My father was a rockabily/country player back in the 60s. When he died in his retirement home in 2019, we found 14 telecasters in his room. Thank you, telecaster, for all the joy you brought to him.
That’s cool that he loved and played them. Maybe it’s an aging thing, I’m still playing all the time, and I’ll look at all my guitars, and the music I’ve written and wonder who will play them when it’s my turn to go hang out with Hendrix and SRV in Jesus’ jam room.
I'm 71 years old and have been playing guitar for 50+ years. Your journey through learning guitar is so reminiscent of my own (and I'm sure many other's) story. The way you tell of the excitement of owning your first electric guitar, to seeing your guitar heros in person takes me back and reminds me of why I love this cantankerous instrument so very much. Your videos and enthusiasm are wonderful. Rock on my young friend and may you never lose your musical way!
Yo Mike it's heartwarming to see you get better at guitar. The time you put into learning will pay back exponentially. I feel like the Nashville area will push anyone to expect more of themselves musically while staying somewhat humble. We all appreciate what you're doing here!
I love the Tele approach to versatility. Some guitars are made to sound like as many other guitars as possible, but the Tele just has a set of sounds all its own - and those sounds can be used for anything. It keeps you away from option paralysis while still giving you more than you could ask for.
Yes, they can be used for country to Hard Rock to true metal. Even surf bands you see a few using a Telecaster too. About the only genera of rock you do not see them use a Telecaster is in that Areana Rock/Hair Voltage Metal type scene where a Super Strat in the flat fret board radius like Ibanez, LTD/flat fret board radius type Les Paul guitar is the popular design due to the flat fretboard used for the speed they want to play at.
That's the best description I have heard. To me it's the variation from that powerful bridge pick up to the mellower and darker neck. I'm finding the middle position can almost pass for a Les Paul at times and that's my favorite position for covering Tool.
@@caseysmith544I think the lack of a Floyd Rose hurts it for the hair metal more than the neck profile. I have my tele set up pretty low and it's pretty flat. Only guitar I played that was faster was a Jackson Flying V with a Floyd Rose (got stolen, my wife bought it as a Christmas gift). I find I can get pinch harmonics and shred on it about as good as any other guitar I have played. The neck contours on an Ibanez certainly help make playing on the high frets easier and most teles don't have 24 frets. But for speed and tone, it can do hair metal, just no trem bar and usually just 21 frets.
So good to hear that I wasn’t the only one as a young player that had a complete misconception of the tele. I wouldn’t even try one messing around in the music store. After about 18 years of playing, I played a telecaster for the first time, and I haven’t put it down since.
This is actually the norm these days. Can't get a youngster to even look at Telecasters most of the time. It took me years to realize that the only guitars I don't eventually sell are the T's.
To each their own, but you shouldn’t restrict yourself like that. LPs are great, too, and so are Strats and semis-hollows and Vs etc. It’s a bit like saying im just a Brand A car guy, I’d never drive a car from Brand B and therefore totally missing out on all the other great cars out there.
One thing about modding a Telecaster: The first time I saw somebody who had one with the control plate reversed - the order from front to back is Volume, Tone, Pickup Selector -it made so much sense to me. it seemed like that’s what it should’ve been all along!
i actually did this with my first guitar, which was my tele. On the cover of Nirvanas first album, the secondary guitarist is rocking a tele with this mod. Hammering on a tele can often result in the pickup selector getting unintentionally moved. Reversing it allows you to strum as hard as you’d like.
My very first electric was an Epiphone but after deciding that I was going to take guitar more seriously I picked up a Fender Player Plus Nashville it is my go to and an absolute work horse! Love it!
I went down the same rabbit hole. I was a Strat guy. Had no clue what a Tele was or why I would want one. I discovered it the weirdest way possible. I saw a youtuber playing a Cheryl Crow cover on a John 5 Tele. Loved the look, loved the sound so I found one. Not your standard Tele by any means. But it sorta opened that door. Then I found my Baja. The Baja Tele is about as close to a Mexican Made custom shop that you can find. Versatile as all heck. Fun to play and classic sounding....that opened the floodgates. I went from Strat guy to Tele guy really fast. I will play my Strat and a lot of various guitars, but if I am struggling and feeling like I just want that simple rock or country sound...right to the Tele. Teles seem to make everything right in the world :)
6:34 - The thing about Telecasters is they have no “era”. They are timeless, genre-crossing, utilitarian machines. The original design seems to have been channeled from 1920’s *bauhaus* school, and belongs in the *MOMA* permanent collection. Even before getting into the almost limitless modification possibilities, the basic configuration gets a huge variety of sounds that, somehow, retains an identity. Pragmatic, yet soulful, the Telecaster is a work of Art that just… works. 👍 And I’ll never sell mine.
Man, when you pulled out that Vox I knew exactly where you were headed. My favorite combination is my Tele and AC-15. Tele's are the perfect weapon. Punk players have used em for decades and for good reason.
I was a strat guy and then my instructor at the time (Jim Campilongo!) turn me onto tellys. Turn me onto Roy Buchanan that let me down the road to players like Cornell, Dupree, Roy Buchanan, and a bunch of others. At one time I had four telecasters. I’m down to two and I play a Strat about the same amount as I do my telly. My favorite telly is my Jason. Isabell artist model. I have no use for my other telecaster right now! The Isabell artist model has everything I need in a telecaster. It’s based on a late 50s custom.
