As I said in another post I'm going to be buying a Telecaster soon. My only electric now has a Floyd Rose and I want a guitar with a fixed bridge. I enjoy playing country, blues, and 80's rock. The only amp I have is a little micro cube. My question to you is this. I have about $800 to spend. Should I go with a used american Tele or a MIM Tele and a new amp. Which amp would you go with also for the tele and the types of music I play. Thanks

USA tele or find a retailer with a good payment plan to get a new one as you are close to a new one price point. They are exceptional guitars for the bucks.The Microcubes are tough and should last you till you can collect enough lunch money to go to the next step.The USA series are keepers.
They are that good ,and a great foundation to lifelong enjoyment of a great quality instrument.I have guitars costing 3 times as much and I can honestly say the USA series are very good guitars.

There are great members on this site so you will have lots of opinions that will offer great guidance.Let the tone guide you. The MIM are also good guitars so play them both.

Go for the mim and get a blues junior or maybe the Excellsor amp

Keep your current guitar and save as much money as you can for the best tube amp you can afford.

Amp first, guitar second.

http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Deluxe-Rev ... B0030LH4OG

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Gary

With a used American Standard you have a chance to buy something more professional. $800. will get you two used, or new items of less quality.

I guess you could buy a nice used MIM Tele, along with a good used 30-50 watt American combo amp.

dunno

It's coincidental that you should bring up this topic at this time.Just last week I went to my usual music store with the intention of buying my cousin's unbelievably gifted grandson a good electric guitar as he has a POS Jay Turser Strat copy and a teeny,cheap 1W or so amp.

Anyway I saw a lovely lefty MIM Strat(he's a southpaw) for about the price that I had put as a ceiling but there was a really pretty Infinity by Fender lefty, transparent, Butterscotch Tele there for about 1/2 the price of the Strat and a wonderfully adaptable Vox VT-20 modeling amp there that cost the same as the Tele.I bought both of them instead and they made a fabulous combination.

The quality of the Infinity Tele was an astounding surprise to me because I didn't think that it would ever be possible to turn out a guitar of such great overall quality for such a low price.I know that the Infinity Tele wouldn't be up to the standards of the MIM Tele you're considering but the idea and outcome are the same.Rather than buy the Strat there would be nothing wrong with buying an MIM Tele as I have owned mine for 6 years and it sounds and plays better it seems,every time I pick it up.

I think for sure the Tele and the amp would dfinitely be the way to go as the MIM Fenders are of exceptional quality that's far above that of most others in their price range.For an amp may I suggest one of the Vox Valvetronix modeling amps such as the VT-20 I have already mentioned.They have a 12 AX 7 tube in the poweramp as opposed to the preamp in most other hybrids which gives the amp an overall sound and overdrive that's very hard to tell from an actual tube amp.

They have 33 realistic amp models and 33 incredibly realistic effects that are extremely close to the originals such as the Leslie or "Rotary" setting or the UniVibe setting.Their modulating and echo/reverb/delay effects are deadly too.There are also several "banks" that store preset built-in amp and effects models as well as many that you can program and install yourself.There is an optional footcontroller that really opens up the possibilities of the amp and makes it incredibly versatile.I have the Vox AD-120-VTH which was their top of the line model when they first came out and it is really the only amp I would need if I wanted it that way.

The Fender Mustang series is also an amazingly versatile lot of amps and you never know but the store may even give you a discounted "package deal"if you bought all Fender gear.Anyway I hope this rambling post was of some help.Cheers.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I suggest either a MIM standard or blacktop, and a Fender Excelsior amp. I have a MIM standard and love it! If you ever feel you want better tone, you could always get some better pickups too.

My experience with this is that through a not particularly good amp like a cube, the quality of sound is limited, and it's a waste of money to put a really expensive guitar through it. The best combination of guitar and amp at any price is to spend around 50/50, IMHO. Play a mexican standard through a cheap marshall or equivalent, and then the same guitar through an amp like a blackstar HT-5R. This is my current set up (and I have a 72 Deluxe RI, mexican), and I really noticed the difference for both guitars when I upgraded from my old Marshall MG15 to my blackstar.

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"reach for the sky and aim for the moon, for if you miss you will end up among the stars"

Zoom MS50G
72 tele dlx RI
2011 standard strat
Blackstar HT-5R
Taylor Big Baby

http://www.youtube.com/user/Almungo/videos?flow=grid&view=0

If I had $800 and looking for a new guitar and amp, I would go for a used MIM Tele or new Classic Vibe and something like a Blues Jr.

Honestly a good quality amp will be more advantageous to your sound than a new guitar. Mostly any guitar can be made to sound like it is for any genre of music as long as your amp is able to cover the tones needed.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

+1 all the way around.

A decent amp will sound good with your current guitar. And your next. And your next......

The Squier CV line are likely the most undervalued instruments that Fender currently offers (both the Strat and Tele models).

Your loss if you ignore them.

JMOOC

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

I gotta agree about the Classic Vibe's. The look, sound..and play awesome. Another small amp though?

Trying to sway the OP to consider a really good tube amp vs. a different guitar and another small amp. I would go for a HR Deluxe, Egnator Rebel, or a Marshall JVC. Some of the amps will take him over the $800 budget, but well worth the investment.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

Gotta +1 all those who recommend the MIM and a Blues Junior. I have a MIM Tele and just finished several mods that have made it truly mine. I also have a Blues JR and a VOX AC 15.

I would also throw out a couple of other amp ideas. Although they are Solid State, Orange has a line of small amps that are excellent. Great OD and some simple effects. The have aux in and headphones out for silent practice and playing with backing tracks. The Vox modeling lines.

I also use a Line 6 POD HD 500 for one church site. The POD plus the cube make a pretty good combo.

+1 ... no question.
It was my first thought even before I finished reading the post.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

MIM and a Blues Junior