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  #1  
Old 04-12-2018, 05:10 PM
RockyRacc00n RockyRacc00n is offline
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Default Newbie question on American Fender Telecaster

I know pretty much nothing about electric guitars. If I wanted to get an estimated value on what someone is telling me is an American Fender Telecaster 2008, is that enough info to look it up on Reverb? Or are there more spec you need to know exactly what it is?
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Old 04-12-2018, 05:30 PM
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Pickcity Pickcity is offline
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You need to be very careful when purchasing a used anything, but especially American and collectible guitars. It is unfortunate but lots of guitars are counterfeits these days and some of them are pretty good fakes. If I were new to this I would have an expert that I trust take a good hard look at everything on it. All that aside, an American Fender is a fine guitar indeed. Just be careful. Good luck.
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Old 04-12-2018, 05:58 PM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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you have decent acoustics. go see the guitar, play it and decide whether or not it sings to you. prior to that, educate yourself via various fora so that you can spot any possible fakes or mods and the going rate. look at the neck, the pickups, serial numbers, have the screws been taken out, are the tuners good, do all the knobs and swtches work...etc. realize that 40% of the electric guitarist's sound is from the amp, so if you are using someone else's amp to test the guitar, be aware of that.

good luck.

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Old 04-12-2018, 06:05 PM
Steel and wood Steel and wood is offline
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It's seriously hard to go wrong with a 2008 American made Telecaster. (It's not as if you are buying a vintage instrument either). In theory, it should be cheaper for you than buying a brand new instrument also.

Check the headstock to make sure it says "Fender" and "Made in the USA", make sure there are no gaps in the neck joint of the instrument (shouldn't be) and above all, make sure the profile and size of the neck is going to suit your fretting hand. (Play the instrument if you can).

Good luck!
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Old 04-12-2018, 07:26 PM
RockyRacc00n RockyRacc00n is offline
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I’m probably in over my head to know what I am looking at. But the reason I am asking is because someone on a local listing app is proposing a trade. And it happens to be a Tele, something I fancied that I might get into one of these days.

I probably won’t follow through because the guys seems flaky. You can tell a lot from their initial contact when it comes to these transactions. And he has feet showing in one of his pictures, a tell tale sign of a less than quality seller, perhaps.

But I was curious anyway because I might get into it sometime in the future. It seems there are different categories or classes of American Telecaster and I thought I might get a basic understanding of how it lays out. I see things like “Standard”, “Deluxe”, “Professional”, etc. And was wondering if those designations are what one needs to get an estimate on Reverb, if one was to use a site like that to get an idea.

Again, probably won’t engage this seller but wanted to understand for future reference.
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Old 04-12-2018, 07:41 PM
ChrisN ChrisN is offline
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A USA telecaster from '08 or so should be in the $600-$800 range, maybe a bit higher for unmolested/unplayed. As mentioned, it's too frequently the case that people can't leave well enough alone, so, usually after the first owner, but not always, they change pickups, pickguards, electronics, bridges, and other stuff, sell the originals, or put them into beater guitars before off-loading the donor. I always try to look for case queens, 1 owner, "hardly played" all original, with case candy, etc. Basically someone who got bored or never tried or had too many guitars and is downsizing. Beware the flogged/gigged-out POS - patina has a price. I try to avoid guitars that have had work done, unless the seller's decisions were good, and the work was done by a pro (w/receipt). A lot of people save $$ by trying to do their own electronic work - some do it fine, others do not. You don't need a project with an untraceable/unbearable hum due to a crappy grounding job.

