Electric guitar advice please

Hi
the Telecaster is something of a classic, unsure about the Mexican version.....other than that the Squier Strat is good especially I believe the P6.

Unsure exactly where you live but there used to be a really good shop in =Ringwood (not been for 3 years).

I'm babbling, I'll get my coat

We live near Chichester, so Ringwood's not too far. The Mexican Telecasters cost about £350 new I think, so £150 semed good value. But I don't want a pig in a poke. The Squire looks like it's a cheaper version of a Fender, is that so?

Nigel

It is (mines a few years old) but they are licensed etc.Not all versions are the same......others on the forum are experts.

The guitarists creed......
'Give me a guitar, a pick and a bar stool and I'll play'

Squiers have a good name, and as said are Fender licensed. My Squier Strat was declared OK by my mate who knows about these things,as he owns a real Fender '60s original.

Yamaha Pacifica 012?

HH,
I have a Mexican Tele and I really like it. The quality is first rate, nice action, and great tone. It is a better guitar than I am a guitarist! If the price is right and it is in good shape, I don't think that you can go wrong.

Cheers!

DCT

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:
Squiers have a good name, and as said are Fender licensed. My Squier Strat was declared OK by my mate who knows about these things,as he owns a real Fender '60s original.

Snap, my daughter's Fender Squier Strat (sunburst, of course, I even offered to 'Rory' it for her, but she wouldn't listen...).

Again, an experienced musican friend tried it and thought it was fine.

But I also agree with Simply Grim's comment about a good music shop. We used East Coast Music in King's Lynn, which is a veritable hub of sales, servicing and teaching, run by professional musicians.

(One time I went in, the proprietor showed me some of his nice 'snaps' with the Doors, whilst playing a pre-production (i.e. unremastered) version of Rory's postumous acoustic 'Wheels within wheels' that R's brother Donal had sent him.)

The Mexican tele looks like good value plus the Tele appears to be the tool of choice with many young guitarists I've seen lately and will retain kudos, (also Muddy used one )

A mex Fender Tele will play really well, will have a great low action and comfortable neck. Will be capable of a great range of sounds and is also a classic shape. It is also better built than the squire stuff (which is still good) and has the fender brand on the headstock which adds to the kudos.

A great first guitar. It's all going to be about amps and pedals now....

Oh no - you mentioned the amps and peddles ----agh!

I have one and payed £150 years ago, it sounds like a good deal but check the frets for wear.

Fenders come as standard with 9 gauge strings and some like to play with 10 or 11 gauge which is no problem so long as the truss rod is re set but 9's will be easier for a first guitar, so check it still has 9's

I also feel that the heavy guage strings lead to early fret wear, the most likely frets will be second fret on the G string if it has been mainly used by a chord player. Also check the switch gear, volume and tone pots are all ok but not a problem as these are cheap to fix unlike worn frets which at the very least will require a fret stone or worse a new neck, tuning and intonation will be difficult to get right 100% otherwise.

I think David Gilmour has had two or three new necks on his most used black Strat, over the years. It's like that old broom thing "I've had the same broom since 1957 bus it has had a four new heads and two new handles but it's still the same broom." lol.

Hi
Another vote for the Squire.My son is 11 and we bought him the "big Box" package with amp a few months ago.
Its worth getting from a good music shop rather than the net or costco.We paid a little more but the people (Bishop's Centre,Maidenhead) were much more interested and helpful than another we tried.They tuned it properly and when we had a problem with the amp it was instantly replaced.
He now takes lessons in the soundbooth at the back of the store and is getting on well.The build and finish I thought amazing for such a modest price.20 years ago a guitar of the Squire's quality would have cost much more.

Nigel

The forum has decided. The Mexican telecaster is good value at £150.

However, the forum members are elderly men not 12 year olds. Your 12 year old has probably spent a lot of time imagining himself playing an electric guitar, I doubt a telecaster has entered his mind.

Let him choose it himself. If he picks a poor quality Les Paul or strat copy, let him buy it.

The sonic characteristics of the wood or the tonal quality mean nothing to a 12 year old or his FRIENDS. Plus, I suspect the amp will be used with overdrive engaged for 99.99% of the time.

Sorry...but I am not elderly... (not have I listed the other 'Axes' that I own

Ah the beauty of assumption

Compared to a twelve year old you are elderly, I assume.

My comment regarding age was a generalisation not an assumption.

Your advice is correct and valid to a grown up. Would I be correct in assuming you don’t have a 12 year old.

Nigel,

the Tele is a good guitar, but in my opinion it is a bit heavy; don't overlook the fact that not just each model, but each guitar has or can have a different setup, feel, need for some adjustments.
Anyway, I don't want to add doubts to the one you may have, but take a look at some models by Cort, it's a big Korean factory and despite anything that may be posted after I say this, their guitars have a very very good value for money.

Be also smart in explaining to your son (say hallo to him from me)that it's not easy to get the sounds he hears on disc from an electric guitar, not just because it's electric.. My simple advice is take him to the store, and when he finds one for £150 that he feels at ease with, buy it. To worry about the woods and year and finish of a Fender that might end standing at the bottom of the bed in a corner after a few months, seems absurd to me.

