Is there anything the Tele can't do?

An easy mod, and a good one if you have a neck with the truss adjust at the heel.

I used to think of them as just twangy country guitars, but I've really come around on them lately. My next build will be a tele.

I started out on a Tele but it was 2nd choice to my Strat lust. I played more Strat over the years but a Tele or 2 were always there. These days I'd be torn if I had to pick one.

Telecasters have become my go-to guitars. Twenty years ago I wouldn’t even give them a second look. I now have three and they dominate my playing time. My other Fenders and Gibbys are jealous. Gatton was such a monster guitarist. I discovered Barden pickups (my favorite) because of Danny.

I like his thinking. Take a decent Tele, put the inserts in, and you have an instrument that is FAR superior to any of the "travel guitars" that are out there. I get those things in my shop from time to time, and boy oh boy... they are frequently awful and I struggle to see why anyone would spend money on those. I think the only potential downside is you have to make sure you have a VERY good neck pocket, because they sometimes don't go back on the same way they came off, so a qualified person getting that tidied up might also be a good idea. I'd probably also add one of those plastic backers for the neck plate to avoid chipping the finish from repeated neck removals.

There are some guitars that have a way of letting you just play and focus on what you're playing without being distracted by the instrument itself. It is really hard to describe. A good Tele does that. That is their biggest appeal to me. They have just enough sounds so you can move it around for what you're playing, but not enough stuff to distract you. I think that is why so many great musicians love them... they're musicians first, guitar fanatics second.

I'll also second Leftee's point about the Paranormal. Normally I get annoyed with Fender's "Mr. Potato Head" school of guitar design, but that is a pretty cool idea. I can also relate regarding the feel of an instrument - it is what keeps me away from Les Pauls. Nothing against them, they're just so ergonomically unpleasing to me.

I've been on an Offset bender for a couple years. I probably posted this one at the old place.

This is a Mahogany body with a Padouk top. That's a pair of DiMarzio PAFs. The neck is Padouk with an Ebony FB. The guitar is 24.75" scale. See where I was going with this?

I do!

I also put a padouk/ebony neck on my P Bass build. Because… why wouldn’t I?

I've never owned an offset guitar (owned several J-basses), but I always find them really comfortable when I play them. I really like larger bodies that keep me from slouching. They feel more naturally placed in front of me. Probably part of why I'm partial to 335s.

Yea, it's my favorite Fender style (and the only ones I play any more really).

I have Mustangs, Jaguars, Bass VI, etc.

Have pretty much all my bases there covered in spades.

a nashville tele, or b-bender with middle pickup can, but somehow still not as good a strat.

Tele also won't do the Mustang neck pickup harmonic.   Fret ON the pickup itself on the high E, boom.

For you who require Pink Floyd's "Echoes" whale song without reversing a wah pedal,yea..

Once very long ago In the mid 90s... it was after my hair band days, playing Les Paul Customs & Marshall JCM 800s. For a song I needed that Fender "Big E" open string note i.e the Fender clean tone. I tried a Stratocaster, but couldn't deal with the volume knob being so close to the bridge. The last straw was in the middle of a solo, my pinky rolled the volume off. I don't play with a floating palm on the guitar.

Enter the Telecaster. My singers 90s American Original '50s Telecaster. My first impression... What a POS design!! An old man's guitar too boot! A flat board and a neck with a FRUGLY head stock! With two lame azz single coil pups... WTF! Sounded thin and shrill... and the intonation? What was up with those "fraked" up 3 old school saddles?

I'm stubborn soI kept gigging it. I got the intonation and string height where I thought I could play the damn thing.. around that time, propped up against an amp, the tele falls over right before a set.. "xxxx! I thought now I have to tune up again... Nope... WTF? Wow The things in tune? How...? later I learn that's one of the hall marks of a Tele... hardly ever go out of tune even if they fall over.

After a while... The damn tele grows on me, so I buy my own Telecaster and give his back.

Overtime I learned the correct Amp EQ settings that work best for the typical traditional Tele mid focus bridge and the Jazz orientated neck pickup. Example... AS a Les Paul and Marshall guy w/Greenbacks I always preferred a mid scoop in my amp's EQ setting. NOPE You try that with a Tele your going to sound thin and brittle. Because the tele is inherently bright...I learned to turn the treble down more than I did before and let the amps overall volume deliver the detail of  the upper register.  The result was a smooth silky twang.  Also, With Tele single coils, 10 inch speakers don't sound as full bodied as 12inch speakers so I started using 12 inch speakers and open back cabs. To my ears tele casters sound best through open cabs, les tight, more full open ranged, everywhere huge tone

I learned what amps work best with Telecaster to get the tones i like. Example:  the Twin Reverb with a Tele...like peanut butter and jelly or a nice Cuban and a single malt.... No other amp gives that top end sizzle on the upper registers of notes when you're playing low on the neck (Tele men know exactly what I'm talking about! ) I learned to stretch my creativity and playing by employing the Telecaster's simple design and two control knobs... Volume knob swells and Wah peddle simulations... to include  tremolo effects by using behind the nut bends etc. I never cared to do that stuff when playing hard rock with Les Pauls...

I learned a good telecaster will sustain as long as any glued in neck or through the body neck design too. And being 25.5 scale length it lends itself to drop tuning very easily.

At first the 25.5 scale length was strange, and almost off putting... I said to myself a few times "I don't know about the Telecaster... it's very hard to play, flat body, way stiffer playing feel than my Les Pauls. In the end I got used to it... and it made me a better player vs If I had always played Gibson's or something with a 24.5 scale.

3 decades later... I don't own a single Les Paul or Marshall amp.  what I do own is an "Adam Shift" ton of Telecasters and Fender amps. Nuff said.