Show me your Telecasters

[Worblehat]

I know this is an SG forum but I also know that there are a lot of people here who appreciate their Teles, too. And as the tele bug has bitten me lately I would like to see yours! Why do you like them?

I actually got my first Tele yesterday as a birthday gift from my girlfriend. I was eyeballing the squier and mexican teles for quite some time and recently I started my quest to learn chicken picking (been playing mainly hard rock and blues before) which is loads of fun. Haven't been practicing as eagerly for a long time. And sure, you can play everything on an SG but now I was craving for that twang that only a real Telecaster can provide. So finally I had a reason to get a new guitar

So here it is. A 2021 Fender Player Telecaster in Tidepool blue. I was also considering a classic butterscotch blond but apparently I just like blue guitars. In person it is very similar to the Pelham Blue of my SG. Just a little bit greener which I really like. The tones are fantastic. Classic piercing twang on the bridge and the middle position really surprised me with a very rich, interesting tone that reminds me a bit of position 4 on a Strat. While my SG is the most comfortable guitar you can imagine, the Telecaster feels like what it is: a thick plank of wood hanging from your shoulders. But I somehow like the different feel and it plays great!

 

[donepearce]

This is mine. It was made for me by a local luthier - OK, I was visiting and he had it almost complete, so I said I would take it off him if he finished it to my specs. So, differences to a standard Tele are:
It has a zero fret
It has a Strat-style belly carve round the back.
And then my own subsequent mod:
It has an extra switch that lets me select the value of the tone cap from six options

 

[Worblehat]

Nice one! I like the look of Teles with natural body finish or transparent finishes that let you see the wood grain. In my budget range there was not much like this available though.

 

[AngelDeVille]

 

[MR D]

OH WOW, the middle picture is what I'd get after, SWEET !

I do not have one BUT, I do look around sometimes and IF I could find a Blonde one with a Gibson Humbucker in the Neck position, like Keef's Micawber and if I really got lucky, w/Rosewood slate FB.....I'd pounce on it...A Super-Tele ?
Closest thing I have to a Telecaster is a Firebird and, BION it can get close @ the middle toggle position, like on 'She's So Cold'.

 

[Bob L]

I have two. The one on the left is a 50s MIM. The one on the right is a CS Nocaster.

 

[plankton]

I recently built a partscaster Tele after getting my feet wet with a secondhand Harley Benton. It was my first partscaster build and it turned out really well.

 

[Decadent Dan]

Here’s a 24 3/4” scale Squier Tele neck on a wood chisel box. I wanted a cigar box vibe but 6 strings and frets. It plays easy and doesn’t sound bad. The neck and bridge are attached to the same piece of oak. People love it or hate it lol

 

[Worblehat]

Nice to see that much variation. So many configurations available and if that is not enough you can just built you own from parts.
Love that cigar box tele!

 

[NMA]

I have the ugliest guitar ever manufactured - the Joe Strummer signature Tele. It's a copy of a '66 Telecaster, but "uglified" to look like Joe's:

The guitar does what a Tele does....but it also has a rip-roaring, very savage tone in the bridge position. This Telecaster comes with the vintage 1960s parts and specs and I do believe that makes a difference. I've played other Teles and they are great, but this Strummer model really has a bite that is extraordinary. Nasty as hell.

 

[No Talent]

In April - May of this year I built a Tele out of mostly Fender parts (except the neck which is an All Parts style Japanese neck of unknown origin.) After pricing a similar model on the Fender website I was able to build one for just over half with almost identical parts. My first partscaster build, or guitar build of any kind and it came out awesome.

I still need to level the frets but haven't wanted to invest the time and money in the tools yet since it plays pretty well at the moment. This thing has more sound, sustain, and body vibration than any other tele I have picked up in the store in the last year or more.

Parts list:

Fender MIM Telecaster Candy Apple Red Body - $237.99
Unbranded Japanese Maple/Rosewood board Neck off of Reverb - $106.95
Fender Highway 1 Bridge - $31.00
Fender Control Plate - $13.59
FenderPickguard Screws (24) - $4.99
Fender String Ferrules - $9.80
Fender 8 hole 3 ply Parchment Pickguard - $15
Fender Telecaster Barrel Switch tips (2) - $7.99
Fender Neckplate - $10.49
Fender Precision Knurled Knobs - $13.89
Fender Locking Tuners - $48.99
Fender Pure Vintage 64 pickup set - $109
Kelling Sound Wiring Harness (Solderless Tele Wiring Harness 3 Way Switch CTS Split shaft Orange Drop .047) - $49.68
Electrosocket Jackplate - $8.32
Vintage Forge Strap buttons (with felt pads) - $8.79
4-40 Neck Pickup screws - $0.17

Total = $676.64

 

[Chuteboxehero]

This is the only Tele I've had recently. It's an 8502 ash body from the mid 00s. It's a little heavy and has a thick neck but sounds great.

 

[Torren61]

This guitar was one I picked up from a friend. Redwood body, maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, standard tuners, custom pickups from an unknown builder. Neither of us knows who originally made it.

This is what it looked like on the day I bought it:

 

[Torren61]

I installed locking Kluson tuners, Schaller strap locks, pearloid pickguard, solderless Mojo Tone wiring harness, Earvana nut, Tru Oil finish, made in USA neck plate, aged nickel knobs and control plate, black switch tip and Custom headstock decal. Electric is just a name I decided on. It's an "Electric" guitar. The HCR stands for "Humboldt County Redwood" 2019 is the year.

Here's what it looks like now:



















Here it is with the Tru Oil finish:

 

[Torren61]

Here's a cool Japanese Tele. It's a Greco. These particular ones are REALLY nice. Maple top with maple neck with ebony fingerboard. They were top of the line when they were new. I got this one pretty cheap from a CL seller in San Francisco.

 

[Torren61]

I've always liked Brian May and I've always wanted a true Red Special replica but i never had the money to get a proper one so I decided to make a Red Special Tele tribute. I built/assembled this one with the help from SF Guitarworks in San Francisco. They lined up the neck, routed for the pickups and installed the six-pence.

It's a birdseye maple top over a mahogany back body that I got from an eBay seller. Modeled from a '69 Thinline Telecaster. The neck is a Warmoth bloodwood with ebony fingerboard. Kluson locking tuners, Earvana nut, Schaller strap locks, Adeson Brian May spec Burns TriSonic pickups (Adeson makes the pickups in the best Red Special replicas), Stetsbar bridge, Q Parts knobs, volume and tone are the same brand and spec as the ones Brian May used in his Red Special, correct capacitor, six two way toggle switches... three for on/off and three for phasing each pickup, custom WD pickguard, SwitchCraft output jack and an inlaid six-pence coin. Finished in tung oil over my mix of red dye and amber.

 

[donepearce]

You've got a thinline? Very nice. To celebrate here's what I consider the ultimate thinline performance. Enjoy

 

[Torren61]

You've got a thinline? Very nice. To celebrate here's what I consider the ultimate thinline performance. Enjoy

Well, it's a Thinline-style body. But nothing really like a Thinline other than that. It's a Brian May Red Special Tribute Tele.

 

[donepearce]

Well, it's a Thinline-style body. But nothing really like a Thinline other than that. It's a Brian May Red Special Tribute Tele.

Details...

 

[Torren61]

Details...

I posted everything, lol. It's the red thinline-style tele thing.