Help needed on picking a guitar!

crazy chester

Hi all, Just want to pick your brains on options!
Im in the market for a guitar and im looking for ideas on a good all rounder. I play middle of the road covers ranging from country to pop to rock to a bit of reggee. I need something thats a good work horse and has a good range of sound. I have been looking at the fender telecasters and really like the look of them especially the 72 tele custom with d neck humbucker. Has anybody any suggestions on a good all rounder? plus anyone tell me their experience with the 72 custom? Thanks in advance guys!

Kenny_D

You're on the right lines. A strat or tele would be suited to those kind of sounds. The 72 custom would be a nice choice too as it has the humbucker for some of the rockier stuff and the single coil will be good for reggae/country/pop stuff

vox

crazy chester wrote: »

Hi all, Just want to pick your brains on options!
Im in the market for a guitar and im looking for ideas on a good all rounder. I play middle of the road covers ranging from country to pop to rock to a bit of reggee. I need something thats a good work horse and has a good range of sound. I have been looking at the fender telecasters and really like the look of them especially the 72 tele custom with d neck humbucker. Has anybody any suggestions on a good all rounder? plus anyone tell me their experience with the 72 custom? Thanks in advance guys!

Its probably best to find a good music shop and pop in when its quiet enough and try out a few. You'll get a good feel as to what it is your after. A good allrounder is a Yamaha Sa2200....

Kenny_D

Actually theres a suggestion I hadn't thought of. The SA2200, if you can find one, would be another great choice. It has split coils so would do for rock, blues, pop, jazz, country etc. Also a cracking looking guitar. Will prob set you back a bit more than the tele though. Currently waiting on my SA2200 from Japan

crazy chester

Its probably best to find a good music shop and pop in when its quiet enough and try out a few. You'll get a good feel as to what it is your after. A good allrounder is a Yamaha Sa2200....

Thanks but I kinda want to have a bit of an idea of what might suit before i do go in and try them out. Had a look at the yamaha not really my cup of tea visually speaking but will add it to my list and try and try it out!
What would be the things to look out for on the fenders? I hear buying mexican is out of the question?? Any opinions on aria?

Thanks

rcaz

crazy chester wrote: »

I hear buying mexican is out of the question??

If you really want a Fender and you don't have the money for an American-built one, Japanese FTW, can't say enough good things about them.

kev_s88

yeah have a look at the 72 Telecaster Custom....its a kick-ass guitar and is perfect for doing everything.....ive had mine for 2 years now and it was the best buy i made because i got it for 600euro

crazy chester

Hi guys

Was wondering about this
http://www.matchettsmusic.com/product.aspx?id=1374[/FONT]

Is this a mexican? And if so how do you tell if its not in the description?And I was thinking of adding this
http://www.thomann.de/ie/seymour_duncan_sm_1_mini_humbucker_n_chr.htm

What do you think?

boycey

I think those Lite Ash Tele's are Indonesian made- not mexican afaik. Ive heard mixed reviews on them. Regarding the mini humbucker - unless its routed underneath that scratchguard it'll take a little work to get it fitted.

Take a look at the Baja tele's too - mexican made and top notch pickups- well worth checking out. Folks seem to rate 'em highly.

68 lost souls

According to ultimate-guitar:

Features: Made 2005 / 2006, Mexican. Lite ash body, natural finish, standard Tele layout but with Seymour Duncans fitted as stock. // 10

spoonbadger

boycey wrote: »

I think those Lite Ash Tele's are Indonesian made- not mexican afaik. Ive heard mixed reviews on them. Regarding the mini humbucker - unless its routed underneath that scratchguard it'll take a little work to get it fitted.

Take a look at the Baja tele's too - mexican made and top notch pickups- well worth checking out. Folks seem to rate 'em highly.

Agreed.the baja teles are excellent guitars.Just checked,they have a single coil in the neck,but i'd imagine it has a 'bucker sized route so you could easily mod it. Apart from that, it has all the best tele features (including some that not even the MIA teles have!).

Just curious crazy chester.....

.....did someone follow you,and did he catch you in the barn? .

crazy chester

Quote spoonbadger. Just curious crazy chester.....

.....did someone follow you,and did he catch you in the barn? .

Yip Carmen and the Devil!!:pac:

Was doing more searching guys and was thinking more about the 52 hot rod tele? I know its expensive but id prefer to invest in a really good guitar and hav it forever than a good enough guitar and get 5 years out of it!
Any opinions? Anyone have one?
I saw it on you tube and it sounds very nice!

P.S i saw a lovely 52 hot rod on an american site and works out a couple of hundred squids cheaper than thomann, What way does customs work when buying internationally?

Thanks guys i really appreciate the replies!

spoonbadger

crazy chester wrote: »

Quote spoonbadger. Just curious crazy chester.....

.....did someone follow you,and did he catch you in the barn? .

Yip Carmen and the Devil!!:pac:

Was doing more searching guys and was thinking more about the 52 hot rod tele? I know its expensive but id prefer to invest in a really good guitar and hav it forever than a good enough guitar and get 5 years out of it!
Any opinions? Anyone have one?
I saw it on you tube and it sounds very nice!

P.S i saw a lovely 52 hot rod on an american site and works out a couple of hundred squids cheaper than thomann, What way does customs work when buying internationally?

Thanks guys i really appreciate the replies!

