Squier Contemporary Telecaster RH - Pearl White Reviews

Amazing neck, beautiful finish, and sweet matching headstock with the chrome logo. The pictures really don't do them justice, especially the headstock logo. Tuners aren't great but they do the job. Came set up very well, just had to make a few minor adjustments with saddle height and intonation.

The stock pickups were not for me. They are much hotter than what I typically use and definitely not telecaster sounding. Would probably work well for hard rock and metal. However, Dimarzio Chopper T bridge and Fralin Twangmaster neck pickups were easily installed and provided me with the "Telecaster on steroids" sound I was after. Great guitar, great for modding.

I bought this hoping it could handle some classic rocks tones and was pleasantly surprised to find out it is more than capable of handling high gain metal as well. The bridge pickup sounds great through my metal muff and Orange Combo. Besides sounding great, it is also a great looking guitar and the pearl finish really stands out in the light. If you covered up the Squire logo this could pass as a $1,000+ rig. Fantastic

Holding this I would never guess it cost less than a grand. This is the perfect everyday bring it everywhere, leave it out workhorse.

The satin roasted maple neck is incredibly comfortable, the fretwork on my model was perfect.

Tuning machines are budget, I'll be swapping them out.

Pickups are pretty bad, but at this price point and considering the playability of the instrument I'm still giving it 5/5. I can swap the pickups easily.

Guitar arrived pretty much impeccable and in tune from the rigors of shipping. I own T-body/style guitars before but it's my first Tele. Not a traditional Tele for sure, but that's the point of owning this guitar. Another option would be the Fender FMT tele (with the RWP and Pearly Gates humbuckers), but for almost double the price. I like the white body/black binding, black hardware, great balance of contrast and light, in my opinion. Never had a white guitar, but I like this iteration.

I purposely always look for the sub-$1000.00 price range, both because I'm an amateur but also because I like to keep my guitars and work on them to make any improvements, if needed, without feeling like I have to dish out a fortune. This is a phenomenal guitar at this price range.

Fit and finish are incredibly satisfying. Action can be adjusted to preference, but easily playable out of the box, as is. The roasted maple neck is all. the. money. Fretwork is carefully done, it shows. No snugs or rough edges, neck profile is very playable and the satin finish is so enjoyable. No dead frets for me, guitar is super resonant, even when un-plugged, always a good sign. I don't think I've had this neck profile before, but it feels easy to play and I've had no issues feeling right at home from the very beginning. Body is on the lighter side -- at least it feels that way to me --, tummy tuck adds to the comfortable feeling and is a very welcomed feature. I find the paint job to be classy and unassuming, pearly with metallic flecks, depending on the angle the light hits the guitar.

Controls feel fine, tone, volume switches are solid, no rattles, electronics are just fine OOTB, but to each their own. The humbucker routing is an advantage to myriads of option, if you want to swap the pick ups. Using this with the Line 6 Helix LT and Powercab, I can shape the pick up sound any way I want to and being they're humbuckers I can use the tone knobs to adjust to any style of music, from acoustic-like, to Jazz to the sludgiest of down-tuned power chords.

Solid, solid guitar, I'm really happy to own this guitar. Thank you to Squire (and Fender) and Sweetwater.

This is an eye-catching Tele - I bought the pearl white. It really IS a metallic finish. The all white with the black hardware really caught my eye, with the black binding all around the body and all the way up the neck to the white painted headstock. The guitar is very comfortable and light strapped on, yet still feels sturdy. I didn't need to make any adjustments out of the box, and it plays just the way I like it. Theses pickups are HOT! And you can get anything from smooth and warm to kickin' distortion out of them with just the volume and tone controls. Switch to just the bridge pickup and turn the tone all the way to the treble side, and it sounds like a respectable Tele - bright enough, but not quite the twang. I play in a band that performs a wide spectrum of music, so I usually have to take 2 or 3 guitars out plus an acoustic. I think with a couple more rehearsals I may only need this beauty and my acoustic. It's a very versatile guitar with a wide variety of sounds. Even if you aren't looking for a Tele, I would recommend this as an all-around work horse of a guitar.