Not too long ago, maybe 3 or 4 months or so, I was at my towns festival and they obviously had some live bands playing and they were all ok until this group of dudes in suits and a lady came out right at the very end of the night and their lead player had white Tele with a black pick guard (not exactly sure what type but it was Fender) and wow, his tone was awesome, his playing was awesome, he was awesome. He proved single handedly how awesome a Tele is with one performance, dude was improvising a million different solos and styles. After the festival I went and finish the night at the local pub and the same band was there and had a nice convo with them. That guy taught me three things that night, 1; I need practice. 2; I need a Tele, and 3; Tele players are humble and will humble you.
It’s interesting the way a musical instrument can mean different thing to so many people when i started playing a guitar i had no knowledge of brands or styles i just new i loved the sound of a clean guitar when i was 7 years old my parents billeted me out to friends while they packed up our lives in Norway to come to Australia while i was there they played a lot of country music as i discovered years later, time passed and in my late teens i started to learn to play guitar by the time i was thirty I discovered fender guitars first a strat and then a tele and now I’m 62 and i have 5 teles 3 strats 2 prs’s 2 gibsons one taylor and a Martin and still in love with the sound of a tele above all others trust me young man once a tele gets under your skin your hooked for life just enjoy the ride great segment.
My late Grandmother took me to a Brad Paisley concert when i was 14 during his Wheelhouse tour. I had never listened to him at all until that day and i was instantly hooked. His influence to this day is why I was gifted a telecaster on my 18th birthday and its my favorite guitar i own dispite it being an older MIM model. Brads playing is some of the best and i cant wait until i can scratch up the money to get a G or B bender tele.
I'm a Strat fan, but you're so right about the volume knob, lol. I'm always accidentally turning the volume down. Teles absolutely have it in a better spot. I've never played a Tele, but you're selling me on them with your points.
Just got my first Tele, a Squier Contemporary RH in Pearl White. Heard there’s a real thing where guitar players don’t like teles… until one day they do. Took me 20 years. Turns out it just took the right tele.
When I began my guitar journey, I was all about Strats because I thought they were sexier and more versatile than Teles. Then I grew up and realized that the Telecaster was an extremely versatile guitar and the sound of American music these past 70 years. A Tele and a great 335 will cover most of the bases. Subscribed. 😺👍
I've got a 1998 American Standard Tele that I have upgraded the pickups and also installed a 4-way switch so I get both pickups together in series. Very versatile guitar good for country, rock, blues & even jazz. It's not my #1 but I have no plan to get rid of it either.
I like to build custom guitars from time to time and I built a left hand Nashville telecaster. Jimmy Page played his telecaster for the solo on Stairway.
Own an 🇺🇸 strat ... looking for something new for sound. I was looking at the Mex black telecaster to modify. While I was waiting for the Mex telecaster ( I have checked out a few) , I asked the guy if they had a professional 2 telecaster. And he came out with a Miami Blue and I like the color. Then I held it in my hands ... I knew that this was my guitar ( it fits my hands so well... great neck).
I have a Nash E-52 (their take on a blackguard Esquire). For being a single pickup guitar, it is incredibly versatile and I am able to use it on any electric endeavor and not compromise.
Same journey, I had a Strat because.. Hendrix. That got stolen and I eventually got a Tele and absolutely love it. It just sounds like a "record" on everything.
My first "good" guitar is a 2004 American Standard Telecaster. I loved to palm mute a lot of delay driven riffs and it just feels so comfortable. Something I always have trouble doing on a Stratocaster. Its a workhorse guitar that feels like an in between a Les Paul and Stratocaster. I've wanted a 60's rosewood fretboard but I dont think ill ever need another telecaster.
I have sold most of my other guitars...I kept the tele's! there's just something about them. I too thought they were ugly as hell until I actually progressed as a player and saw the actual beauty in them. The tone(s), realiablity, Comfort (subjectivly speaking) and functionality are unmatched in my opinion
I’ve always thought they looked cool. But not at the start. It progressed from something that looks nice to one of my favorite guitar shapes. And they sound cool. Not for what I play but if I were to do some funky whatnot a tele would be my first pick.
You talked me into it. I'm going Tele shopping. For years and years, I have been a Strat guy (kinda - sorta), but I always have to modify my Strats, or build my own, and move the volume control out of the way. I noticed that you mentioned having trouble with the volume control as well. Not so with a Tele. It seems like Strats and Telecasters should sound similar, but they don't. It's more than just the pickups. It's a combination of everything. I think I'm gonna have to get me another Telecaster.
I love the placement of the volume on a Strat, very easy to get to quickly, and although I love Teles more than anything else, I usually end up flipping the control panel around so that the knobs are closer. Just depends on how active you are with the volume. Usually the players I've met that hate where the Strat volume is don't use it at all anyway.
Yep, the control layout of Strats is the ONLY thing that keeps me from owning one, I hate the volume pot position (if I ever want to do volume swells I'd rather do that with a pedal) and I despise how the pickup selector is positioned and slanted in a way that it is super easy for me to hit when I'm strumming. I know I can adjust my technique for a Strat but it just feels wrong to me. I like having that extra room for my arm to move like on a Tele for example, feels awesome.
@7:50 There is a solution for this, reverse the control plate so the pickup switch is to the back... if you also reverse to volume & tone pots, you can do volume swells easier and don't worry about hitting it anymore!
My dad been playing guitar since the 70s and always been a strat or les Paul guy. He got an itch for a Tele somehow back in the early 2000s and I don’t ever see him play anything else. He has an 81 les Paul custom and American player strat but the tele is IT for him. Also through his Vox AC130. Thanks for the cool videos, slowly getting me back into my own personal collection.
I picked up an American Vintage II 1963 Telecaster in transparent crimson - it is indeed amazing! The crimson comes in mahogany, which is an added plus in my opinion. I also have an American Original 1960s Strat in shell pink. It still takes the cake for the most comfortable neck I’ve ever played.
