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I want to save up and get a new guitar over the summer, but don't really want to spend more than $500-$600. I play with a lot of overdrive and fuzz. Mostly noise rock stuff. Right now I have a jazzmaster with a jm pickup in the neck and a humbucker in the bridge. The jazzmaster is ok but I'm not diggin the humbucker sound much these days and the neck pickup kinda lacks the growly mids I want. Plenty of bass and treble which can be nice sometimes.

I feel like the tele would handle anything fine, so I'm mostly questioning the mustang. I can't find a mustang locally anywhere so I can't really try one out for myself so that's one downside I guess. I'd probably shoot for a MIM Tele or a MIJ mustang if that matters at all.

My rig: tu-2 -> civil war big muff clone -> tronographic boxidizer -> ibanez de7 -> Peavey Vulcan (super clean solid state head) -> crappy 4x12 with v30s in it.

Hmm, I've got both. I've got a Mustang that I really like and a Rondo Tele that I modified that is actually a really good guitar, probably better than the MIM Fenders.

Both guitars are all about pickups. I put Onamac Windery vintage 54's in my Tele and it absolutely rocks. I love the neck pickup, and the bridge isn't overbearing or overly bright.

The biggest difference between the guitars is the scale length, the Mustang is shorter and has a different neck profile. You might find one more comfortable than the other.

tuj wrote:Hmm, I've got both. I've got a Mustang that I really like and a Rondo Tele that I modified that is actually a really good guitar, probably better than the MIM Fenders.

Both guitars are all about pickups. I put Onamac Windery vintage 54's in my Tele and it absolutely rocks. I love the neck pickup, and the bridge isn't overbearing or overly bright.

The biggest difference between the guitars is the scale length, the Mustang is shorter and has a different neck profile. You might find one more comfortable than the other.

I know if I got a tele I'd probably get some overwound pickups for it. I like the thicker sound. I'm guessing I'd be fine with a tele neck. Every tele neck I've played has been pretty good and the scale length is the same as my jazzmaster. I've played a few shorter scale guitars and felt fine with them, too. I guess I'll just have to keep looking for a place that has a mustang I can try out before I decide.

I've always been far more comfortable (and therefore better at musics) with a tele. That said I have weird hands, so short scales can be a real challenge for me. I have a jag that I love, but I think the AWESOME vibrato mechanism makes me love it in spite of it's scale.

aen wrote:I've always been far more comfortable (and therefore better at musics) with a tele. That said I have weird hands, so short scales can be a real challenge for me. I have a jag that I love, but I think the AWESOME vibrato mechanism makes me love it in spite of it's scale.

I have really long spidery fingers so the longer scale is pretty comfortable for me. I'm sure I could adapt though. I think the weirdest thing would be the difference in tension. I've played my friend's univox hi-flier with the same gauge strings I used to use and it felt so loose and bendy compared to my jazzmaster.

I feel like I'm leaning towards the tele just because they're a dime a dozen and can still be pretty beefy sounding. If I lost my jazzmaster it'd take me a while to find another one. With a tele every shop has at least 5,000,000,000,000 of them.

As a mustang lover and a dude who has had his MIM Tele since high school, I say go with the Tele. Mustangs are great, and I love mine, but reading your thoughts and looking at your rig, I think the Tele would fit in well.

I'd say tele, because they sound awesome, and because there's so many kinds that there is a tele out there for everyone and you'll find one you love for sure. You might not jive with mustangs.

If I were you I would not grab a mustang sight unseen and unplayed unless you were willing to flip it, given your long fingers it could feel too small for you. single coils > humbees. I don't like how teles look but I love how they sound, I really liked how the Fender Baja tele felt, it had a neck profile I liked.

I prefer Teles personally. Plus, if you're going for killer noise rock tones, there's good precedent with a Tele. Unsane and Whores specifically come to mind. Well, Esquire and not Tele for Christian, but close enough.

Corey Y wrote:I prefer Teles personally. Plus, if you're going for killer noise rock tones, there's good precedent with a Tele. Unsane and Whores specifically come to mind. Well, Esquire and not Tele for Christian, but close enough.

I was actually thinking about getting an esquire. A friend of mine knows someone looking to trade an esquire for a jazzmaster but I'm not sure if I want to give up my jazzmaster yet.

Teles are a little boring looking, but I really like the way a white tele with a black pickguard looks. The blonde ones are alright too but I'd really kill for a white one.

ancientbones wrote:

Corey Y wrote:I prefer Teles personally. Plus, if you're going for killer noise rock tones, there's good precedent with a Tele. Unsane and Whores specifically come to mind. Well, Esquire and not Tele for Christian, but close enough.

I was actually thinking about getting an esquire. A friend of mine knows someone looking to trade an esquire for a jazzmaster but I'm not sure if I want to give up my jazzmaster yet.

Teles are a little boring looking, but I really like the way a white tele with a black pickguard looks. The blonde ones are alright too but I'd really kill for a white one.

Go for it. I love Esquires personally, since I pretty much never use neck pickups.

You really can't go wrong with a tele. Plus there are tons of pickup options for a tele you you can get any sound you want.

Teles are cool, and stuff.

ChetMagongalo wrote:If I were you I would not grab a mustang sight unseen and unplayed unless you were willing to flip it, given your long fingers it could feel too small for you..

+1 the short scale can be cumbersome for people with larger mitts

friendship wrote:

ChetMagongalo wrote:If I were you I would not grab a mustang sight unseen and unplayed unless you were willing to flip it, given your long fingers it could feel too small for you..

+1 the short scale can be cumbersome for people with larger mitts

For the sake of adding a counterpoint, I have larger hands and the mustang really helped me nail down inverted chords that spanned across four frets. Makes Swirlies riffing easy and fun. But for squished jazz chords and barre chords, it gets pretty cramped once you're going past the 8th fret.