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MGR/Arverni « Fender American Telecaster »
Published on 02/29/04 at 15:00Bought new from Musician's Friend online in 2002 for $799. Came with a hardshell case.
Telecasters are built like tanks and have a unique sound all to themselves. They are simple to operate and don't have a lot of features. Controls are limited to a tone control, a volume control, and a 3-position pickup switch -- that's it. Since it's built like a tank and has a bolt-on neck -- you don't feel guilty about getting down and getting rough with it. If you break the neck -- get a new one and bolt that puppy on! If you want to customize it to your tastes -- go ahead -- it's hard to screw one up and if you do -- you can fix it somehow.
The tone is unique. It's not a heavy metal axe really. However, if you're into producing vintage guitar tones -- you have to have a telecaster in your arsenal somewhere. In spite of it's unique sound, you can get Blues, Country, classic Rock, even Jazz out of it!
The American Telecaster model has the six-saddle bridge and medium-jumbo frets. The fretboard is wide at the nut, so you can play a B7 chord without a lot of fumbling. This isn't true with the Mexican made Tele's (which by the way are great too) -- that have the more traditional smaller frets and seem to have narrower fretboards at the nut.
NO TREMOLO BAR! So you have to do it all "with your hands" and your playing style -- which is cool anyway.
Nothing. Wish it was a different color (this one is Ocean Turquois) -- but I'll probaly strip it down and paint it surf green one day anyway.
Construction is Good. Any tele has a few flaws -- but those only add to the character of the tele. I can see where the wood was joined under the finish on the back of the guitar if I look closely -- but that's about it for flaws. I did a side-by-side comparison of this American Tele with a Mexican Strat that I also own and the tuners seem to be MUCH improved on the American Tele. The Mexican Strat's tuners are a little loose. The frets on the Tele are well finished, while the Strat frets need some work. This is not a scientific comparison -- but it's what I've observed with my own guitars.
Great guitar. Every serious guitar player should own one at some point because it produces a wide range of tones that are hard to reproduce on any other guitar. I would also rate it high as a beginning guitar -- due to it's simplicity and construction.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
Telecasters are built like tanks and have a unique sound all to themselves. They are simple to operate and don't have a lot of features. Controls are limited to a tone control, a volume control, and a 3-position pickup switch -- that's it. Since it's built like a tank and has a bolt-on neck -- you don't feel guilty about getting down and getting rough with it. If you break the neck -- get a new one and bolt that puppy on! If you want to customize it to your tastes -- go ahead -- it's hard to screw one up and if you do -- you can fix it somehow.
The tone is unique. It's not a heavy metal axe really. However, if you're into producing vintage guitar tones -- you have to have a telecaster in your arsenal somewhere. In spite of it's unique sound, you can get Blues, Country, classic Rock, even Jazz out of it!
The American Telecaster model has the six-saddle bridge and medium-jumbo frets. The fretboard is wide at the nut, so you can play a B7 chord without a lot of fumbling. This isn't true with the Mexican made Tele's (which by the way are great too) -- that have the more traditional smaller frets and seem to have narrower fretboards at the nut.
NO TREMOLO BAR! So you have to do it all "with your hands" and your playing style -- which is cool anyway.
Nothing. Wish it was a different color (this one is Ocean Turquois) -- but I'll probaly strip it down and paint it surf green one day anyway.
Construction is Good. Any tele has a few flaws -- but those only add to the character of the tele. I can see where the wood was joined under the finish on the back of the guitar if I look closely -- but that's about it for flaws. I did a side-by-side comparison of this American Tele with a Mexican Strat that I also own and the tuners seem to be MUCH improved on the American Tele. The Mexican Strat's tuners are a little loose. The frets on the Tele are well finished, while the Strat frets need some work. This is not a scientific comparison -- but it's what I've observed with my own guitars.
Great guitar. Every serious guitar player should own one at some point because it produces a wide range of tones that are hard to reproduce on any other guitar. I would also rate it high as a beginning guitar -- due to it's simplicity and construction.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com