I bought a pre owned Baja Tele last year, and it is now my ‘go to’ guitar. The neck is wonderful and there is a bonus with this one thanks to the Fender custom shop guys creating a 4 position selector switch with the ‘S’ button.
I've seen people doing metal with a tele, and I've been opening my mind to that possibility as well. I really want to be able to get a nice tele some day and do something like this. Craziest versatility of any guitar I've seen.
Tried so many over the past 30-40 years. Now older and have only three guitars. Two Teles (one headless and one Reverend Blucifer) & one wonderful sunburst USA Strat. This is enuf. Thank you MC.
Mike it would be great to see try out Tele ULTRA Series. I had fallen in love with this guitar as the all-in-one type of instrument! Hope to see you feature one in your next episodes.
Id love for Mike to look into some of Jeff Buckleys live playing, especially the Sin-e version of Strange fruit. Some of the nicest clean telecaster tones ever (IMO)
Thanks for this, Mike--terrific. I have a '52 Tele that I bought 40 years ago and have played and played. I can't get enough of its sound. There's no way in the world that I'll ever--EVER--sell it. They'll have to pry it oit of my cod dead hands.
The reason the Tele is so versatile is due to how centered the bridge is to the strap pins and thigh cut (Strat to the right, LP to the left, SG/Explorer way to the left) and the increased distance to the control knobs (Tele controls run where the Strat's first tone knob is mounted, even EVH pushed the Strat volume back closer to a Tele volume position). Bill Kirchen shows how the Tele can play everything, every artist, every guitar: ua-cam.com/video/8_FK6o8RPSQ/v-deo.html ... My favorite auto-mods to any Tele I'll play regularly is rotating the control plate like Kirchen (V-T-Switch to the rear) and installing a 4-way switch to get a stealth Les Paul Junior Humbucker out of that Tele.
I got a tele as my first guitar (it's a righty, but I play lefty and my friend switched the strings around for me) and I always associated it with full sounds (Cavetown's song 888 and chugging for some reason) and I don't play it so much these days because it's heavy and I got a proper lefty (a strat), but I love chugging on my tele. I need to really practice more. This is probably the second time I've heard about it's association with country, but it's cool seeing different perspectives. Glad Mike has come to understand the greatness of the telecaster. :)
Keith Richards also as of late. idk if he has always done this. But he he has take off the Low E string so it's just A D G B E and now low E. idk if that helps with stability or just one less string to tune. But i thought that was interesting
I was about three hours away from buying the Nashville Tele but you posted this video after the Juanes strat announcement, but there'll be other paydays.
Teles rule! I have a Baja 50s with the soft V neck. Even though I have a strat, a les paul and a epiphone dot (335), I almost always reach for the Tele. I could easily let go of the others, but that Tele is a keeper. Happy to have you on Team Tele.
I recently picked up a '22 telecaster for a reallyreally good price, I'm glad I got it and will probably keep it, and... you nailed the switch thing. For me, I'm gonna say "The Worst Ever" switch ergo's. Sometimes you have to live with "the heritage" of a model (and there is a reason they put that fat switch knob with a flat top on it) I can make it work. I do think in the "modern player series" spirit Fender could easily change it (or reverse it).. Thanks for putting this up !
Billy Squire plays a Tele. He's probably my favorite Telecaster player, with songs like Lonely Is the Night, The Stroke, In the Dark... just a whole bunch of hits. One thing that I urge you to do, if you get a chance, pick up a Jazzmaster. It will blow your mind. Don't let the name fool you, that's a rocking guitar.
I’ve had a few Teles over the years, and I loved and appreciated all of them. The one thing I always miss when I’m playing one, however, is the middle pickup. Mostly for positions 2 and 4; just my thang, I guess.
Everyone has a thing. I use position 3 quite a lot on Strats. I love the more rounded, woody, Hendrixy tones it produces. But the neck pickup on a Strat will always be my favorite sound.
You summed it all up so well, some great points here…I converted to Telecasters when I wanted to be different to the countless Stratocaster players around me when growing up and in doing that, I ended up finding the simple yet amazingly versatile world of telecasters!
I purchased a MiM strat a couple years ago and quickly returned it for another strat that was cheaper and on sale, but I hated the strat, the middle pick up was awkward for me to play near. So I returned that one as well. I got a tele MiM and it had some buzzing and I wasn’t really feeling that one either so another return. Then I said to myself I need to just spend a bit more money and get a pretty fair guitar so I got the American Professional II Tele and wow I was just impressed with everything about it, the feel, the 3 color burst, and when I plugged it in I was like wow ok, that’s what good pickups sound like, and I was hooked. I love my tele, I’m glad I returned so many others on the path to find it.
My "tele" is a 1999 G&L ASAT Classic that I've had since 2012 - and it sounds fantastic through an AC30. It's my default recording guitar. Also - that shell pink Tele looks awesome.
LOVE Nashville ! I live in Athens, GA and we have produced So Many good music artist. i.e. REM and B-52's. I've spent a lot of time in Nashville visiting my friends that I used to jam with.. Also, I still have my very old Telecaster.. And it still sounds great !
I'd recommend starting your country Telecaster education with Don Rich. A real '60s Telecaster into a Fender Twin, that's it. A complicated signal path with him would have been a knot in his cable. One good thing about him is his playing is easily accessible, you can pick out his licks and learn from him.
when I was 16 I traded in my squire Strat pack Strat towards a MIM telecaster. I loved that guitar had it for twelve years until a move that required serious downsizing. Unfortunately I sold that guitar and regretted it almost immediately. It took a few years to get back into electric guitar, more to find my way back to a tele. I will never part from a tele again. Something about the neck is just right. it's hard to find a bad sound in it. The only question is when I will get the next tele.
