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Justin Cyder
6,120 posts
18 months
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I've got a hot rails in the bridge position of one of my strats. I really like it, it isn't especially what a strat ought to be about - bridge pups on strats really are supposed to be about the quacky tone, but who cares? I love the beefy tone & under a tube screamer with the tone backed off a touch, it rocks it's socks off. I'd say do it, you can always remove it if you don't make friends.
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PumpkinSteve
1,802 posts
25 months
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Turn7 said: Pumpkinsteve, Id like to know more about the Strat. I bought a Squier Tele custom 2 a while back and really love, but I feel I need a strat in my life as well, and Im not a real fan of single PU strats. With that in mind Ive been looking at Squier Strats as well.
The hotrails look like a nice idea for me, as I like a bit more beef than standard. I fancy one of these over a HSS strat.
Loads of stuff on YT,but always nice to hear a real opinion. I'm the same. I've never been a massive fan of single coil pickups, and the Tele is the only guitar I'll play with those because it sounds right. As I mentioned before I do find the bridge pickup on the Strat to be a bit shrill, but the middle and neck combinations are really good, and the neck pickup alone is as beefy as you could ask for when overdriven. The clean sound on the middle pickup is really good and you can get a nice bright sound from it. Bear in mind they are only 'Duncan Designed' pickups, not proper SD. Everything else about the guitar is great; It has the modern two-point tremolo, which I find to be a lot better designed than the vintage-style one, and the neck and frets on mine are excellent, no sharp edges etc.
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PumpkinSteve
1,802 posts
25 months
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HNNNNNNNNG I'm trying my best not to pull the trigger on a Squier Tele Custom:  The force is strong with this one.
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Turn7
9,341 posts
90 months
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Steve, I have the Tele custom 2, which has P90's and I love it. Its got a really nice neck and plays really easily,much as you commented on the Strat.
Id say go for it.
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Vanya
1,800 posts
113 months
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PumpkinSteve said: HNNNNNNNNG I'm trying my best not to pull the trigger on a Squier Tele Custom:
The force is strong with this one. That thing looks gorgeous... Resistance could be futile.  These Squiers, haven't even looked at these for a hundred years or so, are they a bit lighter than your typical Fender etc? Mate had an old Aria Strat, it was his baby, it was everything, he played it professionally, recorded with it, like I said it was everything to him till some mouth breathing scrote nicked it. This was years ago. Anyway, I picked it up once, a very rare occasion, I could not believe how light it was. Never got the chance to play it though so couldn't really judge if it was nice player, lovely low action as I remember. May the force be with you Steve! 
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PumpkinSteve
1,802 posts
25 months
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^ Those ones are solid alder, just the same as the USA Fenders. There is a one made from pine, I think it's the Classic Vibe 50's Tele, but they are definitely a cut above the Affinity Squiers either way. I haven't been playing for that many years and I remember when a Fender Standard Tele (MIM) cost £200, and now there are Squiers that cost over £300. I remember picking up a Japanese Jaguar for £250, now they're close to double, and my old Rickenbacker 330 only cost me £800 and they now cost £1500. Times are changing, it's a shame my wages aren't As if by fate I found that exact Tele I mentioned above for sale locally, apparently in new condition for £200. I'm waiting for the guy to get back to me. This cannot be sheer coincidence!
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Dr Z
775 posts
40 months
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New acquisition! Needed a backup guitar urgently, so tried a few down at guitarguitar in Epsom. Came home with this ESP LTD tele. Cost me £330.  Not normally a relic fan, but this one's neck had a really good feel that I couldn't deny compared to a few others I tried. It was a straight fight between the ESP and Squier Custom II and I decided to go for the ESP as I liked the very tall frets and nice neck shape. Also liked the fact that it had the classic tele single coil at the bridge and the 'bucker at the neck (not a fan of the usual tele neck single coil). The back of the neck felt really 'played in' with a very smooth feel. Looks like Justin's 60s Strat!   Check out the neck joint. Pretty unique. Upper fret access is better than a Fender Tele.  This is how it sounds stock through my 'rig': utube linkWasn't completely happy with the pickups, so swapped it to some Creamery Pickups. It now has Creamery's Nocaster at the bridge and a custom wound wide range pup in humbucker size (Baby '71). All wired 50s style with Bareknuckle's 280K Pots. It sounds amazing now! Extremely happy with it now after all the upgrades.  ETA: The only thing I think may be a bit negative about this guitar for me now is the very flat radius of the neck. Chording near the nut isn't exactly as comfortable as I imagined. I didn't feel anything bad about it when I demo'd it at the shop but have come to realise since playing out with it for a while after purchase. It is not a massive -ive, but I'll live with it.
