I want to get a Telecaster and a Fender amp, but I need some help/education

[jljohn]

I play bluegrass and old time acoustic guitar (with a little banjo and mandolin on the side), and I've been wanting a Telecaster for some time. I have very little electric guitar experience though, so I'm trying to educate myself before jumping in. That's where you all come in!

I'd like to get an electric guitar for various styles of roots music (folk, country, and honkytonk) playing. My ears have always like the telecaster (especially vintage telecasters) for that type of stuff. I've also liked the what I've heard coming from the Fender vintage reissue tube amps. I live in a condo, so I don't want a big amp.

I don't want to break the bank or go totally budget either. For both the guitar and the amp, I don't want to feel like I'll outgrow it, but I don't need all the best features either. The guitar must be USA-made though. (To put it into acoustic guitar terms, I'm looking for the D-18 GE or the J-45 True Vintage of Fender Telecasters and amps.)

So, what models of guitar and amp should I consider? What don't I know that I really need to know to make this decision (for example: tell me about traditional tele pickups.) In the amp, I don't need a separate gain channel for what I'm looking to do, right?

I'm sure there will be more questions to come, but thanks for now!

[wrathfuldeity]

52 tele and a non reverb tweed Princeton or 64 blackface Princeton is all you need to know

btw there are lots of kits and ptp clones of the 5f2a...so you don't need to spend the big $ for a real vintage...wander around the telecaster forums there is a ton of info.

[jljohn]

Originally Posted by wrathfuldeity

52 tele and a non reverb tweed Princeton or 64 blackface Princeton is all you need to know

btw there are lots of kits and ptp clones of the 5f2a...so you don't need to spend the big $ for a real vintage...wander around the telecaster forums there is a ton of info.

Thanks! Is that the Fender American Vintage '52 Telecaster that you're talking about? Has the 64 blackface been reissued, or are you talking about a vintage amp?

Thanks!

[muscmp]

Originally Posted by wrathfuldeity

52 tele and a non reverb tweed Princeton or 64 blackface Princeton is all you need to know

btw there are lots of kits and ptp clones of the 5f2a...so you don't need to spend the big $ for a real vintage...wonder around the telecaster forums there is a ton of info.

except the 52 tele and princeton will break two banks.

i have the american vintage 58 tele and everyone who plays it says it is great. i usually use it thru my 59 princeton or 66 deluxe reverb.

go to your big box store and play all of the teles they have as well as the fender amps. leave your wallet at home for now. do some shopping online and then make your decision. note that the amp is about 40% of your sound.

the tele forum is great. here is a link. check the guitar subforum as well as the amp subfora. you may want to register and post. you'll get a lot of good info.

www.tdpri.com

play music!

[posternutbag]

The last iteration of the American Standard Telecasters were very good instruments, and they aren't terribly expensive, especially used. The Fender Princeton Reissue is a fine amp, I owned one for a little while, but the Fender Deluxe Reverb is, IMO a better amp for just a little more money.

One of the things I would think about that may seem counterintuitive, is spend more money on the amp than the guitar. If I were on a budget, I would rather buy a nicer amp and a slightly cheaper guitar. My reasoning is that it is easier to upgrade a guitar than an amp. Guitars are more fungible.

[jljohn]

Originally Posted by posternutbag

One of the things I would think about that may seem counterintuitive, is spend more money on the amp than the guitar. If I were on a budget, I would rather buy a nicer amp and a slightly cheaper guitar. My reasoning is that it is easier to upgrade a guitar than an amp. Guitars are more fungible.

Makes sense to me. I wasn't quite thinking 50-50 (I had figured about 1/3 of the total budget would go to the amp), but I'll give that more thought Thanks.

[Revy]

If you have your heart set on a Fender Telecaster I will not be the one to steer you away. If you are open to other suggestions don't overlook an American made G&L ASAT Classic. They are a great instrument and flawless build quality. Most have a 1-5/8" nut which kept me from buying one since my budget was looking used and I have huge hands.
Find one with a rosewood board and give it a strum. You'll feel it all down your leg. I have an original 68 twin reverb. It's the only Fender amp I've ever owned so I can't help you with other suggestions in that department.

