Telecaster Custom Review

The Telecaster Custom is a value priced version of one of the most popular Telecaster designs. It's a real Fender designed Tele and this limited run instrument captures a classic sought-after look at an outstanding value.

Features:	8.5
Sound:	7.8
Action:	6.5
Reliability:	7.5
Impression:	8.3
Overall rating:	7.7
Users rating:	7.2
Comments:	30

overall: 6.2

Featured review by: AMERICAN PRICK, on september 29, 2005

Purchased from: Rimmers

Features: This guitar is built in Indonesia. It has 22 frets, 21 of them accessible for comfortable playing. With a solid top, I think. Chrome machine heads and a black Tele Custom '71 style body, black Enamel finish and Tele style bridge. Two volume and two tone controls (three way). The two pickups are Duncan designed but they are too sensitive picking up most electrical devices. // 7

Sound: The guitar picks up most electronic devices an especially computer, the guitar is supposed to be a rock and roll guitar but I'm not sure. It is noisy on most setting and this can be especially annoying if you have a descent amp, the guitar is capable of good distortion. // 6

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar is set up poorly in the factory with poor strings the wiring can be off. The tension should be immediately lowered for easier playing. There are no obvious flaws except for the wiring, which can mean it can be poorly earthed. // 6

Reliability & Durability: The guitar seems solid to an extent but the guitar could not gig it is just not up to it. I don't think this guitar will last for more than 2 or 3 years before it falls apart. // 5

Impression: The thing I really love about this guitar is the body shape and the fact it's not a Strat. I would not recommend this guitar really, unless you had a descent pair of hum buckers installed. If this guitar were stolen, I would probably save up for a Gibson. // 7

overall: 9.2

Reviewed by: jollyhols, on october 03, 2005

Price paid: $ 315

Purchased from: Lorient France

Features: // 10

Sound: Various styles, soft rock thru blues to pop-rock. This guitar is played through either a Valvetronix ADVT30 or a Line6 Spider II 210, or direct into a Zoom MRS-1608 desk. Occasionally boost it thru a Vox Tonelab SE. Contrary to the previous review I have no problem at all with noise or interference from other electrical equipment, quite the opposite, the sound is clear and clean though a bit lacking in the brighter tones. On some settings produces an excellent "jazz" tone and a great bluesy tone. Wouldn't recommend it for anything metal or thrash-like though. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: Set up was perfect from the dealer, no complaints whatsoever. The maple neck is excellent and the guitar has a super-slick action. // 10

Reliability & Durability: The construction is robust and everything seems built to last. I didn't buy it to gig with as I use other guitars for this, just to use at home in my small studio. However, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't survive fairly rigourous treatment. // 8

Impression: Let's be fair, this is a budget instrument. I actually bought it on a whim after trying it in the store (to kill half an hour waiting for the wife to finish her shopping) and was amazed by the tonal quality and playability which is way above its price-tag. I have a reasonable collection of "upmarket" guitars costing much more (Starfields, Godin, Gibson, Fender) and whilst this obviously isn't as good it is not as far behind as the price would lead you believe. I would definitely replace it if stolen but only after testing another as I suspect there are quality variances between each individual instrument. I think you'd be hard pushed to get better value for money therefore overall it has be be a "10." // 10

overall: 8.6

Reviewed by: jeffo46, on december 14, 2007

Purchased from: Musician's Friend

Features: Mine is a Indonesian made model, and as far as the year, I'm not sure. I would have to look it up on Fender's web site. I believe that this has a agathis body, along with 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, and 2 humbuckers.The brudge on it is a set bridge and has a 5 way pup selector switch. It has that classic Telecaster style, along with a beautiful, black finish. // 9

Sound: As soon as this came in, I did a truss rod adjustment, tightened the hardware, and did a intonation check on it. Once I did all of that, I pluggeed it into my Peavey Studio Pro 112, and it produced a nice twangy tele tone on the clean channel, and once I turned on the distortion channel, it just tore the place up.These pups on this guitar can sing, and I don't see why some people feel the need to knock this guitar. I think it's one of the best that Squier has ever made. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: The action on this was very high off the neck, and the pickups weren't adjusted properly, either. My model doesn't have any flaws like frets sticking out, lousy wiring, etc. I must've gotten one of the good ones, because aside from the set up and slight adjustments that I did, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with this guitar. I did have to put it back in the box though, because this is a X-mas present from my wife and I don't want her to know that I already tried it out. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I believe that I could use this at a gig without having any problems at all. I am intending to use this as a backup to my 2006 MIM Sunburst Strat, anyway. I double checked everything, and it seems that there are no flaws or problems to worry about with this fine guitar. I believe that I could use just this at a gig without any backup. // 9

