Mexican Teles

JDOD

JDOD

therecordingrebels.com
Played on a bunch of Mexican Teles yesterday. They were really good. They're pretty much half the price of their American Standard counterparts. £1000 quid for something as simple as a telecaster just seems silly. 500 quid for a Mexican is reasonable.

What is the difference between the two really? The fretwork was immaculate on the Mexican ones, is there a pickup difference? the only obvious visual difference was the Fender stamped saddles etc. That's not worth 500 quid to me.

I didn't get to try a Classic Vibe Squire as they didn't have one in stock - anyone got any experience of these?
 
Obviously the difference is where they were manufactured. There are differences in the electronics and the finish is different. Americans sound a bit fuller and a bit brighter. But for 500 quid you could certainly replace the electronics if they WERE a problem for you. If the 500 quid guitars play like you want them to, what difference does a difference make? Both are usually alder with maple neck, body through bridge, etc. etc.
Still, the bottom line: If you like the MIM sound and playability, don't spend the extra.
 
Pickups and electronics are the biggest differences that I'm aware of between the mexican fenders and american fenders. My first run 91 mexican strat has junk in it, but I don't care because strats suck anyway. I actually like the junky mexican pickups. They're less harsh than "good" strat pickups. I replaced the other electronic bits with better stuff.

My guitar hero buddy Chris has a Classic Vibe Squier Strat and he loves it. This is a guy with serious guitar player guitars, and that Classic Vibe makes him happy, so they're probably pretty good.
 
BroKen_H said:
Obviously the difference is where they were manufactured. There are differences in the electronics and the finish is different. Americans sound a bit fuller and a bit brighter. But for 500 quid you could certainly replace the electronics if they WERE a problem for you. If the 500 quid guitars play like you want them to, what difference does a difference make? Both are usually alder with maple neck, body through bridge, etc. etc.
Still, the bottom line: If you like the MIM sound and playability, don't spend the extra.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I played on a bunch of the Mexican ones and one USA Standard as a comparison. There were small differences between all of the guitars and the USA one was very good; but if I didn't know which one was the USA one I wouldn't have been able to pick it out blind.

Another one was a Baja tele. No idea what that was, seemed to have a coil tap button even though it had a normal pair of single coils and a 4 way selector. Weird.
 
Greg_L said:
Pickups and electronics are the biggest differences that I'm aware of between the mexican fenders and american fenders. My first run 91 mexican strat has junk in it, but I don't care because strats suck anyway. I actually like the junky mexican pickups. They're less harsh than "good" strat pickups. I replaced the other electronic bits with better stuff.

My guitar hero buddy Chris has a Classic Vibe Squier Strat and he loves it. This is a guy with serious guitar player guitars, and that Classic Vibe makes him happy, so they're probably pretty good.
Click to expand...

Cheers - I haven't been able to find any reliable info on the quality of the electronics - they all sounded near identical to me through a blues Jr - no gain though so maybe the mexicans more prone to noise.

Just checked the pricing on the classic vibe stuff - its not that far off the Mexican stuff.
 
JDOD said:
Cheers - I haven't been able to find any reliable info on the quality of the electronics - they all sounded near identical to me through a blues Jr - no gain though so maybe the mexicans more prone to noise.
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They're all prone to noise. Single coils just make noise.
 
I think they are great guitars, a friend of mine has a baja tele with bare knuckle pickups in it and it sounds better than most USA tele's.
 
If you upgrade a Mexican strat or tele, you won't get your money back out of it should you sell it. A $250 used Mexican strat or tele, with $200 worth of upgrades, is still a $250 guitar. A $500 used American strat or Tele already has the good shit in it and you can get your $500 back out of it should you decide to move it on down the line.
my 2 cents
 
Chili said:
Sell a tele; that's preposterous!! Who would do such a thing?? :confused:
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I would. Well, I wouldn't have one to begin with, but if you gave me one? Or maybe I won one in a raffle or something? I'd sell it immediately as use the money for something good. :)
 
The Mexican Tele that I almost got, and still wish I did, was the limited run Palo Escrito, which is also known as Mexican rosewood, but has a wider grain and more figuring than your Indian rosewood, and the colors range from light/blond to very dark and deep rust.

Here's some pics:

Palo Escrito Tele
 
Chili said:
Sell a tele; that's preposterous!! Who would do such a thing?? :confused:
Click to expand...

Thats right. A tele is an incredibly versatile workhorse of an instrument.
Indestructible as well. In case of nuclear war, keef, cockroaches, and teles will survive.
:D
 
I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Mexican Tele, especially if I were paying UK prices. The differences between the USA and Mexican versions are ones you will feel rather than hear.
 
RFR said:
Thats right. A tele is an incredibly versatile workhorse of an instrument.
Indestructible as well. In case of nuclear war, keef, cockroaches, and teles will survive.
:D
Click to expand...
Les Paul's and SGS will still be around too...but the headstocks will be broken off
 
I don't understand this idea of "upgrades". Pickups, pots, electronics, types of wire..... Do they make you play any better? No. Do they give you a better amp? No. Do they make you write a better song? No. It's all bollocks. The most important bits are the player, the song and the amp. The rest is just snake oil. Strings make no difference. Rolling preamp tubes makes no difference. Swapping out pickups of the same type makes very little difference. People listen to the playing and the mix, that's it. Nobody is interested in nuances of tone, other than the obsessed anal-retentive fixating on it. Get a fucking life, play, record, have fun.
 
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