r/telecaster

I’m new here and shopping hard. Coming from acoustic land so I don’t know the options. I studied classical for a couple decades and still have a coach.

Altho I’m new, I do like quality in an instrument. I need help understanding what options make a difference bc I’m thrifty yet I have the resources to get something nice. As we all do - I want the best bang for the buck - yet I want quality.

I see various options for hardware like locking tuners, nut material, and even bridge/saddles. For Fender-made options, what do you prefer or require?

It’s like that I’m seeing some aftermarket add-ons but for this post I just want to stick with “good things to have when you shop for a stock Tele.”

About the bridges/saddles for intonation: I see rounded ones, most models that I’ve seen had 2 strings per rounded saddle, and others that look more solid. Some have individual adjustments for each string.

What options make a difference to you, and are any that must-have that you require — or deal-breaker that you avoid when buying?

Most importantly I’m asking about the tuners and bridge/saddles. If some are better please let know what to look for.

For my acoustics and classical I have come to respect Japanese craftsmanship. Do MIJ Teles use the exact same hardware (it generally looks the same) or is some hardware actually made in Japan and better quality?

One guitar description even said that it had Japanese single-coil pickups.

Do you have a Tele that came with what you like? Much music has been made with the Standard so clearly that all a person needs — but is there a model that comes with the better stuff while not breaking the bank?

Hey all, I've got a 1983 telecaster that someone fitted with what I think are aftermarket, partially plastic string trees. Somewhere along the line one of them has broken. Wondered if anyone here had string tree recommendations / trees they've had good luck with, this particular guitar has spots for two (D and G strings, and B and E strings). Thanks!

Player ii coral red telecaster. Swapped the black pickguard for white pearl and switched to gotoh brass saddles. It looks and plays amazing!!

Bought it in 2000. Fender B Bender Tex-Mex American Tele.

It’s basically a Thinline with humbuckers and a Bigsby. I could not find a 1/2 bridge that is made to work with a Bigsby. There are a couple of guys who make them and sell them for hundreds of dollars, and now I know why. I took a normal hardtail half bridge and a Dremel and made something functional. Somebody would have to look pretty closely to see that it is a homemade hack job.

I’ve stopped wiring tone knobs altogether. The one on this guitar is purely decorative. And for live playing, I’m not using the volume knob either. It kills the highs and I hate tone bleed circuits. I got a cheap passive volume pedal. I think it’s dumb to have a $1 pot and tons of extra wire between the pickup and the amp. Volume pedals don’t seem to alter the tone.

This guitar is for my son. I’m going to convert him to my “no more tone knobs” philosophy.

😂

After 4 strats (Player, Player II HSS, Ultra Luxe and Ultra Luxe FR) a Schecter C-1 Elite SLS, a Korean PRS-like and a almost-Les-Paul I finally got a telecaster.

Note: I did order before Fender decided stupid legal games would be a fun idea.

Other than taking the strings off to give the ebony fretboard a healthy application of Monty's montypresso instrument wax one not stopped playing it. 7.6lbs of twang.

I know folk say negative things about the noiseless pickups, but my room has so much emf I was always going to need something hum cancelling, and I'd be comparing to EMGs on a mexican strat, Ultra Noiseless on the two US strats and Fishman Fluence on the schecter, so I guess I only have one set of single coils left and theres a humbucker on that one too... But they do the job without picking up all the computer, monitors, buzzy lights etc... So I'm happy with them

The neck (with fancy beeswax) is super smooth and it's got a nice low action... Broke out my fret rocker to check it out and is pretty much perfect (couple of spots with the tiniest wobble, but nothing noticeable).

Loving the Texas Tea finish and sat next to the mystic black FR Ultra Luxe it looks gorgeous.

I should play some Rolling Stones or something...

“Lounge Act” by Nirvana

I’m looking at one of these on Facebook marketplace for a really good deal. I like that it’s a tele and has jumbo frets, 12 inch radius, and the Japanese quality control. I want to turn it into a low-tuned metal guitar with a hot passive pickup in the bridge, something like a Bareknuckle or a Lundgren. My only question is, how is that going to work with this TBX tone control? The tone part of the sweep is only a 250k pot, so that sounds pretty unusable for metal, but the upper part sounds like it could be almost an onboard boost type effect? Anyone ever try this?

I’m open to all body styles. Well maybe not Alexiev’s lol

What’s your fav?

Does it have the f-hole?

Or does it look like a solid body?

Looking to lighten the load for marathon songwriting sessions.

My current axe is an Epiphone Shearton II Korea.

Ordered this guitar about 3 weeks ago when they were doing the free upgrade sale. It needed a some tweaking set up wise but it's dialed in now :)

Fender American Professional Classic Hotshot Telecaster, featuring Lollar pickups. Faded Sherwood Metallic finish. I actually just listed this one, but it’s pretty cool. Part of me hopes it won’t sell. The neck almost has a little flaming.

Fender American Professional II Telecaster and Telecaster Deluxe, both in Dark Night finish. I’m considering selling the standard, but it’s kind of cool having both.

i have always been a drums player, but i’m starting a side project with a friend, and i have been looking for a telecaster (i dont have more than a 200 dollars budget), could anyone tell what version of the squire telecaster is this one?

I swapped out the stock B-e string tree for a G-B-e string tree and it's made a night and day difference for sustain on my G string. I noticed the string stretched right from the nut to the tuning peg and thought it was odd cause my previous tele model had 2 string trees, one for B-e and one for D-G. I didn't think much of it, but then recently noticed the open G really had reduced sustain, would just dull out fast. This mod was fast, cheap, non invasive and solves the problem entirely.