All the best,
Massimo

Massimo

Fatcat - you are correct, often I act like one

agree mexican good deal at £150.
censusus seems to be that new at closer to £350, the squires copies represent better value for money in relation to how suprisingly good they can be.

having been a twelve year old. image is everything. and he'll cherish the 'Fender' name more up to the point where is peers learn about the difference between Mex, Japanese and USA Fender's both on quality and credibility...which shouldn't be for another five years! Sorted!

Let him choose his guitar. I doubt Telecasters have much street cred. He'll want something pointier.

The issues that you need to check include:

Straight neck: Sight down it with one eye (with strings on, and reasonably tuned. Do it from the nut and from the bridge - both edges. A slight curve along the length can be adjusted out, but any uneven curves or twists would be a big no-no. If you want to be anal, slacken all the strings and check again. It may now have a very slight bit of a curve away from the front, but again there should be no uneven bends or twists.

Even frets: Inspect them for wear and that the tops of the frets all line up. Check by playing every string at every fret. Be wary if a particular fret or string string buzzes more easily than the others (they'll all buzz if you pluck them hard enough).

Bridge Adjustment: If the action is even and low, you're probably OK, but it is best to have height adjustment available both up and down. shims and other mods can work to fix major errors, but it is far from ideal.

Potentiometers: With it plugged into an amp, play with them and make sure they're smooth and crackle free. Some simple cleaning with contact cleaner can help dodgy ones, but there is the risk that they could need replacing.

Jack for chord: Is it tight? Does the plug and jack crackle through the amp when they are wriggled. Sometimes a simple fix, but can be very annoying.

Machine heads (tuners): Do they turn smoothly? Good ones aren't much harder to tighten than loosen. Poorer quality ones can have a very "one way" feel (hard to tighten, easy to loosen) that can result in strings coming out of tune more easily.

Is the headstock repaired?: On the Les Paul type "bent back" headstocks, dropping the guitar can break the head off as the grain of the wood "cuts" the head from the guitar. Check that the head hasn't been broken and re-affixed. A big no-no. Strat and Tele style headstocks are much less susceptible as the grain carries right through and they dont stick out the back.

The nut: Is it worn? Easily replaced, though.

Pickups: Humbucker style offer lower noise (buzz and hum), but there are newer "single coils" that purportedly work pretty well, as does the 5-way switched 'virtual humbucker' option on some strat-types. They do have different sounds, but as a 12 year old - it's just be compression, overdrive and sustain all the way. The humbuckers may do better here (generally - single coil pickups didn't stop Hendrix getting a pretty fat sound).

Intonation: This is a bit more complex. Does the pitch of the harmonic (the sound you get when you play the string lightly touching it above the the 12th fret, and which is exactly an octave higher than the open string), exactly match the pitch of the same string fretted at the same point (12th fret)? Some guitars (strats and teles among them) have individually adjustable bridges to get this right, but if it is way out there might be a problem. Try it for each string. Poor intonation will make notes played higher up the neck sound out of tune.

Check it all by playing the thing. If you can't, get a friend that can, to help you check it out.

Good luck with it and don't worry too much.

quote:

I doubt Telecasters have much street cred

Er, not with anyone who ever liked listening to or playing guitar:

Syd Barrett
Jeff Beck
Frank Black
Albert Collins
Hugh Cornwall
Graham Coxon
Bob Dylan
Steve Cropper
Bill Frisell
David Gilmour
Jonny Greenwood
George Harrison
PJ Harvey
Robyn Hitchcock
Chrissie Hynde
Wilko Johnson
Albert Lee
Jimmy Page
Keith Richards
Robbie Robertson
Bruce Springsteen
Joe Strummer
Pete Townshend
Muddy waters

All of whom are to be found regularly on the turntables/cd players/ipods of most 12-year olds...

The telecaster is the essence of functional design and is always being discovered by every new generation of players.

My Brothers thirteen year old loves Radiohead, The Who, The clash and Blur. (old school)

He also likes the Editors, The White Lies, Kasabian, Cold Play and Bloc Party. Guess which guitar they all have used...

Thanks everybody! Really helpful. The trouble is, the tele sold before our Henry could make up his mind. It was 3 years old and as new; only played in a church band.

We have bought a Yamaha Pacifica 112v with a Roland mini cube amp, a few months old and played only 5 times. We get it on Saturday. The Yamaha (or this one anyway) seems pretty well thought of and looks suitably cool in the strat style.

So you all now need to say 'great choice - ideal for a 12 year old' rather than 'that's a pile of crap'!!

He is sticking with his classical (expertly strung by Massimo) till Christmas at which time that Yamaha will come out. It comes with a Vox plug in headphome amp too, so we should not be deafened.

Nigel

If it has been looked after then it is a great choice.

Very well made like all yamaha stuff and, if it is at all like a strat then very nice to play and very versatile.

quote:

Originally posted by JWM:
All of whom are to be found regularly on the turntables/cd players/ipods of most 12-year olds...

Fair cop. I was thinking of the metal side of things. Stereotyping the poor kid in the worst possible way.