Bought this as my first tele, with the intention to mod the guitar if needed. Main selling points were 9,5-radius rosewood fretboard with rolled edges and Sire brand history (as they are praised for high value for money instruments).
After 2 weeks of playing:
Pros: sonic blue finish with mint green pickguard looks absolutely stunning. The satin neck has a carve similar to Fender modern C. Along with rolled edges it makes the guitar instantly playable with no effort at all. Mahogany body with a thick tele bridge plate resonates superbly. Very satisfied with the weight of the guitar, as mine is quite light. 3-way switch and pots feel excellent. Pickups are okay - very balanced, which is good for clean sounds. Bridge pickup is not too thin or tinny, you can play rock with it. But overall the pickups are not amazing.
Cons: the frets were terribly unpolished and had to be redone. Doing whole-step bends will make the strings go out of tune, and if bends are your thing, you need to buy locking tuners. My guitar had some tool marks on the headstock and some paint issues on the inlays.
Verdict: T3 is a very solid entry level telecaster. Rosewood fretboard with rolled edges is a feature usually seen on high-end guitars. 4,5/5 stars.
UPDATE on 15.08.2024 (2y later)
I have seen and played this guitar inside out now and this is what I’ll say: the value is INSANE, really. If lost, I’d buy it again. In case my kid wanted to pick up guitar playing, this woud be the FIRST of my six guitars I’d hand to him: most comfortable neck and no compromises in the sound.
I bought it for 398.- but it has gotten 50-70 EUR cheaper (!) on Thomann through the years.
The guitar has Jin Sung pots (made in Korea) and Sire Standard T ceramic pickups. Two years later, the pots are still very solid, no wobble, no audible cracking.
The pickups have ceramic magnets and standard tele wound: DC resistance of 6.9 and 6.55, so not overwound as some reviews claim. However they are defintely more modern sounding than a T7 for example - a bit darker and rounder. The neck pickup has this *really sweet* sound on g and b strings, which is just beautiful to me. Keep in mind that the bridge PU is also darker compared to standard Fender or Squier. I don’t think it can do chicken picking well, but it’ll sound good overdriven.
After one year of playing I switched the pickups to Lindy Fralin Blues Specials. While LFs are definitely better (and should, considering the price), it just proves how decent the ceramic T3s really were. Sire tuners were okay, I had no issues with stability after playing the guitar in, but I swapped them for Gotohs just because I prefer vintage looks.
Final conclusion: if you want a *really great* value and modern(ish) sounding blues-rock tele, and you play clean-to-overdriven, then look no further. Just prepare to put in some elbow grease to buff the frets first ;)
