Haha...not much science here...I just play a few of them and pick the one that I like personally. In this case I also tried a Fender Custom Shop Subsonic Telecaster, and a Fender '62 Reissue Jaguar. I almost used the Jag because of it's unusual tone. Has a real "surfing" sound to it, and a locking tremolo so you can bend strings and not pull the rest out of tune . The Subsonic was really LOW down but in the end the tone of the Nashville Tele won me over. I find I use that guitar a lot, probably 90% of the time. I also have another Nashville Tele that doesn't have the active electronics. Both are pretty reasonably priced at around $700 or less, street price. The Subsonic and the Jaguar are $1,500 guitars. But the proof is in the sound, not in the price. There's a new Fender Blacktop Baritone Telecaster that I'm currently interested in which costs only $499. Two single coils and a humbucker in the bridge position. Can't wait to play one. Still searching for the holy grail of tone.

Thanks for your comments and thanks for listening,
Bob