This is a great time to buy a new guitar – the design and craftsmanship now is so good and fierce competition keeps prices down. Not only that, the guitar is still prominent in modern music, despite what they said in the 80s about keyboards taking over. They didn’t…entirely…
So here’s a shout out for Bangkok’s guitar suppliers! In the last 11 years, I’ve used Proplugin, CT Music, Music Boulevard, Boosey, Tone City, Bangkok Music Exchange, Theera and Music City. They’ve all been great. (OK I like to try and buy local, but they only just order from these places anyway.)
And particular thanks today is due for Music Collection who just sold me this (Indonesian) Squire Standard Tele for a mere 9,400 baht. It’s reduced to about the same price as a Squire Affinity as it’s being discontinued, so I thought I’d best hurry up and get one. (I checked three shops before this one, but they had all sold out).
No scratches, clean and the action, truss rod, pickups and intonation are perfectly set up. It’s a fine guitar with terrific playability and sound. But why did I just get a mere Squire Standard?
1. Is a Squire Classic Vibe Tele really worth 7,000 baht more? 13,000 extra maybe for a Mexican Fender Standard? Or 18,000 more for a Fender Player? Frankly, I can’t see much difference apart from the word “Fender” on the head stock. Maybe that’s why it’s being discontinued. Such bargain guitars are maybe discouraging people from buying more expensive ones.
2. At 3.2 kg of agathis, it’s a whole lot lighter than my mahogany 4.3 kg Les Paul (oof!) and nearly half my 6 kg solid ash Chinese tele copy (phew!). It’s a good choice for a smaller or aging guitarist, shall we say, as wood is not a big factor in electric guitar tone.
3. No one expects lightening, shredding guitar solos from anyone playing one of these kinda guitars. That suits me fine because I don’t want to!
I think that guitars are like clothes. Yes, they need to be functional, but you also need to feel comfortable with them. They need to look and feel right for you. This guitar does that for me, but maybe not for you. Natural wood or antique burst is my thing, maybe electric blue is yours. It’s a great subject for a friendly discussion, especially when amps and pedals get involved.
So if a Squire Standard Telecaster does ring your bells, get online and order one fast while they’re still available…or (argh!) a Squire Standard Strat if you really must.
We’d best leave THAT conversation for another day!
Andy Tong Dee