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Post subject: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:57 am
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Location: Marysville, WA
I just received my Squier Joe Trohman Tele in the mail yesterday, and thought I'd post a little review.

I'm no expert on guitars, I have an American Special HSS Strat, and a Classic Vibe 60's Strat, and I know that I love those guitars. I play mostly bluesy rock and hard rock, and I've been looking for a cool vintage-y humbucker sound for some swaggering type blues rock. I had seen a great youtube vid with Greg Koch playing the Joe Trohman Tele and fell in love for a few reasons. First, the HSH set up was something that I'd been thinking for a while. Second, I love the larger 70's style headstock, and have never liked the tele headstocks. Plus the fact that in the review, the tone he was getting was really great.

I ordered it from Guitar Center, with a 15% discount that they honored.

Also...Here's what I know about Squier's right now:
They are putting out amazing guitars. You can tell me all about superior hardware and electronics that Am Fenders have over the Squiers, you can tell me about high quality lumber etc. I'm sure that these things make a difference. HOWEVER, The Squiers are not handmade, but are now being made with incredibly precision equipment. The Classic Vibe Squiers and the Signature series Squiers have gorgeous quality to them with necks that are super tight in the pocket. I have yet to feel a Classic Vibe that does not have a perfect neck. These guitars are made with PRECISION. And they are made to feel and sound great, which is what I care about. Who cares about the components when you get the sound and feel that you want out of a guitar.

First off, the look and build quality.
As I said above. This squier was obviously made with the highest quality control standards. I don't think that I could slide a razor blade between the neck and pocket. The neck is perfectly set up out of the box. No buzz even when tuned 1/2 step down with 9-42 gauge strings. The fret edges are as perfect as what you'd expect on an AM Fender. The finish is flawless. The look is gorgeous.

My only gripe might be that the 5 position selector knob is set up pretty tight and does not turn easily. But it's not overly tight that it is tough to turn, just more effort is required than I would expect.

The Actual Guitar
It is HSH with a kill switch, 5-position knob, master tone and 2 separate volumes. The positions are kind of surprising to me. In position 1, the bridge humbucker alone, 2 is the bridge humbucker with the single coil, 3 is both humbuckers, 4 is the neck humbucker and single coil, and 5 is the neck humbucker alone. I am kind of surprised that the 3 position is not just the single coil alone. But I get that a lot of guys want the humbuckers together which gives a cool Keith Richards kind of tone, that was surprising to me.
The neck has jumbo frets. They are just barely smaller than the jumbo's on my American Special Strat.
The neck is wider and a bit bulkier than the Classic Vibes.
The headstock is the bigger 72 style Strat- style headstock.

The Sound and Pickups
I am completely impressed with the Bridge humbucker. It has a really loose vintage tone to it. It is high output and breaks up easily. You can get some really surprising tele twang from it.
The #2 and #4 settings that combine the single coil with the bridge or neck humbucker are surprisingly quacky. Not a wimpy quack either. the #4 setting is really a bold quack. The Neck Humbucker gives you a pleasing sustain as well as a rounder and more jazzy tone.

The Feel
The neck is AMAZING!
It has a satin-y feel on the back of it. The frets are exactly perfectly set up out of the box. It has a low action with no buzz easily. I love the larger headstock because of the increased mass. For me, it helps me get vibrato by leveraging the weight of the neck when I want to wobble a note. This is the reason why I don't love a lot of tele's, there just isn't as much mass in the neck to use to get a vibrato. I have heard that the larger headstocks give more sustain. And I do have to say that this guitar has a surprising amount of sustain. Not a wimpy sustain either. it is a quality sound.

Overall
I think that I am really going to love this guitar. I don't know much about Joe Trohman, but after reading about him, I do know that he replaces the pickups in this Tele with dimarzio's, and plays in a couple of bands that still haven't impressed me. I personally think it's kind of weird for Squier to offer a Signature that gives a very different tone than Trohman is really getting. This guitar is Vintage-y for some great classic rock and blues tones. I don't think that Metal guys would love it. It sounds great running straight into my blues Jr naked with no pedals. I would say that I got a really fun sound out of it. When I played through my OCD or my Fuzz Factory I got some really nasty good Black Keys and White Stripes Tones. I really think that this guitar is made to just have a good dirty vintage tone.

I should also mention that though I've only played it for a day, with the stock strings on it. It stayed in tune like a champ. After the initial tune ups to get it started, it really did stay in tune.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You CAN NOT find a neck this good for anywhere near this price. The necks on the high end Squiers set them above any other guitar that I can find. There is no doubt in my mind that Squier is the best value for high quality unique sounding guitars. If you don't like the tone of the Classic Vibes or the Signature models, you will at least appreciate the quality and the feel. But the tone on these guitars is good enough to stand up on any stage.


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 7:54 pm
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8) Hey man I tell you I cannot agree with you more I got the same Joe Trohman guitar . Don't think much of fall out boys music, I got this beacause I loved the 12" radius and 1.68 or so at the nut neck, and your right the neck is super tight. I loved the look and the HSH configuration the 3rd position is the middle Strat pick-up, you can even check that o the Fender sight if you don't believe me lol! I have been playing this guitar for about a month and I cant get enough of it. I have to ask you though I live and bought this guitar in Canada... I paid 379.00 Canadian for it.....worth every penny. If you are in the US I am intersted in what the average retail is for one. Keep playin that Tele shes a beauty to look at and play!!!!!!!!!!


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:59 pm
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Location: Marysville, WA
They are asking $379 US for it, but there was a 15% discount that I talked Guitar Center into honoring.