Great video Mike! Love the topics and the playing and that Shell Pink Tele of yours. I'm a Strat guy but I do have one Fender American Special Telecaster and she is Amazing! But that Fender American Vintage Telecaster that your friend Andrew has is so damn Tele Tone!
When I think versatility I automatically think Strat. It's interesting that you associate that with the Tele. I used to play my friends and loved it and will have one someday.
I have been an Ibanez RG style user/fan for a over couple of decades. Like you at first I thought this is the ugliest guitar. But when I bought my first tele, a couple months ago, I fell in love with it. It felt like this is what I’m looking for a long time.
Teles are my favorite guitars. Super versatile even though it is super simple at the same time. great knob placement and many models with great neck shapes.
I’ve owned several T-style guitars but never an actual fender telecaster and loved them all. I’ve got several fenders but right now my only tele is a Squier bullet tele that I fully upgraded. I have a mini humbucker in the neck position right now. Turned a $129 guitar into something comparable if not better than a MIM tele.
I have several guitars but one of my favorites is my MIM Nashville model with 3 pickups, it plays great and has great versatility, can get the sound of a Strat without the clunkiness of a Strat. Tele's are great!
True - I have sold all of my guitars this year, all except for my MIM Telecaster Deluxe that I bought new in 2004. I love that guitar, and i'll keep it til I die.
I was much like you with the tele , ive always been a strat guy although i do have a charvel san dimas and a couple wolfgang standards, i first got a tele as matter of fact last yr, my mother passed away and had an ira which my sister and i were named on it so we each got around $40,000.00 so with that money i paid my house off and purchased a vintage series tele ,i have to say ive been playing more and more now than when i bought it ,my wife hates it when i buy guitars she just doesnt understand things when it comes to guitars so i made her happy when i paid our house off so at that point i guess it was ok with her that i buy a guitar but yeah i love my tele , anyway great video stay safe and god bless
Hey Mike! I recently picked up a beautiful white Telecaster with gold hardware.pearlescent pick guard and I love this guitar. I also have a Charvel Avenger with EMG pickups. Randy Rhodes style guitar. There’s a story behind that one.I also have a Les Paul with EMG pickups. But I picked up a Fender Telecaster about 5 months ago.I’m going to stick with this guitar. No one’s going to get this one from me. All I I got to say is if you own one, you already know.
My father was a rockabily/country player back in the 60s. When he died in his retirement home in 2019, we found 14 telecasters in his room. Thank you, telecaster, for all the joy you brought to him.
That Should be thanks Leo Fender for the Telecaster.
not saying you should sell them, but i wonder how much they are worth
@@firdaus125 I’m a lefty so I couldn’t play them. I kept one for my daughter and sold the rest.
Thank dad for all the money teles brought you
That’s cool that he loved and played them. Maybe it’s an aging thing, I’m still playing all the time, and I’ll look at all my guitars, and the music I’ve written and wonder who will play them when it’s my turn to go hang out with Hendrix and SRV in Jesus’ jam room.
I'm 71 years old and have been playing guitar for 50+ years. Your journey through learning guitar is so reminiscent of my own (and I'm sure many other's) story. The way you tell of the excitement of owning your first electric guitar, to seeing your guitar heros in person takes me back and reminds me of why I love this cantankerous instrument so very much. Your videos and enthusiasm are wonderful. Rock on my young friend and may you never lose your musical way!
Yo Mike it's heartwarming to see you get better at guitar. The time you put into learning will pay back exponentially. I feel like the Nashville area will push anyone to expect more of themselves musically while staying somewhat humble. We all appreciate what you're doing here!
I love the Tele approach to versatility. Some guitars are made to sound like as many other guitars as possible, but the Tele just has a set of sounds all its own - and those sounds can be used for anything. It keeps you away from option paralysis while still giving you more than you could ask for.
Yes, they can be used for country to Hard Rock to true metal. Even surf bands you see a few using a Telecaster too. About the only genera of rock you do not see them use a Telecaster is in that Areana Rock/Hair Voltage Metal type scene where a Super Strat in the flat fret board radius like Ibanez, LTD/flat fret board radius type Les Paul guitar is the popular design due to the flat fretboard used for the speed they want to play at.
exactly. I have a MiM Baja with a bunch of interesting electronics but I still just use the basic tele stuff because it just slaps so hard
@@shaungreer3350 my brother got a bass 6 telecaster off Reverb and he loves the versatility of the instrument 🎸.
That's the best description I have heard. To me it's the variation from that powerful bridge pick up to the mellower and darker neck. I'm finding the middle position can almost pass for a Les Paul at times and that's my favorite position for covering Tool.
@@caseysmith544I think the lack of a Floyd Rose hurts it for the hair metal more than the neck profile. I have my tele set up pretty low and it's pretty flat. Only guitar I played that was faster was a Jackson Flying V with a Floyd Rose (got stolen, my wife bought it as a Christmas gift). I find I can get pinch harmonics and shred on it about as good as any other guitar I have played. The neck contours on an Ibanez certainly help make playing on the high frets easier and most teles don't have 24 frets. But for speed and tone, it can do hair metal, just no trem bar and usually just 21 frets.
So good to hear that I wasn’t the only one as a young player that had a complete misconception of the tele. I wouldn’t even try one messing around in the music store. After about 18 years of playing, I played a telecaster for the first time, and I haven’t put it down since.