Impression: I play classic rock and blues, and this is a great guitar for that genre of music. If this was stolen or lost I would definately get another one. I have been playing for over 35 years and this is a welcome addition to my arsenal, which now consists of a 2006 MIM Fender Sunburst Strat, a heavily modded Epiphone LP Jr., a 1997 USA made, Peavey Studio Pro 112, and a DigiTech RP50. I think that's more than enough gear for now. // 9

overall: 6.4

Reviewed by: rainman1987, on july 17, 2007

Price paid: $ 80

Purchased from: Private Seller

Features: This is a 2007 Squier Telecaster Custom, which Fender contracted out to Cort to be made in Indonesia. It's has a black body, with a black pick guard, which boasts two decent sounding humbuckers, and 2 volumes, and 2 tones. This Tele has a traditional 22 medium fret neck with a maple neck and fretboard. The bridge is a Standard Strat-style hard tail bridge with Die-Cast saddles. It came with no-name tuners that held tune well. Nothing really special, just all the Standard features you would expect from a guitar in it's price range. // 8

Sound: The Tele Custom is different in that it has humbuckers instead of single coil pick ups. It's puts out a good, clean, and warm sound that you expect from humbuckers. I mostly use just a 20 watt Rocktron amp and It sounds really clean and warm. There is no crackling from the pots, which is a plus. Every once and a while I'll throw a Boss BD-2 pedal into the mix. I don't plan on replacing the pick ups any time soon. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: When I received from the seller, I could see he was playing on a factory set-up. The action at the nut was really high, the intonation was way off, the neck has a terrible bow in it, the pick ups were seated too low, and the saddle heights did not follow the radius of the neck. I put about 2 hours of work into it and got it playing really good. The head guitar tech at the shop I work at said it plays more like a Fender than a Squire now. I replaced the tuners with some slightly better ones I had laying around my house, and replaces the cheap plastic nut with a self-lubricating grafite nut. // 1

Reliability & Durability: I have been playing a a hobbyist for about 5 years now and I don't play Live stuff too much. But, this guitar does feel pretty well built (it's built by Cort, probably one of the best in the trade). The hardware it very sturdy and snug. The body and neck are made of good wood. It's a pretty heavy guitar. I wouldn't say I would depend on it yet, I want to pull the pick guard off and take a look a the wiring, to make sure everything it up to snuff. The finish a good. It's just a traditional gross black, nothing special. // 7

Impression: After getting this guitar up to playing condition, I was moderately impressed with how it played and how it felt. I have been playing on singles coils for a while and it's nice to get back on a guitar with a little umf behind it. I like this guitar because it looks a little different compared to most of Squiers and other company's guitars. I also own a Cort G-200 and I have owned a Greg Bennett AV3 and a Vintage DeArmond S-65. If it was stolen, I wouldn't by it again. I probably wouldn't be able to find one for $80.00 again (bought it off of a noob). One thing I wish it had stock was coil tab, so you could go from single coils to humbuckers (future project). // 8

overall: 8.2

Reviewed by: boboguitar, on august 17, 2006

Price paid: $ 200

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: // 9

Sound: I like to play mostly hard rock kind of stuff. I can play it fine with this guitar, as it distorts very well. I'm using with a Roland Micro Cube and a Boss MT-2 pedal. It can get pretty loud if you turn the volume high. It can make mostly hard rock and metal sound if you use distortion with it, which this guitar seems to be made for. It can't make a lot of sounds, but a pretty good amount. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: This guitar seems like it's pretty well put together. The only problem I see is the volume and tone knobs, which are pretty loose (it might just be the one I have). The action is great, and so were the pickups. As far as I can tell I didn't see any major flaws (except the plug in which you'll read about later). It seemed like everything was in line to me. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This guitar is pretty durable, except for the plug in. One day I was taking my cord out and the insides of the guitar pretty much just fell out along with it, so I had to get it replaced. Then, after I'd been playing the new one for about a week, the plug in came out again. Luckily hardly anything came out this time, so it was fixable. That problem is the only reason I wouldn't gig with it, unless I had a backup that wasn't this guitar. Other than the plug in, everything seems built to last. // 7

