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Squier Master Thinline Telecaster

 

Review of the Squier Master Thinline Telecaster by The Man in the Jar 

A double-humbucker Telecaster with back-routed body and set neck.

Features of the Squier Master Thinline Telecaster

Tuners - Sealed chrome mini-tuners that seem to be quite high-geared give quick and accurate tuning.

Headstock - Standard Tele headstock. The natural finish on the body continues on the neck and headstock. A handsome thing to behold.

Nut - White plastic set-in-slot type. This nut has a very low profile and allows the guitar to have a lovely low action.

Neck - Nice slim maple Tele C-profile which is immediately comfortable in the cupped hand. Gloss lacquer finish makes for effortless movement up and down.

Fretboard - Chocolate-coloured rosewood with mother-of-pearl dot markers and a slightly rounded profile.

Frets - Well-polished medium frets with a low profile make this neck a very fast player.

Action - The guitar was well set-up out of the box with a low action. Nice to see on a Chinese-made instrument.

Body - The body is semi-hollow rather than semi-acoustic. The chamber doesn't extend much beyond the f-hole but is still enough to inform the tonality of the instrument. Beyond that it is a back-routed alder body, the back-routing dispenses with the need for a scratchplate. The natural finish on the alder gives the guitar a lovely honeyed glow, white binding on the edge of the face adds even more class. 

Bridge - Simple rectangular chrome bridge with six saddles. Each saddle has two screws for string height and one screw for string length adjustment, stringing is through-body. 

Pickups - Two Duncan Designed open-coil humbuckers in black. The surrounds aren't as high as on a Les Paul so the backward rake of the neck is slight. This helps to preserve the authentic physical Tele feel when playing the instrument. 

Controls - Each pickup has a tone and volume control served by a smaller version of the trusty Telecaster knurled knob. The selector switch sits in traditional Les Paul territory. I found that when the knobs were full on the player looks down to see the allen screws that secure the knobs. Conventionally these should point to the back of the guitar when full-on. Easily adjusted with the correct allen key if it bothers you.

Strap-buttons - Medium vintage style in the usual places.

Output Jack - On the bottom edge in an oval plate (a shape the Americans call "football", poor saps).

Finish - Overall finish is excellent and this is a handsome guitar. Finishing the inside edge of the f-hole in white and offering cream pick-ups as an option would make an already beautiful Telecaster even prettier.

 

Sound of the Squier Master Thinline Telecaster

I ran the guitar clean with just a touch of grittiness. The bridge pickup has bags of sparkle without compromising authority of tone. It reminded me of a Rickenbacker running on both pickups, great definition for lead runs and picked chords. The neck pickup has a bluesy thickness that is lent an airy hollowness by the semi-hollow body. Play both together and some of that space is lost to be replaced by a backbone of mid-range that can be made to snarl in the nastiest pub-rock tradition.   

 

Overall Impressions of the Squier Master Thinline Telecaster

I like this instrument a lot. The finish, playability and distinctive voice all combine to make it a highly desirable instrument. It can do a fair turn in the jangly end of the spectrum and still have voice options to take you to darker-toned blues and rock. An excellent choice for classic rock 'n' roll or country players looking for the Telecaster vibe with a rounder, riper voice.

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