Our Telecaster Love Affairs.

HAL9000

I’ve had three. Squier Affinity (great bang for my buck - should never have sold it), MIM Std (now Esquire’d), and a US Std (50th pressie from Mrs9000). All great guitars. Surprisingly the Affinity is the one that most had that Tele ‘spank’. If I was only allowed one guitar it would be a Tele.

Whitecat

Love all these. If I lost all my guitars in a fire tomorrow, the first, and maybe only thing I'd get would be a really nice Telecaster. 50s style Blackguard bridge pickup, something with a little bit of Strat-leaning in the neck like a Twisted Tele, a big neck and you've basically got what I think is a perfect guitar.

TwoToneGreen

Mine is a black 50s Hot Rod Tele with a mini-humbucker in the neck. I would take most colours over black but it plays sublimely and is nice and light. I previously owned a Pure Vintage '64 RI and a GE Smith Signature, which were very fine guitars, but I disliked the 7.25" radius and small frets on both. The neck pickups on both also left me unmoved. The Hot Rod corrects these issues for me perfectly.

lovestrat74

djspecialist said:

Here's my 50s Baja, somewhat modded:

- BKP Flat 50 (I think) in the bridge

- Mojo Gold Foil in the neck

- Poly finish stripped

- S1 switch removed, and all wiring replaced

- Control plate reversed

I just love it. So versatile, and just feels right!

Snap!! My Baja has had a gold foli, a HB and a WRHB in the neck, but it's back to SS now with 2 Mojos. I have replaced everything on mine except for the neck and body over the years absolutely stonking guitars!!

maharg101

Gordon Smith Classic T. Replaced the brass nut, 6-saddle bridge, and underwhelming single coils.

markblack

My go to guitar is a tele - my CS shell pink. It was a 40th to myself, and it just feels right, sounds great, comfortable, and being a heavy relic (hit the hate button now) it feels nice and worn in. I've been lucky to build a bit of a collection, but for me it's Tele first... then a strat.

Here it is with a parts caster tele that I have which weighs a tonne!

drofluf

My only electrics have both been Teles; first a Squier and then a few months later I saw a Baja here that took my fancy. The Baja is possibly the easiest playing guitar I have ever played. 

Tele-scopic

My Tele-affair started around 3 years ago when I realised I had the time and inclination to play guitar again.  After playing in bands for around 15 years, I had had a 10 year hiatus to have kids and after previously being a one strat guy I realised how easy the internet made it to try new guitar things - so I did.

There was a beaten-up Classic Vibe '50s Blond Telecaster for sale just up the road which made me realise what I had been missing.  The price and the state of it encouraged me to have a go at more than minor adjustments and modifications myself - and forums such as this one gave me knowledge, possibilities and options.  Here it is today:


I've since tried loads of teles and recently (like so many people seem to have done) settled on a near mint 2011 Baja which is just an ideal guitar:


I can't decide what colour pickguard suits it best - but after seeing the sunburst from @markslade07 I am very jealous and wonder if mine could approach that look!

I've come to the tele-party late but I won't be leaving any time soon ...

Gassage

I better post the Gasocasters.

Here ya go, they're named Norman and the Dreamcaster.

GavRichList

Gassage said:

I better post the Gasocasters.

Here ya go, they're named Norman and the Dreamcaster.

the chap on the left will do nicely, thanks. Have it washed and sent to my quarters. 

Gassage

@GavRichList Two hopes and one of those is Bob...

RandallFlagg

GavRichList

Express Music have just listed a black CS that is doing things to me. 

Bungle1

djspecialist said:

Here's my 50s Baja, somewhat modded:

- BKP Flat 50 (I think) in the bridge

- Mojo Gold Foil in the neck

- Poly finish stripped

- S1 switch removed, and all wiring replaced

- Control plate reversed

I just love it. So versatile, and just feels right!

That's fricking beautiful.

Blueingreen

I've never owned a Tele unless you count my first ever electric guitar, a cheap piece of crap Tele copy with an obscure and unremembered name.  Fewer of the guitarists I admire play Teles than any other "big 5" model and even when I like Telecaster players I don't tend to like them for their tone.  The main exceptions are guys who are basically rhythm players like Keef, Cropper and Petty but I can get close enough on a Strat not to feel a need to buy a guitar just for that sound.

