Sweet Thinline, True "Vintage Vibe" Well made guitar. Dig the short scale !!!

Swell little Tele, if you like telecasters in general you will LOVE this thing, It is well made...not what I expected from a Squire. Pickups are fine medium output affairs..nice fretboard $ fretjob..SOLID neck joint no dead spots or sharp edges....decent materials -electronics. Lightweight and comfy except neck is too thin (for me) took a little effort to become used to it but NO BIG DEAL. Well balanced, straight neck, GREAT SOLID HEAVY BRIDGE..Tuners better than avg. Great value,,had to sell mine...$ troubles but I am ordering a new one this week.. VALUE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BEAT unless you get a "hot" one. Short "Gibson Scale" makes it a BLUESMOBILE.
Squire is really putting out some quality stuff.

All the '69 vibe at a fraction of the expense!

I had been looking for a Telecaster w/ a rosewood fingerboard and I already had a guitar tech friend tell me about the cool vintage mod squiers w/ their unique pu combinations and decent playability. I was also looking for an inexpensive guitar to have on the road, especially for writing and practicing in my room and I didn't want to worry too much about it being stolen. The Thinline model seemed perfect because of it's semi acoustic body, I can hear it easily when practicing without having to use an amp. I walked into a store and asked if they had one, they did but not on display. The sales-guy went to the warehouse and returned with an unopened box and said to check it out and see if I liked it. Right out of the wrapper it played great and it was even pretty much in tune! Wow - all the way from China and in tune and the action and intonation were near perfect, even the fret ends nicely dressed. That was cool. Also, the guitar sounded really good, maybe a touch thin in comparison to an American Tele but still a really cool tone. So, I've had it for a couple of months and It's already been used on a few recordings. We recently got some killer 'jangly' parts using this guitar through a Bogner and some great lead lines going through an AC-15. I even took it on a week-long cruise in the Caribbean and the action stayed solid - that's impressive since I live in a dry climate (Los Angeles). I haven't changed a thing on it yet. still has original strings! For reference - I am a pro session player in LA, been playing for 30 years plus. I have always had a secret penchant for certain Squiers - all the way back to the early Japanese ones. This one is really a cool model, IMHO - not quite as well made as the MIJs but still a fantastic guitar - especially for the price.

Good first guitar, but Caveat Emptor...

I bought this guitar a few years ago, and have been very satisfied with it since. Paired with my little Vox AC4TV amp, I've been impressed with the variety and quality of tones I'm able to eke out of this cheap guitar. Even without amplification, the sound of the semi-hollow body is pleasant. The pick-ups are noisy (most Teles are), but have a nice sound, good for crunchy tones and warm cleans. When set-up properly, it's quite a pleasure to play, and I would definitely recommend this guitar to beginners or to guitarists looking for a cheap back-up.

That said, I was looking around a guitar shop the other day, when I saw one of these on the shelf. Just for a laugh I picked it up to see how it compared to my guitar at home. I was very surprised to see that F-Hole on the front had a different design, but more worryingly, the guitar seemed to be lighter and sounded less full. I found the neck rounder and less playable than the version I had at home, as well.

Obviously there have been a few design revisions since I purchased mine a few years ago, so it's tough for me to give this an outright endorsement. Still, you'd probably be hard pressed to find a semi-hollow in this price range, and my personal experience has been very good. At this price point, you could do a lot worse.

Also, be aware that this guitar has a 24.75" scale length, shorter than the standard 25.5". This allows for lower tension on the strings, which produces a warmer sound, but can cause intonation troubles if you play in alternate tunings, specifically if you tune down.

Ash or Alder?

This Squier Tele Thinline is a good guitar for the money. It has a lot of the engineering...both in the body and in the electronics...of the original, which was a lightweight Tele-Strat hybrid. There are a few details to check before you decide to buy one and when you receive yours if ordering via internet.Before deciding to buy, consider that the original was made of Ash, a lighter wood than the Squier's Alder. Some say the weight-saving was a great feature because a Tele can be a bit heavy. Some now say the heavier Alder manages vibrations better than Ash.After receiving the Squier Tele Thinline, check the frets to see if the ends overlap the wooden edge of the neck, or if there are rough edges that will rub or cut your hand as it moves along the neck. Second, make sure the tuning machines keep broken-in strings in tune even after fairly aggressive note-bending. Some people find these Thinlines set up beautifully right from the get-go and love their sound and playability. Remember, even though this was a state-of-the-art Fender when it first appeared, that technology was way behind what can be put into this inexpensive replica today. Some vintage funk is what you're lookin for if your interested in this axe, right?