Looking for some info about mij Squier telecaster

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Anonymous

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I need some information about japanese squier teles.Are they as famous as many people say ? What years brought the best specimen ? What about the hardware and pickups ? Good enough or recommended modifications ? Can they compare with actual Fender teles ? Any help greatly appreciated :wink:
 
t.olsen said:
I need some information about japanese squier teles.Are they as famous as many people say ? What years brought the best specimen ? What about the hardware and pickups ? Good enough or recommended modifications ? Can they compare with actual Fender teles ? Any help greatly appreciated :wink:

"Famous"? Probably a translation issue?

Okay, in my experience, the VERY best one is the early '52 Reissue' (JV serial numbered) model. These had American pickups (presumably standard production Fenders as this was a few years before they had the Custom Shop. Next up was the SQ numbered model - a 70s 'reissue' - which was essentially the same guitar, but with locally sourced pickups and hardware, different colours and 3 ply scratchplate. After these there were their 'production' models (I had one) which again was pretty much the same, with Japanese pickups, the same bridge unit as on the Fender Tele of the time (~1985) and had serial numbers beginning with 'E'.
After that... you might as well, shop around for a new one or better still try some of the alternatives. From the late 80s they switched production to Korea (I had one of these briefly, too) and quite frankly, they were absolute garbage.
Squier guitars since, for me at least, are stepping stones to something better - throw away guitars. They are decent enough, but nothing special. Never going to gain in value, so unless you are working to a very tight budget, forget a used one.
The early ones are excellent - the '52' JV was as good as anything Fender had ever made, the SQ and E are both great, but benefit from better pickups. Bear in mind, Japanese Fenders & Squiers were/are made in the same factory as Japanese Tokais, so you will see the same quality of finish. You are going to pay a lot for a JV Tele (approx double what you'd pay for the equivalent Tokai) as they are pretty rare beasts, and they are THAT good.

Cheers
 
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