Semi-hollow an anomaly?

[DawgBone]

I went to the blues jam the other night. A couple modded tele guitars were there, host had an LP, one guy had a James Tyler though I do not remember if it was strat or tele shaped. I brought an LTD Viper. It was a good time.

[Jimmy Mack]

My rehearsal and gig next week will be played on 335's

[Rolf Field]

Well i'm from Holland and it's strat's, Telecaster or some guitars with a "hockey stick" neck. For blues i bring my Ibanez Korean built as120. And there's a different sound. Comments i get are positive. It's different. Yep it is. Spent weeks for setting the pick ups. Lowering, highering and back again. Don't like strats. It's thin. Although used to be a huge fan of Buddy Guy in my teen years.

[gvurrdon]

Thanks for all this info.
My info on Albert Collins' f-hole Tele was from seeing him play it live. But, I checked google images and I didn't see any f-holes.

This reminded me that the first time I saw (and, indeed, heard of) Albert Collins was a concert broadcast on British TV in 1991. The whole thing is on YouTube:

Looks like a Telecaster with a neck humbucker and no f-hole.

The recordings here of "Mr. Collins, Mr. Collins" and "Phone Booth" are great, IMO.

[Cunamara]

Agreed except strats are no longer as popular at the jams down here as they used to be which is a trend I've noticed the last few years. Even I sold all my strats. Les Paul's have made big gains with younger guys. I'm still the only guy with a semi hollow.

Fashion trends happen everywhere, with everything. I've never found a Les Paul that I enjoyed playing, although who knows? The next one I pick up may be fantastic and "it."

[Bob_Ross]

I attributed it to EQ settings, mostly. ...[snip]... Being heard over the big Fender and similar amps is mostly a matter of having some mids.

I suspect this speaks to the guitar-playing public's continued ignorance about the architecture of the classic Fender tone stack: Too many players continue to listen [sic] with their eyes rather than their ears, and so they start with all the tone knobs at noon and then tweak a bit from there. But with a Fender amp, having the Mid knob at noon is already attenuating the midrange way down, and so everyone is going to start off with that scooped, midrange-deficient sound.

[sgosnell]

On the classic Fender tone stack, flat is with the bass and treble at zero. If there is a mid control, that's at 10.

[DawgBone]

On the classic Fender tone stack, flat is with the bass and treble at zero. If there is a mid control, that's at 10.

I crank the amp, dime the treble, and shut mids and bass off. Bright switch on. Works great with humbuckers for loud blues. If you cranks the mids it just gets muddy. Someone here recommended that, and I have tried it, but it doesn't sound as good. If I am in an exceedingly bright venue I might add tiny touch of bass or mids but otherwise it's set it and forget it. Better off with a pedal if you need a bump in the mids for soloing with a BF amp IMO.

[Bob_Ross]

On the classic Fender tone stack, flat is with the bass and treble at zero. If there is a mid control, that's at 10.

fwiw I've heard conflicting info on where "flat" is: Some say Bass and Treble at zero, but I've heard more folks suggest it is with Bass and Treble around 2 or 3.
But in any case, everyone agrees that Mid has to be fully clockwise (10) to get anywhere close to flat response through the midrange.

[AllanAllen]

So it’s a bass and treble boost but a mid cut? That doesn’t make any sense.

[Freddels]

For me, it was always 2 - 10 - 2 for what I percieved as flat on a Fender tone stack.

[pauln]

Download the Tone Stack Calculator
- choose amp manufacturer
- set tone controls
- observe frequency response graph
- (you may also modify circuit component values)

[GuyBoden]

Download the Tone Stack Calculator
- choose amp manufacturer
- set tone controls
- observe frequency response graph
- (you may also modify circuit component values)

Yes, obviously it will also depend on the Fender amp's Capacitor and Resistor tone stack values.

Yet Another Tonestack Calculator

Fender AB763


Comparison between Fender and James tone stack.

James Active Tone Stack


James Passive Tone Stack

[Average Joe]

We assume that flat sounds good? I would argue that the mid cut inherent to black face Fenders is one of the reason they sound so good in a variety of settings.

[Bob_Ross]

We assume that flat sounds good? I would argue that the mid cut inherent to black face Fenders is one of the reason they sound so good in a variety of settings.

No, sorry,I didn't mean to suggest that flat sounds good, I just brought up the tone stack architecture as an explanation for @sgosnell's observation that so many players with Fender amps at these blues jams were playing without a lot of mids.

[sgosnell]

I'm not sure anyone is saying that flat sounds best, or even good. It's just a starting point, to be adjusted as desired. I do like flat for some amps with some guitars, but the knobs are there to be tweaked. With a new amp, guitar, or even location, I like to start with a flat setting and then adjust as necessary, because I know where I'm starting from.

[m_d]

Always loved that album. Anson Funderburgh is on fire from beginning to end. Definitely one of my favorite blues stylists. Perfect tone, twangy, but not mid deficient, at least to my ears! An amazing pair, those two were (Anson and Sam Myers, that is).
So what amp is he playing here? Some kind of Tweed? I've owned neither category, but among Fender types, I think I prefer the sound of Tweeds over Blackfaces. Not a fan of the "mid-scooped" thing.