Should I sell my Telecaster?

Jonathanthomas83

I have recently bought the most incredible LPB Custom Shop Strat and it's perhaps the nicest instrument I've ever owned. It's done three things...

1. Made me realise that I can get closer to the sound of my Tele with it than I could any other Strat I've owned, which is strange, but good. Can anyone explain this?

2. Caused me to play the Tele less and the Strat more. I used to play my old Strat all the time, but sold it for a Suhr and didn't play that even half as much...so this has made me fall back in love with Strats and helped me realise that I prefer them to anything else I play - even my beloved first love Les Paul's.

3. Made me want to try Custom Shop Telecasters - which I have and liked, but not really enough to buy one as it'll likely sit in its case much like my current non-CS Tele.

Reason this is splitting me in two is because I use the Tele for a few songs that I have written and think it sounds great with. Like I said though, the Strat can pull them off, with subtle differences in tone.

Second reason is, I sold my old MiJ Tele back in 2016 and regretted it within months only to want it back again and ended up buying another.

I do however, think that my love affair with it is over and don't really play it as much as I should and is it worth keeping something that only gets occasional use? I'm the type of person who likes to de-clutter and keep around only things I use.

I've also got this niggling feeling in the back of my mind that now I've tasted a Custom Shop guitar, only that will do as far as Tele's are concerned, so it's either that or nothing.

I dunno, maybe I'm talking myself into selling it, or maybe I'm just going mad, happy for you to all ridicule me and LOL away to your hearts content :-)

Cheers fellas, crack on!

noisepolluter

Unless you need the money, I’d hang onto the tele, at least until you’re sure whether you want a custom shop one. Sure there’s a bit of tonal overlap with strats but I find there are some moments when only a tele fits the bill.

Funkfingers

IMO, right now, you are experiencing a honeymoon period with your latest acquisition. You will (and should) be enjoying exploring its capabilities. Eventually, you will need a sound that the latest acquisition does not do as readily as your previous acquisitions. 

The Strat v. Tele question is a never-ending debate. I shall not re-open it here. In a blindfold test, could you tell whether Albert Lee was playing a Fender Telecaster, a Fender Stratocaster or his signature MusicMan? For that matter, if he played a G&L?

Schnozz

If you have a Strat and a Les Paul/SG then you don't need a Tele

I have a Superstrat and a Les Paul/SG, because I feel that the quality of tone is better from a 'Hot Rod'

A HSH Superstrat and a P90 SG is a great pairing and then anything else is a luxury IMO

SteveRobinson

Schnozz said:

If you have a Strat and a Les Paul/SG then you don't need a Tele

Every guitarist needs a Telecaster 

TA22GT

Never sell a Tele. You will come back to it at some point and enjoy it again.

wesker123

A Tele is for life

ICBM

TA22GT said:

Never sell a Tele. You will come back to it at some point and realise why you don't like Telecasters all over again.

FTFY.

I love Telecasters, except when I'm playing one.

TA22GT

ICBM said:

TA22GT said:

Never sell a Tele. You will come back to it at some point and realise why you don't like Telecasters all over again.

FTFY.

I love Telecasters, except when I'm playing one.

Funny you should say that! I felt exactly the same about anyone else playing a Tele but me. Then it clicked and I learned how to love that bridge pickup.A thing of treble beauty.

richardhomer

I’ve owned 5 Telecasters - and much like my Les Paul owning experiences - every time I’ve convinced myself ‘it’ll be different’ this time. But it never has been....

A Tele doesn’t do ‘enough’ that’s different from a Strat to make me put up with its inferior ergonomics.

I realise that the internet considers those who don’t own a Tele to be in some way inferior - but at my age - I don’t care.

JonHosker

Hang on to the Tele...patience in your decision.
I have two CS Fenders...one Tele and one Strat.
Decided that this covers my tonal bases and after buying and selling 20+ guitars in 10 years am done....satisfied!!! In my opinion Tele has a quicker sharpness of attack and the Strat, a smoother presence .... IMHO!
Happy conjutating...Jon

Voxman

I like my Tele..took me to quite late in life to discover it's charms but I'd now always want one in my armoury.  Ditto for my Gibson SG.

bacchanalian

I have narrowed it down to needing one with a vibrato bridge and one with a fixed bridge. I have a preference for a tele type as the fixed bridge guitar as I think I prefer Fender's 25.5" scale length. Seems to give a snappier string response.
If you like multiple string bends a strat makes it a bit more difficult to stay in tune. 

darthed1981

richardhomer said:

I realise that the internet considers those who don’t own a Tele to be in some way inferior - but at my age - I don’t care.

Nobody should care what the internet thinks

Voxman

darthed1981 said:

richardhomer said:

I realise that the internet considers those who don’t own a Tele to be in some way inferior - but at my age - I don’t care.

Nobody should care what the internet thinks

The internet doesn't think,  only the people that use it...and I'm not even sure about that a lot of the time!  

chrisj1602

I used to use a Tele as alternative to a LP or 335 but over time I started to use those volume and tone knobs. I think I prefer them to anything else now.

skullfunkerry

I'm not even going to get into the Strat vs Tele thing (I just swapped my Tele for a superstrat so I'm clearly not to be trusted), I'm just going to say this: if you keep it and then change your mind you can always sell it later, but if you sell it and then change your mind you're a bit stuck

ICBM

TA22GT said:

ICBM said:

I love Telecasters, except when I'm playing one.

Funny you should say that! I felt exactly the same about anyone else playing a Tele but me. Then it clicked and I learned how to love that bridge pickup.A thing of treble beauty.

I’ve always loved the sound - it’s the ergonomics I don’t quite get on with. It’s frustrating since it’s quite close. I think the neck position is part of the problem - it’s just slightly too far to the left, on a strap - and the switch position is also annoying. I also find the body just slightly too big and ‘lumpy’, which is odd since l like many even bigger hollowbodies with square edges.

fandango

On the subject of Tele ergonomics, Fender and others do make T-style guitars with a body carve, which should aid comfort somewhat.

And if I remember rightly, the Fender Elite series Telecasters have a contoured neck joint AND a body carve, further enhancing the Tele experience. 

merlin

richardhomer said:

A Tele doesn’t do ‘enough’ that’s different from a Strat to make me put up with its inferior ergonomics.

ICBM said:

I’ve always loved the sound - it’s the ergonomics I don’t quite get on with. 

I've always been like that, wanted to own and play and love a Tele, just felt too uncomfortable until I discovered a contoured Tele-a-like Truxton made by K-Line. Now all is good, the very, very best of both worlds. 

Roland

ICBM said:

I’ve always loved the sound - it’s the ergonomics I don’t quite get on with. It’s frustrating since it’s quite close. I think the neck position is part of the problem - it’s just slightly too far to the left, on a strap - and the switch position is also annoying. I also find the body just slightly too big and ‘lumpy’, which is odd since l like many even bigger hollowbodies with square edges.

Conversely I do like the neck position. The switch I’ve solved by moving it to the back of the plate, and the body shape with forearm and belly chamfers.

noisepolluter said:

Unless you need the money, I’d hang onto the tele ...

This is the right answer. Even if you don’t ever play it again you’ll lose less money part exchanging it against your next guitar than you would by outright sale.