I am loving it. The vintage style tones are really cool sounding. I have a couple of settings on my superchamp xd that really sound amazing with this guitar.


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:23 pm
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Oh and also. That's weird about the wiring. I checked the site and you are right, however mine is wired with both humbuckers on position 3. I'd much rather have the single coil alone. I'm going to call and ask Fender about it tomorrow.


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:21 pm
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Thats crazy....you would think they would all be wired to same, I am sure the store you got it from will correct it. The single coil is sweet for clear tones, and bluesy riffs. I bought a Mustang amp. and am really happy with the factory presets and uploads, I also have a roland and frontman, and a few others. I am surprised usually we pay more up here for pretty much anything, but it sounds like we are right on par with our brothers in the south. I tell you this guitar is my favorite, Thanks for the response. Have fun!!!!!!!!!


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:35 pm
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Location: Marysville, WA
Yep. Our dollar is not worth as much as it used to be. Ha ha.

I bought it through Guitar Center Online. Fender said that they'd trade it in for another, or that they would have a licensed fender tech switch the wiring.

Which Mustang did you get? I had the III and loved it, and my son has the Mustang I and it's super cool too. I switched to the GDEC 3, for the learning aspect of it, but I am eventually going to get the Mustang III back.


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 8:10 am
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I just bought the Mustang 1 for now to try it out, it has the 24 presets two banks can be modified. It was all part of a Christmas gift I got the amp the Tele and a hard case for Christmas, pretty sweet deal, if you are interested in acoustic guitars at all, and get a chance, try a Seagull S6 original, I got one of them for christmas too, awesome guitar.
It has wild cherry back and sides and a solid cedar top, if you are likeing tight necks this things amazing bright full with monster sustain, Hand made in Quebec, so the wood is super high quality. As far as the amp goes I am probably going to get myself a mustang III. I have heard they can develop a fizz after awiat but I am still getting one. What type of music do you play, I am playing hard rock classic rock alternative and a bit of blues.Going to Mexico tommmorow for a vacation, tried to convince my wife I needed the guitar and amp but it didnt fly lolol! If you can believe it I am in Edmonton Alberta and most of this winter its been in pluses as far as temperature. how is the G-Dec never tried one?


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 9:43 pm
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I'm mostly rock and heavier blues stuff.

I do love the Gdec 3 although it does not sound nearly as cool as the Mustangs, the ability to put backing tracks on an sd card and play along is fun. the included backing tracks are really cool too.

Have a blast in Mexico. My wife and I were in Mazatlan in August and had a blast.


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 7:10 pm
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Sweet I will have to try one out, I have been back for two days, and cannot believe how much I missed playing, I kind of think I am going to buy the Mustang V 5 head and cabinet kind of adicted to the mustangs, but I gotta give the G-Dec a try, looking at new guitars to fender of course lol!!!!!!!!!!


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:34 pm
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Before you make up your mind you've got to check out the new Fender Super Champ X2. It is a tube amp with the Mustang tones installed into it and is totally customizable using the Fender Fuse software. I've only seen the few videos online with it, but I am really excited to try it out. It comes in a 15 watt 10 inch combo or in a 15 watt head.


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:15 pm
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Good avice thanks, I will look into it, the cabinet I was talking about is 150 watts 4 12" speakers sometimes I want to really crank it out but dont have the watts.
Not sure what guitar yet though any thoughts?


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 7:33 pm
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Well besides the Trohman Tele, I am in love with the Classic Vibe 60's Strat that I purchased. I bought one for $180 on craigslist a couple of months ago, great feel and wonderful tone.

The only other guitar I have right now is a Fender American Special HSS. I love texas special pickups in the neck and middle and the atomic humbucker in the bridge. This guitar is just amazing.

The other strat that I almost bought while on my search for my #1 was the Road Worn Players series HSS. It has texas specials and the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates humbucker. Super cool.

The ones that I am dying to try are the new Blacktop Jag90 Jaguar (it won't be out for a couple of months) with 2 p90's in it. OR, the Modern Player Series Marauder (not in many stores). The demo vids on this guitar get some really nice tones.

Good luck on your search. There is very little more fun than trying and buying guitars.


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 5:47 am
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many thanks for the excellent review paztormike - i have been looking for one of these in my local store since they were announced but noone seems to stock them near me - so very good to hear a review.

What I have noticed is that the pictures on the official fender/squier site of this guitar differ greatly to some others i have found - e.g. headstock appears unstained in some , yet looks tinted in others, and the burst looks very different in colour- see below

Image

if possible could you tell me which it is more like in "the flesh" so to speak :)

thanks

d

_________________
2011 Fender Classic 50's Esquire
2013 Gibson Les Paul Traditional ProII 50's Inverness Green
2014 Fender Reclaimed Eastern Pine Stratocaster
1983 Flambeau LFW-3
2005 Norman B18


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 1:47 pm
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That's funny. I noticed the same discrepancy between photos. The one that was shipped to me by Guitar Center has the darker headstock that matches the color on the back of the neck as well.


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Post subject: Re: Squier Joe Trohman Telecaster Review
Posted: Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:11 pm
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i cant comment on trohman tele as i havent picked one up yet but i have to agree on the classic vibes i have the 50's in white and its an amazing guitar and superb value for money, there are some who would beg to differ and argue that it would never square up to their fenders, my answer is pick one up and play it before you make that assumption, when the sales guy pointed to it and said give that a go i gave him that "but its a squier" look, he laughed and said just try it. i was hooked, since the purchase i have copper shielded it, and thats pretty much all i wish to do to it for now still makes me smile whenever i pick it up.


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