The J5 is unlike most Telecasters. Check out John 5's discussion about this particular model and why he chose going with the Squire name. It took a couple of days to tweak to my desires, but my hands are messed up due to m.s. and putting 008-042s might seem a bad choice. It isn't, as the Tele is about as old as you get for solidbody guitars. Differences: Individual string bridge. Similar to a fixed Stratocaster bridge. Excellent for minute adjustments, though I've not needed them even with a string gauge change. Tuners are similar to the original J5. They are probably a good candidate for changeing as they wobble quite a bit. Locking sperzles would be my pick, but Gotoh would be a nice 2nd choice. Meanwhile, the tuners function fine, so there's nothing to worry about. Pickups: the neck p/u is a ceramic and has a great depth of sound, but played loud is where they really shine. Note: don't expect twang on the J5. It has many qualities at various volume and distortion levels, but it is not traditional like single coil pickup models. The neck p/u is nicely rounded with a warm sound, making the middle position (both pickups on) the most depth sonically. The PAF 5 configuration is quite nice for that loud, darker sound. Also, you'll find more traditional Tele sounds, sans twang. The great thing about these p/u's is you don't need to change them. They sound really good, way beyond anything anticipated in this price-range. Build Quality: put a Fender decal and people would spend a lot more money just for the name.

That isn't saying there isn't room for improvements, but they can easily be done as you can afford it; another issue John 5 discusses on interviews.

The thin-"C" shape neck is super playable. You can play any kind of music on this guitar. I'd probably change pickups, but only because I have certain preferences that this guitar could only exploit, much as it does with the factory spec setup.

Conclusion: You get a fine guitar out of the box. It's fun to play and brings new ideas to the Telecaster namesake. The stock pickups have such fine balance and sonic capability that it's seriously something new for the Telecaster. You'll be able to shred, but a notch or two down you'll get a different sound, particularly in crunchy sounding mode. It sounds like a Fender axe throughout which is nice in a sea of me-too humbucker guitars.

One suggestion or retrofit I'd appreciate would be a split coil setup for the pickups. Retrofitting them with Duncans or the like would do the trick.

I picked up this guitar in local shop with zero expectation - it is a Squier after all. How wrong I was! First it looks fantastic -that's why I decided to give it a try. Second impression was the feel of the neck - I was pleasantly surprised how well it fit to my hand and how easy was to play. And the sound just ironed my opinion on this guitar as best one Squier ever put on the market. Fender might be shooting itself to the foot, though, because with this guitar, there is no reason to buy any humbucker Mexican, even American Fender (except of few high end models). I have three Fender guitars (Korean Showmaster, Mexican Telecaster, American Stratocaster), but this Squier can compete with all of them head to head - in looks, quality and sound. I am going to ask Santa for this Tele.

Like a lot of people, my first guitar was a Squier and I was a little skeptical about this guitar because of the brand. It got good reviews, so I gave it a shot. I'm very happy I did, because this guitar is killer!

I wanted a double humbucker telecaster, but I wasn't happy with my '72 Deluxe reissue. Personally I think the Squier J5 is a better guitar point-for-point. The neck is great, there are no sharp frets off the bottom of the fretboard, and I like the stock pickups pretty well. And unlike the Telecaster Deluxe, the bridge isn't too wide for the neck, so the high E isn't falling off the neck.

I love to shred, but I also play a lot of clean stuff and this guitar handles both very well. If you're wary of the Squier name like I was, I'd encourage you to go for it. I'm very happy I got this guitar and vastly prefer it over the much more expensive Telecaster Deluxe.

Wow! Thats all I can say after playing this guitar several times. This guitar is truly something extraordinary to hear and play. The construction is top notch and the pickup combination is sublime. The neck and frets are flawless and the satin finish on the back of the neck feels great giving it an organic feel thats very smooth and playable. The frets are very well dressed with no snags and the quality of the rosewood fretboard is very high and has none of the dry brittle feel of rosewood boards on most guitars in this price range (and adds a beautiful warm tonality to the tele sound). The ceramic magnet bridge humbucker blew me away. On a clean setting it has all the snap and twang you expect from a tele except it is extremely articulate with virtually no hum, every nuance comes through with microscopic precision without being so overtly hot as to force any unwanted break-up in your clean tone. The alnico magnet bridge pick-up is very much in proportion to the bridge in volume and tone. The neck pickup in a clean setting is capable of doing anything with ease. Blues and jazz spring forth with amazing clarity and warmth with just the perfect amount of subtle snap that I defy anyone to squeeze out of any gibson guitar in the bridge position. As far a rock tone goes except no substitutes! The bridge pickup can take even the mildest of amplifiers and make it roar like a savage animal. I plugged directly into a fender blues jr. turned up the preamp all the way and this guitar made it roar with marshall like authority! Through a hot rod deluxe this guitar will melt faces, god knows what it would do to a marshall, mesa, or orange! Most importantly, the bridge pickup maintains a ridiculous amount of clarity and definition through even the nastiest of high gain settings. Do not fool yourself into writing this guitar off as a heavy metal guitar because of its endorsement by John 5. Much like the man himself this guitar is capable of dishing out anything. I've never experienced a more truly versatile and infectiously playable guitar in my life. I don't know whats going on with Squier nowadays but their putting out some game changing guitars with this j5 and their top-notch classic vibe series. This guitar puts american/mexican tele's to absolute shame. I am truly shocked something this exceptional could cost well below a grand or two!

I have recent experiences of Squire guitars before in the mid 90's. The cheaper one's back then were made in Mexico but, with good quality, craftsmanship, materials, & sound which were very close to real Fenders, yet, this is one of them. This beauty is a complete stand out, a tone machine. Despite it's made in China but looks & feels real close to Mexican made. The j5 guitar is very versatile & can play enough fast shreds thanks to the 12" radius neck, it offers smooth action. I have no plans replacing the pickups.. yet, but I noticed it's too hot for my liking, besides this problem is just an easy fix. I thought fender made this one really special. P.S. It is almost as the same concept as my imagined dream guitar. If only this comes in a black flame maple finish with a floyd rose on it! it'll be sick!