telecaster again?

Near-end-of-year guitar update.

No new guitars acquired - yet. I am entertaining the idea of a new Telecaster.

Which Tele, specifically? The Squier Affinity Telecaster. Not the Thinline, just the regular solid-body. I have a reason for this. The solid-body has a belly cut in the rear like a Stratocaster and the Thinline does not.

Why have I not bought this sooner? None of the colors offered really do anything for me, so were I to get one, the price has to be right. As in lower than normal. And that might happen with a Black Friday sale. If the price gets knocked down to something that agrees with me, I might go for it.

If I don't, there are two other guitars I'm eyeing right now. a black Squier Affinity Stratocaster (I have the white one but really want the black), or a white Squier Sonic Stratocaster HT. The Sonic HT is an interesting one because it's a top-loader Strat, which means slightly looser play since the strings don't go through the body.

As far as any newer models are concerned, I thought about the Squier Paranormal Troublemaker Telecaster Deluxe, but nah. Nice guitar, but not my vibe. The Squier Paranormal Offset Telecaster SJ, however, yeah I dig that one. Single-coil at the bridge and Jazzmaster pickup at the neck. It's a bit up in price for a Squier, but again, if a Black Friday sale knocks that price down, I could go for it.

Lastly, the Squier Paranormal Strat-O-Sonic. I seriously considered this one because it's a Strat with a 24.75" scale instead of the usual 25.5", and it's a top-loader for super slinky play. The problem is the pickups. Not enough treble "bite" for my taste. The pickups can be switched from in-phase to out-of-phase, so yeah, the guitar has some nice tonal tricks, but from demos I've heard of it (I've not played it), the Strat sparkle just isn't there because it's not that kind of guitar. Darned shame. If it were the regular 3-pickup single-coil setup, I'd probably own it right now.

Either at the tail of this year or early '25, a new Squier might in the barn here. Or not. Haven't decided just yet. Price will be a big determiner, because again, nothing out there for colors really speaks to me, so price will dictate whether a new axe is bought or not.

Published 2024 Nov 19