sooo - I have a Lester, a really nice superstrat with the sexiest after market neck I have ever caressed, and a prs custom. love em all (now that I have replaced the PRS pickups with something from Ash)
why would I want a telecaster, which one has a nice handful of neck (not baseball bat but not the modern thin things either - I like the wide fat on the prs and the fairly chunky les paul neck) and nice chunky fretwire.
what pickup combination - rock, jazz (I wish), blues, funk, and anything else that I can't play properly.
I'd never ever buy new again, and I don't think the budget would be huge - maybe 500 tops but perhaps less depending on how the sales of other stuff go
talk me into or out of it - and what's the tele with the f-hole thinline business all about????
confused of guitarland
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Yep, that just about says it all. If you're buying used, Baja definitely one to look out for, as there're still many coming up on fleabay. Got mine for £350 last year.
Eqd Speaker Cranker clone
Monte Allums TR-2 Plus mod kit
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To the OP, you can’t go far wrong with a used Mex Tele. That will tell you whether you’re going to like the whole Tele thing and give you a convenient modding platform once you’re hooked.
I've just bought a roadworn player tele with the Duncan 59 in the neck. It's a lot of guitar for the money. Great feeling neck on that one too, slightly smaller neck than the Baja.
Both can be had used for less than £500 each.
I also think the Squier classic vibe thinline teles are great, if you want the double humbuckers, and the tele FMT is outstanding, but that might be drifting too far from tele-ness.
(also, seconded recommendation for a Mex, mine does me proud)
On one hand I think a Telecaster could be a great all rounder, but on the other I think the Gypsy already is.
Mexican stuff is where you need to go if you want "true" vintage spec unless you're dropping a fortune on the Custom Shop. But, they also have the "modified" variants which are brought up to current spec (fretboard radius, etc).
I think decide what kind of neck you want and go from there... the Baja was a superb-sounding instrument but the neck was big. If you're not into that you can possibly find a used USA Tele for your budget - American Special or Highway 1 anyway, and change what you want, but the necks on those err to the thinner/smaller side.
I accept I'm in a minority, and await public stoning.
So I would say definitely go try a few on a couple of occasions to see if you really need one.
Either way, I concur on the notion of a limp Tele neck pick up as outdated and a no longer apt reputation in this day and age.