I been playing for 30 years. I have a nice collection of Gibson and Fender. I decided to purchase this guitar out of curiosity. Now I can't put it down. This things sounds incredible and plays so nice. Plus the light weight is really nice. This is my go to guitar. I still can't believe how nice this sounds and plays. Even my band mates say the same thing. Great guitar.

I've been playing guitar for nearly 20 years now and I've owned everything ranging from Gibson to Ibanez. After moving cross country and leaving nearly all of my guitars behind, I decided I wanted something different. I've always wanted a Fender Tele but I couldn't find a comfortable fit that mixed the sounds and playability of the guitars I was used to playing. Out of curiosity I saw this guitar at a local music and decided to pick it up and play. When I tell you this thing screams! Squire and Fender made a telecaster that plays everything from twangy blues to the due tiers of metal! The body cutaway and tapered off neck make this the most comfortable telecaster I've ever held while the SQR humbuckers still have me confused as to how much sound they put into a budget friendly guitar. The roasted maple neck is beautifully preserved and has a satiny feel to it, making it not only friendly to moist and sweaty hands but also adds a very premium feel. The black binding on the white guitar looks like a true work of art. I can't say enough good things about this guitar. The only con is the lack of gig bag. Even previous entry level Squires included a soft one, but I'm not going to fault them. This guitar is an ultimate mid range monster that will keep you playing for years to come, competing neck to neck with its more expensive cousins. Check it out, you will not be disappointed.

After pining over this thing since it was first announced, very pleased to finally get one in my hands. A year of high expectations based on multiple glowing reviews were pretty much met right out of the box. After a restring and slight reset to my desired action, I find this almost impossible to put down. The play-ability is incredible for a guitar in this price range, I've played others at twice the price with half the feel.

Tone-wise, this has a pretty broad range but is broadly beefier than a traditional Tele. The neck humbucker has a lot of clarity and rolling off the tone knob a bit produces a great, warm silky tone ideal for finger picking or chording. The rail humbucker on the other hand is a beast and while it provides plenty of cut and clarity on a clean channel, it really only makes sense with copious amounts of crunch. Depending on the gain setting, you can go from a jangly, loose bluesy vibe all the way to a perfectly good death/thrash metal tone. Blending the two pickups provides all kinds of opportunities for tones both clean and dirty.

The roasted maple neck is as good as all the reviews suggest, feels as good (maybe better) as the 30-year-old neck on my other Tele. I got the Pearl White finish which has a tasteful amount of sparkle and really pops with the black binding (which, to be honest is painted on but still looks great). The pictures don't do this finish justice.

Fender/Squire really over delivered on this one!

Took delivery of mine finally today. And I just put it down to write this. I just love the feel of this neck, the action is really good out of the box. I mean at this price point I don't know what more you could ask for. I will have no problem putting a little money into some upgrades to make this great little guitar something special.

Excellent value. Very playable.

After receiving the Squier contemporary telecaster in pearl white, I hardly put it down the entire evening. Weighing in at around 7 pounds, this guitar is incredibly comfortable to play both sitting and standing, the belly carve helps. The bound, roasted maple neck with 12" radius is very smooth and fast, with a pleasant neck shape...and it also looks really nice. The pearl white finish with contrasting black binding looks great, especially under brighter light where the glittery/metallic paint job is more apparent. Of course the matching head stock paint job is very cool. Even though I expect to do a little work setting up even with much more expensive guitars, this guitar was intonated well with low action right out of the box, and I haven't found anything that needs much attention. Perhaps a minor fret polishing to smooth it out a little but. Nut is cut very proper, and although the tuning machines don't have a more "premium" gear ratio, I have found zero slop in them and they have been holding a variety of tuning very well. It's also cool to see some modernized split shaft tuners.

As for the electronics, the high output pickups are fantastic through my EVH 5153. Much to my surprise, the rails - type bridge pickup sounds massive and chunky, with some tightness under gain that maintains a lot of string clarity; which has not been my experience with other rails pickups I have tried. It works well for both rhythm and lead playing. The neck pickup also sounds really great under high gain, and is not muddy or woofy at all, depending on your amp you can definitely get the liquid lead thing going on. Under cleaner and lighter gain / overdrive settings, the guitar still sounds fantastic. Great clean tones especially out of the middle position which is a really pretty sound. Obviously you aren't going to get traditional low output telecaster tones out of this thing, but that's probably not why you're looking at it or reading this.

