Hey, how are you folks doing today? I was wondering if anyone around these parts got a chance to mess around with the newish Squier Tele Custom and Tele Deluxe models and how they stack up to their Fender brothers. I love the Fender reissues and if the Squiers are up to snuff then I plan on buying one or maybe both and popping a Novak WRHB in there. I just want to know if they're worth it!
I've got a Squier Tele Deluxe. Love the thing. Plays as good as my CP Jazzmaster if not better. Pickups are good, probably wouldn't hurt to put some 500k pots in for the 250k to brighten it up.
The concerns I have with it are the bridge and the output jack. The bridge saddles are too wide and don't align perfectly. Not a terrible issue, but I'll replace it at some point. The output jack is always going loose because it's one of those cup jacks. So it's impossible to really tighten without the right tool, unless you take off the pickguard.
I rock mine in C standard with .12s and it holds up really well. Neck might be a little chunky compared to regular Teles, but nothing unmanageable. You might want to rub the neck down with some fine steel wool to get rid of some of the stickiness.
Never played a Fender model so I can't compare what they are like. However you should not let the Squier name push you off it. You could easily upgrade it to Fender quality with a new bridge and output jack.
I had a Deluxe- it replaced its Mexican counterpart on tour. By far the best Squier guitars out there (I don't care for the Offsets and their massively wide-fretboards). I did take out the tone pot for the neck, but that was all.
The Squier VM and Deluxe models are really nice, actually. I almost got one instead of a MIM Fender when I was on the market to buy another budget guitar. Greyscales is completely right about the bridge saddles being a bit wonky. You'd more than likely need to get it set up/replace that sucker. From what I could tell, the construction was surprisingly solid, and they sounded pretty damn good. The only reason I went with the MIM Tele was the neck was substantially more comfortable than on the Squier. I'd definitely say they're up to snuff, though!
