New guitar.....which should I chooose?

[midwestfisherman]

I'm looking to buy a new guitar. I've been checking out the Fender Telecaster. I've checked out a really nice tele, cream color w/ a nice birds eye maple neck (seriously, one of the best necks I have seen). But, it's one of those that are made in Korea. Does anyone have some experience with these Korean made tele's?

Looking for some advise here. It's been a while since I have purchased a new one so I am not real familiar with how these models stack up against the others.

 

[LordMorpheus]

You know the saying that goes "Whatever you can do, there's some kid in Asia who can do it better" that applies to mmorpgs, eating, ddr, etc. etc.?

Maybe it applies to making guitars, too?

I'd say take a look at one and if seems solid go for it.

 

[naruto1988]

stop posting for a while to let the 1000 effect settle in...=p

edit: 747! lol

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
You know the saying that goes "Whatever you can do, there's some kid in Asia who can do it better" that applies to mmorpgs, eating, ddr, etc. etc.?

Maybe it applies to making guitars, too?

I'd say take a look at one and if seems solid go for it.

definetely doesn't apply to guitars.

that said, if it plays good and sounds good to you, then it doesn't matter where it was made. there are good guitars made outside the USA, they are just much rarer because QC is lower. you have to play a few to compare them. the biggest differences are in intonation and hardware.

the more you play, the more discriminating you get. i finally got to the point where the only guitars i could find that could meet my standards were more expensive and made in the USA. i hated to plunk down the cash, but i just couldn't put up with "good" anymore.

 

[Siva]

How much do you wanna spend and what do you play?

Korean made guitars generally aren't nearly as good as their US made counterparts. If you get a tele, get a Mexican made one, they are maybe $350 and they are generally pretty good. You could swap the pickups for some of the noiseless ones and get a very nice sound out of a relatively inexpensive guitar (compared the USA tele).

Wouldn't a Korean made tele be a Squire? Squires are pretty crappy... if you only wanna spend $150 or so, check out the guitars at rondo music. They are supposedly very good quality for that price. If its a first guitar or just a purchase on a whim, I think that would beat out Squire any day.

 

[silverpig]

The Mexican ones are pretty good from what I've heard. I did just see a special at my local music store on a Fat American strat for $999 cdn.

I'm happy with my Epi Les Paul with Gibson pickups though. Just moved up to 11 gauge strings so it's sort of new again

 

[midwestfisherman]

It's definately not a Squire. The guitar feels pretty solid with a good action. The music store that is selling it has replaced the stock pick ups with a set of Seymore Duncans, which is a big plus. I compares it to a Mexican made tele and the Korean made one feels much better. The thing that stood out to me right away was the frets on the Korean made tele were finished off much better. It's about the same price as the Mexican made tele.

I mainly play blues and some jazz.

 

[Siva]

Is it a Fender? I thought all their guitars were Mexican or USA and Squire was the Korean/Japanese brand.

 

[midwestfisherman]

Yep it's a Fender. Has the Fender logo on the headstock. Definately not a squire.

 

[midwestfisherman]

Bump.....anyone else have any input for this? I'm hoping to hear from someone who has one of these.

Thanks

 

[Gibson486]

Did I hear Telecaster?????? Blond(e) 52 Telecaster Reissue....that is all i have to say

 

I think I saw some Korean teles from the late 80's, not sure though. You can dig around here to see if anyone has one.

 

[Gibson486]

Oh, Korean Tele = good

 

[syconub]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
You know the saying that goes "Whatever you can do, there's some kid in Asia who can do it better" that applies to mmorpgs, eating, ddr, etc. etc.?

Maybe it applies to making guitars, too?

I'd say take a look at one and if seems solid go for it.

hmmm asia? i thought they just made everything there.

 

[Raincity]

It it plays and sounds good then whats the problem. I have seen crap come out of Fenders Corona plant. Fender did run some production along with thier Squire line in Korea and Indonesia plants in the late 80's if I recall correctly. I have a 62 Strat reissue 91 made in Japan that better than my 62 reissue USA job except for the pickups and it cost me a third of the price than the USA counterpart.