Decent Teles under U$300

[agalamba]

I currently have an Am Strat, but that´s my only guitar right now, and I am in deep need of a backup. So i thought a Tele would be nice, but it has to be a cheap one!

I was looking into some Squiers, the Tele Custom (with 2 humbuckers), or maybe the Squier Thinline Tele. Has anyone had any experience with those guitars? I only whish a decent guitar which stays in tune and intonate well.

I am open to any suggestions in that price range, it doens´t have to be a tele, you may suggest any type of guitar (other than a strat).

Thanks for your help!

[Kap'n]

I would look at some of the "non-major brands" on the used market.

Ferinstance, the tele on this thread here cost me less than $300. I upgraded the pickups, but it was no slouch before. The nut is a little cheesy, but with the new pickups, it compares favorably with some of the MIA stuff I've played.

[Gravity Jim]

I played a bunch of Squier Teles in a recent search for a cheap P-90 guitar, and if I was shopping for a Tele under $300, I would look for a Yamaha T-style, like a Mike Stern Model. They're really nice, and I've seen 'em used for two bills or less. No joke, they walk all over a new Squier at that price.

[telecast]

You can get a good used MIM Tele Standard for $200 or less if you look around.

[Marcondo]

Id raise the bar to $300-350 and look for a used 50's-60's Classic Tele.

[Offshore Angler]

I'm with Kap'n. In that price range the Brand X models are a lot more bang for the buck.

[Kap'n]

I'm with Kap'n. In that price range the Brand X models are a lot more bang for the buck.

Jim's choice of a Yamaha is a good one, too. The make some excellent guitars with horrible resale value. Sucks for the original owner, but great deals on the used market.

Closeouts can be excellent deals too. Ferinstance the Yamaha AEX-502 semihollow w/ 2 P90's, blew out at around $200. They go for $300+ now on the used market. Fender's discontinuation of the DeArmond line - and the deals to be had at the time - is near-legendary on the web.

[tuberattler]

Check out Rondo music, I have a couple of these and they are nice. Lots of the giggers have these instead of the expensive ones.


http://www.rondomusic.net/

[95strat]

Cool site TR. Now I know where to go when I want a cheap LP!

[rockntommy]

Wow! What prices...nice finish on those Lps too.

Butterscoth: http://www.rondomusic.net/stl50.html
Scroll down a little...

[Don]

I like Yamahas too. I played a used one a few years ago. It had kind of a natural oil finish.

I've owned the same Yamaha FG-340 accoustic since 1978. It's a nice guitar (Oh, and anyone who says that made in Tiawan, laminated top, poly finished guitars don't mellow with age hasn't played one for 27 years!).

[studio1087]

I had one of the Squier Tele Custom's with the Duncan designed P-90's. The guitar was solid. The pickups were fantastic. At $229 it might make a great addition to your woodpile (you'd have budget left over for a real case). I had the blonde one and it was very nice.

I was loving the P-90 sound so much that I bought a PRS Soapbar Singlecut. The Squire with the Duncan P-90's is a great little guitar.

[franchelB]

I had one of the Squier Tele Custom's with the Duncan designed P-90's. The guitar was solid. The pickups were fantastic. At $229 it might make a great addition to your woodpile (you'd have budget left over for a real case).... The Squire with the Duncan P-90's is a great little guitar.

If I wanted to add another guitar in my "stable", the Tele Custom II is, definitely, something to consider...seriously!

[RedRain]

Peavey Reactore AX model is a decent "gigable" Tele type guitar. You can find them for under $300 used.

[frank thomson]

You can get a good used MIM Tele Standard for $200 or less if you look around.

$200? (cheap bastard!)

.....i was gonna say $250

or like M said, raise the bar a little and you get a lot more

[Plugger]

I had one of the Squier Tele Custom's with the Duncan designed P-90's. The guitar was solid. The pickups were fantastic. At $229 it might make a great addition to your woodpile (you'd have budget left over for a real case). I had the blonde one and it was very nice.

