the guitar before you pay for it.

some of the best teles i've ever played, were made in japan.

some of them, were not even fender build.


point is, there are some real gems out there, but just like the ever elusive SNIPE, you must hunt for them.

Also I believe the Nashville Teles have a 7.5 radius on the neck (that's what a vintage neck would be) I'd love to have one of them but pne of the beautiful sounds of a tele is having the front and back pickup on at the hame time (middle position)...what's the point if it's only wired like a 5 way Strat?

If you go with Squier or MIM, make sure you know the radius of the neck...I would recommend the 9.5 radius....easier to bend notes

Rimshot


I do not have enough funds to get a U.S. Telecaster. 

Look on Ebay or anywhere for the Blackout Tele, it is a dream to play. (Not to be confused with the more recent Blacktop Tele's) It's made in Mexico and looks killer with the chrome on black. I bought a used one in vintage condition at Guitar Center for $369! It features a five position tone switch and three single coil pickups for a nice variety of tone.

Gaffpro & Rimshot: 

here's the link:  http://www.samash.com/p/F...ctric%20Guitar_1744448

THis is the Modern Tele.... a recent addition to the Fender line. 

When I went looking in the stores, neither Sam Ash or Guitar Center had them in store.  GC said they had them in their warehouse and could get them in a few days.... SA said they had none showing in the warehouses. 

I returned home and called both.  Sam Ash told me on the phone they were expecting a shipment in a few days. GC said it could be weeks at best.  More like a few months..... 

I ordered it from Sam Ash. they said the guitar was $399  I told them that I wanted a hard case and the guitar but did not want to pay more than $400 for both and that GC had made me a pretty sweet offer with free shipping when they had restocked on it. He said to hold on as he needed to check with his boss. A minute later he returned and made me that offer.... $400 and I had to play shipping... it was the best he could do.  I think the case was something like $75 bucks or so..... so I figured that was the best deal and the quickest way to get this beauty. 

and got an email next day saying they were back ordered.  A call to them and they said no problem, that should be resolved in a few days. With in a few days I got an email saying the guitar was in and was being shipped to me. 

A little bit of set up...raising the strings a bit with the bridge was all I have done to it so far. 

It's on the CCR cover I did some time back. http://soundcloud.com/gui...you-ever-seen-the-rain  it was recorded before I raised the strings



note on the color: I decided on the honey color after reading a review where the person said they got the charcoal one and it looked almost black..... not the color shown in the photo. I'm very pleased with my decision and the guitar. 

I knew going in that a made in China guitar would not be an American Tele.... In spite of that, the guitar plays well, feels good, and sounds good. For the price, not a bad deal. Maybe some day I will look at a PU upgrade, but for now, it has to stay stock. 

This may be a little late, but when I buy a guitar, I go to the store, play them all. When I find one that sounds and feels the way I want, stays in tune and has a true neck, I buy it and call it a day. Using this approach, I've bought some odd beasts in my time, but I loved them all. From my Gibson Firebird to the Daisy Rock (don't laugh, this one was a gem).

I feel strongly about this with acoustics. No two play the same and the difference can be great enough to make one unenjoyable while an other is a pleasure.

Years ago I realized that if I ever wanted to own some of the electric guitars I wanted to play that I would simply have to order them. So I've been doing that for a long time and it seems to have worked out fine.

I had resisted ordering guitars but I finally figured out that my friends who owned guitar stores were in the very same predicament. Someone has to take a chance on the guitar, and if you are like me and want every detail to be a certain way... then you may get used to ordering stuff and checking it out after that.


best regards,
mike

I tend to agree about the idea that one should play a guitar before buying it for all of the reasons mentioned. Tone, and feel, are hard to test unless you have it in your hands. 

If I was buying a "main axe" or a fairly expensive guitar I would certainly want to try it before I buy it. 

However, knowing that this guitar was not going to be in that category, and, having played a number of similar lower priced factory guitars, and with a 30 day return policy, I felt justified in taking a chance on a mail order guitar.  

My biggest crit of the tele is: The PU's are a bit noisy in certain configurations especially on the mesa boogie in the hi gain setting. On the clean channel setting, it will shatter glass.  But I have noticed that in certain switch/pickup combinations, the noise is canceled and the guitar is fairly quiet. I was expecting that in the Fender pickups since I know they are not the dual coil humbuckers that I have on my Gibson SG...... well the back PU is in fact a dual/split coil HB....hi gain....  still....totally workable. 

Here at the house, in the studio, I don't really like to crank it up..... but I'd love to hear this thing running on 7 or 8 in a band. 

For the price and the feel/tone/features, I'm not disappointed in the purchase.

...

I want to buy a Telecaster

me too.
just sayin..


I never liked solid body guits much (paul reed smith was an exception). But, I just love the sound of a tele.


And, speaking of a tele with a humbucker, doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of getting a tele. I mean that twang don't come from no humbucker, no?