Fender Lite Ash Telecaster Electric Guitar
Birdseye Maple neck and fingerboard. Seymour Duncan Alnico Pro2 pickups.
Overall User Ratings (based on 76 ratings)
Submitted November 1, 2012 by Fiqo A in City, NA
"Good Value Telecaster"
Not my primary axe as i'm more of humbucker guy. But as an auxillary tele, (i've always wanted a spare tele guitar stashed somewhere in case i'm feeling "jangly"), this really surprised me. Well made, good tones, just the Fender decal on the headstock letting it down, kinda boring and generic.
Sound
Stock telecaster sound, with a bit more bite on the attack. Seymour Duncan pups do their job here. Neck pup delivers typical tele neck sounds. But cut back on the tone nob while in the neck position, and leads really fly through the mix.
Bridge pups sound sweet with a slightly overdrive tube amp, it really brings out that warm and jangly tube sound. But its hopeless with a Boss Metal Zone haha, then again if you're looking at teles, you're prob not into that kind of music.
Features
What got me hooked to this guitar, is its really light! Far lighter than other American and Standard teles i've used (prob about the same weight as the thinlines). I use this predominantly for gigs and jams purely because of its weight.
Tone and volume knobs seem to be made of better quality than the MIM ones.
Ease of Use
It's a tele, you know what you're getting yourself into. Jangly bridge sounds, bluesy neck leads. But the amount of hum on it is quite annoying. Had to use a noise gate to control it.
Quality
Defintely much better quality than a MIM tele. All pots, knobs, bridge, saddles seem to be better made than MIM standard teles. And the neck is just a delight, smooth.
Value
For just slightly higher than a MIM tele, its definitely a much better buy. Better quality components, much lighter too. I was worried that the lack of weight would diminish tone. But thankfully the Seymour Duncan bridge pups covered that up pretty well.
Manufacturer Support
Nope, never needed too.
The Wow Factor
Not my primary axe as i'm more of humbucker guy. But as an auxillary tele, (i've always wanted a spare tele guitar stashed somewhere in case i'm feeling "jangly"), this really surprised me. Well made, good tones, just the Fender decal on the headstock letting it down, kinda boring and generic. But the weight is just fantastic! really light. If you're one of those that does that cheesy swing guitar around body thingy, this is it i guess.
Musical Background:
15 yrs experience. Gig ocassionally every month or so.
Musical Style:
Stoner Rock. Sufi Blues.
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Submitted January 20, 2014 by a customer from gmail.com
"Fender Lite Ash Telecaster"
I boughtl this guitar off of amazon, not expecting much at first. But when it got here, it actually looked pretty nice. Shipped with 9s on it, put 10s on it right away. Whe Seymour Duncan pickups sound truly vintage (if you are into that sort of thing) . You can pull some real nice Muddy Waters tones outta this thing, and Bruce Springsteen sounds great as well. Great for rhythm work with the great neck pup. The neck and fretboard are nice, frets were actually dressed pretty nicely, and it came set up OK out of the box. However, because I changed the gauge of strings, I had to do a complete overhaul on the setup, which isn't really that big a deal. Tuners are solid, no finish flaws, I love this guitar. Also, about Fenders customer service, I had emailed them the serial number to find out the exact date of manufacture and my email was returned within one business day. Another interesting note, this guitar comes stock with oversized strap buttons, which really do their job nicely. They sorta eliminate the need for strap locks, and in playing out a lot with this guitar, it has never fallen once. Overall, this is a really great guitar, sooooooo much better than any of the MIM telecasters. This guitar really sounds amazing, whether it is the ash, the ashtray bridge (brass saddles) or the Seymour Duncan pups I don't know, but this one is a keeper.
Musical Background:
Guitar,bass
Musical Style:
Blues,rock,country
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Submitted January 6, 2008 by a customer from cs.com
"Great for the novice or pro player."
I'll probably keep this one for a while.
Sound
This unit compares both with my MIA tele and a HWY 1 I recently traded for.
The Seymour Duncan pickups are really an asset to this guitar.
Features
Came with everything including hang tags.
Ease of Use
Plays as well as any and better than some I've owned.
Quality
A few little tweaks were needed at the onset.
I had the place where I purchased it from do a minor fret dressing on a couple frets.No big deal.
Value
I bought this guitar at a reasonable discounted price after negiotating with the dealer.
Manufacturer Support
So far so good.
The Wow Factor
This guitar has a slightly rounded body edge from that of my other Telecasters.This makes it stand out and have a better curb appeal. (for lack of a better expression)
The unit I purchased was black.Very nice guitar!
Musical Background:
guitar instructor, active musician
Musical Style:
you name it I play it.
