Favorite/ Best Modernized T-Styles?

[Heretick]

Hey all!

Facebook loves to give me ads for dirt cheap Chinese factory guitars, and I love to click on them. Long story short, I ended up looking through the guitars that the company "Grote" has on offer. They're a name I have passing familiarity with, but, as with most of the direct Chinses companies, I've never paid THAT much attention to them. But I saw a guitar that really intrigued me:


Stainless steel frets, roasted maple neck/fretboard, spoke wheel truss rod, nice metallic colors, and a modified body and pickguard shape that I actually really like! Like, kind of a lot, actually!

Now, I don't know if I'd ever take the gamble on one of these myself, but it got me really GAS-ing for a modernized T-style; something that beyond just a telecaster-clone, but is still, functionally, basically a tele.

So if you know of any, drop 'em! Any price point, I'm really just curious to know what's out there. I'd prefer to stay 6-string and standard tele config (bridge and pickups) myself, but feel free to drop ERGs and/or humbucker equipped as long as they're modernized T-styles!

 

[spudmunkey]

Balaguer Thicket?



Aviator Guitars' Texan:


Their Warbird model could also likely have more "tele-like' specs added an ashtray bridge for an even more modern take. This one doesn't have it, but it has the pickups:



One question is: what defines a "tele" for you? What are your deal breakers? Does it have to be bolt-on? If it has tele style pickups, does it need a pickguard? Is a Tele bridge required? For you, what would make a guitar not a tele?

Otherwise, here's a 25.5c scale fixed bridge with a tele pickup, and a curved forearm contour and belly cut.

 

[Heretick]

@spudmunkey The Thicket was pretty much the only other one I knew of off the top of my head, but the other ones are good calls! Very nice!

I would say that I would personally be looking for something with a tele-descended body with an ashtray bridge, tele pickups, and probably a pickguard, but for the purposes of the thread, I'm pretty much just looking for stuff that most guitar players would see and be able to visually identify (mostly from body shape, probably) as being a telecaster or offshoot of a tele; I think the first three you posted fit that criteria perfectly! The Kiesel not so much, funny as it is

I'm primarily a strat player, and and VERY familiar with all the myriad variations of the super strat, so I'm looking for people to share, I guess, comparable "super teles" that they like/ own, even if it's just, like, a more contemporary-colored tele with humbuckers or something, haha. And I know there are way fewer tele offshoots out there than Strats and are harder to find, hence the creation of the thread!

 

[budda]

Godin?

 

[Heretick]

@budda Was unfimiliar with most of Godin's electric offerings, thanks! Good stuff!

 

[lost_horizon]

Strandberg Salen
Abasi T
Dean Gordon Tele

 

[spudmunkey]

Knaggs Choptank

...you did say any price point, right?

 

[Pingu]

Always have GAS for a Wirebird IV with the 35mm body.

 

[kriff]

Legator Opus 7, yes please

 

[Marked Man]

@budda Was unfimiliar with most of Godin's electric offerings, thanks! Good stuff!

They have at least one very interesting nylon string model that is setup for synth modules. They are underrated as a brand and have sone outside the box ideas.

 

[USMarine75]

From what I own:

Fender Aerodyne Modern Tele MIJ



Samick Ranger 3



I have a lot of T style guitars but these are the only modern looking/ playing ones I remember buying lol.

 

[Nobody]

Schecter

 

[sleewell]

The EGC I just bought.

 

[The Monster With .]

Solar Guitars Type T.

I've never played one, but I've loved the way they look since the first time I saw them.

 

[USMarine75]

Ooh I found more lol. Again these are just the more “modern” ones…. Feel free to ask if you have questions about any of them.

 

[Musiscience]

In my opinion, it has to be the Aristides T/0.

 

[Crungy]

I know he and his company are not well liked any more but I've always liked any of the Modern teles or the Rabea sig from Chapman. The Bea sig baritone was a really nice guitar, kinda wish I bought one a while back.

 

[nerdywhale]

/ FGN Guitars

INSPIRE YOUR MUSIC WITH UNPARALLELED PRECISION

fgnguitars.com

FGN Iliad. Looks like a kid tried to draw a Tele, feels like an RG.

I was able to snap up a green BIL2M for a Squire-esque price recently, and I’m considering hunting down another.

 

[AltecGreen]

My recently purchased Metal farm tele.







GTI Tread Line




Suzkuka Tiera BD121

 

[Crungy]

Legator Opus 7, yes please

View attachment 136390

I like that and the regular fretted ones