Your Tele preferences?

**msr13** · 07-05-2012, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by jazzbow

I'm really loving the swamp ash grain

Hey, have you got a 4 way pickup selector there for series and parallel two pickup combinations?

Lindy Fralin does an 'Unbucker' pickup which is essentially one coil wound to be a higher output than the other so when you tap it to get a single coil you gets a truer single coil sound. Combine this with the 4 way switch and you get 7 different pickup sounds.....

Thanks. No, it is just a normal three way. Lindy Fralin makes some pretty cool stuff.

**Jazzchief1** · 07-05-2012, 09:53 PM

I have to add my vote for the G & L Bluesboy. Great workmanship. You can put what ever pickups you want (Lolar Charlie Christian's are the best if you can afford them)(my opinion) . Try it out first. See if they will put a set of decent strings on it to hear what it really sounds like(even if you have to buy the strings).

**Wes Green** · 07-08-2012, 01:33 AM

I love my Fender Classic Series 50's Telecaster w/ Swamp Ash body and a fairly large fat neck. I have put in Custom Shop Nocaster pickups, which I love, but I am getting close to getting a Lollar CC. From the you tube demos by Tim Lerch, the CC adds a great jazz tone to the telecaster, as he reportely plays it through a Deluxe Reverb amp. The neck pickup on teles can be a little muddy and anemic in my estimation, even with tweaking the pickup height. The CC seems to have a very nice full bodied and lively tone. I do like Mike Stern's work very much as a jazz guitarist who plays a telecaster, albeit quite modded out. He has done some very nice straight ahead bop playing and seems to have a strong Mingus influence in his playing.

**teleman3726** · 07-08-2012, 09:45 AM

I've got a CS Nocaster and it plays a range of genres just fine. Jazz on the neck pickup is OK. It's how it's played.
A "pro" once told me that teles were useless for jazz and instead a ES175 was essential for playing. He also told me his late 2000s 175 was worth $6K!
I have a preference for maple necks and the three saddle bridges, but that's me.
The thing about a tele is that it takes your "print" quite well. It's a quite unforgiving guitar and many have said the same thing. I remember attending a workshop by Greg Koch from Fender and he said that teles come with automatic "suck buttons" on them. So if you suck on guitar, a tele - especially run straight - is going to make that rather clear!
It can also take a beating and probably sounds better for it.

**Tom Karol** · 07-08-2012, 09:52 AM

One thing I love about Teles is how they respond so well to a light touch with the right hand. It's funny to let someone else play it with an aggressive attack and have them conclude (erroneously) that it sucks!

**kris** · 07-08-2012, 11:23 AM

I use Tele style guitar with ebony fingerboard,SD Hot Rails and KTS saddles.
Nice guitar!

**Doctor Jeff** · 07-08-2012, 03:20 PM

Paulownia body, maple neck, D'Addario Pure Nickel 11 rounds, brass saddles, SD Alnico 2 pickup in the neck position.

Fwiw I'm not convinced that anything other than the pickup makes a huge difference in the sound of this type of guitar. It's a plank of wood for gosh sake--does anyone really think ash vibrates that much diffently from walnut or pine? Jack White made a wicked-sounding guitar with a fence post, piece of wire and a pickup.

Maybe someone has done a comparison where they've used the same pickup and swapped out various components--body, neck, saddle, and so on. That would be interesting.

**=DK=** · 07-08-2012, 04:08 PM

Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff

Fwiw I'm not convinced that anything other than the pickup makes a huge difference in the sound of this type of guitar. It's a plank of wood for gosh sake--does anyone really think ash vibrates that much diffently from walnut or pine? Jack White made a wicked-sounding guitar with a fence post, piece of wire and a pickup.

Maybe someone has done a comparison where they've used the same pickup and swapped out various components--body, neck, saddle, and so on. That would be interesting.

Well, it's more about the give and take between the guitar and the string. The string connects to the saddle, which connects to the bridge, which, on a tele, covers a wide area of the body. The other side of the string connects to the fret wire, which connects to the fingerboard and neck, which in turn connect to the body.

