£1.5k Squier Telecaster

OilCityPickups · June 13

ElectricXII said:

1983 makes it vintage innit?

And as we all know ... vintage is best!

Image: https://media.autoexpress.co.uk/image/private/s--ro6C9U8z--/f_auto,t_primary-image-desktop@1/v1687339936/autoexpress/2023/06/Austin%20Allegro-3.jpg

guitars4you · June 13

KKJale said:

robgilmo said:

I remember these back in the 80's, they were nothing more than cheap, nobody wanted them. Its hype and opinions, nothing more.

My recollection is entirely different. Squier JVs were a minor sensation in 1982 and loads of pros jumped on them - and Tokais too - with absolute glee. SQs were nearly as good and they were much liked by those who nabbed them.

I've had quite a few and still have an 82 62 style P-bass and it's an extremely good playing and sounding vintage RI by any standards.

Mind you I still think they're only inherently worth £750, tops.

I agree that when they came out the buzz about them was intense - Both Squier and Tokai - Remember prior to this we'd come thru' the 70's and a deterioration of all factors to end up with over weight, treacle finished, thin/weedy sounding 70's Fender's - Whilst copies (from CMI, Arbiter, Antoria, Ibanez) were at best more about capturing the shape/vibe, rather than any vintage pedigree

Whilst both the Tokai's and JV Squier's were not DNA vintage replica's they were streets ahead of anything we'd seen before hand

Whilst Squire's were imported via the official Fender authorised channels, Tokai's were imported by those related to the Doncaster Mafia - But we purchased what we could, when we could get them in a host of colours - Bigger variation of colours back then from Tokai compared to Squier

Years later I think the hype, surrounding early 80's Jap Fender's is bigger than the reality - That doesn't mean they are poor instruments as they are not - But wearing my 'players hat' I could buy a good Mex replica today, for far less, hot rod it up as required - Have a comparable, maybe even better guitar, plus change - I agree £750/1000 covers both the collector and player market - 1.5K and above, IMO is crazy money

TheModiesel · June 13

Being born in the late 90's I wasn't around when they were launched, but I recently had the (dis)pleasure of playing a 1983 Fender American Telecaster and it was the most overpriced, heavy hunk of junk I've played in a telecaster shape. I wonder if these early Japanese Fenders legend are just exacerbated by how mediocre the american Fenders were

HerbieTheRadDorklift · June 14

That entire website is laughable

impmann · June 14

OilCityPickups said:

ElectricXII said:

1983 makes it vintage innit?

And as we all know ... vintage is best!

Id still rather own that than any modern, electronics-laden car. The Allegro was a much better car than folks make them out to be, too... pity the original concept was diluted by corporate meddling. But then, I own four Hillman Imps (have owned more than 160), and a Rover P6... I genuinely don't like modern cars.

Back to the JVs and SQs from Japan - I too am old enough to remember them in period. Some of them were excellent - and after watching Alan Murphy and Steve Rothery get some incredible tones from them, I've sought them out a few times in my life. I gigged a battered sunburst one for a while and it *was* a better guitar than the equivalent US Fender of the period. The 80s weren't a good time for Fender, lets be honest...

I don't agree with the price hyping - and there *are* a lot of them around. I know of a pile of them in a loft in Kent - from when they were £50 a pop. They were gigged, enjoyed and when worn out added to the pile. The trouble is the vintage Stealers are now adding the Vintage Tax to them... and there's a lot of folks sucking on that cool aid (to use the parlance). As a result, the prices have skyrocketed with certain Stealers. Are they selling? Are they shite.

Are they better than a Mexican? Some and some. Are they better than a US? Depends on many factors. Put it another way, I took my much later Jap Squier Strat (mojo pickups and callaham bridge) to Coda a few years back as a 'datum' when trying Custom Shop Fenders. It sounded on a par, if not better in some cases - and because it feels like an old pair of slippers I preferred the way it played to most of the CS guitars Coda had. But thats just my opinion.

Is this guitar worth the asking price - not to me. But if someone picks it up and 100% connects with it... why not? I think guitarists (and blokes of a certain age) tend to get grumpy and fixated on things being the way they think those things should be, and pour scorn all too readily. As we all *know* (don't we), where something is made and when it was made is not a 100% guarantee of how "good" it may be. There are plenty of highly average 1960s Fenders out there - I know, I owned a very average 1965 one! It took a lot of internal convincing to realise my costly mistake...