I was loving the P-90 sound so much that I bought a PRS Soapbar Singlecut. The Squire with the Duncan P-90's is a great little guitar.

I played one of these Squire Teles today... I was interested in it because I've been digging P90s lately.

Sadly I must report this particular guitar was the worst POS I've played in a long, long time. Made in Indonesia. Neck like a baseball bat, bad fit and finish all around, and the action was err--, well, "unbelievably bad" should cover it. And it wasn't just set-up. It felt like the frets hadn't been filed at all.

I've gotten very used to being pleasantly surprised when trying out good, cheap, guitars obviously. This reminds of what cheap guitars were like twenty years ago. A real "time machine" in that sense.

Just as a reality check I picked up and played a MIM tele standard immediately afterwards. Nice guitar, as you'd expect.

What really surprised me is that my son has two entry-level made-in-Indonesia Ibanez guitars that are really quite decent, playable guitars, that each sell new for about half the price of the Squier tele. So it's not that they can't make a decently playable guitar in Indonesia.

Checking out the other side of the store, I then went on to play some more expensive guitars -- an SG Standard, a LP 1960 RI, a new Firebird V, and Flying V 1967 RI.

Of these, I liked the most expensive (LP 1960 RI) and the least expensive (Flying V 1967 RI) the best. The Firebird was OK, but nothing special, while the SG left me distinctly underwhelmed. On further enquiry, I found out that both the LP and V were equipped with the same pickup set -- 496R and 500T. These are relatively hot ceramics. The SG had the tamer 490R and 498T. Just when I was convincing myself I was liking the cooler classic PAF style alnico humbuckers... all very confusing.

What does this all mean? For me, it means you just can't buy anything on spec. The name on the headstock means nothing. The price means nothing. The manufacturers published specs mean nothing.

The only reliable thing is what your fingers and ears tell you when play a guitar. If anyone can tell me differently and set me straight, I'd be very pleased...

-Mark

[frank thomson]

"What does this all mean? For me, it means you just can't buy anything on spec. The name on the headstock means nothing. The price means nothing. The manufacturers published specs mean nothing.

The only reliable thing is what your fingers and ears tell you when play a guitar. If anyone can tell me differently and set me straight, I'd be very pleased...

-Mark"

no, you about nailed it.

[tuberattler]

I'm glad to see someone come out and say that..nice job Mark/Plugger.

I lucked out years ago and got a really nice guitar off the net. Then two years ago I bought a LP Jr w/p-90's off fleabay. The guitar was nothing as I expected, the heavyist guitar I've ever owned..Had to do a bunch of adjustment work just to get it playable. Bottom line never did like that guitar and ended up trading it off.

I agree that in today's musical intrument invironment you must have the guitar or instrument in hand none of the hype/advertising means nothing to the consumer, just a bit of biased information. This is especially true when spending good money in excess of say $400 or $500 or more.

I will admit that I've bought some nice cheap guitars off the net which is a gamble but both of them are awesome in fact I just bought another one (Rondo music) a 335 clone. The cheap Fenders made in Indoniesia and so forth are a joke. For the same money you can buy Korean or Chinese instruments that blow them away. Fender must be making big profit margins on these instruments.

There's always been quality and sound differences in guitars of the same make and model but the cheap ones have huge differences from example to example of the same make & model.

[telecast]

I agree with all of that, however, I will add that the current crop of MIM and US Fenders are probably the most consistent I've ever seen. It's rare you pick up a bad one. If you have to mail-order, these would be your safest shot.

[xStonr]

For under $300, consider the Squire, used MIM, look at the Agiles over at Rondo.

[BradKM]

All good suggestions above. I'll add Fernandes to the list, if you can find them.

For a while Samick was making some very nice Tele clones, too...I had two very nice ones pass through two different music stores I was working at in the mid 90's before the name and the fact that they were building an incredible amount of rebranded guitars for major manufacturers was out. At the same time, they were making tons of guitars at every price point, so there were some great ones and some lousy ones, so that's a play-before-you-pay situation.