Stratocaster Tele

Saturday, July 18th, 2009 at 7:35 pm

Stratocaster Tele
Whats the difference between the new and old fenders? ?

i was on a music shop and i saw that fender have braught out some new guitars in their standard mexican series

theres the old fender tele and strat (less money)

tele: http://www.dawsons.co.uk/acatalog/info_00037313.html
strat: http://www.dawsons.co.uk/acatalog/info_00037304.html

new ones

tele: http://www.dawsons.co.uk/acatalog/fender_standard_telecaster_upgrade_black_maple.html

strat: http://www.dawsons.co.uk/acatalog/fender_standard_stratocaster_upgrade_arctic_white_maple.html

i just want to know which is better and what the differences are and what more you get for the money

thanks

Well, Joe, it depends on what your intention is: gigging locally or joining the Rolling Stones (although I don’t think there’s a vacancy at the moment).
I know I’ll be crucified by the dinosaurs for saying this, but new Fenders are infinitely better than old ones.
People get religious over a ‘58 or ‘62 Strat, but by today’s standards they weren’t that good. Good at the time, yes, but not now.
As far as Fender’s CBS days goes (c1965-c1985, I believe), I think everyone agrees they were pretty poor.
I find the Mexican stuff pretty good. It maybe won’t set the world alight, but it’s pretty good. Better than the Chinese stuff (and that’s not entirely poor).
I know the Tele is a good old workhorse that has stood the test of time, but for me it has to be an American Standard Stratocaster. No real bells and whistles, but you probably don’t need them anyway.
If that’s a bit pricey, certainly look at the standard Mexican Strats.
Regarding the difference between your ‘old’ and ‘new’ examples (and not being able to flick quickly from one to the other), and I’ve only looked at the Strats, they don’t look much different in the specifications. I’d go for the cheaper one. It’s got a more authentic logo on the headstock; the newer one has the ugly CBS type (ugh!).
The quality of modern guitars is absolutely frighteningly good. Even budget-range guitars are better than the early models.

Fender Road Worn 50s Stratocaster and 50s Telecaster