[rdawsoniii]

Don't dismiss the Godin 5th Avenue Kingpin II. It will play everything you listed. Fantastic guitar for the money. Made in Canada.

Also check out a Bugera V22 amp.

[ChrisN]

Originally Posted by Revy

If you have your heart set on a Fender Telecaster I will not be the one to steer you away. If you are open to other suggestions don't overlook an American made G&L ASAT Classic. They are a great instrument and flawless build quality. Most have a 1-5/8" nut which kept me from buying one since my budget was looking used and I have huge hands.
Find one with a rosewood board and give it a strum. You'll feel it all down your leg. I have an original 68 twin reverb. It's the only Fender amp I've ever owned so I can't help you with other suggestions in that department.

I echo the G&L recommendation (I have an Asat Special), but wanted to clarify the nut width issue. Non-custom USA G&L's come with their Modern C neck, which comes with a 1 11/16 nut BUT 1 5/8" string spacing, likely to keep the E strings from sliding off too easily. http://www.glguitars.com/instruments...ons/guitar.asp

It is a little tighter than a standard 1 11/16 on an acoustic, or on a Gibson electric, and I do notice it. That said, if you go G&L, you can custom order what you want in the $1300-$1500 range and you can spec up to 1 3/4" nut width via the Classic Wide C neck (see neck options at above link). Or, you can get an off-the-rack Asat Classic and get a luthier to cut you a nut with 1 11/16 string spacing, too, if you don't mind getting closer to the edge.

[Hoyt]

I'd check out http://www.tdpri.com/forums/

For guitars and amps.

You mention living in an apartment. I'd start out with a small tube amp of about 5 watts and a few pedals. Put in some good tubes and play. Then, you can update your amp, assuming you want to, later.

A Telecaster is an excellent choice. I had a Gibson ES135 that felt a lot like an acoustic guitar.

Good luck.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by jljohn

I play bluegrass and old time acoustic guitar (with a little banjo and mandolin on the side)...I have very little electric guitar experience though, so I'm trying to educate myself before jumping in...

I'd like to get an electric guitar for various styles of roots music (folk, country, and honkytonk) playing. My ears have always liked the Telecaster (especially vintage Telecasters) for that type of stuff. I've also liked what I've heard coming from the Fender vintage reissue tube amps. I live in a condo, so I don't want a big amp...

I don't want to break the bank or go totally budget either. For both the guitar and the amp, I don't want to feel like I'll outgrow it, but I don't need all the best features either. The guitar must be USA-made though...

So, what models of guitar and amp should I consider? What don't I know that I really need to know to make this decision...In the amp, I don't need a separate gain channel for what I'm looking to do, right?...

Former owner of a first-run (late-CBS) '52 Tele reissue/current owner of a '65 Super Reverb reissue here; I'm going to address your concerns in no particular order, in an attempt to establish some clarity/continuity...

