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

[BoneDigger]

Perhaps my ears simply are not trained well enough to pick up on subtle differences? I enjoy going to my local music store and plugging in different instruments to the same amp with the same settings and seeing if one really stands out. Aside from how the neck feels, the weight, etc., very rarely do any stand out as just exceptionally better than the others. Ocassionally you see a dud that just seems to sound dead for the most part. But usually, the differences in tone can be accounted for by tweaking the amp setting a bit. One is a little brighter, one is a little darker, one resonates slightly better (good for some music), some resonate a little less (better for some types of music). When you add in the ability to change pickups or even the neck, the differences really are fairly small. I tend to feel and hear much more difference when I start doing this with hollow and semi-hollow guitars.

[blue]

Originally Posted by 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

Yup. Kind of as I posted before. There are a ton of "Fender Telecasters" that don't make the cut for one reason or another. It's at the point where you have to talk in terms of a "Tele family", and a "strat family"of tones. And somewhere in that continuum is the tele sound you hear in your head. You just have to find it. Short of custom shop guitars, I lean towards AVRIs. '52s for Teles and
62 strats from the early 2000s.

[Jerry D]

I think it all comes down to experience. If you're not a Scotch drinker, for example, you're not going to tell much difference between Cutty Sark (Squier) and a fifteen-year-old Macallan (Fender), except for the price.

[Steel and wood]

Originally Posted by BoneDigger

Perhaps my ears simply are not trained well enough to pick up on subtle differences? I enjoy going to my local music store and plugging in different instruments to the same amp with the same settings and seeing if one really stands out. Aside from how the neck feels, the weight, etc., very rarely do any stand out as just exceptionally better than the others. Ocassionally you see a dud that just seems to sound dead for the most part. But usually, the differences in tone can be accounted for by tweaking the amp setting a bit. One is a little brighter, one is a little darker, one resonates slightly better (good for some music), some resonate a little less (better for some types of music). When you add in the ability to change pickups or even the neck, the differences really are fairly small. I tend to feel and hear much more difference when I start doing this with hollow and semi-hollow guitars.

I'm mostly the same. (If I'm choosing a Fender Telecaster for example I'm drawn first and foremost towards the look of the guitar …. yes, call me shallow, and then feel of the neck …. although hardly any Fender Telecaster necks that didn't feel comfortable and then the sound, given it's going to sound like a Telecaster.

The only thing that might put me off thereafter is a Telecaster with a bridge pickup that's hotter than most. (Having to constantly dial back the treble to accommodate my tastes).

[Ian111]

Originally Posted by Jerry D

I think it all comes down to experience. If you're not a Scotch drinker, for example, you're not going to tell much difference between Cutty Sark (Squier) and a fifteen-year-old Macallan (Fender), except for the price.

But like Scotch the law of diminishing returns kicks in at a certain price and thats esp true with Scotch since you’ll piss it all out.