All the same, I am curious and always have half an eye out for a Tele whose specs really grab me (light, big frets possibly Gibson scale) to give one a try just in case I've got it all wrong.  I really do like the look of them. My main problem just now is my guilt about having too many guitars is a strong argument against another.

chris78

I've had a love affair with Teles over the years as my go to. I've owned more than I care to remember.
The beauty of them is, you can stick with the same basic formula, but change pickup combinations, body woods and get different sounding guitars.
My artisans are standard ss, twin p90 and tv jones neck, with tele bridge. I've also got a 3 gold foil tele style from Asher and an Eggle Oz being made, which will be double wide range hum bucker.
Ive shown it before, but here is the tele to rule them all. Mahogany body, Koa top, insane Birdseye neck, loaded nocasters. I'll be forever grateful to John at Peach for putting this aside for me when it came in.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/97ftpxo24t67jrl/EFEF57AE-A6AA-4579-A343-F782BB47B07F.jpeg?raw=1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7z0s4286lx3zig4/E22BDC89-3556-469C-B742-F3D42B96E266.jpeg?raw=1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pjyltp52ueool5w/952F1D32-E780-46A0-8F78-19C14A8E97E4.jpeg?raw=1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8go8i96s7jzr4vu/45B221B0-8552-4BDD-9C66-916516A89BC5.jpeg?raw=1
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2mmqzw87xd2yvkt/1B357A80-A753-44F3-8D9A-2787251135A7.jpeg?raw=1

carlos

Thanks for the GAS!

markslade07

RandallFlagg said:

Oh yes!

mudslide73

Here's mine - a 2008 52 avri. It's still stock apart from some Rutters saddles (not pictured). I've been an LP guy since my 20s and have a few Strats at home. The Tele is the perfect blend of the two. The bridge unit is the perfect gigging pickup IMO. As I've said many a time on here it's incredible how brilliant it is for Leo's first guitar. 

impmann

Yeah... I've had one or two Teles over the years. I've owned some belters but two that are MIA that I wish had never gone were the '68 that was stolen from a stage in North London in the early 90s and the battered MiJ 62 Custom (Seymour Duncan Pickups) that had the front and back stripped from sunburst to natural that I gave to a mate when he was hard up... since he died, I lost contact with the family and I have no idea what happened to the guitar. 

Currently I own "too many" according to @meltedbuzzbox but they are:



"The Black Tele" - I've had this for nearly 20 years, after importing it from New York. It was an eBay purchase (when it was .com only) and arrived with a 1972 Fender Neck (rosweood), 1972 bridge pickup, aftermarket black pickguard and a DiMarzio Super Distortion shoehorned into the neck position. The original neck bit the dust (met a sticky end courtesy of an ill-advised rock n roll flourish under too low a lighting gantry...) and the pickups were diabolical. The bridge pickup went in the bin (wish I'd kept it to flog to someone with more money than sense now) and the black pickguard and pickup now adorn a mate's guitar. Its now got an Allparts neck, SD pickups (Broadcaster set), a 1983 Fender single ply guard and an AVRI control plate assembly. Its a bitsa but its one of the best Tele's I've played. 

(Shit pic... I know)



"Marriott" - my homage to the late-great Steve Marriott and the sunburst Tele he used for the end of the Small Faces (and used to record Odgens etc). His guitar was a 64/65 example that he swapped for his pink Gretsch, that he had hot-rodded with a Bill Lawrence neck pickup. Its a truly unique sounding thing - listen to Song of a Baker, as he used it to record that and you can hear that woofy, thick neck pickup sound during the solo. This one is another bitsa I built - @rexter supplied the *utterly incredible* body for this and the bridge pickup is a wonderful Mojo unit that utterly screams. 



"Greenie" - aka the old Blackstar Workshop Hack. I built this for testing the amps before they were dispatched for loan stock etc out of a properly ruinous Mexican Fender body I acquired very cheaply... there was a reason, it had been hacked out for a bridge humbucker and was painted *badly* in thick black household/car paint. I stripped it back, finished it in a green stain (because I had some left over from another project) and then topped it with Tru Oil. Its worn a few necks... one bit the dust in an accident and now has a Mexican Classic Player (I think) one. Its got Mojo pickups - Strat neck pickup and a 52 Bridge - connected to a four way switch. Its been retired from active duties in the workshop and now lives at home... 



"The Tablecaster" - yup, the body was originally a pine table that I cut into a Tele shape. The flame-maple neck is one of those cheap Chinese ones you see advertised and think "that won't be any good"... and in fact is bloody brilliant. Its got a Mojo "Esquire" pickup and is ridiculous fun. I've gigged this *a lot*.



"Seven Worlds Collide" - I won't elaborate any further on the name, but suffice to say seven sources of the bits. Body from our very own @DrBob, a PAF clone in the neck and a Luker bridge pickup (ebay - bloody good, actually) along with a Warman neck (probably too chunky for me, but bloody great quality). Its still a work in progress but has the potential to be a great guitar...

So yup... I'm a Teleholic. And I can't help building them...