Forgot how much I love Teles, AKA Tele Appreciation Thread

[Shadoweclipse13]

With DeedPoll/Guitarform now offering the Meteora shape, I’ve been giving a custom build serious thought. It’s my only opportunity as a lefty!

Do it! OSG could use some lefty Meteora!!

[countertext]

But also, where’s the reverse Meteora I’ve been hoping would show up somewhere? Who’s going to build that?

[Embenny]

I can’t tell if you like it or not

Tele in a trenchcoat!

Haha, it’s great when you get something that completely surpasses expectations. The Meteora has been a bit polarising, but I love the body shape and think it will stand the test of time. Not as keen on the headstock in this application; Fender were a bit safe/lazy here, and should have designed something to compliment the body.

With DeedPoll/Guitarform now offering the Meteora shape, I’ve been giving a custom build serious thought. It’s my only opportunity as a lefty!

Do it! I was thinking about having him make me a body for a project I had in mind to "replace" this one, back when I thought I wouldn't be able to get past my bias against its looks. But I ended up embracing it as-is, since I've made the mistake before of overlooking a great guitar because of the way it looked. It's one of the best-feeling and best-sounding guitars I've ever played, and you don't just dismiss that because of some silly-looking unbound block inlays.

I think feeling is believing with Meteoras. The body shape is just so damn comfortable. It has a much larger forearm cutaway than other Fenders, and the bass side of the lower bout sticks up higher. Those two things combined mean you end up with a lot more of the body supporting your forearm, or at least I do with my playing technique.

I thought the Meteora was kinda stupid when I first saw it. But it really is an evolution of the Offset - it's got a smaller, lighter body than a Jag or JM, and is even more contoured and comfortable to play. You don't get that from photos.

I've had it for a year now, so I really don't think it's a honeymoon type of thing. They really are great.

[JVG]

With DeedPoll/Guitarform now offering the Meteora shape, I’ve been giving a custom build serious thought. It’s my only opportunity as a lefty!

Do it! I was thinking about having him make me a body for a project I had in mind to "replace" this one, back when I thought I wouldn't be able to get past my bias against its looks. But I ended up embracing it as-is, since I've made the mistake before of overlooking a great guitar because of the way it looked. It's one of the best-feeling and best-sounding guitars I've ever played, and you don't just dismiss that because of some silly-looking unbound block inlays.

With DeedPoll/Guitarform now offering the Meteora shape, I’ve been giving a custom build serious thought. It’s my only opportunity as a lefty!

Do it! OSG could use some lefty Meteora!!

Crikey, you guys. Don’t encourage me!
I’m trying not to accumulate more guitars.

[RIORIO]

Head over heels for this thing. Made me fall in love with Tele's again. Its a pine body with contours on the belly and top with an excellent relic and sunburst finish from MJT. Its paired with a US Strat neck that has the most amazing finish/relic done by Shabat guitars. This thing weighs like 6.5 lbs and absolutely rips. DiMarzio and Duncan pickups and Fender hardware

[Embenny]

Oh man, that's amazing. Front and rear contours are such a big deal to me. I still love my purple Tele, but I definitely don't reach for it as often as I would if it was more comfortable to play.

[lastactionhero12765]

Oh man, that's amazing. Front and rear contours are such a big deal to me. I still love my purple Tele, but I definitely don't reach for it as often as I would if it was more comfortable to play.

My love for comfort cuts makes it all the more baffling that people opt for the Fender style, slab-of-wood teles over something like Schecter PTs which have belly cuts, forearm contours, and sculpted heels that just make it so much easier to play.

[Sauerkraut]

Oh man, that's amazing. Front and rear contours are such a big deal to me. I still love my purple Tele, but I definitely don't reach for it as often as I would if it was more comfortable to play.

My love for comfort cuts makes it all the more baffling that people opt for the Fender style, slab-of-wood teles over something like Schecter PTs which have belly cuts, forearm contours, and sculpted heels that just make it so much easier to play.

I like contours, but when I play my Tele I'm usually standing, and I find the lack of contours just doesn't bother me at all. To me, it doesn't affect the playability one bit, at least not in that position. Perhaps if I sat down more when playing I'd find it more of an issue.

[Gordon]

My love for comfort cuts makes it all the more baffling that people opt for the Fender style, slab-of-wood teles

Because it's nice.

[marqueemoon]

I like a contour-less Tele as long as it’s not bound.

[Embenny]

I like contours, but when I play my Tele I'm usually standing, and I find the lack of contours just doesn't bother me at all. To me, it doesn't affect the playability one bit, at least not in that position. Perhaps if I sat down more when playing I'd find it more of an issue.

Interestingly, I only ever play standing, and the lack of a forearm contour is super noticeable to me. I notice the rear contour as well, but not nearly as much.

My Meteora's extended lower bout puts a ton of support under the forearm, and its contour is larger than a Jazzmaster's. I didn't expect it to make nearly as much of a difference as it does while standing. It's my favourite feature of the whole guitar.

Because it's nice.

OK, yeah. That's absolutely gorgeous.

I still would want a contour on mine though

[lastactionhero12765]

My love for comfort cuts makes it all the more baffling that people opt for the Fender style, slab-of-wood teles

Because it's nice.

That is absolutely gorgeous...and would look even better with a sculpted neck heel

[lastactionhero12765]

Oh man, that's amazing. Front and rear contours are such a big deal to me. I still love my purple Tele, but I definitely don't reach for it as often as I would if it was more comfortable to play.

