Vintage Strats and Telecasters - how do you know if it's American Standard?

Cafe Society
1

There’s several price points for Fender electrics.
Squier (cheapest)
Artist series mid range
American Standard top of the line for off the shelf
Custom Shop - a rich man’s toy

when did this begin? Has it always been that way?

If someone is selling a vintage strat or telecaster. How would anyone know which one is which?

American Standards have a sticker on the pick guard. there’s a good chance it will be removed. I’d guess most people don’t want stickers on their guitars. I certainly wouldn’t want a sticker on mine.
http://www.andybabiuksfabgear.com/wp-content/themes/lavan/timthumb.php?src=http://www.andybabiuksfabgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Fender_American_Standard_Telecaster_2013_Black_Fab_Gear.gif&w=627&h=&zc=1

I may eventually get a 1960’s vintage Telecaster and wasn’t sure how to know if it’s a cheap ass Squier or an expensive American Standard.

a friend played a Squier for awhile. The frets stuck out past the neck and cut his fingers. he had to put duck tape on the neck to protect his hand. I guess Squier is fine for a beginner but not for any serious players.

2

Not sure what you are asking. Fender only made guitars in the U.S. until the late 70’s.

3

Yes, that’s why I’d want to get one from the 1960’s. I’d want a classic American made Fender. Anything made before 1974 should be from an American factory.

I just wasn’t sure if the cheaper models like the Squier were being sold back then. I’d want to get the classic Telecaster. Today that’s called the American Standard model. I don’t know what they called it forty years ago.

Maybe they only had just the one? A Telecaster or Strat? no other price point models?

4

Dude, they called it a “Telecaster” - they intro’d variations like the Tele Custom, Deluxe, Thinline, etc. but they didn’t start building overseas until some Japanese copies were brought to their attention that blew doors on Fender’s current production.

5

ok, so back then, they just had a Telecaster or Strat. that makes it easy. thanks. that’s what I wanted to double check.

today, there’s a multitude of choices, under those names. all depends on how thick your wallet is.

6

Unless you’re specifically bent on getting a vintage Strat or Tele, allow me to speak up for the work currently coming out of Fender’s factories.

One of my two current workhorses is a 2013 American Standard Tele. It is an absolutely fantastic guitar. Sounds amazing, and full of little design touches that make for fun, effortless playing. In terms of fit, finish, and tone, it gives my three-times-as-expensive Les Paul Custom a serious run for its money. They run about a grand new.

The guitars currently being made at Fender’s factory in Ensenada, Mexico (known simply as the “Standard Stratocaster,” “Standard Telecaster,” etc.) are also outstanding guitars. For about $600, every one I’ve played has been excellent. They’ve been doing what they do for a long time in that factory, and their materials and QC are substantially better than what’s coming out of, say, China right now. I would probably replace the pickups if I bought one, but it’s otherwise absolutely a pro-level instrument.

If you haven’t watched them, Rob Chapman has two very informative videos wherein he runs down Fender’s product range from cheap to expensive for Strats as well as Teles. Worth the watch, and they’re pretty funny guys.

7

+1

8

Yep, OneCentStamp has my number on this one. I’d only disagree in that if you want to shop around, and possibly have a little fretwork done, the same $600 can get you an even better Chinese instrument than the Mexican Fender. After paying for a fret leveling/dressing and a setup, I’m more impressed with my $400 Epiphone EB-3 every time I pull it out of the case. It’s a much better instrument tonally (playability is a tossup) than the 60’s EB-0 I owned , even if it is finished like a piano. I Imagine with a similar amount of work, you can get similar results out of an Asian Fender, but that may be more of an adventure than what you’re looking for.

However, the Mexican Fenders are as nice as any made in China, and Fender’s QC on them is pretty good. The extra cash spent will give you a little piece of mind in that you don’t have to hunt down a good repairman to work it into something good. I’m a little ambivalent on the pickups they put in them. Some I like a lot, some not so much. The tele from Mexico that I liked the best was a really early one (early 90’s), and the other electronics were prone to fail (they’re better now).

