Don't Buy A Fender Telecaster Until You've Seen These
You know it and love it
the original Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster is one of the world’s most iconic electric guitars. The original model was officially released as the Telecaster, also know as the Tele, in 1952. Since then it’s basically remained the same in terms of stylings and features. There have been some modifications and alterations over the years, but it’s still essentially the same guitar that Leo Fender designed many years ago. Part of the iconic look is the single cut body shape. Fender doesn’t hold a patent on that shape any longer, so over the years there have been many other brands that have released their own ‘Tele’ style guitars. Let’s take a look at a few of my favourite Telecaster style guitars that I’ve had a chance to own and review on my YouTube channel.
G&L
G & L Musical Instruments is one of Leo Fender’s other guitar manufacturing companies. Some of the designs are similar, but they also offer some unique guitar models. Their ‘Tele’ inspired guitar is called the ASAT Classic. I’ve been lucky enough to try the USA made model called the Fullerton Deluxe ASAT Classic, as well as the made in Indonesia version called the Tribute ASAT Classic. One of the great features of the lower priced Tribute series is that they use the same pickups that are found in the more expensive American version! Check out all the specs below and then have a look at my side by side comparison video.
G&L Fullerton Deluxe ASAT Classic Features
CONSTRUCTION: bolt-on
SCALE: 25 1/2"
PICKUPS: Leo Fender†-designed G&L MFD™ single coils
BODY WOOD: Swamp Ash or Alder with Rear Contour
NECK WOOD: Vintage Tint Satin Hard-Rock Maple with Maple or Caribbean rosewood fingerboard
NECK PROFILE: G&L Modern Classic with 9 1/2" radius
NUT: 100% natural bone
FRETS: 22 medium jumbo, Jescar 57110 18% nickel silver
TUNING KEYS: 12:1 ratio, sealed-back
BRIDGE: traditional boxed-steel bridge with individual brass saddles
CONTROLS: 3-position pickup selector, volume, tone
INCLUDES: G&L deluxe gig bag
G&L Tribute Series ASAT Classic Features
CONSTRUCTION: bolt-on
SCALE: 25 1/2"
PICKUPS: Leo Fender†-designed G&L MFD™ single coils
BODY WOOD: Sassafras on translucent and burst finishes, Poplar on solid finishes
NECK WOOD: Hard-Rock Maple with Maple fingerboard
NECK WIDTH AT NUT: 1 5/8"
NECK RADIUS: 9-1/2"
NECK PROFILE: medium C
FRETS: 22 medium jumbo, nickel
TUNING KEYS: 18:1 ratio, sealed-back
BRIDGE: traditional boxed-steel bridge with individual brass saddles
CONTROLS: 3-position pickup selector, volume, tone
Get G&L guitars here:
SCHECTER
Schecter Guitars Research is an American guitar manufacturing company founded by David Schecter. They originally only produced replacement parts for Fender and Gibson guitars, but today they produce a wide variety of electric and acoustic guitars. I recently got the chance to demo and review the Schecter PT Special in a really nice purple burst finish. This is one of the nicest Tele inspired electric guitars that I’ve ever played. Check out the full specs listed here and then take a look at my recent deep dive video.
SCHECTER PT SPECIAL FEATURES
GENERAL
Number of Strings 6
Left-/Right-handed Right-handed
BODY
Body Type Solidbody
Body Shape PT Special
Body Material Swamp Ash
Body Finish Semi-gloss
Color Purple Burst
NECK
Neck Material Maple
Neck Shape C
Neck Joint Bolt-on
Radius 12"
Fingerboard Material Rosewood
Fingerboard Inlay Dots
Number of Frets 22, Extra Jumbo
Scale Length 25.5"
Nut Width 1.653"
Nut Material Graph Tech Tusq XL
HARDWARE
Bridge/Tailpiece Vintage Ashtray with Staggered Brass Saddles
Tuners Grover Vintage
ELECTRONICS
Neck Pickup Schecter Diamond V-90 Single-coil
Bridge Pickup Schecter Diamond VT-1 Single-coil
Controls 1 x master volume, 1 x master tone (push/pull for series)
Switching 3-way blade pickup switch
MISCELLANEOUS
Strings Ernie Ball Slinky, .010-.046
Case/Gig Bag Sold Separately
Manufacturer Part Number: 667
Get SCHECTER guitars here:
GODIN
Godin guitars is a Canadian based manufacturing company that runs their headquarters out of Montreal Quebec. They produce a large number of stringed instruments including electric and acoustic guitars, as well as basses. All of their manufacturing is done in their 5 factories located in la belle province de Quebec. I purchased a B-stock Stadium HT directly from Godin for use in a deep dive demo and review video. Here are the full specs of that guitar, and then be sure to check out my video below.
GODIN Stadium ht FEATURES
BodyvCanadian Laurentian Basswood
Neck Hard Rock Maple
Fingerboard Maple
Fingerboard Radius 12" (304.8 mm)
Scale Length 25.5" (647.7 mm)
Nut Width 1.65" (41.91 mm)
Nut Type Graphtech
Frets 22
Machine Head Ratio 18:1
Neck Pickup Godin GS-3 Single Coil Pickup
Bridge Pickup Godin Custom Cajun Single-Coil
Bridge and Tailpiece Custom T – ashtray bridge w/brass saddles
Controls 1x Tone, 1x Volume, 3-way Switch
H.D.R Not Included
Color Havana Brown
Finish Semi Gloss
String Set E10
String Gauges .010 .013 .017 .026 .036 .046
Get Godin guitars:
There you go! Three Telecaster style guitars from 3 different guitar manufacturers. If you are not able to decide which one is best for you, check out my video below to see which one I preferred when comparing all three.
