Well, I have a fender stratocaster and I've never played a telecaster so all I can tell you is I like my strat and I think that teles are some of the most butt ugly looking things I've ever seen. Seriously, those pick gaurds and that metal strip with the knobs and switch. That's just repulsive, let alone the body shape and headstock. Though I did see one that didn't have the gaurd on it and the knobs were organized in a decent way. That one did look good, but the rest. I find them to be repulsive. But I don't know much on their sound other than I've seen them in more country things than I have anything else.