Well, it looks like Squier must be seeing some success from its recently debuted Vintage Modified line, because this morning the company expanded the series with a brand new addition––the Vintage Modified Telecaster Thinline.
Yep, based on Fender’s classic ’69 Tele Thinline (you can read my review here,) the Squier VM Telecaster Thinline will sport the same semi-hollow construction, unique single f-hole design, and tight fretboard radius as the original (7.25“) while including some new modifications as well.
The guitar features a 24.75” scale length (a bit of a departure for Squier/Fender,) a pair of Duncan Designed Tele pickups, alder body, maple C-shape neck, rosewood fretboard w/22 MJ frets, master volume & tone controls, 3-way pickup switching, 6-saddle “Strings-Thru-Body” bridge, and a 3-ply pickguard (parchment.)
The Vintage Modified Telecaster Thinline is available in Shoreline Gold, and Black poly finishes, and is apparently already in stores and selling for less than $280.
- Fender Announces Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster Thinline & Custom
- Fender Introduces Squier Vintage Modified Series
- REVIEW: Fender ’69 Telecaster Thinline
- Fender Introduces Vintage Pro 1963 Telecaster Custom NOS
- Fender Introduces The Vintage Hot Rod ’52 Telecaster
- Squier Releases Deluxe Series Strats & Jazz Bass Active V
- Fender To Produce Limited Release Rosewood Telecaster
- Fender’s Limited Edition ‘Snake Head’ Telecaster Now In Stores
June 4th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Finally, the Fender family has several Les Paul scale length guitars. It isn’t comprehensive yet (no Strat or Tele traditionals with 24.75) but the guitars available are an interesting collection, eclectic if you will.
All my 25.5 Fenders are strung with .0085′s now to ease the tension for string bending and also to ease that annoying vibrato pull you get when you wind up a country lick or double stop (what’s that called again?). Maybe Fender looked at the large number of Warmoth “conversion” necks and realized they were missing out. Next maybe their own version of Kahler or Step-Max vibrato/trems and conical compound radius necks. dna
June 4th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
At that price: tempting!
June 4th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I know, it really is Mark — they aren’t even made out of balsa wood anymore ;)
June 7th, 2007 at 4:44 am
If only it had a Bigsby on it…
September 7th, 2007 at 11:59 pm
This particular guitar is a really cool little instrument and quite a value for money! I have been revisiting this particular guitar a lot at a local store and I’ll be honest with you, if I hadn’t recently bought a Strat this would be quite high on my must-have list. The sound is exceptionally Telecaster-like but without the shrillness that afflicts some solid-body Teles. The shorter scale makes it eminently playable and works well with the 7.25 radius. Overall I think this is one of the hidden gems of the Squier line. It also would not be hard to modify the electronics and pickups. The only negative point I could really find was that the knobs were somewhat loose. I suspect that this is because they tried to cut corners by putting traditional Tele-type knobs on a split-shaft pot, which never works out too well. A couple of Fender amp knobs for a vintage-70s look and you might be good to go. I certainly like these guitars a lot.
December 10th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I just bought one of these and it is pretty much everything described in the review. Great sound and an attention to detail and quality not seen before in this line.
Getting back to ‘pretty much’ tho, evidently you people don’t know your ass from your elbow because the fretboard radius is not 7.25″ (even tho that’s what the spec reads), it’s a 9.5″ radius. I bought the guitar online and specifically because it was supposed to have the short radius. So, this came as a disappointment because I knew immediately upon putting my hands on it that it wasn’t 7.25″.
Thinking the spec had changed I contacted Fender on this hoping to get a neck with a 7.75″ radius. What consumer relations employee Philip Trapp replied was:
“I apologize for any inconvenience here but it would appear that the specification on this fingerboard has always been a 9.5” radius—we may have had a specification error in print; I will make sure we get this changed for future reference. We would be unable to accommodate any of the requested items below as we do not sell necks and bodies independently.”
Yeah, I’ll bet your just weeping Phil.
Suggestion: Why don’t you reviewers actually play the guitar your reviewing instead of just re-wording the company hype? I know you didn’t play it because if you can’t tell the difference in a 7.25″ radius and a 9.5″ radius, you ain’t much of a player.
Still, nice guitar and I’ll keep it.
December 10th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Thanks C.
I’m sorry that the specs turned out differently than originally suggested by Fender/Squier, however this post was pretty clearly marked as a “NEWS” piece, not a hands-on review.
As such, we were simply reporting on a story, and had no way of knowing that the specs would turn out to be wrong.
I’m sorry for any misunderstanding, though, and will be happy to correct the specs on our piece.
All The Best,
Cary
February 9th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I have been playing for over 45 years, own 50 guitars (many classic)
and my guitar of choice right now is the Vintage Modified Tele.
This is a fantastic guitar at any price and the scale and radius work brilliantly for my smaller hands.
Finish is just fine, and the tone/sustain is great.
Buy on now. Buy now. Buy one now ..and buy nothing more expensive in a Tele…this one is the best.
November 11th, 2008 at 6:47 am
I have weak hands, but a vivid imagination. I need a sweet, easy to play guitar for song writing and the occasional night out showing off. While I’ve been looking hard at a custom Carvin with 25″ scale length and low wide frets, I may be able to get all the playability I need for a grand less with the Squire Thinline Telecaster. With a nice case, some high end tuners and a once through by the luthier, I should be out the door for under $500.00. It’s hard to say no to that kind of deal.
January 5th, 2009 at 7:25 am
I just bought this guitar and I love it. Agree on the knobs (tone knob is a little loose) and a personal annoyance is the tall tophat three-way because for me, it is easy to hit while strumming and inadvertently switch to another position. So, already looking at replacing with another version from Fender. Regarding C. Rowden’s comment, I would venture that creating and putting the effort I know it would take to have a website such as this one is daunting, at best, and I personally do not see the need for such harsh tone and attitude. It sure sounds like C. Rowden must be an experienced and successful musician, so I am willing to switch to his/her website instead of this one so I can get “hands-on”, accurate information from now on. What’s that? No C. Rowden The Expert Guitar site? Oh… sorry, C. Rowden. Never mind.