« Fender Standard Telecaster Mexican »

I purchased this guitar for $325.00 new off the rack at my local guitar store. I bought it to have as a backup to an American Tele.

Good feel and balance. Quality controls, switches ect. Good guitar for the money.

Compared to an American made Tele this thing didn't measure up. I would have been happier with a used American guitar fo the same money. The pickups had poor tone and I replaced them with Texas Specials. The nut was cut too deep in the center two strings so I had it replaced by a guitar tech. Then it played great. By now I had $500.00 invested in my Cheep back up guitar.

The nut and frets were not very good. The pickups also didn't sound all that great. In defense of the Mexican Tele I was comparing it to my American Plus model. Be sure to look at a few in the store if considering buying one of these. Some have better nuts, frets than others. Also the black ones seem to have the lowest quality wood. Spend the money on sunburst. The sunburst models get the best wood.

Again, a good guitar for the money but nothing like the real thing. It I wanted another budget Tele I would look for a good used American Tele, or try a bunch and look for the best one in the store. The tone, wood, nut, frets, neck and finish are all different on these imports. Some are great finds, mine had some major drawbacks that I didn't notice before I bought it. Plan on upgrading the pickups regardless because they don't have the Tele tone.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com