Every component I mentioned collectively affects the end timbre of the string's vibration. The pickup interprets the vibration of the string as a signal. So...

-Change the pickup, and you get a new interpretation of the same subject.
-Change the guitar, and you get a new subject with the same interpreter.

**=DK=** · 07-08-2012, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by kris

I use Tele style guitar with ebony fingerboard,SD Hot Rails and KTS saddles.
Nice guitar!

That's a nice looking guitar. Is it a neck-through with wings? Is the neck maple? I've heard maple and ebony are a good match.

**docbop** · 07-22-2012, 02:51 PM

I saw him once with a strat, but first I remember with a tele. A little surprised at the tempo he kicks it off with.

**Playerizor** · 07-23-2012, 10:42 AM

I think a tele is a great jazz guitar and I love mine but i don't understand why people buy a tele and then change the pick-ups. I installed a Charlie Christian on a MIM tele and it sounded good but was really just an imitation of a standard jazz box. If you have humbuckers on your tele why not just get a Les Paul?

IMHO the essence of a tele smooth warm tone comes from the lipstick shape neck pick-up.

**rpguitar** · 07-23-2012, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by Playerizor

IMHO the essence of a tele smooth warm tone comes from the lipstick shape neck pick-up.

Agreed. My Tele is swamp ash with a couple of Lollar Tele pickups, and a canary wood neck with no finish (from Warmoth). It's dressed like a black 'guard with thin, hand-rubbed amber stain.

**docbop** · 07-23-2012, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by Playerizor

I think a tele is a great jazz guitar and I love mine but i don't understand why people buy a tele and then change the pick-ups. I installed a Charlie Christian on a MIM tele and it sounded good but was really just an imitation of a standard jazz box. If you have humbuckers on your tele why not just get a Les Paul?

IMHO the essence of a tele smooth warm tone comes from the lipstick shape neck pick-up.

I am a tele player and a Les Paul is totally different guitar, scale, body, and so on. so it's more that just a humbucker things. A Les Paul has its place but not as a tele replacement.

**kris** · 07-23-2012, 10:59 AM

Tele has different construction than Les Paul...so the sound is also different.

**Playerizor** · 07-23-2012, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by docbop

I am a tele player and a Les Paul is totally different guitar, scale, body, and so on. so it's more that just a humbucker things. A Les Paul has its place but not as a tele replacement.

That was kind of my point, why make a tele something it is not. That said, I realize that all these quirky combinations of pick-ups, materials, and body style do make unique and interesting guitars.

**mangotango** · 07-23-2012, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by docbop

I saw him once with a strat, but first I remember with a tele. A little surprised at the tempo he kicks it off with.

How about this with a Valley Arts SuperTele thang - and as for that mullet.....

**Wildcat** · 07-23-2012, 01:28 PM

[quote=marcwhy;238327]I'd like Ron's "CurviLinear" tele: Guitars Main

+1

**GodinFan** · 07-23-2012, 10:04 PM

My tele is a Squier Standard. Cheap, but solid and set up well. Rosewood board. D'Addario Chromes with a .010" E. EMG T Set pickups with a tone control and SPC tone pot. The SPC is a broadband mid boost - makes the single coil tone much fatter, like a humbucker.

**Atticus** · 07-23-2012, 10:37 PM

I've got a G&L Tribute ASAT Special. Mahogany body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, and the jumbo single coils distinct to ASAT Specials. I don't know anybody else using them (though there's a video on Youtube of Ted Greene playing one belonging to a student), but I love it.

I love the flexibility of Teles. I can glide from jazz to blues to funk to rock to country (if I wanted, which I don't) with the same guitar, amp, and a couple of effects.

**mr. beaumont** · 07-23-2012, 11:12 PM

Just to keep the tele thread going...

Here I am doing a restaurant gig with mine...

I haven't pulled out my tele in a while. I think I should. Great guitar...it was my only guitar for many years...I love the fact I actually have disposable income now, but I'll always have a soft spot for my old tele...

And a better look at the guitar itself...