Every guitarist should own a Fender Telecaster at some point in their musical lives . Besides being among the most tonally distinctive guitars around , they are also really fun to play , surprisingly versatile , and possessed of a powerful , understated cool that can ’ t be touched by flashy modern shred machines . The Tele also just might be the most historically significant electric guitar model of all time , with a legacy that is unmatched by any other instrument .
Before 1951 , when Clarence Leonidas Fender and his Telecaster finally met with mainstream success , solid-body electric guitars were little more than curiosities , neither commercially successful nor taken seriously by the musicians of the day . Hollowbody acoustics were the dominant instruments of professional level guitar players at that time , many of them being fitted with aftermarket electromagnetic pickups to enhance volume and clarity in a big band context where horns were common . Leo had been designing and building these pickups for local players as part of his radio repair business , and in order to test them he built a primitive bolt-neck solid-body guitar . It was very Tele-like in sound and appearance , and Leo ’ s regular customers quickly became enamored of its clear , bright , cutting tone , frequently borrowing it for gigs and recording sessions . Obviously he was onto something .
Fast forward to the modern day , and the Fender Telecaster in its various incarnations is a beloved and ubiquitous instrument that can be found in the hands of guitarists from all over the world , and from every conceivable genre of music . Despite its seeming crudeness in comparison to the more advanced designs that have followed in its footsteps , the Fender Telecaster has proven itself to be remarkably versatile and unquestionably timeless . From wailing blues leads and rock riffery , to deft country picking , cave man punk , sultry jazz tones , and metallic chunking , this elder of the electric solid-body world can do it all . If you want to truly understand the electric guitar and where it comes from , you must have one in your arsenal . To that end , here are a few of our favorite Tele-style guitars that will bring that stang to your thang without blowing your rent money .
Every guitarist should own a Fender Telecaster at some point in their musical lives . Besides being among the most tonally distinctive guitars around , they are also really fun to play , surprisingly versatile , and possessed of a powerful , understated cool that can ’ t be touched by flashy modern shred machines . The Tele also just might be the most historically significant electric guitar model of all time , with a legacy that is unmatched by any other instrument .
Before 1951 , when Clarence Leonidas Fender and his Telecaster finally met with mainstream success , solid-body electric guitars were little more than curiosities , neither commercially successful nor taken seriously by the musicians of the day . Hollowbody acoustics were the dominant instruments of professional level guitar players at that time , many of them being fitted with aftermarket electromagnetic pickups to enhance volume and clarity in a big band context where horns were common . Leo had been designing and building these pickups for local players as part of his radio repair business , and in order to test them he built a primitive bolt-neck solid-body guitar . It was very Tele-like in sound and appearance , and Leo ’ s regular customers quickly became enamored of its clear , bright , cutting tone , frequently borrowing it for gigs and recording sessions . Obviously he was onto something .
Fast forward to the modern day , and the Fender Telecaster in its various incarnations is a beloved and ubiquitous instrument that can be found in the hands of guitarists from all over the world , and from every conceivable genre of music . Despite its seeming crudeness in comparison to the more advanced designs that have followed in its footsteps , the Fender Telecaster has proven itself to be remarkably versatile and unquestionably timeless . From wailing blues leads and rock riffery , to deft country picking , cave man punk , sultry jazz tones , and metallic chunking , this elder of the electric solid-body world can do it all . If you want to truly understand the electric guitar and where it comes from , you must have one in your arsenal . To that end , here are a few of our favorite Tele-style guitars that will bring that stang to your thang without blowing your rent money .