Best Tele options

Strat54

To find THE ONE you might need to play/own a hundred or so Tele's, I did....took a while.Had mine for 17 years now, its a old Custom Shop blackguard Tele but not one you like can find available today, the builder retired long ago. I guess the closest would be a Nocaster Tried plenty since, none come close to it....bit of a bugger really as its edging closer to a refret now and I was hoping to retire it....alas not. Tried all the usual suspects....Lentz, Callaham, Glendale, Hahn, GVCG, only a Rutters Tele escaped me. Good luck.

A_T_W

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys. Any more Partscaster thoughts?

Funkfingers

I arrived at my Warmoth La Cabronita Junior through a sequence of separate parts purchases. The result is a mahogany bodied monster in a hideous shade of green with a huge neck and a TV Jones pickup.

The upside is that this guitar is exactly what I wanted. 

The downside is that this guitar is exactly what I wanted. It is highly unlikely that anyone else would want my specification.

GoldenEraGuitars

A_T_W said:

Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys. Any more Partscaster thoughts?

Loads of Partscaster thoughts. What do you want to know?

Strat54

Please don't go down the partscaster route.....you'll spend all your time on forums defending your bargain basement creation and if you put a fake Fender decal on it I will send the Correctness Police round to chainsaw it  

The_Whisper_Thief

I searched for a tele for years and strangely the tele tone I had in my head ended up being met by a thinline. It's maybe just me but I've noticed that big necks on teles make the best noise (technical term) and I've also found that teles, in my opinion, more than any guitar can be awesome on one amp and not so on another. I ended up buying the amp I had been playing the thinline through as I couldn't get the same tingle on any of my existing amps.

Sorry if I'm pointing out the obvious. Just what I've found

I've played two LSL T types and they were both cracking guitars. In fact, I've played three pine guitars and they've all been brilliant.

On that note, check out Novo's Serus T.

Funkfingers

The_Whisper_Thief said:
I've played three pine guitars and they've all been brilliant.

Try old growth redwood. You'll love it. It's a way of life. 

Dominic

Nocaster or No Tele
The tone is in the fat neck for sure
50s buttersctch or sand Baja is as good as any other high end tele except Nocaster
I have now Played 3 Rick Kelly Telecasters  :any serious tele person knows about these roughly finished 200year old pine teles with necks like telegraph poles ( not nocaster baseball bats )
...whilst I think they are ridiculously expensive for rough carpentry not luthiery they prove to me that the fat neck makes a big tone and resonance difference - He uses pine necks Without truss rods which he thinks kill tone therefore the necks have to be very fat to prevent twist: even in 200  year old settled timber
Hard to play but they sound awesome

monoamine

Just going to out a word on for vintage tokai teles. Have had 2 now and if you want an instrument that has really had a chance to 'set in' and feels almost vintage, then they are great. Slightly harder to come by in the UK but all the Fenders I've played have felt anaemic to me in comparison.

Wazmeister

pia98jf said:

I would try a CS Nocaster.

Still the best Tele Ive ever played and owned

Wazmeister

StuartMac290 said:

If you can find one, the best teles I've ever played are K Line Truxtons. I have two, one of which replaced a really good Nocaster in my collection. They are incredibly resonant guitars with great necks. 

This is spot on too.

stimpsonslostson

@Funkfingers ; said:

I arrived at my Warmoth La Cabronita Junior through a sequence of separate parts purchases. The result is a mahogany bodied monster in a hideous shade of green with a huge neck and a TV Jones pickup.

The upside is that this guitar is exactly what I wanted. 

The downside is that this guitar is exactly what I wanted. It is highly unlikely that anyone else would want my specification.

I would! I really enjoyed making my Esquire partscaster & am considering a new project. What you described is PRECISELY what I've been pricing up. (possibly except for the green). 
Pictures! 

mgaw

+1 for a K Line truxton,  on the partcaster front, i wouldnt bother.  If i want an excellent guitar i like someone excellent to make and assemble it, dont really think partcasters cut it in the same way. IMO  

xpia98jf

mgaw said:

+1 for a K Line truxton,  on the partcaster front, i wouldnt bother.  If i want an excellent guitar i like someone excellent to make and assemble it, dont really think partcasters cut it in the same way. IMO  

You can assemble a partscaster then get it professionally set up. How is that any different from a builder assembling a guitar from modular parts? All factory made guitars are partcasters in that sense. The snobiness over them is nonsensical in my opinion.

57Deluxe

Israeli made Tele - TeleViv

Funkfingers

57Deluxe said:

TeleViv

That could be sub-Stanshall.

Funkfingers

stimpsonslostson said:

@Funkfingers ; said:

It is highly unlikely that anyone else would want my specification.

I would!  

GRYTPYPE-THYNNE: "You silly, twisted boy."

stimpsonslostson said:
What you described is PRECISELY what I've been pricing up. (possibly except for the green). Pictures! 

https://i.imgur.com/VyYgO2I.jpg?1

rico

Yes, a Tele is the best option.

mgaw

pia98jf said:

mgaw said:

+1 for a K Line truxton,  on the partcaster front, i wouldnt bother.  If i want an excellent guitar i like someone excellent to make and assemble it, dont really think partcasters cut it in the same way. IMO  

You can assemble a partscaster then get it professionally set up. How is that any different from a builder assembling a guitar from modular parts? All factory made guitars are partcasters in that sense. The snobiness over them is nonsensical in my opinion.

think you are underestimating the skills good builders have and also i prefer people who make guitars themselves from scratch.

Its not snobiness on my behalf @pia98jf i have had a few partscasters and base my opinion on that. K Line select the woods cut and shape assemble and sell, but within that process lies an awful lot of experience, knowledge, care and expertise...thats the difference

xpia98jf

mgaw said:

pia98jf said:

mgaw said:

+1 for a K Line truxton,  on the partcaster front, i wouldnt bother.  If i want an excellent guitar i like someone excellent to make and assemble it, dont really think partcasters cut it in the same way. IMO  

You can assemble a partscaster then get it professionally set up. How is that any different from a builder assembling a guitar from modular parts? All factory made guitars are partcasters in that sense. The snobiness over them is nonsensical in my opinion.

think you are underestimating the skills good builders have and also i prefer people who make guitars themselves from scratch.

Its not snobiness on my behalf @pia98jf i have had a few partscasters and base my opinion on that. K Line select the woods cut and shape assemble and sell, but within that process lies an awful lot of experience, knowledge, care and expertise...thats the difference

I'm not talking about luthiers who make the parts themselves by hand - that's a completely different kettle of fish and I agree someone who does this is likely (but not necessarily) to produce a product that is superior to anything mass-made in a factory. However, I don't thing the OP is searching for a guitar like this.  

I'm talking about factory built guitars like Fender etc.  The parts are mass produced and are designed so that any neck can be fitted to any body.  If you build a part caster you are not doing anything different from what the factory does when it builds a "genuine" guitar.  In fact, if you get it property set up you are probably going beyond what the factory does. Therefore, dismissing partcasters is nonesensical.