Can you tell the difference between a cheap Tele and a Fender Tele?

[robj144]

Interesting video comparing a cheap Harley Benton Tele to a american made Fender Tele:

[1neeto]

Originally Posted by robj144

Interesting video comparing a cheap Harley Benton Tele to a american made Fender Tele:

I guessed wrong. Not going to spoil it but I was surprised. It’s all in the pickups.

[Dru Edwards]

From a video on my laptop, probably not. The feel in my hands and the tone through my amp, I'm guessing I could tell the difference in the majority of cases. Always a chance you get a dud American guitar and a great Harley Benton. That said, Harley Bentons have a great reputation.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

The feel in my hands and the tone through my amp, I'm guessing I could tell the difference in the majority of cases...

Agreed, with the usual rare exception in either case - IME it's when you get into the mid-price models that lines tend to get blurred quickly...

[darylcrisp]

I purchased a $119 Squier tele to put into use as a heavy string gauge, slightly higher action slide guitar. I was and continue to be amazed with its quality of parts, build, materials. It sounds really good thru an amp and is very resonant acousticlly. The bridge and saddles seem well made as are the adjusting screws.
I was feeling a little weird after having spent around $1500 on a USA AOL 70 custom fender.
I had been around the Squier for a few days setting it up, etc. I had to sit down and compare the two. Immediately the AO gushed it's quality of tone via the wound pickups vs ceramic in the Squier.
The tuners on the Squier are good, smooth, hold tuning, but they do have that less than substantial feel. The tuners on the AO are vintage locking and feel very nice.
Both necks are excellent C shapes and 9.25 radius and feel similar, but the AO again has a definite edge. The fretwork on the AO is perfect, I spent about 2 hrs on the Squier pulling one, cutting the slot deeper and resetting/gluing it in. A level and dress. Both came with excellent cut nuts, bone on AO, synthetic on the S.

Is the Squier worth what I paid, easily. It works as intended, everything adjusts very good. Still can't see how they come out ahead on these $ wise.
Is the AO worth what I paid, easily, plus the nitro finish smells like cake, you gotta love that. It just oozes quality and all the tone you are capable of pulling.

Is the AO worth about 13x more than the Squier. Well, that's based on how much is in your budget at the time you buy.
I could be very happy with only owning the Squier, I'm thankful for having the opportunity to experience the AO.

[Coop47]

I love Teles, and I can tell the difference between a Squier, a Mexican and American standard model. IMO reissues are a little tougher - the Mexican Japanese reissues are very close to the MIAs.

[Texsunburst59]

To me it was very obvious which the Fender was.

A '52 has a fairly thick neck tone, which one didn't have.

Most guys will buy the HB guitar,because you can get one for about $135 + about $30+/- shipping.

When you go an sell it, you'll most likely lose about $50 or so, which is way less than you'd lose on a USA Tele, when selling it.

I get that you're not paying or losing that much with this guitar, but........

For me, I'd rather have a REAL Fender that I can find for a killer price.

I usually find amazing deals in my neck of the woods anyway.

I picked up an '09 Fender Highway Tele in a pawnshop cheaper than that HB guitar.

My Fender at least will hold it's value because it's the real thing.

[blue]

As long as the pickups are legitimate tele knock-offs and not just something that looks like a tele pickup, no... And yes...

And it's Fenders fault. What does a tele sound like? Way too many flavors, and quality levels over the years. Yeah, every traditionally wired Fender tele "sounds like a tele", just more-so or less-so. And so do the more faithful knockoffs.

[Steel and wood]

There will be a lot of Telecaster (and Stratocaster) players like myself I'm guessing who feel inspired owning and playing a guitar with "Fender" on the headstock. (No matter how good and how cheap other guitars may be and let's face it, there are great T and S style guitars out there).

Don't really know why I feel this way because I'm not much of a brand snob with anything else. (Fender and Martin guitars).

[Texsunburst59]

Originally Posted by Steel and wood

There will be a lot of Telecaster (and Stratocaster) players like myself I'm guessing who feel inspired owning and playing a guitar with "Fender" on the headstock. (No matter how good and how cheap other guitars may be and let's face it, there are great T and S style guitars out there).

Don't really know why I feel this way because I'm not much of a brand snob with anything else. (Fender and Martin guitars).

Fly your Fender & Martin flags with pride, because it has nothing to do with being a brand snob.

I have to problem at all.

The Harley Benton guys can fly theirs proudly as well.

[Bob Womack]

You know, I went out shopping a few years ago for a Tele and a Strat. I wanted to like the lower lines, I really did. I tried to like them. I gave the upper lines a chance as well. But the two that followed me home were American Standards, because of the sound and feel. I needed them to go right into recording sessions and the ones that were ready to go were the American Standards. Interestingly, the American Deluxe models I tried didn't grab me. Don't know why.

Bob

[FrankHudson]

I think there's something in the classic Fender recipe that survives cost-cutting more successfully that some other electric guitar designs. I don't mean to say that there aren't some advantages to better quality parts, or that there aren't distinctive sounds that high end pickups bring to the table, just that inexpensive Teles and Strat can often sound extraordinarily valid even without upgrade mods.

[Ian111]

Originally Posted by Steel and wood

There will be a lot of Telecaster (and Stratocaster) players like myself I'm guessing who feel inspired owning and playing a guitar with "Fender" on the headstock. (No matter how good and how cheap other guitars may be and let's face it, there are great T and S style guitars out there).

Don't really know why I feel this way because I'm not much of a brand snob with anything else. (Fender and Martin guitars).

Being a fan of music history those names DO mean a lot. Most of us picked up a guitar because of specific people places and things. A lot of our guitar heroes adopted a Strat Tele or Les Paul for the same reasons we did. Its not just a brand Fender and Gibson means almost as much to us as Hendrix or Page. Its not frivolous they’re part of our culture.

[blews]

Great Debate......

I love my Mex Tele as much as my Chad Underwood Custom "T" and my '71....the Mex is an extraordinary value for the money and you can find MIMs for under $500 all in if you look hard enough....

Never played a Benton but have played some lower end "T" style guitars in the past....for me, pickups are the key......and the amp you are playing through makes a huge difference as well......

I am a neck guy and to me the lower end "T" styles fail in the neck / fret department....even with great pickups.....

[6L6]

I've owned several Fender VRI telecasters over the years. They were all fine instruments.

I've also owned a 1953 Blackguard Tele and a '58 Tele. Like Martin's Authentics vs the rest of their offerings, the '53 and '58 were a sonic world apart from the reissues. Both were very lightweight and incredibly responsive.

I've gigged with every guitar I own over the years. No "hanger queens"! It was only when those old Teles started getting some uninvited interest by folks in the crowd that I decided it was too risky to continue to take them out in public. And... since I don't own a museum for instruments, I sold both of those on and bought a bunch of cool acoustic gear.

BTW, I bought the '53 Tele via answering a small ad in the classifieds of a local newspaper while I was bored and on the road selling my engineering services. All the ad said was, "Guitar for Sale." I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. Asked the guy what he wanted and he said $300. Nope, I didn't forget a "0".

You never know.