Love my Rics but its time for a Tele. Ric/Tele owners help!!

[ricricric]

I have two 360s (fireglo and jetglo), I love them and everything about them. I am now looking at getting a Tele. I played one at a local shop and fell in love with it. It wasn't "Ric Love" but it was love. Check out a similar one here: http://www.theguitarsanctuary.com/Fende ... 200339.htm

I used to own a Fender American Special Tele before buying my first Ric. I ended up neglecting my Tele so much that I sold it and bought another 360. I sold the Tele because it played so differently. Which is weird because people always hate on the playability of Rics not Teles. I even have bigger hands and I still love the way they play.

So what is so different about the Ric neck? The 360 has a 1.63" nut width and most Teles are around 1.65 to 1.68". Its got to be unnoticeable. The neck radius is different too. This Tele is 7.5" and most Teles are 9.5" compared to the Ric which is 10", still very close. Even though this Tele had a 7.5" radius I couldn't really tell the difference when playing. The guitar just felt good like my Ric. I am unsure how similar or different it was supposed to feel but it felt great. Whereas when I pick up a Fender Standard Tele it feels HUGE and bulky, which i don't like. The Standard Tele has closer neck and nut width specs to my Ric but it feels way bigger because of the Medium Jumbo frets.

Obviously I love this Tele and I'm probably going to buy it soon. Since I never thought I would like a Tele again I wanted Ric/Tele owners to weigh in on what they own. Anybody own a Tele that holds up to their Ric playability wise? Anyone happen to own one of these vintage Teles? (it doesn't need to be a Thinline, all vintage have same specs).

Thanks!

Edit: *I am not selling my Rics! Nothing can compare to them! I am only asking this question because you can never have too many guitars!

[arbiter]

I've got a 360 and an American Standard Tele (Ash Body) and I love them both. The tele definitely has a bit more of that quack versus shimmer of the 360. It is also fun if I want to play something more Country-sounding. Even though I really favor the small neck of a Ric, I find the fender C shape necks very playable. I'm so used to the finished neck of a Ric that I'm not really into unfinished fender rosewood fretboards, but love the maple necks, such as on those thinlines. I think a regular telecater and a 360 both respond pretty well to gain and have a nice clean sound. I've never played any of the American Thinlines, but have liked the import reissues i've played. If you're interested, I know someone selling an American Vintage '72 Thinline for a solid price, feel free to PM me. Hope that helps.

[Tommy]

I have a couple of Rics and one Telecaster - the Joe Strummer model which is a vintage 1966 model. The playability of the Tele exceeds that of my Rics.

I have zero complaints about my Ric's palyabilities (yes, the short 325 is difficult to play, but I knew that before I bought it), but the Telecaster is just an easier guitar to play. It's basic - a neck and a slab of wood. The vintage neck on mine is C-shaped, 7.5 radius and it plays great. My Tele being a vintage model aslo comes equipped with vintage frets, bridge, saddles, tuners, and pickups. Believe it, that vintage stuff makes my Tele absolutely amazing. You can't go wrong with a vintage style Tele. It's even better if you have some Rics to play. Two very different guitars. Both great in what they do.

Here's my (ugly) Joe Strummer Telecaster. Ugly as sin, but killer tone.

[jimk]

Only Rick I have is a 12 string. The tele that I have is a Chinese knock-off, alder body, maple fretboard, and I don't know what kind of frets it has, probably medium jumbo. They aren't like the frets on the Rick. The contest for me is not Rickenbacker vs. Fender Telecaster, but Telecaster vs. Gretsch Electromatic. When I want to play thumb style (Travis/Atkins) I reach for the Gretsch. When I want to hybrid pick I reach for the tele. But I could just as easily do it the other way round, too.

[Danotron]

I have a '62 re-issue Tele with a Bigsby, natural, ash, crafted in Japan. It's got more of a "v" neck. I don't play it very often but when I do I'm a happy guy. Nothing wrong with trying different things!

[jps]

I'll take a Tele with checker binding, please. I understand not many of those were made back in the '60s.

[fluffy]

I was recently reunited with my Nashville Deluxe Telecaster.I had it, sold it, kicked my self in the butt daily for selling it and took the opportunity to buy it back. I love my Telecaster, with the same love that I have for all of my Rickenbackers, apples and oranges y'know . Moral of the story is, look into a Nashville Deluxe Telecaster , awesome tonal possibilities and they play like a dream

[cestlamort]

I have a couple of Rics and one Telecaster - the Joe Strummer model which is a vintage 1966 model. The playability of the Tele exceeds that of my Rics.

I have zero complaints about my Ric's palyabilities (yes, the short 325 is difficult to play, but I knew that before I bought it), but the Telecaster is just an easier guitar to play. It's basic - a neck and a slab of wood. The vintage neck on mine is C-shaped, 7.5 radius and it plays great. My Tele being a vintage model aslo comes equipped with vintage frets, bridge, saddles, tuners, and pickups. Believe it, that vintage stuff makes my Tele absolutely amazing. You can't go wrong with a vintage style Tele. It's even better if you have some Rics to play. Two very different guitars. Both great in what they do.

