Gettin a Fender Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster this week. Very excited - and don't cringe because it's a Squier. This guitar is mean and suprisingly amazing. I'm after the look and sound of a telecaster and not the name so to speak, and this less costly version embraces it! Check it out if you want.
Anyone have any thoughts on this guitar or good bluesy tone guitars in general?
Most of my friends with Tele's have swapped out the pups for Seymour Duncan's. The stock pups are usually bright, and twangy, but it's a tele!
P90 soapbars rule for blues! IMO, there's nothing better for fat punchy blues! I own a Korean made PRS SE Soapbar II with stock Duncan P90's that sound as good as my buddie's American made PRS Soapbar.
I've seen a few lists of the best guitars under $350 and the Squier Classics are on top. When I worked in a music store in the 80's we were impressed enough with the Squires that a bunch of us bought up some of our initial stock when they first came in. The necks were nice and the fit and finish was on par with the US gear. Those ones were actually Japanese made. I bought a Blue Paisley Tele, wish I still had it. A pickup swap and you should have a fine guitar. I don't own an electric currently but grab my daughters Daisy Rock from time to time. Too much of a Rock/ Metal guitar for me now. I tried out one of the PRS Soapbar SE's, very impressive, I do like P90's for Blues tones.
My #1 for a long time was a Squier Standard Strat. It compared favorably to a band member's MIM. Still pick it up fairly often. Haven't done anything to it but will have to change the pots soon as they are getting pretty scratchy. Have been gassing for a Tele myself. When I pull the trigger it will probably be a Squier model of some sort.
It all depends on your instrument set up and the sound you want. The tele has its ups and downs, like any guitar. I played a 63 jazzmaster for about 25 years. I got it via stevie vaughn, who got it from lonnie mack when they recorded an lp together. I love that guitar in a band format. the jazzmaster is the deepest of the fender line, but is too thin with my 1 man band set up. I have gone to a tokai copy of a 335. It has humbuckers and gives a real deep tone which I need because there is no bass guitar.
I also have an old 50's, no name, f hole archtop, single humbucker, a 1930's kalamazoo acoustic, 1940 national steel style O, and a one of a kind aluminum resonator with a funky teisco like pu. All these are pretty versitle, but all have their limitations
Albert Collins and Roy Buchanan both had me play theirs. I was so excited to get "their sound" and was disapointed to find I sounded like plain old me. Guitars are going to sound like you if have a style, or a generic mess usually with pedals and distortion trying to create one, if you don't have your own sound. My mentor, Louisiana Red proves that just about every gig. He will play any guitar and make it sound like he wants. Walter
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " No one can control anyone, but anyone can let someone control them"
Walter's comment on the sound you want reminded me. The CV50 has low output pups and is more in the country twang territory. The CVC (Custom) has higher output pups, rumored to be Toneriders, and would be better for a more raw blues/rock sound.
Ive checked out some of nicer Squire's and they look nice for the money,Ive had 2 mexican fender strats that cost a little more,but were basically the same guitar as the nice squires,at a 150$ more though.yea i would get the squire over a mex fender strat if i was to get one today
Last Edited by on Apr 04, 2010 4:03 PM
Yo my Bro has a collection of vintage Fender JAP Strats and Telecasters, man you guys can pick them up for $300 or $500 bucks over your way, Go Vintage Jap Twin Humbuckers, But my Friend has a Mex Strat it rocks so it's a matter of Tast Bro :)
I have an 87 Jap Squire Strat with a maple neck that still plays nicer than the newer American strats. Back in 87 all the regular Strats and the Squire Strats were made in the same factory in Japan by the same workers and there wasn't much of a difference other than the price. For Tele's, I don't see the point in putting humbuckers if you are looking for the classic Tele sound. Walter...it is so cool that you got to play Roy Buchanan's tele. I have seen him live several times and his "Livestock" album is a classic. One of my idols for sure.
You can get anything from a cool jazz box vibe through to "need a shower" raunchy blues on a Tele. For examples of the latter, check out the Red Devils "Live at King King" for some nasty Tele sounds.
I have a CS Nocaster and love it. Pick ups are stock and it just growls through a tweed amp. My other guitar is a '65 ES330 - another beast for jazz and blues.
Oh, as indicated above above, this guy can't be beat:
People talk about about harp players who only use the 1st 6 holes...well I never understood why the Iceman used that darn capo. In this video, he basically is cutting off have the guitar neck. He's like harp players who rely on a limited bag of licks that he can get using that capo. He's a great player but he is similar to Buddy Guy in that his real forte is showmanship. In my opinion, when you can't see him and are just listening to him on a record...the actual playing isn't alway that exciting.
Joch230: Roy was a very nice guy who really didn't like show business. I was just starting out on guitar and he gave me his and told me to play it. He sat down with me and I did what little I knew. He smiled and told me to keep at it. I got to know him over the years and was with him and albert at thier carnige hall show with Lonnie mack. Albert did some phrasing that was very unique and his tone was one of a kind. I opened for him about a dozen times from coast to coast. He use to get me up on my harp. I never would play a guitar onstage with him. His tone was so fat there was no topping it. Very few people ever find such a definitive tone. Walter
here is a song that I recorded at a house party in my living room with my old drummer katherine and doug on bass. My neigbor was getting audited and gave me his tele to hold onto until it blew over. I got to thinking of roy and albert when I played it. I use a thd hotplate to keep the volume down and tone wherever I want. I played this tele through a black face deluxe reverb and used no vocal amplification. We were that quiet. You don't have to blast anymore to get tone out of amp. I never could sound like either roy or albert, but they influenced me a lot. This song is dedicated to those 2 guys albert and roy on my mind
---------- walter tore's spontobeat - a real one man band and over 1 million spontaneously created songs and growing. I record about 300 full length cds a year. " No one can control anyone, but anyone can let someone control them"
I play a squire strat and a squire standard jazz bass from several years ago. They are great guitars. The bass has one of the best overall tones and variety of tones of any i've heard. They are both rock solid reliable, good playing good sounding guitars....not for the price, just good guitars.