This is actually the norm these days. Can't get a youngster to even look at Telecasters most of the time. It took me years to realize that the only guitars I don't eventually sell are the T's.
As a young teen it was les Paul epiphone... Then I got a telecaster and never went back. 🤟🔥🔥🔥
Same as me! :)
@@lilleaton 🤟
Yup! Les Paul Special II was my first, then I bought a MIM Telecaster and fell in love. Selling that guitar is a big regret of mine.
To each their own, but you shouldn’t restrict yourself like that. LPs are great, too, and so are Strats and semis-hollows and Vs etc. It’s a bit like saying im just a Brand A car guy, I’d never drive a car from Brand B and therefore totally missing out on all the other great cars out there.
LITERALLY MYSELF AS WELL.
I love your way of storytelling and your presence in your videos. Rapturous and casual and most importantly you make it about the music.
Mike you are a blast. You put a lot of enthusiasm which is contagious. How many people are grabbing their tele's while watching this video.
I love the Tele. I wasn’t a fan of the look for a long time, but once I got one, it just felt like the guitar I was always looking for
I feel the same way and have yet to get one lol
One thing about modding a Telecaster: The first time I saw somebody who had one with the control plate reversed - the order from front to back is Volume, Tone, Pickup Selector -it made so much sense to me. it seemed like that’s what it should’ve been all along!
i actually did this with my first guitar, which was my tele. On the cover of Nirvanas first album, the secondary guitarist is rocking a tele with this mod. Hammering on a tele can often result in the pickup selector getting unintentionally moved. Reversing it allows you to strum as hard as you’d like.
@@skajwjejxAccidentally hitting the pickup selector on a Tele? You’re talking to a guy who grew up learning guitar on a Strat!
My very first electric was an Epiphone but after deciding that I was going to take guitar more seriously I picked up a Fender Player Plus Nashville it is my go to and an absolute work horse! Love it!
Dude, Ben Rector is 100% one of the most underrated musicians in Nashville. I’ve listened to him for YEARS. Awesome video 🤘
I went down the same rabbit hole. I was a Strat guy. Had no clue what a Tele was or why I would want one. I discovered it the weirdest way possible. I saw a youtuber playing a Cheryl Crow cover on a John 5 Tele. Loved the look, loved the sound so I found one. Not your standard Tele by any means. But it sorta opened that door.
Then I found my Baja. The Baja Tele is about as close to a Mexican Made custom shop that you can find. Versatile as all heck. Fun to play and classic sounding....that opened the floodgates. I went from Strat guy to Tele guy really fast. I will play my Strat and a lot of various guitars, but if I am struggling and feeling like I just want that simple rock or country sound...right to the Tele. Teles seem to make everything right in the world :)
Damn fine is the Baja Telecaster, everything you could ask for and more
John 5 is an awesome Telecaster player. The guy is downright impressive.
It’s like your favorite pyjamas. :)
@@Soldano999 Of all the Tele players, I feel he is the least interesting and has a sloppy tone which I love to hate. His guitars are only Tele-shaped.
6:34 - The thing about Telecasters is they have no “era”. They are timeless, genre-crossing, utilitarian machines. The original design seems to have been channeled from 1920’s *bauhaus* school, and belongs in the *MOMA* permanent collection. Even before getting into the almost limitless modification possibilities, the basic configuration gets a huge variety of sounds that, somehow, retains an identity. Pragmatic, yet soulful, the Telecaster is a work of Art that just… works. 👍 And I’ll never sell mine.
>> belongs in the MOMA permanent collection.
Hear, hear! I like that.
I agree absolutely everything you said. But he was talking about players having eras of particular guitars, not the guitars
@@thestuffmikedoes2309 Point taken. I didn’t mean to sound contradictory.
Daniel Ash,the guitarist of Bauhaus plays a Telecaster.
Man, when you pulled out that Vox I knew exactly where you were headed. My favorite combination is my Tele and AC-15. Tele's are the perfect weapon. Punk players have used em for decades and for good reason.
Just bought my first Tele (G&L asat) after having a strat and les paul for many years. For now, it's all I want to play
You got it right the first time.
Came for guitar reviews, stayed for awesome storytelling
I was a strat guy and then my instructor at the time (Jim Campilongo!) turn me onto tellys. Turn me onto Roy Buchanan that let me down the road to players like Cornell, Dupree, Roy Buchanan, and a bunch of others. At one time I had four telecasters. I’m down to two and I play a Strat about the same amount as I do my telly. My favorite telly is my Jason. Isabell artist model. I have no use for my other telecaster right now! The Isabell artist model has everything I need in a telecaster. It’s based on a late 50s custom.
Holy crap!
Jim Campilongo was your instructor?
WOW!
Not too long ago, maybe 3 or 4 months or so, I was at my towns festival and they obviously had some live bands playing and they were all ok until this group of dudes in suits and a lady came out right at the very end of the night and their lead player had white Tele with a black pick guard (not exactly sure what type but it was Fender) and wow, his tone was awesome, his playing was awesome, he was awesome. He proved single handedly how awesome a Tele is with one performance, dude was improvising a million different solos and styles. After the festival I went and finish the night at the local pub and the same band was there and had a nice convo with them. That guy taught me three things that night, 1; I need practice. 2; I need a Tele, and 3; Tele players are humble and will humble you.
I love my strats but have been thinking about picking up a Tele at some point. Love those things!