The contemporary telecaster is not just a good guitar for the money, but just a stellar guitar in my opinion. It's probably not the sort of thing traditional telecaster fans are going to be super into with its chrome head stock logo, black hardware and other modern details, but I'm stoked to see fender/squier branch out with things like this. It holds its own next to some more expensive modern guitars, a worthy contender if you're looking for a telecaster that can really get heavy. Definitely a keeper!

Great guitar!!! Daughter was thrilled with looks but more thrilled with tone! Sean was great to work with!

This guitar is amazing. The build quality, attention to detail, and feel are amazing. I bought the pearl white version - Sweetwater always has amazing photos of their guitars, but photos cannot do this one justice. There is soooo much pearl in the paint, it's unbelievable. The knobs, switches, and even the tuning machines (which are vintage style!) all feel like a made in the USA strat. No hot spots on the frets anywhere, and an amazing setup right out of the box. You really won't believe it until you see it, and once you play it, you'll want it.

For starters, the build quality, fit, and finish of this guitar is far beyond what I expected (and I already knew Squier has been upping their game). The POTS/switches feel like an MIA Fender. Tuners are solid. Fretwork was great right out of the box. Finish is prettier than the photos can convey. Okay… the sound: these humbuckers scream! I'm telling you, this plays and feels like a guitar twice its price.

I have had this unit for about a week. The fit and finish of the guitar are truly top notch. All I can think is that Squier/Fender must be taking a loss on these. There is just so much value here and bang for buck! A lot of effort and expense went into the design and craftsmanship; the fit and finish are remarkable. I swapped out the 9's and put flat wound 10's on it. Setting the action low and getting it tuned to my liking was pleasantly simple and drama free - and I consider myself to be a bit of a novice still in these things. I will say string changes are the easiest I have ever encountered - love the split shaft simplicity.
Special shout out to Josh Dillion who was extraordinarily helpful and patient during the shopping experience!

This is a good, playable guitar. Fit and finish is pretty darn nice for a sub $500 instrument. The neck is a bit thicker than I anticipated. Most importantly, in the time I've spent with it - the pickups are the weakest link. They sound very dull and lifeless. Not a big deal since I planned to replace them anyway, but if you don't want to replace pickups - this is not a great choice.

As always, Sweetwater customer service was top notch. Still very happy with my purchase despite the less than satisfying pickups and thicker neck. Can't wait to mod this beauty.

I'll preface this by saying I've been playing primarily acoustic for the last 15 years or so, I only start with that to warn anyone reading this that I might not be the best judge of what is or isn't the greatest electric guitar. About a year ago I got the itch for a strat, so I picked up a MIM player, it's been great I love it....but.....GAS. I've been looking at Tele's thinking I'll pick up another MIM player, also eyeing some gits to scratch my metal itch, I've got full blown GAS, when I see the Indonesian made Fender Special Edition Custom Telecaster FMT HH (Think they could make that name any longer?) for 800 bucks, two birds one stone right? Long story even longer I'm partaking in my nightly perusal/droolfest on Sweetwater when I see this interesting Squire telecaster, a look can't hurt right? Hot Rail in the bridge, humbucker in the neck? 449 bucks....err but it's Squire. Oh well, I bought it, and wow. This thing screams, if you're looking for classic Tele twang look elsewhere, you can dial it kinda close but this is not your daddy's Tele. Squire is absolutely crushing, this is every bit as nice as my MIM Fender Strat and then some. Pretty versatile guitar, the rail might be a bit hot for some and it distorts easy, might want to roll down the volume knob but this guitar punches way above its weight class and looks pretty good too. Tele purists, this ones not for you.

Came set up perfect. Neck is fast, frets large and polished. Plays great, no issues there. Finish is beautiful. The design flaw? It hums. The bridge is not grounded. Oh, there is a ground wire under it, but the finish on the bridge is non conductive. There is a constant annoying hum. I fixed mine, but that involved scraping paint off the bridge plate and replacing the saddles with non ones that have a conductive finish. The black finish on the bridge looks amazing but it insulates it electronically.