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Justin Cyder
6,120 posts
18 months
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Dr Z
775 posts
40 months
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Justin Cyder said: <snip>  Oh my! WOW! Absolutely STUNNING! Drooling here...
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Justin Cyder
6,120 posts
18 months
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That ESP is no slouch. Forgive me, not trying to steal your thunder, but I was prompted by your lovely Tele. www.ronkirn.com for more info.
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Dr Z
775 posts
40 months
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Justin Cyder said: That ESP is no slouch. Forgive me, not trying to steal your thunder, but I was prompted by your lovely Tele. www.ronkirn.com for more info. Ah! I was about to ask if yours is a Ron Kirn build! You lucky man. Enjoy!
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6th Gear
1,207 posts
63 months
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gbbird
4,902 posts
113 months
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bennyboysvuk said: That looks like a nice spec guitar. I love that it has Seymour Duncans in it at a reasonable price. Having used JBs in my LP and SG it's fair to say that I'm a bit of a Seymour Duncan fan. Yep, that squire deluxe strat looks very nice. Have thought about putting black SDs or EMGs into my black with white cover fender strat. Seeing this photo suggests it would look nice
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Driller
5,237 posts
147 months
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Very nce guitars but surely they must be paying Fender a fair old whack on each one?
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PumpkinSteve
1,802 posts
25 months
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Driller said: Very nce guitars but surely they must be paying Fender a fair old whack on each one? For using the body shape, you mean? Fender lost their lawsuit for body copyright, but somehow Gibson won theirs if I remember rightly.
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Driller
5,237 posts
147 months
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Well yeah, not just body shape but combined with the neck, headstock, bridge, control knobs etc again not wanting to put a downer on it but it's identical save the name. Well actually some of them are much nicer ever
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AdeTuono
3,752 posts
96 months
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Driller said: Well yeah, not just body shape but combined with the neck, headstock, bridge, control knobs etc again not wanting to put a downer on it but it's identical save the name. Well actually some of them are much nicer ever Hardly a unique situation though, is it? Copies have been around for a while, or have you not noticed?
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Dr Z
775 posts
40 months
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Driller said: Well yeah, not just body shape but combined with the neck, headstock, bridge, control knobs etc again not wanting to put a downer on it but it's identical save the name. Well actually some of them are much nicer ever Well, I wouldn't say they're identical except the name on the headstock. For example, my ESP's headstock looks very different to a Fender tele. I'm not a big fan of the fender tele headstock, so I gravitated towards this ESP. It also feels nothing like a Fender at a similar price range (MIM for example). The superficial things like bridge/control knobs/pickup config look similar but the feel of the instrument is very different, especially the neck and frets. The neck is a tiny bit chunkier than a Fender standard "modern C" (I think ESP calls it 'thin U'-sounds about right except the 'thin' bit). The frets were very different: as tall (maybe even taller than) the Jumbo that Fender puts on their American Special strats/teles but not as wide. Absolutely loved it! Way back when I tried an American Special strat, I thought if only the frets were just a bit narrow it'd be great, so when I played this ESP, I was like, man it's exactly the correct size! Oh I bet you've never seen a neck joint like that on a Fender. Even the custom shop/MIA Deluxe strats don't have it like this. These are the things that make a guitar different to a player, so the difference is night and day, with respect to an onlooker. I think this is the whole point: make the guitar look similar to a classic shape but put your own spin on the feel-the kind of thing people like me are attracted to. I'm not saying this because I bought something with a different name on the headstock and I feel the need to justify! (No siree) And I bet that Ron Kirn feels very different too. Not to mention the wood quality and the pickups.
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Justin Cyder
6,120 posts
18 months
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Great post Dr. Z, it's exactly that isn't it? The differences are in the feel, the tone & the attitude of the instrument. You nailed that bang on the head, they're like twins, they look the same, but spend a little time & you soon see the differences.
As for the legal side, it's all business, the copy guys usually do enough to get round the patents, but Fender are a pragmatic business, when they realised they had created their own competition by demeaning Leo's legacy with careless mass production and subsequently letting in superior Japanese copies, they bought a business in Japan & sold them as MIJ strats. Some of those guitars are so good, especially the early Tokai strats that they're known as lawsuit guitars & are very sought after in their own right.
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Driller
5,237 posts
147 months
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So you're saying it's pure chance the guitar looks like that and it would still look like that even if the Broadcaster/Telecaster had never existed?
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