I never really got on with Stratâs or Teleâs over the years, Fender guitars I suppose, not sure why possibly the neck, and sometimes I donât like the tone, although I do know then can sound excellent in the right hands ie. Mark Knopfler, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, to name a few and many more. I have generally been an Epiphone to Gibson person, preferring the feel of the neck and what I would describe as warmer tone.
Having said that when I started up my guitar journey again in September last year, I sold some vinyl and traded some to get an electric and amp, after trying various types of guitar ended up with an Aria Nashville (a 3 pickup Telecaster type), How they make and sell then for ÂŁ369 I cannot comprehend. the neck is perfectly setup, straight with no buzzing, and very good intonation, and the neck has a nice feel. Generally its tone is pretty good, and can go from a crisp clear sound to a snarl. I think it could be improved on a bit with some better pickups and a fret polish. I went for it because a look alike Gibson from Epiphone was going to set me back double the cost, and I was not sure if I would persist learning guitar again.
I am still practicing and learning daily, and have signed up for BLIM3. I did sell some other gear and got my dream guitar an ES355 in late November, it is my favourite to play. But I do still play some material on the Aria Telecaster copy, in fact it is easier to play some due to its neck being narrower, especially when using the thumb on the 6th string, and can sound better for some genres IMHO.
I think it really down to personal choice, whether Strat or Fender, a Nashville Tele sort of sits between the two. I would say get the guitar you feel most comfortable with, especially in the fretting hand, and when you can try others out later to see if you prefer something else for whatever reason.
Hi Michal
My first electric was a squier affinity strat someone gifted me. I hated that thing. Before buying my first electric i researched a lot. I found my self constantly drawn towards telecaster (Jaguar was a close second Because of my fascination with Mark Ribot) but I will probably end up getting one of those, too.
I love its simplicity the headstock shape the whole Vibe and around that time I also first heard Julian Lage. You probably know him already but i include links anyway
I include two links the second one is him supporting his wife Margeret Glaspy who is also a tele player.
I have a Squire 50s Classic Vibe (This unfortunately Chrome plated Barrel Saddles when new so I ordered Gotoh intonated brass saddles when buying it. I have since added a bigsby. It is a wonderfull instrument. I am sure in the present market you could even find one second Hand
It is great that you already have one to see if you can get on with the shape (it can be a bit uncomfortable as it has no belly cut like later guiter. But it is so cool !!!
Considering your âDo It yourselfâ skills you could have great fun with a more upmarket Tele kit
My first guitar was a Yamaha acoustic,purchased during Covid. When I decided to get an electric, I wanted a semi-hollow. I bought a Squire Telecaster Thinline. After playing a number of semi-hollows, that one just felt right.
When I decided to get a solid body electric, I wanted a thicker neck, so I didnât look at Strat style guitars, I bought a Yamaha Revstar instead. But I find myself going back to the Tele more often, so Iâm thinking maybe I really do need a Strat style guitar
A tele is cool but even better, the newer Squier Affinity teles have a belly cut and are slightly thinner than a fender tele or classic vibe. So very comfortable and they even have a satin neck, which is nice.
There are quite a few really interesting models in the Squier range. They can all be Teles, but very different ones.
I can totally see having these 3 models, for example.
Iâm guessing that 60 cycle hum from the single coils is the con? I donât even notice, or at least am not bothered by it with my rigs. Otherwise Iâm hard pressed to come up with any cons. Clones of both are super affordable and very playable.
I bought the first affinity as my very first guitar. Didnât know anything about guitars when I bought it, but it turned out to be a good buy. I just liked the look and lucked out. Later changed the pickups for the Tonerider which was a great improvement in tone. The neck is really good, action really low, and other than changing the pickups thereâs really nothing else to do to it, other than play it.
I live in Switzerland and I bought the classic vibe to keep in my other house in France. I bought it more on the colour than anything else but itâs nowhere near as nice to play as the affinity TBH and the neck simply isnât as good even though itâs considerably more expensive. I mostly travel to France on my motorbike so hauling a guitar is not really an option. If I would get rid of one guitar it would be that one. But at least it looks cool.
The third tele (also affinity) was a 50 bucks thing that I bought as a project to restore because I like making and modding things and I can tell you that after my restoration itâs a LOT better than an afffinity or classic vibe and cost very little. A lot of work though but I like that! I completely stripped the lacquer off the whole neck, completely re-sanded it super super smooth, oiled it, completely levelled the frets and re-dressed them, rolled the fingerboard, smoothed the fret ends and put on better tuners. Added brass saddles. Then I put in overwound hot pickups and it gives a completely different tone to the other affinity I have and re-wired it with better pots and also shielded it. Itâs now my best guitar and Iâm just trying to learn more rock and then play it like status quo! My 2 affinityâs are very different but the one I restored is a dream to play and I think you would have to pay quite a lot to get one that nice.
Yes I could easily buy a ÂŤ real Âť tele - a Fender but it wouldnât have been as satisfying as restoring one that cost 50 bucks plus the other parts and ending up with a guitar that feels great (and looks great too).
Iâm still missing one part and then Iâll post pictures as a N(restored)GD!!! It looks nice.
@Ontime , if you are the least bit handy, consider upgrading an affordable tele with a four way switch. The fourth position gives you a (non-hum-cancelling) humbucker tone.
You could hand me Robben Fordâs actual guitar and I still wonât sound anything like Robben Ford. At the same time, you could hand Robben Ford an off-the-rack Les Paul and heâll still sound more like himself than me with his Tele.
So I totally agree with you that buying the same guitar as your musical idols is not going to make you sound like them. Your time and effort is better spent practicing than chasing their gear.
But at the same time, if having a guitar similar to your musical idolâs is going to motivate you to play and practice more⌠well, then thatâs a pretty good reason to get that guitar. The most important aspect of a guitar, in the end, is that you like it and want to pick it up and play it.
@CT In theory it should, but not in my case. Thereâs quite some variation in quality and what passes quality control. I got very lucky with my first affinity because the neck is perfect. Of course the components are better in a classic vibe, but sadly my classic vibe neck is just not as good as either of my affinityâs and a luthier actually told me I should really have sent it back and complained. In the end I shimmed it and itâs playable, but the action will never be as good as on either of my affinityâs. However itâs also a bit of personal taste. I prefer the medium jumbo frets on an affinity to the tall narrow of the classic vibe. I also prefer a satin or oiled neck to the poly lacquer on the classic vibe.
I can add a control layout here. Itâs a matter of preference, but I want to have separate volume knobs for both pickups as it allows me to set the lower volume on the neck and get a clean sound while the bridge pickup is overdriven.
At the same time, you could hand Robben Ford an off-the-rack Les Paul and heâll still sound more like himself than me with his Tele.
