The Delta Snake Review: Musical Gear Review and Music Article Archive: Review: 2013 Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Special Electric

Review: 2013 Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Special Electric

The Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Special Electric, with a white blonde finish, is one of many variations that seemingly copy the almost endless variety of “frankenfenders” or “parts Fenders” that are as much as a part of the Fender landscape as the stock ones.

Unlike Gibsons, which tend to have only the pickups and metal hardware changed, Fenders tend to have necks, bodies, and all manner of things mixed and matched. Which was, in a way, Leo Fender's vision of an electric guitar anyway.

One of the things that Fender has been doing with its Squier line over the past few years is introducing a wide variety of variations on the classic Telecaster model. In this case, a pair of Duncan-designed pickups, with the neck one being a Jazzmaster pickup for an “extra smooth” sound.

The use of a Jazzmaster front pickup is really more of a marketing thing. The fact is, the Tele with its standard front pickup is often used for jazz already, so changing that pickup to another type for smooth sounds really doesn't change a whole lot. However, Jazzmasters and Jaguars are what the young players are using so it's a nice update to the design.

Another attraction is the Duncan-designed pickup. Seymour Duncan has a great reputation as one of the best boutique pickup makers, and a bridge pickup designed by him would be better than the standard stock pickup by Fender (at least in the Squire line).

Technically, that is. One has to keep in mind that this is a 300.00 guitar, and while Duncan may have designed the pickup, it was actually manufactured overseas. It sounds pretty good, but put in a stock American Fender back pickup instead and you'll be amazed at the difference.

The body is basswood, which is a common wood for economy guitars, and does the job. The fabled 80s Japanese Stratocasters generally used the same wood, and have a great reputation even today.

Where most inexpensive guitars fail the snob test is at clean or low volume. The clean tone is OK, it's resonant, but not in a compelling way. Sounds nice, in other words, but not in a way that would warm the heart of an old-time Fender user. On the other hand, a good amp can do wonders for the clean tone.

In the case of this guitar, the obvious intent is to introduce the classic Telecaster to a younger generation that will probably use it to grunge out or wack around at high volume, and who'll have little interest in trying to get a “classic” tone. It helps that the rear pickup is hotter than the usual Squire rear pickup.

One feature that should appeal to young and old alike is that it uses a Jazzmaster-style neck profile. In other words, slimmer and for many, easier to play. The normal tele neck can feel like a baseball bat for some, and certainly for a young player, so this is a fine update that should be popular. Other tele's that feature slimmer necks, like the Baja model, use a slimmer neck, and are popular with a large segment of the Fender crowd.

The basswood body adds an additional bonus, it makes for a lighter guitar. An American or Mexican tele with an alder body will be very close to a Gibson Les Paul in weight, in other words, heavy. I found this version to be very playable, and very comfortable to hold. Given its features and decent construction, it's a bargain at 300.00.

It's hard to criticize a 300.00 Squire that's been put together this well, and more than a few experienced users may well buy these for backup, stage use (to keep their expensive ones home and safe) and of course, the classic Fender enthusiast hobby of endlessly modifying the guitar.

Oasis built a million-dollar sound around the very cheap Epiphone Dot. This guitar may not do that, but is good enough to make a new player forget that it's a cheap guitar. That alone, is worth a million bucks.

- Al Handa

2013

Note: This review first appeared on the ePinions.com site in 2013. This and other reviews were short takes that accompanied the link to a business that sold the guitar. As a rule, the guitar had to be at least examined and played by the reviewer (and ideally owned). In my case, a severe case of GAS made it possible to have at least owned the reviewed instrument for a short while. I'm reprinting these as having another source on a guitar never hurts, even if the reviews aren't definitive. Other than minor corrections, these short takes are unchanged from the original text. I figure that it might be helpful to keep the older perspective.

The Quitturz by Al Handa