It’s interesting the way a musical instrument can mean different thing to so many people when i started playing a guitar i had no knowledge of brands or styles i just new i loved the sound of a clean guitar when i was 7 years old my parents billeted me out to friends while they packed up our lives in Norway to come to Australia while i was there they played a lot of country music as i discovered years later, time passed and in my late teens i started to learn to play guitar by the time i was thirty I discovered fender guitars first a strat and then a tele and now I’m 62 and i have 5 teles 3 strats 2 prs’s 2 gibsons one taylor and a Martin and still in love with the sound of a tele above all others trust me young man once a tele gets under your skin your hooked for life just enjoy the ride great segment.
My late Grandmother took me to a Brad Paisley concert when i was 14 during his Wheelhouse tour. I had never listened to him at all until that day and i was instantly hooked. His influence to this day is why I was gifted a telecaster on my 18th birthday and its my favorite guitar i own dispite it being an older MIM model. Brads playing is some of the best and i cant wait until i can scratch up the money to get a G or B bender tele.
I'm a Strat fan, but you're so right about the volume knob, lol. I'm always accidentally turning the volume down. Teles absolutely have it in a better spot. I've never played a Tele, but you're selling me on them with your points.
I've replaced my volume pots with high friction pots. You can't accidentally adjust those lol
@@justaguy2365 Good idea!
Just got my first Tele, a Squier Contemporary RH in Pearl White. Heard there’s a real thing where guitar players don’t like teles… until one day they do.
Took me 20 years. Turns out it just took the right tele.
Your right Mike. got humbucker Tele, it goes toe to toe with my les Paul when playing blues.
Love my am pro 2 tele, deep c neck fits my hand perfectly, great comparison on the tele mike
When I began my guitar journey, I was all about Strats because I thought they were sexier and more versatile than Teles. Then I grew up and realized that the Telecaster was an extremely versatile guitar and the sound of American music these past 70 years. A Tele and a great 335 will cover most of the bases. Subscribed. 😺👍
I've got a 1998 American Standard Tele that I have upgraded the pickups and also installed a 4-way switch so I get both pickups together in series. Very versatile guitar good for country, rock, blues & even jazz. It's not my #1 but I have no plan to get rid of it either.
I like to build custom guitars from time to time and I built a left hand Nashville telecaster. Jimmy Page played his telecaster for the solo on Stairway.
And in the first two Zep records!
Own an 🇺🇸 strat ... looking for something new for sound. I was looking at the Mex black telecaster to modify. While I was waiting for the Mex telecaster ( I have checked out a few) , I asked the guy if they had a professional 2 telecaster. And he came out with a Miami Blue and I like the color. Then I held it in my hands ... I knew that this was my guitar ( it fits my hands so well... great neck).
I have a Nash E-52 (their take on a blackguard Esquire). For being a single pickup guitar, it is incredibly versatile and I am able to use it on any electric endeavor and not compromise.
Same journey, I had a Strat because.. Hendrix. That got stolen and I eventually got a Tele and absolutely love it. It just sounds like a "record" on everything.
My first "good" guitar is a 2004 American Standard Telecaster. I loved to palm mute a lot of delay driven riffs and it just feels so comfortable. Something I always have trouble doing on a Stratocaster. Its a workhorse guitar that feels like an in between a Les Paul and Stratocaster. I've wanted a 60's rosewood fretboard but I dont think ill ever need another telecaster.
Ben Rector makes songwriting and performing so effortless. Glad you got to see him!
G'day Mike, I'm Mike from Australia! I absolutely love your videos mate!
Cheers
I have sold most of my other guitars...I kept the tele's! there's just something about them. I too thought they were ugly as hell until I actually progressed as a player and saw the actual beauty in them. The tone(s), realiablity, Comfort (subjectivly speaking) and functionality are unmatched in my opinion
I’ve always thought they looked cool. But not at the start. It progressed from something that looks nice to one of my favorite guitar shapes. And they sound cool. Not for what I play but if I were to do some funky whatnot a tele would be my first pick.
You talked me into it. I'm going Tele shopping. For years and years, I have been a Strat guy (kinda - sorta), but I always have to modify my Strats, or build my own, and move the volume control out of the way. I noticed that you mentioned having trouble with the volume control as well. Not so with a Tele. It seems like Strats and Telecasters should sound similar, but they don't. It's more than just the pickups. It's a combination of everything. I think I'm gonna have to get me another Telecaster.
I love the placement of the volume on a Strat, very easy to get to quickly, and although I love Teles more than anything else, I usually end up flipping the control panel around so that the knobs are closer. Just depends on how active you are with the volume. Usually the players I've met that hate where the Strat volume is don't use it at all anyway.
Yep, the control layout of Strats is the ONLY thing that keeps me from owning one, I hate the volume pot position (if I ever want to do volume swells I'd rather do that with a pedal) and I despise how the pickup selector is positioned and slanted in a way that it is super easy for me to hit when I'm strumming.
I know I can adjust my technique for a Strat but it just feels wrong to me. I like having that extra room for my arm to move like on a Tele for example, feels awesome.
@7:50 There is a solution for this, reverse the control plate so the pickup switch is to the back... if you also reverse to volume & tone pots, you can do volume swells easier and don't worry about hitting it anymore!
This is the first video of yours I've seen. Just wanted to say that I really enjoy your storytelling. Great work.
My dad been playing guitar since the 70s and always been a strat or les Paul guy. He got an itch for a Tele somehow back in the early 2000s and I don’t ever see him play anything else. He has an 81 les Paul custom and American player strat but the tele is IT for him. Also through his Vox AC130. Thanks for the cool videos, slowly getting me back into my own personal collection.
Love your videos bro! I tune in for the guitars, and stay for the convos and stories haha.
Have a 94 American tele. Had my luthier pull the neck pickup and replace it with a humbucker. Sounds amazing and plays great. Never getting rid of it.
