hello! i've been playing acoustic and classical guitar for close to 4 years now, and i'm planning to get a telecaster! right now i have my eyes on the squier classic vibe 50s and the squier paranormal cabronita thinline. i was considering a mij fender but it's too pricey for me. any suggestions for telecasters? looking for one that i can use for the long run, tysm ^^
Last edited by chelsea2712; 29-08-22 at 11:52 PM. Reason: more specific
What you are looking at are good options!
A few other suggestions:
G&L ASATs (even the Indo-made ones are pretty good)
Bacchus Teles
See if you can snag a good deal on Carousell.
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Your choices aren't bad for the money! But I wonder what kind of Tele you're going for?
The classic vibe is true to the tele spirit - SS config with the bridge mounted on the tele bridge plate (not enough people talk about this, but the bridge plate is essential to the tele brightness), 1 vol 1 tone electronics, 3-saddle bridge design, bare bones no-nonsense.
The classic tele sound you can get out of this would be twangy, snappy bridge tones and a warm but not overly thick neck tone. The versatility of the tele is tried and true so I don't think you could go wrong with this.
The Cabronita is a very different story, with 2 P90s (technically SS config, but not in a tele way), plus it's a thinline. The pickups made the tele thicker sounding to begin with (deviating it from the signature sound), and the semi-hollow construction (thinline) makes it even warmer. I can imagine it to have a creamy, mellow sound with less attack and snap. Since it's a semi-hollow, I can imagine it to not do very well with high gain tones and it might be prone to feedback on louder settings.
All in all, the classic vibe is a great tele template to work on; the Cabronita, as suggested in the series name, is very paranormal, but a great guitar nonetheless!
If you're interested only in the tele silhouette, you can check out other guitars on the tele spectrum! I looked only for similarly priced ones.
1. Harley Benton TE62DB (SS config, 1 vol 1 tone, w/bridge plate)
https://www.thomann.de/de/harley_ben...id=1&affid=128
The closest classic tele that is at a great price point. Everything a tele needs.
2. Squier Classic Vibe 70s Tele Custom (SH config, 2 vol 2 tone, w/bridge plate)
https://www.sweelee.com.sg/products/...maple-fb-black
Some players find the snappy tele bridge great, but the neck to be inadequately warm. This mitigates that by throwing in a humbucker in the bridge with dedicated tone control.
3. Schecter PT special (S+P90 config, 1 vol 1 tone)
https://www.thomann.de/de/harley_ben...id=1&affid=128
Slight variation with a P90 on the bridge (a middle ground of your two options). This will thicken up the neck sound a little more without sacrificing that classic tele bridge tone.
4. Squier Classic Vibe 70s Tele Deluxe (HH config, 2 vol 2 tone)
https://www.sweelee.com.sg/products/...maple-fb-black
The dual humbuckers make this guitar modern sounding and thick, but imo not very "tele" anymore when you have two of them, 4 knobs, 6-saddle bridge and a big headstock. Definitely a liberal choice.
5. ESP LTD TE-200 (HH config (w/split coil), 1 vol 1 tone)
https://www.espguitars.com/products/...00-rosewood-sw
Despite being a 2 humbucker guitar, this guitar is designed for "split-coil", meaning splitting the two humbuckers into single coils. The single coils will definitely not sound as snappy as an original tele's but this is a good middle ground for if you want to riff out hard rock sounds but have the option to go single coil.
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