Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Got a spalted maple telecaster. Was set up nice out of the box. It has the SD59 in the neck and Pearly Gates pup in the bridge. Much brighter sound than my Gibson Les Paul Studio faded cherry, and Les Paul Traditional Pro. The split pickups are a great feature, which converts the humbuckers into a single coil. Not quite as twangy as a regular telecaster, but you can tell the difference between the pickups being split and not. The neck pickup is not quite as bright, and I use it with the tone turned all the way down for almost an acoutic type of feel. I prefer the humbuckers to single coils because of the more full sound. With the mahogony body, maple top, set neck, binding and humbuckers, it's probably closer to a Gibson than a Fender. Some have said that it sounds more like an SG, but not owning one, I couldn't say.
On the negative side for me, Fenders tend to have longer necks, and as a result strings need to be under higher tension to give the same note versus a Gibson. As a result, I find it a little more difficult to bend notes on this guitar than on my Gibsons. It's wider frets are nice to play, especially if you are doing 2nd guitar or just playing chords.
While the bridge pickup is pretty bright, surprisingly, its not as bright as the Burstbucker 3 in my traditional pro. Yet, the traditional pro with its pickup split still can't get quite as twangy as the Telecaster.
If you are a true Telecaster fan, and love the traditional twang, this guitar is not for you. However, if you like Gibsons and want a change of pace, this is a really nice guitar. Not a 100% traditional sound, but sounds pretty good. And you won't sound like all of the telecasters and les pauls out there.
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