Hmmmm,it depends. If you get stung by customs (you most likely will, but might not) then you could pay anything up to 21% on the price of the guitar AND the cost of shipping it here. IMO, you're usually better off buying from within the EU unless you find a monster bargain somewhere.

The 52 teles are very good guitars, and you're completely right about the long term investment thing, much better to buy a good guitar and keep it,than something cheap and spend the next 5 years regretting it.

Edit: Just checked, those are brilliant teles!!. I highly approve .

Alanstrainor

crazy chester wrote: »

Quote spoonbadger. Just curious crazy chester.....

.....did someone follow you,and did he catch you in the barn? .

Yip Carmen and the Devil!!:pac:

Was doing more searching guys and was thinking more about the 52 hot rod tele? I know its expensive but id prefer to invest in a really good guitar and hav it forever than a good enough guitar and get 5 years out of it!
Any opinions? Anyone have one?
I saw it on you tube and it sounds very nice!

P.S i saw a lovely 52 hot rod on an american site and works out a couple of hundred squids cheaper than thomann, What way does customs work when buying internationally?

Thanks guys i really appreciate the replies!

You'd be talking about 24%ish tax to add on top of that american price, and shipping, so it's generally not a runner buying from the states. Try GuitarAmpKeyboard.co.uk (GAK), with the weakening sterling the UK is the way to go for gear.

crazy chester

cool i will reconsider the states buy so! Just another quick question for ye Are all of those tele hot rod 52's american? I cant seem to see any mention of origin in the descriptions. Also how can i tell from the serial number if they are mexican, japenese or U.S.A??

Thanks again guys!

Tried GAK and dont have them in stock, they have one second hand though!

Johnny Storm

68 lost souls wrote: »

According to ultimate-guitar:

Features: Made 2005 / 2006, Mexican. Lite ash body, natural finish, standard Tele layout but with Seymour Duncans fitted as stock. // 10

The Fender Lite Ash teles and strats are by in Korea by Cort.

boycey

As your on a bit of a tele buzz Chester I'd say check out some G&L guitars. They make some seriously nice guitars, there's some on adverts at the moment. Worth trying out, by the way G&L was Leo Fenders company following from his sale of Fender Inc.
Or in a rare and bizarre twist from this forum I'll mention Bacchus again! Their Strats and Les Pauls rock so Im guessing the teles would too, unfortunately I'm only guessing though as I've yet to play a Bacchus Tele. They do make quality stuff at a great price though.

Kenny_D

There's a 52 tele on adverts:

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=86042&cat=16

crazy chester

Thanks guys and also about the one on adverts but i think the hot rod or the custom, the ones with the humbucker at the neck , are the way to go. I looked at the hot rod demo on you tube and that kinda sold me! I just need to try it out somewhere and a couple of others aswell just to be sure to be sure! Do G&L do a tele with a neck humbucker?

Anyone got any bad experiences with their tele? Anything i should look out for when buying?

Thanks guys you've all been excellent!

crazy chester

I was up in x music over the weekend and tried some nice guitars! But i think for what i want the tele is the way to go! Next thing is geting one!

Anyone know of any good second hand sites for uk and Ireland just to chance my luck at finding a 52 or 72 tele at rock bottom prices?
Also was wondering about buying a stnd 52 tele and geting the S.D mini humbucker fitted?
Would i get the same sound? Is it a big job?

Sorry for all the questions guys but im hoping to have this guitar for the long haul so wana get it right!:)

Thanks in advance for any replies!

fguihen

EDIT: Apologies, this should have gone in my replacing pickups post


Ive been installing my new pickups for the last few hours and everything is not as it should be.

I found a wiring diagram for my ibanez here:
http://www.gearpedia.net/index.php?topic=2268.0

I found someone who converted the ibanez wire colors to the SD colors.

SD - Ibanez
red = white
white = black
black = red
green = blue
bare = bare


I took note of where all the wires went for the old pickups, wrote it down, removed the old pickups, installed the new ones and started soldering.

All switch positions work now, except the 4th. i have checked and rechecked my work about 4 times now and cant see where i went wrong.

anyone with expirience at upgrading pickups wana earn 50 quid and help a guy out?

CianRyan

How about you get a strat, open to which model, and replace the PUPs with stacked humbuckers?

I've got two SD hot rails and one Demarzio chopper in my strat. They sounds great in humbucker mode, nice full tone, great for rock and anything heavy.
Then you can pull up the volume pot, so it clicks into single coil mode. I use this all the time for playing blues, jazz and "acoustic" when i'm to lazy to switch guitars.

Just throwing out another option.

crazy chester

Alrite guys

I finally got my telecaster! I got a fender lite ash tele with a beautifull b.eye maple neck. Now, guitar plays well and is in pretty good nick but i want to change the bridge. I want the same vintage style bridge but i want one that has the fender logo and also want to get my hands on the "ashtray cover" too but cant for the life of me find a place around that deal in genuine fender parts! Any of the online stores have them but dont deal in the genuine stuff! Anyone know of anywhere that might have the above in stock?

Thanks again:D

68 lost souls

Xmusic carry fender parts. Give them a ring and see about getting one in.

Ravelleman

The Lite Ash Tele is a solid choice.

I like the look of the ashtray covers too, but they are pretty much useless... Not sure I'd bother getting one, especially for a modern Tele.