The various names Fender applied/applies to its USA offerings is the only way left to them to bring in new buyers. Unfortunately, there are spec and finish differences you might care about. For example, the top of the line non-custom tele (I forget the name) is different from the level below it by virtue of a series/parallel circuit, and a different noiseless pickup set (that aficionados don't care for because the "noiseless"ness is achieved by making the pickups less clear-sounding). In your place, I'd research the various differences in the Fender naming conventions, decide what I wanted, level-wise, then find an molested case queen on reverb for the price I mentioned, understanding that higher trim levels will keep you at the higher end of the range. That level comes with a hard Fender case, too, so make sure yours has the case. I suspect some of the "no case, comes with gig bag" may be stolen guitars, but that's just me guessing.
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Old 04-12-2018, 09:38 PM
Davis Webb Davis Webb is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pickcity View Post
You need to be very careful when purchasing a used anything, but especially American and collectible guitars. It is unfortunate but lots of guitars are counterfeits these days and some of them are pretty good fakes. If I were new to this I would have an expert that I trust take a good hard look at everything on it. All that aside, an American Fender is a fine guitar indeed. Just be careful. Good luck.
yes, agreed. I never buy anything privately any more with electrics. Too many frankencasters out there. The last 2 I saw turned out to be stolen.

By from a dealer . Please.
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Old 04-12-2018, 09:39 PM
Davis Webb Davis Webb is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisN View Post
A USA telecaster from '08 or so should be in the $600-$800 range, maybe a bit higher for unmolested/unplayed. As mentioned, it's too frequently the case that people can't leave well enough alone, so, usually after the first owner, but not always, they change pickups, pickguards, electronics, bridges, and other stuff, sell the originals, or put them into beater guitars before off-loading the donor. I always try to look for case queens, 1 owner, "hardly played" all original, with case candy, etc. Basically someone who got bored or never tried or had too many guitars and is downsizing. Beware the flogged/gigged-out POS - patina has a price. I try to avoid guitars that have had work done, unless the seller's decisions were good, and the work was done by a pro (w/receipt). A lot of people save $$ by trying to do their own electronic work - some do it fine, others do not. You don't need a project with an untraceable/unbearable hum due to a crappy grounding job.

The various names Fender applied/applies to its USA offerings is the only way left to them to bring in new buyers. Unfortunately, there are spec and finish differences you might care about. For example, the top of the line non-custom tele (I forget the name) is different from the level below it by virtue of a series/parallel circuit, and a different noiseless pickup set (that aficionados don't care for because the "noiseless"ness is achieved by making the pickups less clear-sounding). In your place, I'd research the various differences in the Fender naming conventions, decide what I wanted, level-wise, then find an molested case queen on reverb for the price I mentioned, understanding that higher trim levels will keep you at the higher end of the range. That level comes with a hard Fender case, too, so make sure yours has the case. I suspect some of the "no case, comes with gig bag" may be stolen guitars, but that's just me guessing.
Yes, again, another opinion that agrees....too many stolen and swapped out parts to do this.
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Old 04-13-2018, 12:54 AM
pieterh pieterh is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RockyRacc00n View Post
I’m probably in over my head to know what I am looking at. But the reason I am asking is because someone on a local listing app is proposing a trade. And it happens to be a Tele, something I fancied that I might get into one of these days.

I probably won’t follow through because the guys seems flaky. You can tell a lot from their initial contact when it comes to these transactions. And he has feet showing in one of his pictures, a tell tale sign of a less than quality seller, perhaps.

But I was curious anyway because I might get into it sometime in the future. It seems there are different categories or classes of American Telecaster and I thought I might get a basic understanding of how it lays out. I see things like “Standard”, “Deluxe”, “Professional”, etc. And was wondering if those designations are what one needs to get an estimate on Reverb, if one was to use a site like that to get an idea.

Again, probably won’t engage this seller but wanted to understand for future reference.


Some good advice from others here. Your own gut feeling is worth acknowledging too - if it doesn’t feel right pass on it, there are plenty of great used Telecasters.

It is a good idea knowing the basic differences between the different models as the names and features do change across the years. You will then have an idea of the relative cost of used guitars. The most significant changes in recent years have been the reinvention of the Standard series across the board as the Professional series. A small (but not exhaustive) summary:

American Standard Telecaster used to be the basic USA-made model. No frills but a well built workhorse with a 6-saddle bridge. There was a cheaper model called Highway one also sold as US-made with (iirc) a traditional 3-saddle bridge and thin nitro-lacquer.