But, if you want the mojo/mystique/aura of an old guitar, there’s no substitute. The EB-0 mentioned earlier had it’s own feel and limited sound, and my wife will be divorced if she ever sells her SG Jr.*. Some of those old guitars are still in nice condition, some are worn in perfectly, some of them are simply beat to hell, and some of them never were any good in the first place. So, be sure to play any old guitar you plan to buy, and don’t decide to buy it on first sight. Even if you’re at a guitar show, at the very least play it, walk away for 20 minutes, and play it again. If you have days to decide, take a few of them. Compare prices, play a few contemporary guitars and think about what you’re buying.

And now you have the 2 cents of someone who is shocked, shocked I tell you, that a good price for an 80’s Japanese-built Strat starts at around $500, or that Performers start at $1500. **

*It’s not that I love the guitar more than her, or love her because of the guitar; it’s that she wouldn’t be the woman I thought she was if she could sell it without absolutely having to. :slight_smile:

**‘I used to be with it, but then they changed what “it” was. Now, what I’m with isn’t it, and what’s “it” seems weird and scary to me. It’ll happen to you too.’

9

OneCentStamp thank you for the review links. I didn’t know the “Standard Telecaster” was the Mexican model. Makes sense looking at the price. It fits between the Squier and Artist Series in price.

Right now I’m just at the thinking stage. I always dreamed of owning a vintage Tele or Strat. Nothing really old. I know they improved the design and the pickups after the 1950’s models. I’ve heard the mid 60’s to late 60’s were some of the best made. But, there’s a lot to be said for today’s high tech manufacturing. They are getting a lot more precision and building them quicker today. A new American Standard is definitely something to consider buying.

One concern with vintage is not knowing what’s been changed. Was it repainted? Neck replaced? Pickups changed? stuff like that. Don’t have that concern with a new one.

Ran across this Keith Urban video. He plays a 40th anniversary Telecaster. Bought it in 1989 and still plays it. A lot of country artists play Telecasters.

10

Play a few '50’s Teles and Strats and get back to us about whether their pickups needed “improving”…

11

A bit of an editorial aside, but I’ve always been amazed at how Fender somehow gets away with such shoddy quality control and inconsistency across their manufacturing sites, taking it to the absurd extreme of it being prestigious to avoid the bulk of their products and get to be an exclusive insider to those products that weren’t crappy enough to be sold to the riff raff general public.

Don’t get me wrong, I own a lovely quality classic Fender, but that doesn’t make me any less irritated about enduring past Fender crap that fails manufacturing/quality 101.

“Ah Mr GargoyleWB, your Toyota did indeed drop its transmission in pieces on the highway at 20k miles, but it’s one from the Toyota Texas plants. If you’d paid a premium for Toyota Indiana (true to the heart and soul of Mr Toyota himself may he RIP) then you’d experience the true pleasure of the Toyota brand.”

12

I’ve never seen, much less played a 50’s era Fender. Usually tech design gets better over time and mass production gets better too. They’ve had 60 plus years to study and experiment with pickups. single coils, humbuckers etc. But, if a musician says the 50’s era pickups are just as good then I’ll take his word for it. It’s ultimately the sound that counts. Not the tech.

13

The Tele remains essentially unchanged since 1952. There have been variants in the rating of the volume and tone pots, the various pickups and woods used, but the design of the most essential pieces are more or less the same.

My favorite Tele pickup and one of Seymour Duncan’s all time best sellers is the Jerry Donahue Tele pickup, which is based on his '52 Blackguard’s original pickup. I bought someone’s parts-o-caster because it had a couple of parts I liked. It happened to have that bridge pickup and when I got the guitar set up correctly was blown away. Never looked back.

ETA: Gargoyle - not sure what to say. Fender’s QC on electrics famously took a nosedive in the 70’s but is generally held in high regard since the late 80’s / early 90’s. Squires can really suck and feel like toys depending on which far eastern factory is awarded that year’s contract. But as a rule most US examples are decent and the Mexi-Tele’s and Strats are consistent, with maybe 1 in 10 or 15 being a real find. I remember they came out with a $600 Baja a number of years ago that was excellent. Some of their less-expensive Roadworn series play great too if you can get past the faux relic’ing they do to them.