Telecaster Options

Glad you're happy with it.

I don't know what my bias is against thinlines. I guess the way I grew up, I always associated teles in general, and thinlines in particular, with old-school country music.

And for the most part, I f'ing hate old-school country music, Hank Sr. notwithstanding.

There's a whole boatload of aftermarket tele-sized pickups out there, so have fun.
 
I guess we all develop our own perceptions of guitar types/brands as we progress through life. Personally I got handed a few really awful strats when younger and first bought one earlier this year due to those experiences, daft really. Just always seemed that the hardware on LP's ect looked and felt so much more robust. Plus the fatter sound was more to my liking mainly because the crappy amps we played through responded better to those thicker sounding guitars.

Nowadays, I'm a lot more open minded and realise that a good number of people know more than I about a lot of things. One can play old school country music on a Jem, having dialed in an appropriate amp tone. Likewise I've played heavy rock on a 335 with flatwounds. If I find a thinline which grabs me I'll probably get it, having played the solid one I got two weeks ago a fair bit. It'll do pretty much anything I want with a few tweaks of the amp. I played some customs while arriving at my choice and found a massive tonal difference between the single coils. The ones on my tele are very bright and transparent with everything turned full on on the guitar in a good way. Some of the specially wound identical looking pickups on the custom models had totally different characteristics. I generally only swap things on guitars that are not great instruments in the first place. I avoid those guitars when buying now with the benefit of experience, so if I get a thinline it'll be because I think it's the dogs just as it left the factory.
 
This is along the lines of what I have in mind for a thinline, especially the second track. There are a couple of tele's used to pretty good effect.

 
good stuff - congrats on the new guitar! I've never owned an electric Fender guitar (and the acoustic I had became a pile of toothpicks more or less, and I do have a Mexican P Bass that I love) but the last few years I've been starting to warm up to the possibility of a Tele, or maybe a Mustang or Jaguar. But not a strat.
 
Well antichef, personally I'm loving the first tele I bought and wish I'd got one years ago. And as for the country assumption with the thinline, I scoured the UK for something out of the ordinary, drove a lot of miles and played a shed full. Having been totally chuffed with the deluxe, I wanted something to compliment rather than duplicate the sound of the pickups I already have. Oddly enough the answer turned up a 30 minute drive from home, should have started there instead of looking everywhere else. As it happens the one I found was the only new unused one of its type for sale pretty much anywhere. The retailer chooses his mid to top end guitars personally and being tucked out of the way and obviously at a point in life where it's love more than a pay packet. We danced around a deal for a bit after I'd got a grasp of the instrument's sound and eventually shook on it. I shouldn't have but I'm weak in such situations. I won't be buying any more for a while. The neck is birdseye and the tuners are the Fender Schaller Elite Gold and Pearl like SRV used. It'll play country if required, it'll also do a whole lot more.

Tele2A.jpg
 
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