My love for comfort cuts makes it all the more baffling that people opt for the Fender style, slab-of-wood teles over something like Schecter PTs which have belly cuts, forearm contours, and sculpted heels that just make it so much easier to play.

I like contours, but when I play my Tele I'm usually standing, and I find the lack of contours just doesn't bother me at all. To me, it doesn't affect the playability one bit, at least not in that position. Perhaps if I sat down more when playing I'd find it more of an issue.

I wouldn't say the lack of contours is bothersome, but if you gave me two of the exact same spec guitars and one has comfort cuts and the other doesn't, I feel like 99 times out of 100 I'll enjoy playing the one with comfort cuts more--even while standing!

[Embenny]

Speaking of comfort cuts, I'm back to appreciating the virtues of a regular slab Telecaster.

Why? Well, I received a trade offer I couldn't refuse for my Meteora, which got me back to playing this guy again:



I posted about it last year - it's a purple metallic Squier body with a fat 50's Fender neck, Wilkinson bridge with compensated brass sadles, and noiseless active Fluence pickups.

And you know what? This thing absolutely slays. Before I made the trade, I did an extensive A/B with my Meteora to gauge how badly I'd miss it.

Interestingly, my wife (who famously hates anything too trebly or high pitched due to her supersonic hearing) greatly preferred the tone of this Tele despite it being brighter than the Meteora both unplugged and plugged in. The neck pickup basically nails classic Strat tones, while the middle and bridge positions do everything you could want a Tele to do.

The Meteora won in two areas - comfort (those contours are great) and a feeling of solidity. The Meteora just had this big, chunky and warm tone to it acoustically, and it weighed more. Notes had more of an acoustic guitar feeling to them when played, if that makes sense. The Tele has much more snap and spank to it and is very lightweight. It reminds me a lot of a strat in the way it responds acoustically - I'm not sure if it's the body material or the bridge that's responsible for that, but it feels super snappy and I love that in a Fender.

All in all, I'm happy with being back to having only one Tele, and a "real" one at that. I wouldn't mind contours as I really do like the way they feel, but the slab body does add to the air of simplicity in an appealing way. Plus, the colour and overall finish on this guitar are a total dream for me.

I said it a year ago when I got it, but it's true - if I had to sell every other piece of gear I own, I could totally be happy with this little Tele as my only guitar. It feels great, looks great, covers 50's and 60's Fender tones nicely, and is totally noiseless. It's also light on a strap and cost me less than I paid for the paint job on my last guitar.

I know the pickups didn't even exist, but I wish I found this guitar 20 years ago when I was living the 1-guitar lifestyle. It just solves every problem I had at the time (budget, versatility, and 60Hz hum).

Of course, I turned my nose up at Teles back then so I wouldn't have given it the time of day. They just seemed so pedestrian next to the curves and chrome of a Jaguar.

It only took me 20 years, but I'm finally over my anti-Tele bias

[garyptaszek]

Speaking of comfort cuts, I'm back to appreciating the virtues of a regular slab Telecaster.

Why? Well, I received a trade offer I couldn't refuse for my Meteora, which got me back to playing this guy again:



I posted about it last year - it's a purple metallic Squier body with a fat 50's Fender neck, Wilkinson bridge with compensated brass sadles, and noiseless active Fluence pickups.

And you know what? This thing absolutely slays. Before I made the trade, I did an extensive A/B with my Meteora to gauge how badly I'd miss it.

Interestingly, my wife (who famously hates anything too trebly or high pitched due to her supersonic hearing) greatly preferred the tone of this Tele despite it being brighter than the Meteora both unplugged and plugged in. The neck pickup basically nails classic Strat tones, while the middle and bridge positions do everything you could want a Tele to do.

The Meteora won in two areas - comfort (those contours are great) and a feeling of solidity. The Meteora just had this big, chunky and warm tone to it acoustically, and it weighed more. Notes had more of an acoustic guitar feeling to them when played, if that makes sense. The Tele has much more snap and spank to it and is very lightweight. It reminds me a lot of a strat in the way it responds acoustically - I'm not sure if it's the body material or the bridge that's responsible for that, but it feels super snappy and I love that in a Fender.

All in all, I'm happy with being back to having only one Tele, and a "real" one at that. I wouldn't mind contours as I really do like the way they feel, but the slab body does add to the air of simplicity in an appealing way. Plus, the colour and overall finish on this guitar are a total dream for me.

I said it a year ago when I got it, but it's true - if I had to sell every other piece of gear I own, I could totally be happy with this little Tele as my only guitar. It feels great, looks great, covers 50's and 60's Fender tones nicely, and is totally noiseless. It's also light on a strap and cost me less than I paid for the paint job on my last guitar.

I know the pickups didn't even exist, but I wish I found this guitar 20 years ago when I was living the 1-guitar lifestyle. It just solves every problem I had at the time (budget, versatility, and 60Hz hum).

Of course, I turned my nose up at Teles back then so I wouldn't have given it the time of day. They just seemed so pedestrian next to the curves and chrome of a Jaguar.

It only took me 20 years, but I'm finally over my anti-Tele bias

bloody love this. how do you find the fluence pickups? I've seen a few videos of them and they sound great (but Greg Koch makes everything sound good).