[fuman]

I was in Guitar Center yesterday to pick something up, and I saw some Telecasters out on the floor. I have a longtime Tele Jones. I was especially interested in the Classic Vibe mahogany Thinline. The vintage tint neck and the body finish made for a striking instrument.

The neck felt good, but the guitar didn't sound special or anything. I put it back and picked up the seafoam green Bullet next to it. It's a very nice-looking guitar. The body is a little thinner than a standard Tele, but that means it's also lighter. I plugged into the nothing-special "Champion" amp I had used and was kind of shocked at how much better it sounded than the Thinline. The bridge pickup was only decent, but the neck pickup sounded better than I am used to from MiM Teles and even better than the American-made '79 Tele that I owned back in the day. I didn't check (having used all my available time playing the Bullet) but I assume the Thinline had the pickup height set too low. I can't imagine there could be that much difference in output otherwise.

Another surprise: The neck felt great. No rough edges on the board or sharp fret ends. It was pretty tempting at the sub-$200 price they were asking. So I went home and did some research. As it turns out, they are selling the Lake Placid Blue version for $50 less. So I ordered it (LPB Is a great color, though not my favorite). We'll see how it turns out. Maybe the green one is the notorious "great" example we've all stumbled across. But I have the headroom for a gigbag and an upgrade to the jack and nut, at least.

Quite a pleasant surprise. I have some trouble determining any real quality difference between Standard/Affinity/Bullet guitars at this point. ANd the bullet said it includes Squier Standard Series pickups. I'll let you know how it turns out.