Budget guitar review: Was I wrong about the Tease ST-1? Setting the record straight!

[@TonJager72]

Kudos, Ted! Have a great day! Cheers, brother! 🎸😎

[@TedTalksGuitars]

Thanks, my brother.

[@Charles75N]

Keep up the good work.

[@TedTalksGuitars]

Thanks, bro.

[@j-man9457]

Congrats on the 700! So even with your discount, the ST1 for us here in Canada with Shipping, exchange rate and taxes and duty fees would be right around the 300$ CAD mark. Knowing what you know about the fit and finish, electronics, playability etc... Would you pay 300$ CAD or ($215 USD) for one?

[@TedTalksGuitars]

Well, it looks like I already dipped back down to 699 subs so it was short lived (smile). The ST-1 is well worth the $144.95 US. Not sure that I would pay $215 US as is. Since I know that I would want to upgrade the tuners (which I deem necessary - at least for me). In addition, I know that I would want to upgrade the pickups and other player preference stuff. If that makes sense.

[@j-man9457]

@TedTalksGuitars yeah for me a full upgrade of parts in 250$ minimum!

[@TedTalksGuitars]

@@j-man9457 I get it, bro. Rock on!

[@randygeren]

It's definitely better than a squier I have the sbh hd telly I really like it man I get some good bright tones I gave it my own setup you can't beat it I really like it

[@TedTalksGuitars]

Thanks for hanging out on the channel. Man, I love the SBH teles. I have some videos about them. They sent me one to review. I liked it so much I bought my own. Then I bought the ST-1. I agree that the ST-1 is much better than lower end Squier models (bullet for example). Did you happen to catch the shootout videos I did taking the ST-1 up against the Squire Classic Vibe?

[@jimwoodard64]

$145 vs $150, I think you can be forgiven, especially after tax. Might be able to get some picks or strings (not both) with the leftover. Perhaps some shoelaces to make a thin guitar strap? 😅 I worked part-time at GC for the employee discount for about a year (COVID hit, and I quit once they brought us back), and I remember bringing in Classic Vibes for about that price. The "budget" Squiers would go for about $100 and when sales (like Guitar-athon) came, we were blowing out Classic Vibes faster than we could get them in the store. During COVID, guitar prices were artificially inflated by everyone who got their gub-ment checks and wanted to learn Wonderwall. People got bored at home, and suddenly, every guitar that I bought pre-COVID skyrocketed in value on the used market. Thanks goodness I made all of my purchases just before the big push in prices. Other than a couple little things, I haven't purchased anything post-COVID. Before garages and storerooms were stocked full of TP and paper towels, I had got my ES-335, V, Les Paul(s), Ultra Strat, EVH, and PRS McCarty 594. My only post-COVID axe has been my S2 McCarty 594 since they upgraded the S2's to all "core" electronics and hardware instead of them being American made with SE parts a few months ago for 2024. It's insane that the EXACT same Squier's with all the same specs we were blowing out sub-$200 are now as expensive as their MiM brothers and sisters pre-COVID! I applaud people like yourself and viewers who see that the only thing that's changed are the prices. The "Tease" guitars, and others like it are even including things that the old guard has refused to change, like rounded stainless steel frets. Come on, Fender, get off your high horse and start looking at these changes and make a guitar that can be competitive in build components and price. This is crazy. And let's not blame the guitar companies. There's still a highly determined group of people who refuse to admit that they've been had. If I didn't already have a Gibson ES-335 that I got with employee pricing brand new barely over the cost of the current Epiphone Inspired by Gibson ES-335, I'd buy an Epiphone right now. Same with my 50's Standard! I can sell my current stock for hundreds more than I paid, and that's crazy to me. I got my alpine white Gibson Les Paul Custom brand new for nearly $2,000 less than they go for now, and mine was only purchased a few years ago. And that's all the crazy guitar buyers who can't aren't willing to admit that yes, there are budget builders out there willing to sell for less and making guitars at the same quality. It's really the consumers' faults. One can call me a 'fan-boy' or 'brand wh0re'; but the fact is that I wanted a quality instrument with resale value to pass on at the time. I waited for prices to dip, and when they did, I struck. For those who wonder, the GC employee discount was (I don't know if it still is) 10% above dealer cost. I didn't need the money, and I wasn't in a band that year, so I spent every paycheck on new gear and I didn't hold back a single cent. That's the ONLY reason I was able to strike the deals on new gear I got. Believe it or not, the more expensive the item was, the more I saved! The markup on a Squier Strat is not nearly what they get for a Fender Ultra, so I went big or went home. And for your folks looking to strike a good deal from GC, here's another insider hack: if you make friends with an employee, they get (or at least did a couple months ago) a single 20% coupon good for up to $500 off on a new guitar. That puts a new axe under the cost of a used one! To take advantage of it, #1, you actually have to be a friend of the employee (or family member) and #2, ask towards the beginning of the month, because insiders take advantage of it all of the time. Then they flip the dang things. By the way, don't ask an employee to use their discount for you, unless they don't care about getting fired. The aren't supposed to transfer ownership of said item for less than a year after the sale, and they can only buy one item per pay period (2 weeks) and one higher priced item (greater than $200 or single or accumulated) item(s) per month. They also can't sell to themselves and get any discount, so there's always someone else knowledgeable of the sale, and that has to be a manager. If you're wondering about how our commissions worked, it was based on average sales per hour per month, and our target was $400/hour. There were also targets for that danged insurance, so we were always supposed to ask. It's like the McDonald's push of "would you like fries with that?" It was required.

[@TedTalksGuitars]

Ha! Forgiveness is always a good thing (smile). I appreciate your point of view. In my view you are correct that Fender hasn't offered anything more for much higher prices than before COVID. It seems crazy to me as well how much they are asking for guitars with features that do not measure up to some of the budgets (like Tease) that offer more features for less cost. You are also correct that consumers who continue to pretend that the by Fender branded gear is better based on loyalty to the brand. You know I have played a lot of Fender / Squier and Gibson / Epiphone guitars through the years. So, I certainly appreciate the refreshing rise of guitar brands (with no real name recognition) putting out competitive gear for the budget minded novice crowd - like myself. That said, clearly, there is also a lot of junk out there on the market. Not all sub $300 guitars are quality. But for my money and my evaluation, Tease is ahead of the budget gear game and certainly not junk. Its a great time to be a budget buyer (if one does their homework). I have another friend who worked at GC. He offered some tips on buying used gear on their website. I got some killer deals on some great gear in the past. Like I tell the folks at Mac, nope I am good without the fries (ha!). Great to hang out with you, Jim. Catch you down the road my friend.

[@SearchingForTone]

Damn I only buy guitars of $150 or more 🤣

[@TedTalksGuitars]

Ha! Rock on!