Fender Strats and Teles (chambered with f-hole)--What's been your experience?

[ArchieHollow]

What led to your choice? What's been your experience?

[Hep To The Jive]

I have thinline tele as my main geetar. Actually didn't play a solid one in quite a while, so can't directly compare. My choice is because it's light, looks cool, sounds good, in that order. If there is any difference in tone compare to the standard soild one I don't really care, it sounds great and that's it.

I put the Bigsby on it and it's still light weight!

[BreckerFan]

I've got an Eric Johnson thinline strat, I really enjoy it. I put a Biltoft Charlie Christian pickup in the neck and I use 13 flats so it has a really good jazz sound. I don't think it's hollow enough to really make a big difference, but I really like the lower weight.

If you close your eyes you can talk yourself into thinking it's a single coil archtop IMO.

[Doug B]

Do they really sound THAT different? A comparison of solid body T to semi hollow T:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfRfkojOQfg&t=10s

[Cunamara]

I've got an Eric Johnson thinline strat, I really enjoy it. I put a Biltoft Charlie Christian pickup in the neck and I use 13 flats so it has a really good jazz sound. I don't think it's hollow enough to really make a big difference, but I really like the lower weight.

If you close your eyes you can talk yourself into thinking it's a single coil archtop IMO.

I really like how relaxed and efficient your technique is, over and above the very nice tone.


I have a semi hollow Telecaster with an F hole (flame maple top, mahogany back) which is a very nice guitar but I've never been perfectly satisfied with the tone despite trying quite a few different pickups in it. Currently it has Wilde L90 pickups with the Bill Lawrence Q filter installed, which provides a really nice versatile range of tones (although under no circumstances does it sound like a Tele in the bridge position). I've also had a maple and rosewood Tele neck on it and currently a conversion Gibson scale roasted maple neck. Interestingly enough, the feel of the strings under the left-hand fingers with the shorter neck is firmer than the longer neck. The body is so light due to the extensive chambering that it has been very hard to get it to not be neck heavy, hence the use of the short scale neck.

I also have a chambered Telecaster built with a Warmoth body (alder). I like the sound of that one better; the notes have a lot more bloom to them. That guitar has the longer scale neck mentioned above on it. This one has Wilde Telecaster Micro Coils with ceramic magnets, which sound wonderful. I cannot recommend those pickups enough.

I also have the Strat version in my Stratocaster, which is 37-year-old Warmoth alder body and maple/ebony slab neck with basically a swimming pool rout in it. So it's part way to being chambered! That guitar has had at least eight different pick up combinations in it including Seymour Duncan DDJ/JBJ/Quarter Pound neck, Wilde L280N/L90s, Gibson Classic 57s in several different configurations, etc. The Micro Coils are the best sounding of the bunch in that guitar, followed by the other Wilde setup. (Yes, I like Bill and Becky and Shannon pickups a lot- they are in half of my guitars).

[ruger9]

I love the way F-holes look on a tele. I have a Cabronita Thinline. I don't think it affects the tone much, if at all. If it does, it's extremely subtle. Like Eric Johnson being able to hear the difference in a carbon zinc 9V battery vs an alkaline one.

[Irishmuso]

I've got an Eric Johnson thinline strat, I really enjoy it. I put a Biltoft Charlie Christian pickup in the neck and I use 13 flats so it has a really good jazz sound. I don't think it's hollow enough to really make a big difference, but I really like the lower weight.

If you close your eyes you can talk yourself into thinking it's a single coil archtop IMO.

That's how I want to sound when I grow up Really, really good on so many levels.

[lammie200]

I went with a Ric shaped f-hole for something different. It’s subtle but I think it sounds different than my solid body Tele partscaster. More clarity.

PS: I don’t know how to rotate a photo on an IPad.

[Christian Miller]

I've got an Eric Johnson thinline strat, I really enjoy it. I put a Biltoft Charlie Christian pickup in the neck and I use 13 flats so it has a really good jazz sound. I don't think it's hollow enough to really make a big difference, but I really like the lower weight.

If you close your eyes you can talk yourself into thinking it's a single coil archtop IMO.

Amazing work, musically nailed it. Great tone too.

Playing health thing - I don't like the bend you have in your fretting hand wrist there. You shouldn't need to bend your wrist in left knee position, and it's potentially might cause carpal tunnel inflammation especially if you stretch in that position.

Might be fine, but it messed me up for a while.

I think if you place your thumb a bit higher on the back of the neck it should eliminate the bend.

EDIT Watching again, it’s especially apparent in low positions and when you play on the lower strings.

[BreckerFan]

Amazing work, musically nailed it. Great tone too.

Playing health thing - I don't like the bend you have in your fretting hand wrist there. You shouldn't need to bend your wrist in left knee position, and it's potentially might cause carpal tunnel inflammation especially if you stretch in that position.

Might be fine, but it messed me up for a while.

I think if you place your thumb a bit higher on the back of the neck it should eliminate the bend.

EDIT Watching again, it’s especially apparent in low positions and when you play on the lower strings.

Thanks!

I see what you're saying. There are some nasty stretches to get economy picking friendly fingerings. Something about this guitar doesn't fit my body quite right sitting down that accentuates the bend. Don't have that problem on my archtops.

When I was 16 I was super into Satriani and was trying to play all his legato stuff but with like a 70 degree wrist bend. Unsurprisingly I developed not carpal but cubital tunnel issues and had to go the physical therapy. After that I became more aware of and better about wrist angle, but I guess it still creeps in sometimes. Something to keep an eye on.

[Christian Miller]

Thanks!

I see what you're saying. There are some nasty stretches to get economy picking friendly fingerings. Something about this guitar doesn't fit my body quite right sitting down that accentuates the bend. Don't have that problem on my archtops.

When I was 16 I was super into Satriani and was trying to play all his legato stuff but with like a 70 degree wrist bend. Unsurprisingly I developed not carpal but cubital tunnel issues and had to go the physical therapy. After that I became more aware of and better about wrist angle, but I guess it still creeps in sometimes. Something to keep an eye on.

Great that you are aware of it. As I say it isn’t present all the time.

EDIT: TBH I probably do the same thing a bit when I play big stretches. It's hard not to.


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[Jimmy Mack]

Funny, Ruger9, I have the same strap!