I bought a 20th Anniversary '68 in '88...loved that guitar. Madly sold it 8 years ago and have been slapping myself ever since.
Dont forget about the Squier teles. I just got the classic vibes 60s custom and it looks just like your buddys tele. It is gorgeous in person!
I picked up an American Vintage II 1963 Telecaster in transparent crimson - it is indeed amazing! The crimson comes in mahogany, which is an added plus in my opinion.
I also have an American Original 1960s Strat in shell pink. It still takes the cake for the most comfortable neck I’ve ever played.
I bought a pre owned Baja Tele last year, and it is now my ‘go to’ guitar. The neck is wonderful and there is a bonus with this one thanks to the Fender custom shop guys creating a 4 position selector switch with the ‘S’ button.
Telecaster and an AC15 is the best sound ever
I've seen people doing metal with a tele, and I've been opening my mind to that possibility as well. I really want to be able to get a nice tele some day and do something like this. Craziest versatility of any guitar I've seen.
Tried so many over the past 30-40 years. Now older and have only three guitars. Two Teles (one headless and one Reverend Blucifer) & one wonderful sunburst USA Strat. This is enuf. Thank you MC.
I learnt on a Mexican tele and loved it. I sold it but I picked one up the other day and really want one again. I like the shape the feel and the tone
Mike it would be great to see try out Tele ULTRA Series. I had fallen in love with this guitar as the all-in-one type of instrument! Hope to see you feature one in your next episodes.
Id love for Mike to look into some of Jeff Buckleys live playing, especially the Sin-e version of Strange fruit. Some of the nicest clean telecaster tones ever (IMO)
Thanks for this, Mike--terrific. I have a '52 Tele that I bought 40 years ago and have played and played. I can't get enough of its sound. There's no way in the world that I'll ever--EVER--sell it. They'll have to pry it oit of my cod dead hands.
We should maybe hang out sometime.... and talk about updating your will. 😉
Telecasters are the swiss army knives of guitars. They are so versatile! And they are the best looking guitar in my opinion.
Hello Mike! Thanks for the video it is great.
I actually purchased few weeks ago Telecaster 2013 50’s reissue made in Japan and it is a great guitar!
Love your enthusiasm! Nice playing and demo of the Tele. Also my favorite guitar by a mile. Cheers!
The reason the Tele is so versatile is due to how centered the bridge is to the strap pins and thigh cut (Strat to the right, LP to the left, SG/Explorer way to the left) and the increased distance to the control knobs (Tele controls run where the Strat's first tone knob is mounted, even EVH pushed the Strat volume back closer to a Tele volume position). Bill Kirchen shows how the Tele can play everything, every artist, every guitar: ua-cam.com/video/8_FK6o8RPSQ/v-deo.html ... My favorite auto-mods to any Tele I'll play regularly is rotating the control plate like Kirchen (V-T-Switch to the rear) and installing a 4-way switch to get a stealth Les Paul Junior Humbucker out of that Tele.
I got a tele as my first guitar (it's a righty, but I play lefty and my friend switched the strings around for me) and I always associated it with full sounds (Cavetown's song 888 and chugging for some reason) and I don't play it so much these days because it's heavy and I got a proper lefty (a strat), but I love chugging on my tele. I need to really practice more.
This is probably the second time I've heard about it's association with country, but it's cool seeing different perspectives. Glad Mike has come to understand the greatness of the telecaster. :)
Keith Richards also as of late. idk if he has always done this. But he he has take off the Low E string so it's just A D G B E and now low E. idk if that helps with stability or just one less string to tune. But i thought that was interesting
The fretboard wood on the American Ultra is stunning.
I was about three hours away from buying the Nashville Tele but you posted this video after the Juanes strat announcement, but there'll be other paydays.
I have the HH version of this with split coil option. Awesome guitar and same colour too!
Teles rule! I have a Baja 50s with the soft V neck. Even though I have a strat, a les paul and a epiphone dot (335), I almost always reach for the Tele. I could easily let go of the others, but that Tele is a keeper. Happy to have you on Team Tele.
I recently picked up a '22 telecaster for a reallyreally good price, I'm glad I got it and will probably keep it, and... you nailed the switch thing. For me, I'm gonna say "The Worst Ever" switch ergo's. Sometimes you have to live with "the heritage" of a model (and there is a reason they put that fat switch knob with a flat top on it) I can make it work. I do think in the "modern player series" spirit Fender could easily change it (or reverse it).. Thanks for putting this up !
Billy Squire plays a Tele. He's probably my favorite Telecaster player, with songs like Lonely Is the Night, The Stroke, In the Dark... just a whole bunch of hits. One thing that I urge you to do, if you get a chance, pick up a Jazzmaster. It will blow your mind. Don't let the name fool you, that's a rocking guitar.
I have tried quite a few telecasters, but never bought one! Danny Gatton is a country guitarist you would like!
Jimmy Page used a tele to record the first 2 Zep albums. Love teles, they can do anything.
Guitars, Cadillacs, Hillbilly music 🎶 Only Thang that keeps me hanging on 🎵 Dwight Yoakum my favorite.
I’ve had a few Teles over the years, and I loved and appreciated all of them. The one thing I always miss when I’m playing one, however, is the middle pickup. Mostly for positions 2 and 4; just my thang, I guess.
Everyone has a thing. I use position 3 quite a lot on Strats. I love the more rounded, woody, Hendrixy tones it produces. But the neck pickup on a Strat will always be my favorite sound.
You summed it all up so well, some great points here…I converted to Telecasters when I wanted to be different to the countless Stratocaster players around me when growing up and in doing that, I ended up finding the simple yet amazingly versatile world of telecasters!