Walter. I listened to your song...had the Roy flamenco picking licks, the running your finger up the string past the end of the neck up by the pick-up lick...not sure if you did a volume swell at the beginning or not. Roy was quiet but he was still a decent showman. He always did the one handed solo while drinking a beer stunt. You didn't mention Danny Gatton in your list of dead Tele player greats. Another crazy talent gone to waste.
Albert Collins had unique angular phrasing and a deep sense of groove. He was also known as the Dean of the headcutters. No one could beat Collins in a headcutting competition, including many famous cats who acknowledged they had their asses handed to them on stage before and after they became famous - including SRV.
He had his own unique tuning and just moved it around. It meant he could do some stuff that isn't so easy in standard tuning, though guys like Bobby Radcliff and Anson Funderburgh do respectable imitations.
Who cares about the technicalities? He created funky blues with a groove as deep as the ocean, and could play staccato angular stuff that blew other guys off the stage and is impossible to nail.
Listen to the music, forget about whether Albert was overblowing or lip blocking.
Cjames, Squiers are respectable guitars.Good for you. Post a sound clip when you get it. The Squier is a respectable guitar and nothing to be appologizing for.
The stock Pups will work fine to start but I venture a guess that you will be upgrading in the near future as the tone may start to sound thin or twangy. Of course that will depend on how the body wood reacts. Body wood makes a big difference in tone. I have no experience with Squier Classic 50's and that they are the only Pine body guitars I am aware of. The original Tele tone came in large part due to the Pup windings and the Ash body. They also closely watched the density of the wood to make sure that they were all consistently the same and the cutouts were of a particular size and depth. I would be interested to know how this sounds. The pine may soften some of the twang out of the tone and that may really make this a nice sounding guitar.
As I assume from your post that this may be your first guitar, Good Luck and welcome to the world of guitar players. It'll take you on a great journey I'm sure.
As for Bluesy guitar tones..... Personal taste. BB's favourite is the hollow body Gibsons; Buddy, Eric and Stevie went for Strats. Muddy was a Tele, all set the bar for blues tones and sound.
My personal electric favourite is the Strat but, when the sound really counts, Play Acoustic.
EV, your right for the most part he played in an open Fm tuning. In the booklet from the CD Ice Pickin, it's states that Albert tuned to a "D minor D-A-D-F-A-D" Tuning.
It dosen't matter!
I was lucky enough to see him in 1990 at a little outdoor ampitheatre on Lake Tahoe. Even though there was only a couple hundred people, he performed like it was Madison Square Garden.
Its a cool guitar for sure. Squiers are hit and miss though. If you are buying it from Guitar Center make sure the neck isn't warped and do not take their word for it!!! They will screw you over.
haha xharp! i'm offended!...first guitar pshhh. been playing guitar for 6 years now, but its my fourth guitar. I relied mostly on a schecter blackjack for the majority of my ameteur/professional playing which is an excellent allround guitar.
I can't afford to spend copious amounts on equipment at this stage though. In saying that, got the guitar today - sounds fantastic. I compared to both cheaper and more expensive fender tele/strat standards and it actually sounded nicer to me. Not only did it look better, but it had an amount of twang i was looking for while retaining a warm tone still. The american std tele seemed a little more warmer but that's what you get for your money.
Very happy however, I checked it out thoroughly in the store - finish, setup etc. general stuff. All pretty nice and in some ways unexpected from a squier. Pups are lower output but it's what I wanted so can't complain. I might change the bridge a little later but the neck is awesome. I've only had experience with ash and mahogany bodies but the Pine seems like it does the job. I know it's much softer than ash but i don't intend to knock it on anything (famous last words)
Good on ya' CJames. Sounds like you've got a nice axe there.
Fender has worked out their quality issues. There was a time that the offshore (including Mexico) displayed concerns but with some larger names promoting, the quality had to, and did, respond. It doesn't surprise me that you find the fit, finish and playbility to rival the American series.
Likely the pine is well protected by the finish, anyways a few knocks in the body can be considered seasoning.
You're comment on the p/ups is interesting, "Pups are lower output but it's what I wanted so can't complain."
Seems to me that the same pickups are used in this as in the American Classic series. Should be a great sound.
I play a Mexican Fender Strat(my first electric, a 21st birthday gift) with strings running from gauge 11, get a lovely deep tone from it, great sustain for a strat, and a brilliant array of sounds to work with, as with most strats. It stands up really well to most USA strats tonewise, plays quite nicely too.
I also got given a Chinese made Squier Strat(another 21st birthday present,received just hours after the Fender!) that sounds just great IMO,can get a near identical tone to Hendrix playing along with the record version of Red House, that's stock pups, playing through a Marshall Valvestate 100 watt.
I have played some god-awful Squiers, but I got lucky with the one I have - definitely wouldn't shit on the brand!
