Thoughts on MIM fender telecaster

[Devilinside]

I'm a gibson guy but lately been kind of jones'ing for a tele. I don't want to tie up a lot of funds in a guitar in this shitty market so was thinking about the Mexican route, but didn't know if they were turds or not

 

[Spaceboy]

If you can, play them first. Fender is making excellent MIM and Asian made guitars right now, but there are still duds floating around. There are some models of MIM, like the Baja, which many Tele guys are preferring over their MIA models.

 

[Devilinside]

Bump

 

[Devilinside]

If you can, play them first. Fender is making excellent MIM and Asian made guitars right now, but there are still duds floating around. There are some models of MIM, like the Baja, which many Tele guys are preferring over their MIA models.

Yeah keep reading about the Baja's but it seems there are almost as much as the MIA tele's

 

[glpg80]

If you can, play them first. Fender is making excellent MIM and Asian made guitars right now, but there are still duds floating around. There are some models of MIM, like the Baja, which many Tele guys are preferring over their MIA models.

+1

I played a few MIM fenders - some have hotter pickups than others. Some sound better or worse disregarding setup quality. All of the fretwork has seemed great though for what they are. No rough spots or fret buzzing.

I will say though, that a MIA fender select absolutely stomps a MIM fender. play, feel, fret dressing, finish, the works. If you can step up to even the MIA standard series it is worth it.

 

[Devilinside]

If you can, play them first. Fender is making excellent MIM and Asian made guitars right now, but there are still duds floating around. There are some models of MIM, like the Baja, which many Tele guys are preferring over their MIA models.

+1

I played a few MIM fenders - some have hotter pickups than others. Some sound better or worse disregarding setup quality. All of the fretwork has seemed great though for what they are. No rough spots or fret buzzing.

I will say though, that a MIA fender select absolutely stomps a MIM fender. play, feel, fret dressing, finish, the works. If you can step up to even the MIA standard series it is worth it.

Yeah trying to get an idea price wise, they are def all over the map

 

[university81]

best thing is really go try out a bunch in the shop, maybe even a squier classic vibe model might surprise you , there's also G&L which make some nice telecasters, i've got a cheapo vintage v52 icon which sounds really good, otherwise MIM teles are fine, the baja is a nice guitar

 

[Bloodrock]

+1 for the Squier Classic Vibe. Yes it has that "word" on the headstock but I picked one up for $250 a while back and its far superior to any of the recent MIM Fender's I've played. A good set of pickups and you've got a great tele for little cash. There's actually an Andertons video on Youtube where the guys blindly compared 3 telecasters. A MIM, A classic vibe, and a USA custom shop, they picked the squire over the custom shop model.

 

[Devilinside]

Cool, thanks guys!
I will check out the classic vibe

 

[Riffraff]

I got the itch for a Tele myself early this year. I had heard good things about the Classic Vibe Squires too but never got around to trying one. I ended up with a MIM Ash Standard BSB. I can't put that guitar down.

 

[Devilinside]

I got the itch for a Tele myself early this year. I had heard good things about the Classic Vibe Squires too but never got around to trying one. I ended up with a MIM Ash Standard BSB. I can't put that guitar down.

I'm so far from being a corksniffer, but the squier name scares me a little. I'm seeing great things said about them though

 

[Kelly]

My son has a MIM Strat. I set it up for him and was surprised at how well it plays. I don't like the pickups, but that's an easy fix.

 

[Zap]

+1 for the Squier Classic Vibe. Yes it has that "word" on the headstock but I picked one up for $250 a while back and its far superior to any of the recent MIM Fender's I've played. A good set of pickups and you've got a great tele for little cash. There's actually an Andertons video on Youtube where the guys blindly compared 3 telecasters. A MIM, A classic vibe, and a USA custom shop, they picked the squire over the custom shop model.

Ugh, not that video again. I call bullshit. A guitarist doesn't play as well and as many guitars as they do without being able to feel the difference between .790 at the first fret and a full inch all the way down the neck. If they really couldn't tell the difference between the neck thicknesses of the Squier and the Nocaster, then they have absolutely no business reviewing guitars.

Keep in mind, they gain nothing by saying that they are different because people's expectations wouldn't change. However, if they say that they all feel the same, then they're encouraging Squier sales by telling consumers the Squier feels the same as a guitar that costs more than ten times as much. How could anyone pass up such a bargain?! It doesn't matter what the prospective buyer of the Nocaster thinks, because their perspective is going to remain unchanged. Somebody who has the money for a CS isn't even going to look at the Squier anyway.

 

[Devilinside]

+1 for the Squier Classic Vibe. Yes it has that "word" on the headstock but I picked one up for $250 a while back and its far superior to any of the recent MIM Fender's I've played. A good set of pickups and you've got a great tele for little cash. There's actually an Andertons video on Youtube where the guys blindly compared 3 telecasters. A MIM, A classic vibe, and a USA custom shop, they picked the squire over the custom shop model.

Ugh, not that video again. I call bullshit. A guitarist doesn't play as well and as many guitars as they do without being able to feel the difference between .790 at the first fret and a full inch all the way down the neck. If they really couldn't tell the difference between the neck thicknesses of the Squier and the Nocaster, then they have absolutely no business reviewing guitars.

Keep in mind, they gain nothing by saying that they are different because people's expectations wouldn't change. However, if they say that they all feel the same, then they're encouraging Squier sales by telling consumers the Squier feels the same as a guitar that costs more than ten times as much. How could anyone pass up such a bargain?! It doesn't matter what the prospective buyer of the Nocaster thinks, because their perspective is going to remain unchanged. Somebody who has the money for a CS isn't even going to look at the Squier anyway.

I def have considered this. I need to play some but I live in a armpit for music gear but Fenders are pretty standard and should be easier to track down

 

[Zap]

+1 for the Squier Classic Vibe. Yes it has that "word" on the headstock but I picked one up for $250 a while back and its far superior to any of the recent MIM Fender's I've played. A good set of pickups and you've got a great tele for little cash. There's actually an Andertons video on Youtube where the guys blindly compared 3 telecasters. A MIM, A classic vibe, and a USA custom shop, they picked the squire over the custom shop model.

Ugh, not that video again. I call bullshit. A guitarist doesn't play as well and as many guitars as they do without being able to feel the difference between .790 at the first fret and a full inch all the way down the neck. If they really couldn't tell the difference between the neck thicknesses of the Squier and the Nocaster, then they have absolutely no business reviewing guitars.

Keep in mind, they gain nothing by saying that they are different because people's expectations wouldn't change. However, if they say that they all feel the same, then they're encouraging Squier sales by telling consumers the Squier feels the same as a guitar that costs more than ten times as much. How could anyone pass up such a bargain?! It doesn't matter what the prospective buyer of the Nocaster thinks, because their perspective is going to remain unchanged. Somebody who has the money for a CS isn't even going to look at the Squier anyway.

I def have considered this. I need to play some but I live in a armpit for music gear but Fenders are pretty standard and should be easier to track down

I've demoed one of the Classic Vibe Telecasters before. It was the model with the Rosewood Fretboard. It was by no means a bad guitar, but the fretwork was not anywhere near as nice as the jobs on the American Series. The neck was really skinny too. If I had a choice between the two, I would pay the extra coin and get a Fender Standard Telecaster. If I had a grand to burn and wanted an American made guitar, then American Standard all the way. Honestly, you can pick those up used pretty cheap.

 

[ibenhad]

Love my MIM Tele. One of the best playing guitars in my collection no BS. Play some and find one that you like. Try and get a string through the body one.