Fender Squier Tele Custom II Guitar Review

The Fender Squier line is normally known for making exact copies of Fender guitars. But, in a deviation from the norm, they now offer the Fender Squier Tele Custom II. It has some of the essentials that make a Telecaster a Telecaster, but also offers some unique qualities that separate it from the exact copy style of craftsmanship. To see how well Squier did with this deviation, let's take a closer look at just what this guitar is all about.

Features: The body of the Fender Squier Tele Custom II is made of Agathis wood, but this is where the bodily similarities to other Squier Telecasters end. It has an all satin black finish with a matching black pickguard. The pickguard itself, besides being a different color, looks more like the Fender Jagmaster version than the Telecaster version. The neck is bolted onto the body and is made of one hundred percent maple, including the fretboard. It also has twenty two frets and black dot inlays. Honestly, I'm not sure I like the stark contrast between the midnight body and the light maple neck. The machinery on the guitar, including the standard bridge-saddle style bridge and tuning heads are all chrome. (An interesting note, this bridge looks like the ones on the standard Stratocaster models) Electronically, the Squier Tele Custom II is also very different from other Telecaster Counterparts. Instead of the one straight and one crooked single coil pickup design, the Custom II has two straight P-90 pickups. Also, there are independent volume and tone control knobs for each pickup. It's kind of funny, but the electronics are set up more like a Gibson than a Fender. As you can see, this is kind of a Frankenstein style mash up of features from all sorts of guitar brands.

Playability: Though many parts may be different, one thing you can count on with Squier Telecasters is playability. The maple neck is sanded smooth, and the deep cutaway in the body provides for nice high fret access. This is good news for slide players who need that extra space and prefer Telecasters. Also, the guitar stays in tune nicely.

Sound: The sound of the Squier Tele Custom II, as many users describe it, is very different from standard Telecasters. This is easily explained by the P-90 pickups. They provide a deeper, thicker tone than the normal nasal twang of a Tele. The sound lands somewhere in the middle of the thin single coil and the thick humbucker pickups.