SuperTele? A very good value
Written: Jun 21 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great value, great tone, reliable, versatile
Cons: so-so for metal tones, so single-coil tele tones
The Bottom Line: Overall, this guitar is a very good value, with good versatility.
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| mikeyjake's Full Review: Fender 72 Telecaster Thinline Electric Guitar |
Overall, this guitar is a very good value, with good versatility. My only quibbles might be that 1) you can't do death metal with it and 2) the lack of single coils leaves out some "traditional" tele tones. For sound samples, check out Johnny Lang's work... he plays this basically straight into a Fender Vibro-King.
FEATURES
21 frets, solid mahogany body with F-hole and fairly large cavity under the controls, volume and tone, 3 way selector, maple neck/fretboard. Two nickel-covered humbuckers, and white sparkle pickguard (1-ply). Non-trem brige, but not the same as most teles (because of the humbuckers). Neck is maple, also a nice piece of wood. The body finish is Polyester and the neck finish is Polyurethane . The neck is very comfortable –thinner than most strats and teles I’ve ever played, but with enough mass to feel substantive and help the tone (thicker necks generally equal better tone). The action was set very low… so low that I raised it a tad, but its nice knowing that the guitar is well enough put together to do that. No visible flaws or scuffs on the guitar.
SOUND
The guitar is much louder acoustically than any “standard” tele (giving it nice plugged-in sustain as well), but it won’t feed back even with significant amounts of volume and distortion.
This is a lovely guitar. All three pickup positions sing, differently, and well. I repeat, this is a guitar with a singing voice, especially the neck position. I roll back the treble a bit and get lovely variations in tone. This thing sounds great through ANY amp I tried. Clean, it had that great twang. Distorted, it had that amazing bite, and changing your picking attack or backing off on the volume control could bring about an ever greater range in sounds. Coupled with any decent amp (I tried a Boogie, a JCM 800, a Fender Vibrolux, and a Bruno), I don't need anything unless I want some different effects (Flange, Tremolo, etc.). You get enough variety from just that and changing the way you play.
The one downside might be the lack of single coil tones. With this tele, you are trading that off for the more powerful and less hum humbuckers... however, you lose some of the definition of single coils. If you want single coil tone, consider the '69 reissue thinline, or adding a coil tap to this guitar. Either way, you will still have more versatility than most guitars.... especially at the price.
You can pretty much hit anything but extreme metal with this one – from Keith Richards rock to Twang Rockabilly to Big Rock Solos (think Prince in Let’s Go Crazy) to Hollow Jazz to Andy Summers with the Police. It really just depends on using a decent amp on the right settings. I play a fairly wide range of styles, and feel comfortable using this guitar for any of them, especially since the character of the guitar stays consistent through all of them. The ideal setup might be this guitar through an AB box going from a classic Fender Blackface to a Vox or Marshall-vibe Boutique Amp – no guitar or pedal will make those amps sound like one another, and between the two you’ll have an AMAZING range.
The pickups aren’t Fender’s best, but are relatively warm and are louder than most standard teles. The guitar already has a great bite and growl, but I would look into swapping them out for a set of Fralins to hit tone heaven. I think that the pickup swap (and maybe a change in nut – I’d suggest bone) are the only thing separating this from being a totally professional instrument.
RELIABILITY/DURABILITY
This guitar is totally dependable and doesn't need a lot of maintenance. I've knocked it up a few times, and the finish still looks that same as when I got it. The only problem is the cord output jack, because like many guitars, it's a screw in type deal, and it can get unscrewed and rattle around a lot. Other than that, it's got such a range that it could be the only guitar you use at a gig. This is a very low maintenance guitar. I play hard, and it generally doesn’t go out of tune. I thought I’d need locking tuners, but that just isn’t that case.
VALUE
Overall, a phenomenal value for the money. I own 14 guitars, including a PRS Custom 24, an American Telecaster, and a Gretsch Jet, and this has surprisingly become one of my main guitars. I find it much more versatile – changing picking attack and playing with the volume brings about very different and very usable sounds, while still keeping the guitar’s “signature” tone.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
mikeyjake
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Member: Mike Jacobs
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Guitarist/Vocalist for rock band Evil Jake. Called a "guitar virtuoso" by Lycos Music.
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