Question po about Telecaster.
Some says that Telecaster is a more complicated guitar to play compared to Strats. May properties daw kasi ang strat na nakaka-pickup nung tunay na playing capability nung user nito. Totoo po ba yun? Saka in what way?
i own a standard jap fender tele and a 50s reish fender strat, if at all possible get both, hehehe.
tele has more balls (sorry strat lovers), but i do love the neck and middle pu tone that i only get on my strat.
as for the tele being more complicated, its actually the contrary if you consider that compared to the strat, it only has two knobs (one volume and the tone controls both neck and bridge pus), three pu positions, two pick ups, and has a fixed bridge.
all that considered, the tele is beauty in simplicity and lets you just concentrate on your playing.
it still all boils down to what most of the dudes here already told you, choose one that you feel "at one" with. cant go wrong with either models.
as for custom made ones, yeah there are some really great custom made ones here (check the elegee threads). but i am not sure about your budget.
but since this will be your very first electric guitar, i say keep on saving until you get enough to buy a really good guitar that will NOT frustrate you with intonation/tuning problems. in other words, invest on something that will help you hone your playing. my mistake when i got my first electric was that i forced getting one with the small budget i had. i just ended up wanting a better one and wish i waited so more and saved up for it. that itch can be a b*tch!
my PhP 0.02 on this, happy hunting!