• First off, you're doing right to get educated before plunking down your hard-earned bucks - there's some great advice here - and, although you do have a specific model preference in mind, you're also open-minded enough to consider other options. Good thing, BTW - assuming you're buying new a USA vintage-style Tele and a '65 Princeton Reverb reissue will set you back a bank-breaking $3K ; if you really have your heart set on this sort of setup, fine - just be advised that you can assemble a brand-new/all-Fender Tele+tube amp ensemble that gives away very little if anything in looks or tone, for about one-third the price...
• While the Telecaster is considered the iconic "country" electric, I'm sure you're aware that most of those classic "roots" tracks from the post-war period (1945-1960) were laid down with single-coil-equipped hollowbodies of some kind - and if you're serious about this style of music you will need at least one of these sooner than later; since you're coming over from bluegrass acoustic (I'm thinking dreadnought here) I'd recommend checking out the Godin CW II, a twin P-90 single-cutaway in the mold of the early-50's Gibson ES-175/295 (think Scotty Moore on the early Elvis tracks) that sells for around $1K street; you'll find a lot to like here: single-coil crispness with an "airier" tone than its vintage Gibson/Epiphone counterparts (thanks to the lightweight woods used in its construction), neck/body dimensions virtually identical to the Seagull mini-jumbos, simple controls (pickup selector/volume/tone - very easy to dial in with just about any amp), and a D-28-like five pounds on the strap - extremely versatile, and while it's not "officially" US-made (Godin has a plant in New Hampshire in addition to their Canadian operation) you're giving away absolutely nothing in terms of quality/playability/tone. FWIW I understand Tony Bennett's guitarist is using one of these on tour - and I'd be inclined to think he knows a little something about tone...
• IMO you'd also be remiss if you didn't have Gretsch - that "other" country guitar - on your must-play list. FYI I'm an ex-Brooklyn boy whose grandparents lived three blocks from the old 60 Broadway factory, owned a 6117 Double Anniversary since 1964/played a few hundred others over the last 55 years, and I can say without reservation that the current Korean-made 5400/5600-Series hollowbodies (not to be confused with the entry-level Chinese/Indonesian models) are some of the finest instruments ever to wear the name: fit/finish/QC/playbility/tone equal the Japanese-made Professional Series as well as the vintage '50s/60s originals (often superior in the latter case, believe it or not), every one of them is available for under $1K - and if you're after some of that classic Chet Atkins/Cliff Gallup/Duane Eddy twang, or looking to rock this town until all the stray cats come strutting home, nothing else sounds like a Gretsch but a Gretsch...
• Since you're thinking in terms of one of the Fender blackface reissue amps I'm going to assume (perhaps wrongly) that, like myself, you're searching for an "American big-clean" tone from your setup: fat and full yet defined and crisp, with plenty of headroom to keep things from getting too fuzzy/fizzy when you dig in. You also state that you don't want to feel that you'll outgrow it - which to me suggests something with a bit more reserve power than a '65 Princeton for the stage, and either a master volume or a built-in attenuator to rein it in to comfortable apartment-dweller levels (been there/done that); while I'm partial to the Bugera V22 - arguably the best $400 you'll ever spend on a tube combo - there are a number of other amps out there that will also serve your needs well, and I'd suggest playing through as many such combos (regardless of price) in the 15-30W range as possible to "tune your ear" to the similarities/differences between makes, tube types, speakers, etc. Be aware, though, that tube amps can be finicky beasts, requiring a certain amount of routine (and occasionally pricey) maintenance to keep sounding their best - and in that light I wouldn't necessarily be too quick to rule out a mid-powered analog solid-state amp: clean as you need, virtually maintenance-free, usually lighter than a comparably-powered tube amp/less expensive to purchase, and as a newcomer you don't need the added confusion of several hundred amp models that you're likely never going to use anyway for your style of music. Again speaking as a former owner, I'd start with the current incarnation of the Peavey Bandit - somewhat more powerful than what you'll need, but once again we're talking about "tuning your ear" (and there's a very good reason the predecessor models graced just about every country-music stage large and small in the '80s/90s) - and work from there in terms of your budget and tonal/power needs...

Good luck...

[Russell G]

I would also look into the Squier line by Fender. Not the cheapo models (Affinity, etc.), rather something like the Squier Vintage Modified Tele Custom
which I bought last year for $400. It plays extremely well for a non - American Fender.

[Russell G]

I should have included a decent amp by Fener. I have the Champion 20 for $100. You should be able to get both for a bit under $500 !

[DukeX]

Lot of good suggestions.

I agree you don't need to break the bank on a Tele, There are great Teles out there for < $700, and you don't need a MIA. Even the Classic Vibe series (not MIA) get a lot of praise over at TDPRI. You can always swap out the pickups (Teles are the most modified guitar I know of).

Regarding the amp, I'd stick with the Princeton Reverb (or Deluxe Reverb). Now you have an iconic guitar that sounds great through an iconic amp--a match made in heaven. Even if you decide you want something else later, at least you have experienced two iconic standards to compare other guitars/amps with. You'll never know how this combo sounds unless you experience it yourself.

[bsman]

Nothing wrong with the Mexican standard teles. I have an '09 that is every bit as playable and tuneful as my Ron Kirn custom barnbuster. As far as Fender amps go, the cheapest tube amp in their line is the Pro Jr, and it has much of the mojo of the original champs (i.e. Just a volume control and tone knob) and has the added charm of getting loud enough to play in a band situation. You should be able to get a used late-model MIM tele for not too much (about $300-350 around here in expensive NorCal) and the amp for about the same. I guarantee you will not feel undergunned with that combo.