:-)

prowla · June 14

Squiers can be good instruments for the money.

But not that sort of money!

crunchman · June 14

OilCityPickups said:

ElectricXII said:

1983 makes it vintage innit?

And as we all know ... vintage is best!

By 1983 it had been reskinned as this:

They actually managed to make it worse, as it had an an early electronic managment system for the engine trying to work with the ancient SU carburettor.

Offset · June 14

impmann said:

The Allegro was a much better car than folks make them out to be, too...

It really, REALLY wasn't :-)

impmann · June 14

Offset said:

impmann said:

The Allegro was a much better car than folks make them out to be, too...

It really, REALLY wasn't :-)

Disagree. Firmly.

But then, some people have no taste - some even like Teslas ;-).

markarkark · June 22

Gilly said:

gubble said:

But how on earth is a 1983 Squier Telecaster going to be worth that sort of money?

It’s not but someone might be stupid/naive/deluded/loaded (delete as appropriate) enough to pay it.

I suppose what someone is willing to pay for it is sort of the definition of worth, regardless of the thing’s quality or relative quality or whatever

thermionic · June 22

The problem though for for us who like buying second hand guitars at reasonable prices is, if somebody thinks a 1983 Squier Telecaster is worth, £1.5k. fine... but does that mean that all 1983 Squier Telecasters are now worth £1.5k? People with a 1983 Squier Telecaster to sell will think so.

Kittyfrisk · June 22

impmann said:

OilCityPickups said:

ElectricXII said:

1983 makes it vintage innit?

And as we all know ... vintage is best!

Id still rather own that than any modern, electronics-laden car. The Allegro was a much better car than folks make them out to be, too... pity the original concept was diluted by corporate meddling. But then, I own four Hillman Imps (have owned more than 160), and a Rover P6... I genuinely don't like modern cars.

Back to the JVs and SQs from Japan - I too am old enough to remember them in period. Some of them were excellent - and after watching Alan Murphy and Steve Rothery get some incredible tones from them, I've sought them out a few times in my life. I gigged a battered sunburst one for a while and it *was* a better guitar than the equivalent US Fender of the period. The 80s weren't a good time for Fender, lets be honest...

I don't agree with the price hyping - and there *are* a lot of them around. I know of a pile of them in a loft in Kent - from when they were £50 a pop. They were gigged, enjoyed and when worn out added to the pile. The trouble is the vintage Stealers are now adding the Vintage Tax to them... and there's a lot of folks sucking on that cool aid (to use the parlance). As a result, the prices have skyrocketed with certain Stealers. Are they selling? Are they shite.

Are they better than a Mexican? Some and some. Are they better than a US? Depends on many factors. Put it another way, I took my much later Jap Squier Strat (mojo pickups and callaham bridge) to Coda a few years back as a 'datum' when trying Custom Shop Fenders. It sounded on a par, if not better in some cases - and because it feels like an old pair of slippers I preferred the way it played to most of the CS guitars Coda had. But thats just my opinion.

Is this guitar worth the asking price - not to me. But if someone picks it up and 100% connects with it... why not? I think guitarists (and blokes of a certain age) tend to get grumpy and fixated on things being the way they think those things should be, and pour scorn all too readily. As we all *know* (don't we), where something is made and when it was made is not a 100% guarantee of how "good" it may be. There are plenty of highly average 1960s Fenders out there - I know, I owned a very average 1965 one! It took a lot of internal convincing to realise my costly mistake...

:-)

I agree, having recently tried logically reasoning, then second guessing & finally almost beating the electronics in a new car into shutting the fuck up, you have my sincere sympathies.
I love a gadget, but modern cars seem to be filled with all the very worst ideas that just had nowhere else to go...

photek · June 24

I agree that is steep, if it were the first year JV with Fender as the main logo and Squier at the end it would be about right.

As for wether it’s worth the money, I wouldn’t sell my main ‘83 JV Squier Strat for £1500, it’s a better guitar than any of the 40+ Strats I’ve owned over the last 30 years, sometime it’s the guitar not the logo.

elstoof · June 25

Another NoTom bargain I see

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