Telecaster - Top Loader vs String Through

[Tal_175]

I don't remember if I ever used the top-loader set up on a Tele. Do you have a preference? It seems like you can get a more archtop or Jazzmaster type break angle with a top loader.

[ruger9]

One of my favorite tele players, Jim Campilongo, uses a top loader. I don't know that it has any effect on tone at all, but people report it does make the strings a bit more flexible for bending... which only matters if you bend of course. All my teles are string-through, but I would have any issues with a top loader if I liked the way a guitar sounded and played.

[Tal_175]

One of my favorite tele players, Jim Campilongo, uses a top loader. I don't know that it has any effect on tone at all, but people report it does make the strings a bit more flexible for bending... which only matters if you bend of course.

Flexibility also affects the attack. I suspect the softer attack of the top loader setup might mean a less twangy tone.

[Hep To The Jive]

I tried and didn't care for it. The strings feel like spagetti, the guitar doesn't resonate as well. Nothing like archtop, where the break angles achieved through the neck angle to the body and headstock angle.

The Bigsby on a tele gives a similar feel, but you can negotiate it by shimming the neck and using a heavier gauge strings. Anyway, at least Bigsby worth trouble sacrificing a little bit of that tele string through sustain and feel. Just top loader, meh.

[AllanAllen]

I don't believe it. If the string was more flexible it would be looser and thus, at a lower pitch. I think there's a lot of snake oil, marketing and placebo guys mistake as physics.

Now to answer the question, on my P-Bass I put the E through the top loader and the rest go through the body, per the instructions on the Deep Talking Flats package. The low is supposedly too fat to make the break angle without breaking. Since the stings were over $50, I didn't test their claim.

[Tal_175]

I don't believe it. If the string was more flexible it would be looser and thus, at a lower pitch. I think there's a lot of snake oil, marketing and placebo guys mistake as physics.

It's true that the strings have the same tension. The idea is how the strings respond to the increased tension when the pick attack stretches them (or when you bend).

[arnie65]

I used to own a Hahn 228 Tele (which I regret selling) that could be loaded from the top or back, and I remember asking Chihoe Hahn about the difference; he said that loading it from the back seemed to bring a bit more sustain to the guitar as opposed to the loading it from the top, although I've never seen any proof of that...



Arnie...

[Tal_175]

I used to own a Hahn 228 Tele (which I regret selling) that could be loaded from the top or back, and I remember asking Chihoe Hahn about the difference; he said that loading it from the back seemed to bring a bit more sustain to the guitar as opposed to the loading it from the top, although I've never seen any proof of that...

Yeah Les Paul's are top loaded and they are known for their sustain afterall.

[kris]

Top Loader-in one of my Teles I use GHS 16s Pat Martino strings. It plays great.

[Hep To The Jive]

Yeah Les Paul's are top loaded and they are known for their sustain afterall.

Completely different. The string tension on LP is through neck to body angle and the headstock angle. Totally different to a tele or strat geometry. There will be a lost of sustain on top loader tele for sure.

[Tal_175]

Completely different. The string tension on LP is through neck to body angle and the headstock angle. Totally different to a tele or strat geometry. There will be a lost of sustain on top loader tele for sure.

Yes, of course there are other differences in LP's construction (and not all of them help sustain for example the shorter scale length). My point is, top loader is clearly not a sustain killer if it's part of a design that's known for its sustain.

[ruger9]

Flexibility also affects the attack. I suspect the softer attack of the top loader setup might mean a less twangy tone.

If you've ever listened to Campilongo, he's got plenty of twang!

[kris]

Top loader does not lose sustain.

[bluenote61]

Top loader does not lose sustain.

Yes, I have the same opinion. Why should have a top loaded string less sustain than a string through body Tele?

[Hep To The Jive]

Yes, I have the same opinion. Why should have a top loaded string less sustain than a string through body Tele?

I don't know why, but it seem to me it did when I tried it. Not by much though. My biggest problem with top loader is the loose feel of the strings. Some people love it, some don't. I think the majority of tele players don't care for it. Anyone can try it and reverse back if the results are not great... It's kinda laughable to make a big deal with top loader, the tele world moved on since 1958.

[Tal_175]

If you've ever listened to Campilongo, he's got plenty of twang!

You're probably right about Campilongo The bridge pickup, the scale length, and most importantly playing technique all contribute to the twang. I'm sure a tele's have a lot of capacity for twang regardless of how strings are installed. I haven't tried this but if it is true that top-loading softens the attack, it'd make it easier for those who are going for something other than a twangy sound.

[kris]

At this concert I played on 10s strings.I felt the strings very well and the sustain was ok, even though I played with a top-loader.

[L50EF15]

Mine is a top loader (1991 Fender Standard Telecaster, one of the early MIMs, bought new in 1992). I never thought about the claimed slinkier feel, but maybe there's something to that. At the first string change back when, I went up to .011s. At the second, I went to .011 flatwounds (D'A Chromes) and that's all I've used ever since. Still very easy to bend if needed, and maybe the top loading bridge has something to do with that.