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Submitted September 24, 2005 by a customer from crosslink.net
"Best bang for the buck"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
Sound
Sounds as good as any Tele I've played.
Features
Could have at least come with a setup manual with specs and a truss rod wrench.
Quality
finish is flawless
Value
Well worth the price I paid
Musical Background:
35 years playing
Musical Style:
Rock, classical, some jazz
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Submitted December 9, 2004 by a customer from hotmail.com
"Fails to meet expectations...Doesn't compare with the MIM's! AVOID"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
It's going to be a tough guitar to trade-in... Most store owners probably know the value of a used overseas made Tele... I'll have to live with this thing for awhile and maybe someday some fool will offer me something of value for it... I can dream can't I..?
Sound
sounds SO SO... Doesn't have the zing that my MIM Tele's have... Kinda of a hum drum general guitar sound that doesn't stand out.. Really have to make the amp do all the work..
Features
Not anything special... Just your general Telecaster style body with a ventage style bridge and neck pickup.
Quality
Although the Ash body is nice eye candy to look at... the electronics within is poor... Cheap is the word I want to say... found cold solder joints etc... Loose screws... Sears could have done better.. MIM's are still holding the spotlight for me....not this lite ash..
Value
Buy a nice MIM or hold out for an American made Tele... The lite ash tele is overpriced... period... should fall just below the MIM and just above the Squire Tele's
Manufacturer Support
No experience with the Fender folks...
The Wow Factor
Nice eye candy to be seen with on the stage... but serious music makers will be dissapointed with the bland sounds it makes
Musical Background:
Musical and Hobbyist player
Musical Style:
Country and Jazz
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Submitted May 7, 2008
"Poor Man's Highway One..."
I own two of these. My first one has a two piece body and is sweet. The swecond has a three piece body and while it has the same neck, hardware, pickups, etc., it's not as nice as the 2-piece body, IMHO. Both are good guitars, but my 2-piece body one borders on being a great guitar... For the price of a used Mexi, these are a steal. If you have to get one new, the Highway One is probably a better investment.
Sound
Very high quality Telecaster tone, thanks mostly to the pickups, but the brass saddles and lite ash body help. Bridge pickup is nice and twangy, neck is fat and jazzy. This guitar sounds like how you expect a Tele to sound. Extremely noisy with distortion due to single coil pups, but it's good noise...
Features
Got mine on clearance. Came with nothing, but I was able to get wrenches and a case easily. Some people replace the pots and switches on these, mine are working fine, no need to fix anything.
Ease of Use
It's a Telcaster... Tone pot is seems to have a nice fat Gibby-type cap on it, volume knob has a user-friendly taper. Switch is quite. Both pickups is humbucking...
Quality
It's on a par with the Mexi's, but the brass saddles, pickups, and ash body give it a slight edge over most stock Mexi's I've played. I've seen a couple lemons, I've seen some sweet ones, so QC is not as tight as it could be, but if you get a sweet one, you will be very very happy...
Value
I own two of these.
The aftermarket value on these has been soft, so before you spring for a new one, see if you can find something used. People don't want to pay $900 for a Korean guitar... I got my second one used for the same price you'd expect to get a used Mexi...
Manufacturer Support
Fender blows... But they still make good guitars... lol
The Wow Factor
Good looking, but decal is a little strange. I own two.
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Submitted August 2, 2007 by a customer from gmail.com
"I hate to "fret" over a Fender..."
I really do hate to "hate" on a Fender... Just giving a heads up.
Sound
Fine
Features
you know, .... tele features
Ease of Use
well.... read the quality part
Quality
I played one in a store.... The frets barely stuck out beyond the necks width... Just enough to be a bit scratchy and annoying..... Probably just a bad one..
Value
eh... I think the MIM's are better for the money
Manufacturer Support
No idea
The Wow Factor
Real, real pretty... Honestly, when I saw it I just knew I was going to buy it... LIke I said, probably a fluke.. If I found one that without that issue, I'd buy it.
Musical Background:
25 year hobbyist
Musical Style:
blues, rock
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Submitted February 28, 2005
Fender Lite Ash Tele Customer Review
Well I like changes butin my point of view about 3 years.
Sound
This is just like playing a standard telecaster. I've played almost every fender guitar and this feels - sounds just the same as a standard.
Features
it is just like a standard.
Quality
this product comes with the reliability of any fender.
Value
well here I think you're just buying the color because it plays the same as a standard.
Manufacturer Support
I have never had to repair my stratocaster and fender products are always built with top notch quality.
The Wow Factor
it is a purty guitar
Musical Background:
honkytonk
Musical Style:
southern rock-rock-country
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