I purchased a MiM strat a couple years ago and quickly returned it for another strat that was cheaper and on sale, but I hated the strat, the middle pick up was awkward for me to play near. So I returned that one as well. I got a tele MiM and it had some buzzing and I wasn’t really feeling that one either so another return. Then I said to myself I need to just spend a bit more money and get a pretty fair guitar so I got the American Professional II Tele and wow I was just impressed with everything about it, the feel, the 3 color burst, and when I plugged it in I was like wow ok, that’s what good pickups sound like, and I was hooked. I love my tele, I’m glad I returned so many others on the path to find it.
My "tele" is a 1999 G&L ASAT Classic that I've had since 2012 - and it sounds fantastic through an AC30. It's my default recording guitar.
Also - that shell pink Tele looks awesome.
LOVE Nashville ! I live in Athens, GA and we have produced So Many good music artist. i.e. REM and B-52's. I've spent a lot of time in Nashville visiting my friends that I used to jam with.. Also, I still have my very old Telecaster.. And it still sounds great !
So frequently your channel is about how your mind has been opened to try something new -- in guitar. 😊
I'd recommend starting your country Telecaster education with Don Rich. A real '60s Telecaster into a Fender Twin, that's it. A complicated signal path with him would have been a knot in his cable. One good thing about him is his playing is easily accessible, you can pick out his licks and learn from him.
Love my fat-neck CS Tele with twisted Tele neck pickup and broadcaster bridge pickup. The Nash version with Lollar pickups looks inviting as well.
Yes. The Vox and Tele combo so nice. 🤘
when I was 16 I traded in my squire Strat pack Strat towards a MIM telecaster. I loved that guitar had it for twelve years until a move that required serious downsizing. Unfortunately I sold that guitar and regretted it almost immediately. It took a few years to get back into electric guitar, more to find my way back to a tele. I will never part from a tele again. Something about the neck is just right. it's hard to find a bad sound in it. The only question is when I will get the next tele.
Great video Mike! Love the topics and the playing and that Shell Pink Tele of yours. I'm a Strat guy but I do have one Fender American Special Telecaster and she is Amazing! But that Fender American Vintage Telecaster that your friend Andrew has is so damn Tele Tone!
When I think versatility I automatically think Strat. It's interesting that you associate that with the Tele. I used to play my friends and loved it and will have one someday.
I love tele tone... wish the upper fret access was better.
After 50 years, of Strats, and Les Pauls, I finally bought my first Tele yesterday. I absolutely love it.
I have been an Ibanez RG style user/fan for a over couple of decades. Like you at first I thought this is the ugliest guitar. But when I bought my first tele, a couple months ago, I fell in love with it. It felt like this is what I’m looking for a long time.
Teles are my favorite guitars. Super versatile even though it is super simple at the same time. great knob placement and many models with great neck shapes.
Big ups to you sir keep up the great work encouraging and engaging and entertaining us. 👌🏽
I happen to have an American Performer Telecaster in Satin Sonic Blue arriving at my house tomorrow! My first Tele and I can't wait!
I’ve owned several T-style guitars but never an actual fender telecaster and loved them all. I’ve got several fenders but right now my only tele is a Squier bullet tele that I fully upgraded. I have a mini humbucker in the neck position right now. Turned a $129 guitar into something comparable if not better than a MIM tele.
I have 7 Teles. A MIM Thinline, 2 Squiers, 3 partscasters, plus a 12-string partscaster.
They’re all sweet, because you can so easily customize them.
I dunno wtf you played at 4:33 but it was epic and gave me hope for the future of humanity. So……thanks for that.👍
I have several guitars but one of my favorites is my MIM Nashville model with 3 pickups, it plays great and has great versatility, can get the sound of a Strat without the clunkiness of a Strat. Tele's are great!
True - I have sold all of my guitars this year, all except for my MIM Telecaster Deluxe that I bought new in 2004. I love that guitar, and i'll keep it til I die.
In my band, I play a Strat and a Les Paul, the other guitarist uses a tele, he seems to get every tone I do, plus more! such a complete guitar
Young black kid shredding the guitar on UA-cam is the sign of hope of a bright future😎
i totally agree i thought the same about telecasters until i recently got one in a trade to sell but....i fell in love with it
I agree with you Sir.... now I am going to have to add one to the collection...
Why wasn't this uploaded today!?!! I just SOLD MY TELE YESTERDAY.
Beautiful guitars and playing!!
Telecaster is life. I will never get rid of my Teles. Absolute perfection of the guitar!
I was much like you with the tele , ive always been a strat guy although i do have a charvel san dimas and a couple wolfgang standards, i first got a tele as matter of fact last yr, my mother passed away and had an ira which my sister and i were named on it so we each got around $40,000.00 so with that money i paid my house off and purchased a vintage series tele ,i have to say ive been playing more and more now than when i bought it ,my wife hates it when i buy guitars she just doesnt understand things when it comes to guitars so i made her happy when i paid our house off so at that point i guess it was ok with her that i buy a guitar but yeah i love my tele , anyway great video stay safe and god bless
Hey Mike! I recently picked up a beautiful white Telecaster with gold hardware.pearlescent pick guard and I love this guitar. I also have a Charvel Avenger with EMG pickups. Randy Rhodes style guitar. There’s a story behind that one.I also have a Les Paul with EMG pickups. But I picked up a Fender Telecaster about 5 months ago.I’m going to stick with this guitar. No one’s going to get this one from me. All I I got to say is if you own one, you already know.
You nailed it--Teles are about as versatile as it gets. I've got 3 G&L American teles with different pickup configurations. They can do it all.