Impression: I've been playing for around a year through a Roland Micro Cube. I play mostly hard rock type stuff, which I can play perfectly with this things, because it distorts nicely. The only thing I wish it had was a whammy bar, but it doesn't seem to be made for one. If this guitar was stolen I would probably buy it again, but I'd try some other guitars too. // 8

overall: 7.8

Reviewed by: SumFan98, on august 24, 2006

Price paid: $ 250

Purchased from: Sam Ash

Features: Made in Indonesia, this Squier is probably the best cheap guitar I've ever played. It sticks to the traditional 22 fret count, but you can reach all frets with ease and comfort. Being a Telecaster, you can play for hours sitting, or standing and not have to adjust in your seat or worry about it sliding out of your lap. It doesn't have locking tuners, but hey, if you're too lazy to tune your guitar every now and then, that's your problem. I've never found it taking up too much time. Equipped with dual humbuckers, expect to get a strong, clean-cut tone. I'd definitely buy some strap locks if you plan on performing while standing. The strap buttons tend to let your strap slip off on occasion. // 8

Sound: I play anything, but I normally find this to be best used for punk or blues. I took off the stock strings and put Elixir Polywebs, and now it plays clear as a bell. It even sounds good on my Guitar Research VL-20, for whenever I decide to play a nice soft concert for the grandparents. I use the DigiTech RP-80 Guitar Modeler/Processor. There's a few effects that could use some tweaking to fit this guitar, but I find most of them quality to perform them. It may just be the strings, but it doesn't give a good sound when you use harmonics or do a pick scrape. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar is a beautiful guitar in general. If you keep it pampered, you will always catch some eyes when you whip it out in public. The black body with the black pickguard, accented with a white trim, tends to give this Tele an intimidating look. But, I did encounter a few flaws. The input jack tends to come loose and wiggle around, and occasionally you will lose sound. Since it is a Tele, the input jack is inside the guitar and you have to take it apart to fix it, causing a hassle. Another flaw I found was that the 2nd fret on the D string has a real raunchy sound to it. Like nails on a chalk board. When played alone, it sticks out like a sore thumb. But, if you're just doing a power chord, the noise gets drowned out. This is probably just a flaw on my particular guitar. If you can, test out all the frets before you purchase. But you should do that with any guitar. // 7

Reliability & Durability: I think this could definitely be a good guitar to play live. I would definitely buy strap locks, as mentioned earlier. Also, be sure to tighten the input jack before you take it up onstage. You don't want it to fall out on you and have to stop the show. Always polish it, and you should be in good shape. I would have to say that you should definitely bring a backup guitar. It's a good guitar, but it's not good enough to second-guess it. // 9

Impression: My band typically plays alternative, rock and punk. This guitar can stand up to it. If you think it's too plain, just slap some stickers on it and cover it with laminate. It's only 250 bucks. I do wish I had checked all the frets before buying this. Well, that about sums it up. It definitely provides a lot of bang for the buck. Keep it clean, do routine maintenance, and prepare yourself for a long lasting relationship with your Tele. // 8

Comments

[Andy the rocker]

One of my band members has this guitar, it sounds awesome when he plays it, makes whatever he plays sound like its the record (through a fender). But it looks ace as well, I would have definately bought one if I had the chance.

[Kurt Morgan]

sure you would have brrrrr

[OttovanZanten]

i like it, a friend of mine just bought 1 for 150 euro's, second handed and it sounds good with distortion.

[Prince$tone]

i have this guitar i got it for £179.99

[drummerlad]

yes-this is the guitar i am probably goin to buy...thanks for the reviews. They were helpful. Are there any other flaws in them?

[SumFan98]

Nope, not really.

Will this be your first guitar?

[chillie pepper]

im torn between this and an Epiphone les Paul

[thev90]

this is a great guitar i think, with effects or alone through my amp it sounds great.

[Life Wasted]

I LOVE THIS GUITAR

[JustMalcolm]

INDONESIA!?

[Ibanezax372]

sex is fun

[flyingmarlin]

I usually dislike squires, But, i LOVE to play my friends telecaster custom! Its soo good! If it weren't for that i wouldn't of bought my fender tele!

[Vanilli704]

chillie pepper wrote:

im torn between this and an Epiphone les Paul

dude, a squier anything is sooo far below the LP.. get the les paul dude, please

[rainman1987]

don't listen to the guitar snob

[mp3stalin]

Vanilli704 wrote:

chillie pepper wrote:

im torn between this and an Epiphone les Paul


dude, a squier anything is sooo far below the LP.. get the les paul dude, please

hate to rain on his parade but squiers are great quality and a fourth the price of a epi. unless you just REALLY like LPs... get this.

