Fender Telecaster – Review

Why did I buy it?

I think it’s clear from this blog that I like strat’s, however after owning a less inspiring Mexican version with far more bells and whistles than I actually needed (reviewed immediately below) I decided to step out on a limb and buy something simple and classic. Mind you it wasn’t too much of a limb because this guitar feels almost identical to a strat apart from the slightly heavier non-contoured body. Indeed I do think Tele’s look cooler than strats. This one was of course US made, I think in 1999. The story behind it was that the guitarist in my old band used to play an almost identical guitar and I figured if it was good enough for him it was good enough for me. Also I had just split-up with my girlfriend and was in need of cheering up – perhaps being nostalgic for “old times”.

How does it sound?

Tonally the Tele is not as diverse as the strat but it still sounds great. I found it beautiful for most things on the clean to a bit of dirt side of the spectrum, however after a year or so of owning this I went out and bought a PRS SE with two humbuckers to handle the heavier stuff. The band I was in at the time played mostly covers and together these two guitars got me through a lot of gigs very well. I found the Tele a little bit heavy and the silver pick-up cover used to get quite dirty, but as mentioned above I really liked the overall look (how vain!). Played through my Laney VC30 it was bit brighter than I may of liked, but sometimes brightness can be a good thing especially if there is something like a Hammond in the band that gets a bit greedy with the number of frequencies it covers! My enduring memory of this guitar is fluffing the intro to the “Friends” theme tune in front of everyone at the year 2000 festival in Farnborough park!

Keep or sell?

I sold this when the number of gigs I was doing reduced and I could no longer justify two electrics. Although I liked the Tele there was nothing it could do that a strat couldn’t plus more. Also my band split up and I was going through a slightly difficult time so I wanted a new guitar to take me in a different direction. I think in the future I would not be adverse to getting another one, however it would come quite a bit down the wishlist. I’m glad I tried a Tele and do see why people get excited about them, however if I am to own only one electric that’s got to be a strat for me!

Mexican Richie Sambora Strat – Review

Why did I buy it? 

After being at university for a year and having traded in my strat for an acoustic I found myself in a band where I needed to play electric. As a long time strat lover there was only one option, however I couldn’t afford a US made guitar and wouldn’t reduce myself to a Squire. I started looking for a Mexican or Japanese strat before coming across this second-hand guitar (again the photo is not the actual guitar). As a young teenager I remember being blown away by Richie Sambora especially his playing on the “BonJovi Unplugged” MTV session, and I also remember an issue of the Guitarist magazine in the early 90s that reviewed both the high-spec Sambora strat along with this cheaper Mexican made version which I rather fancied at the time. So when I saw this instrument at a very reasonable price I snapped it up, probably around 1999 ish.

How does it sound?

This instrument had a DiMarzio PAF humbucker in the bridge position which (in my opinion) is a great improvement on the singlecoil in the equivalent position. As mentioned previously I love the range of sounds available on the strat and the humbucker just adds to the tonal smorgasbord. Feel wise the neck, balance and fret finish of this guitar was not as good as my previous US strat but it was still very playable. I liked the locking nut however had huge problems with the Floyd Rose tremolo. Initially I liked the fact you could tune using the little black dials however I found the tuning stability very poor. Latterly I found out that the Floyd Rose pivots about a blade that needs to be maintained in order to work optimally. When I first got this guitar I was using it through a small rack system with an ancient ART preamp & Calvin power amp, however then moved to a Laney VC30-210, the latter “vintage” amp not quite being a good match for this very much rockers guitar.

Keep of sell?

As a bit of a guitar snob I always figured I would upgrade back to a US made Fender eventually. This one worked well for a few years however the tuning instability caused me all sorts of issues and after a gig where I really struggled to keep the guitar in tune I think the writing was on the wall. Still I really liked the humbucker, the occasional dive-bombs that were possible with this instrument, and it was nice to own an instrument I had coveted as a kid.

Guitarist oops!

Glad to see that even the great Van Halen balls up on occasion, but why didn’t they just admit defeat?

And then there is this band – from 1 minute 10 in the video – it was an accident, but oh, what an accident!

Fender US Strat – rosewood fretboard – Review

Why did I buy it?

Sadly I never took any pictures of what was my teenage “dream guitar” (this is the closest I can find online). When I was 18 I went to the States for the first half of my (inappropriately named) gap-year and worked in a drive through to afford this guitar. I had borrowed a squire strat for years whilst at school and my dream was to get a “proper US strat”. I settled on a US standard, candy apple red, rosewood fretboard and pearl pickguard. I remember the day I paid for it in autumn 1996 – bringing $800 in $100 bills into the music shop – and remember the smell as I opened the case once getting back home! I then brought it back to the UK with the case wrapped in more bubble-wrap than was strictly necessary!

How does it sound?

The problem with teenage dreams is that they are quite often unrealistic. I had bought my dream guitar but forgotten about what to plug it into! For the first year or so of owning this I cobbled together a make-shift amp with old bits of radio plus the smallest practice amp you’ve ever seen (I think it was a “Kustom”) before finally borrowing someones better Trace Elliot amplifier for a few months. However I do remember spending a day in a friends studio and plugging this into a Marshall half-stack and wow – I was in heaven. I love the variety of sounds you can get from the five-way pickup switch, the feel of the neck and the contour and lightness of the body. In fact I go teary-eyed even thinking about it!

Keep or sell?

And then we get to the sad bit. I played bass full time for a year in a band with an excellent electric guitarist whose ability was way beyond anything I could hope to achieve. However, for occasional songs we did use two guitars but with me playing a bit of acoustic. This meant for a whole year of touring I was exposed to blistering talent on an electric whilst carving a niche for myself on bass & acoustic. So when I finally went to university (and having little money) I traded this strat in for my Fender Acoustic guitar (reviewed below). In one way I do not regret this as I still have and love my acoustic which has served me well in literally hundreds of gigs, however I do regret not being able to hold on to what I consider my “first” guitar. Sometimes I think that when I am old with lots of money and children off looking after themselves I might indulge myself with an identical guitar, just for “old times” sake.