What is the catch with Fender Baja Classic Tele ? What am I missing?

blueskunk

Slow down bigman

siremoon

I don't think there is a a catch.  If you are in the market for a mid-price Tele then I would suggest it's worth a look.  Like any other guitar what you like and what you don't are personal judgements.  The things that exercise most people are the weight, the V neck and the finish.  I would just say try a few and see.  The S1/4 way switching also divides opinon and I don't think I've ever used the "button in" positions although I do use all 4 "button out" positions.  The pickups are excellent and mine has a very pleasing (to me anyway) tele "quack" to it.

The price increases mean it is not the great bargain it once was and I am not going to claim it is better than x or worse than y.  It is what it is.  I love the sound I can get out of mine and I would certainly recommend trying one.  If you prefer another model then great.

Neil

Dominic said:

You're misunderstanding @ Neil and @Adam MD ........that comment is not meant to be a criticism of Americans as people - its a commentary on the mindset of American Marketing where a distinct majority of consumers buy into the " U.S. IS BEST " psyche

 -its a proven marketing strategy that has worked since the 1920s .Of course a lot of people live there and of course they are " not all like that " but imo they buy into the National ideal a lot more than Europeans - good for them -a lot of people would simply call it National pride but the essence of the comment was to illustrate why the Mexican v USA Fender marketing strategy commands a considerable premium price above the perceived inferiority of the Mexican facsimile.......and consumers happily pay it !

Of course US companies push their products to their home audience and if we still made anything of note here they would do the same but to profess that Americans all fall for that and happily pay more for no advantage is specious at best.

I have Americans friends and relatives and not one of them drives an American made car or cares where their products are made if they do a decent job.

Also an American Strat site I visit is full of Mexican/Korean/Chinese stuff, in fact far more than US stuff. 

monquixote

The Baja is a great Tele. The bloke in my local shop said it was their biggest selling guitar.

I can see why people might like them more than a US Standard, but I don't think it's as simple as saying they are just more expensive because they are made in the US. The quality of the Bajas finish isn't all that great and the US has nicer hardware and seemed to have a bit more care and attention in the fit and finish.

The Baja is the fully tricked up mid range model while the US Standard is the base of the high end models. Personally I prefer the US Standard especially as it gives you a better platform to take it even further if you like tweaking. 

I like the 4 way switching (though not the phase switch). I put it in my old Tele and it gives an extra choice of a fat sound which is useful if you are using it in a covers band and need to cover an LP neck sound or something.