Here's my (ugly) Joe Strummer Telecaster. Ugly as sin, but killer tone.

I was floored with the Joe Strummer tele when they came out. I planned on getting one and refinishing it (as Joe would have done!), but never got around to picking one up. Great to see one.

[deaconblues]

Another option is to build one to your spec. There are a lot of companies that cater to just that kind of thing.

Had a great time building my dream Strat and now it's my go-to guitar.

[Trés Mellow]

Don't worry about what you should like...just go with what you DO like. I've been around the block with too many different guitars. When I first got a 360, I couldn't get along with the neck shape. I was considering consigning it at a great music store that happened to have a Montezuma Brown 620VP for sale and I wasn't even going to bother trying it because I thought that Rics just weren't for me after all. My wife convinced me to try it and I was instantly hooked. It just felt right and it continues to be instantly comfortable and just "fits". What's the only other 6 string I've kept? Yup. It's a tele--a Highway One Texas Telecaster with a 12" radius neck, in fact. Why should both be so comfortable for me when they are so different? It doesn't matter. They both feel right and sound right.

[sloop_john_b]

I've owned a few Telecasters; the best ones I ever had were a pair of mid-80's MIJ '62 Reissue Esquire Customs. IMO they are on par with any USA Tele Fender ever produced. I will own another...

[Tommy]

I was floored with the Joe Strummer tele when they came out. I planned on getting one and refinishing it (as Joe would have done!), but never got around to picking one up. Great to see one.

People who have these Strummer Telecasters swear that they are among the best Telecasters ever made. I'm not a Tele expert, but I do know the the vintage pickups and especially that prehistoric bridge/saddles thing these guitars have creates the most incredible rock and roll ripping tone out there. This guitar has bite like no other guitar out there. A real gem of a guitar. Yes, the graphics on it are poorly done and flat out ugly (I improved upon them by adding the real foil IGNORE ALIEN ORDERS sticker and painting my own pickguard), but even though it is not a looker it sure is an incredible player. I highly recommend one...or just get a '60s re-issue Tele if they make them.

[Folkie]

The first electric guitar I owned was a black Japanese-made Fender Tele, with a white pickguard. It played and sounded great, but it was strung through the bridge rather than the body, which, I've been told, reduces sustain. I parted with that Tele in 1997 to purchase my SRV Strat.

Over the years I've played hundreds of Teles, and my favorites are inevitably the Mexican-made Thinlines. They're very versatile and suitable for virtually all styles and they look quite fetching.

[jdogric12]

I recently came across a Hohner TE Custom XII, same model as my first elec 12er I owned in the mid 90's, which I sold to fund my first Rick (360/12). It's great except for the pickups - EMG Select humbuckers!

[DriftSpace]

My first Telecaster was a 90's Mexican Telecaster Plus, and it was a great guitar. After that I've had an American Standard Telecaster for almost 20 years.

Over the years I've played hundreds of Teles, and my favorites are inevitably the Mexican-made Thinlines. They're very versatile and suitable for virtually all styles and they look quite fetching.

Since I've been teaching music I see a lot of non-American Fender instruments come into the school, and those Mexican Thinline Telecasters are indeed excellent; if they had made those when I was shopping for a Telecaster in high school I would have picked that above all else.

Teles are a simple and iconic iteration of the electric guitar, and are a great addition to anyone's stable. Fortunately with the recent leaps in quality seen in non-American Fender instruments: it's not necessarily the case that you need to buy American to get a quality instrument, and the design of a Telecaster is so simple that it's kind of hard to mess-up in production.

I'm sad to say that I've just recently sold my American Standard Telecaster, but it's going to a good home, and will be in the hands of a very skilled player.

Another option is to build one to your spec. There are a lot of companies that cater to just that kind of thing.
Had a great time building my dream Strat and now it's my go-to guitar.

This is a great idea, though -- if you're on a budget -- it's hard to beat the price of some of the non-American Fenders. I've built several guitars from parts recently, and -- while I did get exactly what I wanted -- it would have been cheaper to buy a brand-name, factory guitar. However, a Telecaster-style guitar is probably the cheapest style of guitar to assemble yourself, or to have custom-made from a place like Warmoth. The absolute best Telecaster-style guitar I've ever played was a friend's Linhof; it's actually one of the best guitars I've ever played. I personally would rather spend a little more and get something unique, but some people like to identify with brands. And on that note...

Don't worry about what you should like...just go with what you DO like.

Agreed. Don't feel like you have to own any particular kind of guitar from any particular kind of brand; a junky-looking, home-made (or off-brand) guitar from your local pawn shop just might be the best guitar you'll ever play, but if you're not willing to pick it up and give it a try because it's a weird shape or because it doesn't say "Fender" or "Gibson" somewhere on it: you might never know.