Deluxe - American (and Mexican too if I remember correctly). US deluxe has/had bound body, carved contour on the back (like the Strat), 6-saddle bridge and noiseless pickups.

American Professional - the new “standard” with 3-saddle compensated traditional-look bridge, compound radius neck (flatter forwards the body, rounder towards the headstock).

American Elite - 6-saddle bridge, latest gen noiseless pickups and compound bridge. My friend and sometimes band mate has a black one he bought last year and it is one of the nicest Teles he or I have ever played! It is now his main stage guitar and he has a few to choose from!
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  #10  
Old 04-13-2018, 12:59 AM
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Pickcity Pickcity is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisN View Post
A USA telecaster from '08 or so should be in the $600-$800 range, maybe a bit higher for unmolested/unplayed. As mentioned, it's too frequently the case that people can't leave well enough alone, so, usually after the first owner, but not always, they change pickups, pickguards, electronics, bridges, and other stuff, sell the originals, or put them into beater guitars before off-loading the donor. I always try to look for case queens, 1 owner, "hardly played" all original, with case candy, etc. Basically someone who got bored or never tried or had too many guitars and is downsizing. Beware the flogged/gigged-out POS - patina has a price. I try to avoid guitars that have had work done, unless the seller's decisions were good, and the work was done by a pro (w/receipt). A lot of people save $$ by trying to do their own electronic work - some do it fine, others do not. You don't need a project with an untraceable/unbearable hum due to a crappy grounding job.

The various names Fender applied/applies to its USA offerings is the only way left to them to bring in new buyers. Unfortunately, there are spec and finish differences you might care about. For example, the top of the line non-custom tele (I forget the name) is different from the level below it by virtue of a series/parallel circuit, and a different noiseless pickup set (that aficionados don't care for because the "noiseless"ness is achieved by making the pickups less clear-sounding). In your place, I'd research the various differences in the Fender naming conventions, decide what I wanted, level-wise, then find an molested case queen on reverb for the price I mentioned, understanding that higher trim levels will keep you at the higher end of the range. That level comes with a hard Fender case, too, so make sure yours has the case. I suspect some of the "no case, comes with gig bag" may be stolen guitars, but that's just me guessing.
Some great advice here.

I wanted to add that the serial number system is a good way to check on the originality of a guitar as well. To check a Fender # is fairly convenient, and it will even tell you the color of the body and the fingerboard material. This is all important, because as already stated there are plenty of Frankenteles and Strats out there because the parts on Fender guitars are interchangeable, and you don't want to purchase an American neck with a MIM body, or a Squier body. There are other ways to tell if a body is a true American, but the best guarantee is to disassemble some of it, and you are pretty much guaranteed a big "no way" from the guy selling it. Not to mention you wouldn't want to insult the guy, especially if he is honest.

I don't want you to be discouraged from taking a good look at the guitar. Again, it may be 100% correct, but since you asked I felt the best advice I could give is to be very careful purchasing used...And yes, the problem with counterfeits and frankenFenders is very real, and more common than most realize...It would be a real downer to find out later on that you've been had. You want to be absolutely sure the guitar is real, that's all.
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  #11  
Old 04-13-2018, 06:23 PM
DissonantTimbre DissonantTimbre is offline
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I have a 2009 American Standard Tele. Great instrument.
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  #12  
Old 04-14-2018, 06:07 AM
paulp1960 paulp1960 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RockyRacc00n View Post
I probably won’t follow through because the guys seems flaky. You can tell a lot from their initial contact when it comes to these transactions. And he has feet showing in one of his pictures, a tell tale sign of a less than quality seller, perhaps.
Yeah my grandma always warned me about sellers who accidentally photograph their feet. Sure sign of a dodgy character
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