they exist but it’s not the “normal” Tele body ; a contoured Tele is relatively rare. for me it’s really not a problem, I don’t really notice if a body is contoured or not.
yes, Tele’s are 25.5". I agree that the Gibson scale is a bad point, even if it’s not prohibitive.
Just the feel of it. Some will feel comfortable/uncomfortable right off the bat. For me comparing different neck profiles helped. I went to a Guitar Center one day and pretty much played every type they had on the wall. I left that day with an idea of what felt good to me.
Yeah, you just need to try a bunch, like bass.
I’ve owned four guitars at this point; I’ve learned a lot about what I liked. My first one was actually in a configuration I liked a lot, but for the pickups (It was HSS, I wanted HH or H/P90). My second one taught me I was wrong about what I thought I wanted (I ended up not liking the PRS body shape as much after all). My current one doesn’t actually tick all the boxes - I would prefer start scale on it - but covers enough to make up the difference. They are a balance, like bass.
@John_E, with neck profile and scale especially, you will want to try a lot. Guitars come in two basic scales - Strat and Les Paul. Almost all (or at least the vast majority) of guitars are one of these two. They feel quite different and you may strongly prefer one. You really need to just try them.
Which is interesting, because all basses that emulate the vintage tele bodies are now contoured. Only some custom shop Fenders are true slab basses (less the old vintage ones).
About neck profiles, a Tele can have a V, U or C neck. The V and U are reissues of very old versions. More or less all relatively modern Tele’s will have the C neck. Various thicknesses exists but in general it’s not huge.
For me, the Fender C shape is really excellent. Maybe the Squier C (a little bit deeper) is even better. Also the Tele C shape is kind close to the Precision C shape, it’s the same idea really.
One point to consider is the radius. Modern Fender/Squier have a 9.5" radius, and vintage ones have the 7.25" radius, exactly like basses.
I really like the feel of the 9.5"/Modern C. Flatter is usually better for me.
I agree, I much prefer the 9.5" radius over the 7.25" one. But flatter than that, like the 12" radius on a Gibson, is playeable but a little bit too flat for me. 9.5" is ideal for me. That’s very personnal, I think.
The best Tele I’ve ever tried was a purple 50s Road worn series. I hesitated and when I came back for it, it had sold. It looked like Danish Pete’s Tele.
For me the pure slabs are not terrible but are kind of a faint echo of what I can’t stand about how Les Pauls feel. But not nearly as bad as a LP. Just not as comfy as contours for me, a mild thing as opposed to how I just can’t even with LP’s.
Here’s an example with a LP:
That guy is super skinny, and even with him, the LP is punching him in the gut 
Same dude with a Tele:
and you can see it sits on him way better (like with me); the horn in particular is not bumping in to his solar plexus like the LP did. But you can also see the area where the contour would be is kinda looking like it might benefit from a contour. At least I think it would for me.
But it’s not like it’s critical like the feel of an LP or how it sits is for me. I have never found a Les Paul that I liked holding.
From what I can gather, there are two versions of the Baja tele, 50’s and 60’s.
Both have customizations but a lot of differences.
50s has custom shop twisted neck / bridge pickups, soft V neck, ash body
60s has American Vintage pickups, 60s C neck, alder Body
Both have 9.5” fretboards.
Finish options vary (50s is blonde with maple neck, 60s has a faded sonic blue with rosewood, etc)
I like the blonde variety
They seem to not only hold but exceed original value as they are quite sought after.
For me the '60s would be much preferable based on that description. Neck, pups, body wood. Only bummer is I would prefer a maple neck.
Keeping the universe in balance, I’m drawn to the 50s. Lolololol.
Try a V neck first. The difference in feel is significant. I much much prefer the C. Even the '60s C.
There is a lot of difference between various types of V neck. From a hard-V to a soft-V it’s not the same feel at all. Also it depends greatly what you play : for playing chords (like folk stuff), a V neck can be very comfortable because the V places very naturally in the hand.
That said, a C neck is much more commun and there is no risk really.
It would be cool to try those two necks.
The slab body really is pickier about where it hangs for me. It’s gotta be way up or way down. My Esquire is a slab and I tend to play it lower. My spare parts tele that my son has absconded with has a belly cut and bevel with a baseball bat strat neck on it. He started on bass and said it was the most comfortable and most familiar. I don’t disagree. Kinda disappears while you’re playing it.
That I didn’t know. I’ll have to try a soft V sometime.
Basically, I want one guitar, to do some chordy-type strumming.
I am not a fast finger player on bass or sax, and will never be or want to be on guitar.
I want to do some moody, slow, chords, etc for this whole industrial effect thing, and that’s about it.
So honestly, for me, its about looks and tone.
Feel has never been a thing for me on bass, which I think has to do with my sax background. Going from sopranino to baritone is a huge difference in feel. My 3 tenors alone all have different keywork/ergos and feel. None of this bothers me, ever.
I completely get where it matters to a lot of people, just not me. I guess I am versatile, slow and versatile, lol.
Then again, what isn’t? I had a perfectly good Revstar and spent more money because I wanted exactly the same guitar but with steel frets, slightly different pickups, and a power transformer
Missed one on Facebook - Craigslist to the rescue (and $50 cheaper)
Fender Blonde Baja Telecaster
Been asking myself for months “if I bought a guitar, what would it be?” I don’t need to play fast or shred or whatever, just strum chords and make weird sounds.
Came with an extra white pickguard as well and upgraded Gotoh compensated saddles. I can only find one nick in the finish otherwise was just a wee dirty.
