Well after my little rant earlier today on the proper way to review things, I feel the need to review something, so I'm going to give my review of the newest addition to my guitar collection (see my previous post on buying, selling, and trading... this is some what of a follow up).
Ever since I started playing guitar some 14-15 odd years ago, I have wanted to own a genuine Fender. I have finally realized this dream, and I am not disappointed at all. For years I have been particularly fond of Telecasters, and because of this decided that my first real Fender should be a Tele. Since I don't have unlimited funds, I decided to go with a lower end, Mexican made Tele (or Mexi-Tele as they are lovingly known among guitarists). Before making my purchase I decided to do my homework, since back in the 90's, Mexican made Fenders had many known issues including: sloppy fret work, noisy/faulty wiring, crooked bridges, lose neck joints and so on. From my research I learned that in 2006 Fender really cracked down on their quality assurance department because they didn't want anything less than par going out with their logo on it (that’s what Squire is for).
I looked at, and played several different Tele Standards, and finally settled on an Electric Blue Tele Standard (just like the one pictured above). I have been playing it for about a month now, and honestly I have been nothing but impressed with this guitar. The action was a little high when first purchased, but that is something that is very easy to remedy. The neck feels perfect under my hands, it is smooth and fast. The medium round frets are amazing for playing fast little riffs; say the intro to "
My one hesitancy in buying a lower end Fender is that I have heard that the hardware isn't all that great. I haven't found this to be the case at all. The volume and tone knobs are smooth, much nicer than the knobs found on most lower end guitars (say both my Epiphone and Washburn, and both Ibanez's I have owned). The pickup switch is likewise smooth and silent (although it is most likely going to be traded for a 4 way custom shop switch here in the near future). The tuners are tight, and stay in tune very well. The bridge is as straight as can be; there have been some issues in other reviews about it having 6 saddles instead of the traditional 3 found on a Tele... I actually like the individual saddles, it makes it much easer to adjust the guitar. Finally the pickups, I'll be honest, they aren't Vintage 52's (although I'd love to swap them for a pair of 52's) but for what they are, they sound great. The bridge pickup gives you a bright Tele sound, and the neck pickup gives you more of a muddy blues sound. I really like the sound of the bridge pickup, or the combo of the two. I rarely play the neck pickup on its own, but that’s solely because of my tone preferences. Overall, they are great pickups. So once again, I give the guitar an A on hardware.
The final category I'll look at is the appearance of the guitar. It is beautiful, the finish is flawless. The electric blue has a slight sparkle in it which really comes out when you look at the guitar under bright lights. The 3 ply white pickguard is a nice compliment to the blue... although I am curious as to how the guitar would look with a black pickguard. The neck has a thin satin finish which lets the beauty of the maple neck shine through, and I love the dark wood strip down the back of the neck where the truss rod is.
In all honesty, I can't find a single thing wrong with this guitar. At $400 (or slightly less) I am confident in saying that it is probably the best bang for your buck on the market. I've played many different lower end guitars, and very very few are even comparable to the Tele Standard, I'd even go as far as saying that these guitars are much better than their brothers the Strat Standard. I give this guitar a solid A and recommend that anyone looking for a good guitar that isn't too expensive take a look at this piece of rock history... Now all I need is a vintage tweed case for it :)
Stay tuned for more guitar reviews to come, I have a Vox Valvetronix that needs a review... it is pretty much the perfect amp for anyone who likes to pretend they are a rock star when they get home from work... and if you're suffering from self-esteem issues, just wait until I tell you about my Thunderbird bass, it is so cool looking that it will make you cool. I guarantee it!
-Tim
1 comment:
I understood about 4 words of that. But still, I read it :)
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