[rhcpfan118]

squiers, even affinity series (which is what i have) are decent guitars for beginners right out of the box, sure they're no fenders, but for the price... they're great. i also have an epiphone LP Custom black, and i have to say, it kicks the ass out of any squier i've ever played... but this one seems decent, when i saw a couple of my favorite bands playing i thought i might get one of these, so i'm torn too, but given the chance, i'd go for the epiphone (esp. if it's a custom) unless the other option was def. a custom tele... then i guess for the price, i might go for the tele.

[punkbass481]

squires suck get the epiphone

[rainman1987]

Your a crappy guitar player if you judge how a guitar plays by a word printed on the headstock.

[Blompcube]

punkbass481 wrote:

squires suck get the epiphone

says the guy who can't spell Squier. These are decent guitars. I got mine for £109

[Ali-b912]

well what if someone was to get a custom gibson jimi hendrix psychadelic v, dismantle it, send it to the indonesian squier factory and tell them to make it. afterwards they scrape out gibson and write squier. they sell it for $150. well is it a cheap peice of crap, or is it good. it says squier, so it must suck right?

[Mental Hop]

I'd say a $200 Squier is better than a $200 Epiphone based solely on the fact that all lower-end Epiphones seem to have poor tuners. Although once you get into the $300 price range the Epiphone takes the lead. That doesn't mean I'll switch to Epi, after all I'm a Strat/Tele guy.

[forwhomthebells]

rainman1987 :
Your a crappy guitar player if you judge how a guitar plays by a word printed on the headstock.


Agreed

[alex240993]

i might get one and change it so its like jim roots becaase the pickups dont seem so great (apparently)

[jeffo46]

To Vanilli704,
I wouldn't waste my money on a Epiphone.Squiers are great guitars for the money.I have owned several,and have never encountered any probems with them.

[devinbryndel]

my Squier Standard Fat Strat sounds better than my friends Epi LP Custom so eat that epi fans! haha and we have the same amps so dont blame it on that! i think Squier has somehting good going here! and it's a good guitar to buy and customize and you don't have to be afraid of busting cause it's a cheaper model! so play hard with it! my standard fat is a dream

[tru_harmony]

i just got this guitar last year and the humbuckers rule. It's my first squier, nothing evil in here

[ripjoestrummer]

tru_harmony wrote:

i just got this guitar last year and the humbuckers rule. It's my first squier, nothing evil in here

ditto, I love it

[trivium_rock]

yea ive got this guitar and love it....agh the warmth of the neck pickup with the volume on about 9 and the tone on 4/5 hoents its amazing
(i play blues)

[GaryStack]

I'm a 30-year pro player and recording engineer who has and does own everything from this guitar to 5000-dollar Gibsons... a couple of points...
A: The Epiphones and Squires are as different as the upscale Gibsons and Fenders they're based on, making a comparison virtually MEANINGLESS! Which one would suit you depends FAR more on what style you play and what sound you're looking for.
B: I own the "Custom II" version of this guitar with P-90's, and also have an Epi Dot Deluxe... They BOTH needed proper setup out of the box, and now BOTH play exceptionally well (Even my $4900 Les Paul needed to be properly set-up!) They have quite different sounds, and work well for different styles. Let's put it THIS way... if you're planning to play extremely heavy stuff, get the Epi... if you're more into blues or classic rock, The Tele may be a better bet. I strongly suggest you try the p-90 version, especially if you like that early Elvis Costello kinda 'honk' tone. It also does Rockabilly exceptionally well, and with the p-90's, you can get a TON of great 60's and 70's tones, from classic Beatles (who actually used an EPIPHONE Casino with P-90's for a lot of their mid-career recordings) to that great trashy Neil Young sound.

[thejazzman]

mp3stalin wrote:

Vanilli704 wrote:

chillie pepper wrote:

im torn between this and an Epiphone les Paul


dude, a squier anything is sooo far below the LP.. get the les paul dude, please


hate to rain on his parade but squiers are great quality and a fourth the price of a epi. unless you just REALLY like LPs... get this.

It's great and so is the les paul, but if you play more twangy country, blues, folk and indie stuff, get yourself the telecaster. If you play more blues, rock, metal and jazz, get yourself the les paul.