randythoades

I would agree with other posts in that a MIM tele purchased used would be a good bet. Not everyone gets on with every style of instrument. Myself, I love the sound of a tele but dislike the feel, the weight and the look of them, so built a tele into a hardtail strat (which I love the look and feel but can't get them to sound like I want). You might be a couple of months in and find that a tele just isn't for you, in which case you can sell it for basically the same money you paid for it. If you do like it then it is a perfectly good guitar that will last you for a long time, possibly for ever (or at least until GAS kicks in). There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Squier models, I have several myself and find them excellent instruments, but you will lose money on resale if you buy one new (and you will always yearn for one with the Fender logo on the headstock). The Harley Bentons are cheap and cheerful and perfectly servicable, but I think best suited to someone that knows how to smooth the rough edges and get them playing their best.

A bit late to the party, but my favourite and most influential to me personally must be Chuck Berry, Hank Marvin and Richie Sambora. Great feel and tone. After 30 years of playing Johnny B Goode and Apache, I still go weak at the knees hearing the originals with that extra something that I just can't give. I can play all the right notes but I haven't got that same feel. Hank Marvin was the one to get me started (and that was during the 80s) and I still marvel at his recognisable touch.

This may sound a bit strange, but I was also suffering with the same problem. Although I play electric too, sometimes I just want to pick up and strum for 5 mins rather than getting out cables and extension leads. I ended up changing the strings from the loud, bright bronze strings to heavyish electric strings and putting a jumper inside the cavity. Didn't change the feel as much as I thought, but really brought the volume down by quite a bit. I ended up keeping one acoustic strung this way as I play mostly through a preamp into the PA where I have almost unlimited volume, and it cuts the feeback down. But I suppose, acoustic guitar is one of those instruments that you learn the dynamics of playing both quietly and loudly purely with changes in technique and how hard you hit the strings. I haven't worked out this part yet though!!

Back in the day when I was learning, I struggled with a similar problem. I couldn't understand how my heroes could play things so perfectly. But then my guitar teacher at the time pointed out that the recordings I was listening to were just a snapshot, a capture at that time and that they had played the same part 20 times and just chosen the best version. They weren't perfect at all, they were mostly improvised and just happened to be what the fingers played. When I went to watch some of those players do it live I realised that he was right, they rarely played it like the record, they hadn't listened to it in the same detail I had, they just played it with the same 'feel'. Sounded just as good. Sometimes those 'mistakes' are what defines us as players, otherwise everyone would play in exactly the same way.

I also have a Marshall AS 50 which I like for both guitar and ukulele. It has a decent rather than stellar sound. I don't like the chorus to be honest, but the reverb is pretty good. I have tended to use mine with a floor preamp as I prefer the sound of my soundhole pickup through the preamp rather than straight in, but piezo pickup sounds good just into the amp. I have tried a couple of others too in a fit of GAS, nothing wrong with any of them (the Roland street cube, Ashdown Radiator, Laney AH80, Carlsbro Sherwood), but the reason I keep coming back to the Marshall (this is the third one I have bought) is that, to my ears, the DI output sounds close to the sound when sat in front of the speaker, so i can use it for monitoring and know that the adjustments I make sound similar out front. I am sure some of the AER etc combos are better overall sound quality, but my Marshall was only £150 and it has a more than acceptable sound.