-
What do you Tele guys (and gals) use for strings to get a good dark jazz sound? My new build is a chambered mahogany body with curly maple top and a Vintage Vibe CCH (Alnico II's) pickup in the neck position. About all that's available locally are Chromes and occasionally Fender flats. I'll be using it mostly for chord melody. The sound I'm looking for is mostly Wes and Herb Ellis's chord melody stuff.
-
12-19-2014 02:14 PM
-
I have used D'Addario Jazz Light (.012s) and Chromes (.012) on my Tele. I like Pyramid Gold flats on my archtop (.011s) but hated them on my solid body Tele. Currently I have Pyramids (the pure nickel handwound "Superior Quality" set) on my Tele. These are the .012-.054 set which come with wound and plain G strings. I went with the plain G because I'd never used that before and am delighted. I think the nickels have a mellower sound on the wound strings. I've been really inspired by these strings. If there is a down side, I find it doesn't stay in tune as well as a wound G.
Not to sound like a shill, I have been getting my strings from stringsbymail.com for a couple of years now. This set is $13.89 there.
-
I like 14 gauge TI Bensons.
-
On a Tele? What adjustments (nut filing, etc.) did you have to make for those? And does it have the classic string-through bridge/body? I've been thinking about putting Benson 14s on a Tele, but wasn't sure how well they'd work.
Originally Posted by drbhrb
-
TI Jazz swings flatwounds- either 10s or 11s- both sound great. They're easy to play, they're low tension and they last forever.
-
11 round wounds, I'm all about round wounds.
-
I tried flats for a while. I ended up missing having access to the twang. To me, 10s are fine for jazz and are still light enough to get that twang if I need it. I like D'Addario Balanced Tensions.
-
I like d'Addario roundwounds .011. sound great on a tele and cab be used for any genre
-
I'm currently using Newtone Archtop strings. They are rounds and I hate string squeak but they add an acoustic flavour so I put up with it!
-
It is a good idea to buy arch-top box to sound like Wes and Herb. Originally Posted by Skip Ellis
-
Im with kris...teles can get a great jazz sound, but it's a different sound than an archtop.
i'd also add that i'm not really sure how to advise the op much further, as i think wes and herb sound completely different from each other.
-
My "Tele" is a Peavey Reactor AX from the early '90's with ash body and 25.5" scale 12" radius neck with rosewood board. I converted it to neck pickup, only, with the Vintage Vibe HCC pickup with A2's preferred over the A5's I ordered with it. I've got it strung with Chrome .012's and it gives those darkish tones with the tone control and volume rolled back a bit. I think that the ash body probably brightens it up a bit but with mahogany, it would probably be almost perfect.
-
I might consider that if I was fortunate to be able to afford it, which I'm not. Some of us cannot afford to buy high dollar guitars and trade every week - that's why I play home-made instruments and scrimp by as best I can. The money I make playing goes for groceries, house payment, and, more recently, cataract surgery on both eyes so I can, among other things, read charts. The VV CCH pickup at $120 was a major investment for me. I build my own Tele bodies because they're easy and cheap to build and I'm lucky enough to have a couple good necks that I can swap back and forth as needed. I've been playing for 50+ years and have owned a total of less than 10 amplifiers including the two I have now. Some of us, for various reasons, have to assign our priorities to things other than playing with the latest toys that hit the market. FYI, a used ES-175 costs more than I paid for my car! Originally Posted by kris
I don't begrudge anyone for what they have earned or tell them how to spend their money, but telling someone to just go buy a $6K guitar if you want a similar sound is flippant and unfeeling.
-
You're preaching to the choir, man. I can't afford an es-175 or L5 either. Just being real--a tele will never sound like one. That's not a bad thing--teles can get a great jazz tone.
-
I have always played archtop guitars--Gretsch, Gibson, Guild, and Heritage. For the last 30 years I have played a Gibson ES-175, primarily. This year, I bought a Heritage Super Eagle. Archtops sound like a different species of guitar from solid body guitars.
Having said this, I have also been a Telecaster owner for the last 45 years. Every Telecaster I have owned has been an _excellent_ jazz guitar. Just don't expect a Telecaster to sound the same as an archtop. With suitable strings, however, a Telecaster gets a tremendous, haunting, dark, jazzy sound. Even with the strings that Fender sends the guitar from the factory with (.10-.42 round-wound strings) the Telecaster will get a good sound on the neck pickup with the tone control rolled back.
If you use .12-.50 nickel strings (round or flat) you can get the Telecaster to sound very jazzy on lines or chords. Some of you have mentioned TI Jazz Swing sets. I really like these on the Telecaster. I have used both the .11 and the .12 set, and like them both. You _do_ lose some twang, but I have traditionally had a second Telecaster with .10-.46 Fender Super 250 Nickel strings to play country/rock/blues sets on. Last year, I gave that guitar to my son. Now, I am using my Stratocaster to cover that territory--not perfectly (a Strat is not a Telecaster, after all).
Try a set of TI Jazz Swings.
-
I'll also add, from experience--on a tele, anything over say, 11's with a wound G, is really more about feel than tone. Its not like an archtop where you need to drive the top to affect the tone...
-
+1 I agree with mr. beaumont, but I would add that fat strings DO affect the tone of solid body guitars. In the 50s and early 60s, all guitarists played with heavier strings. SOME guitarists (e.g., James Burton) bought guitar strings and banjo strings. They would use strings 5,4,3,2,1 from the guitar set--moved over one--and use the banjo drone string (0.09) in the first position. This was the origin of the light-gauge set. Everybody else was playing what they could get. Kids like me just walked into the local store and bought a set of Black Diamonds that were heavy as all get out. We didn't really start bending strings extensively until Hendrix's first album came out. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
Fender guitars with heavier strings on them sounded...substantial. Listen to Joe Pass on a Jaguar (incorrectly identified in this video as a Jazzmaster):
-
So what would be the consensus (if there is one) on the maximum gauge of TI Swings to use on the average string-through-body Tele to be used exclusively for jazz, without the need for significant adjustments (nut filing, truss rod, etc.)? I'm about to embark on this and don't want too much of a challenge.
-
I think anything over 11's and you might need a little nut work, esp. On the G...
Greentone, I agree...huge difference between 9's to 10's, 10's to 11's...i just think after 11's the law of diminishing returns kicks in.
-
Mr. Beaumont:
Great application of the law of diminishing returns. I went as high as .13 on the Telecaster years ago. Currently, and probably forever, at this point, I am using TI JS .11s. You get the benefits of a jazzy set, yet you can still do some bending.
One thing is sure: 9s and 10s sets feel like spaghetti to me, at this point. I have 10s with a low action on my Stratocaster right now. It feels like I am playing with ultralight monofilament fishing line.
-
I just got a G&L Asat Special and I'm using D'addario pure nickel .11s. A light touch and heavy amp tweaking goes a long way... just look at Ed Bickert.
-
I experiment with all kinds of strings on my Tele...still looking for the best result.
-
My tech set it up. Nut needed filing and the usual truss rod/bridge adjustments. Sounds and plays great. Originally Posted by Wes Fan
-
I use D'A 11's with a plain 3rd. I like to bend
To help keep the guitar from spanking too much when I hit harder, I have the action set relatively high. I also adjust my technique a bit to hit lighter than I do on my gyspy or archtop guitars.
-
My recent experiment -
I have had Fender 250 roundwound 10's on my Baja tele, and thought it had a nice jazz tone with amp bass and treble at 0 and mids at 5. Super nice piano like sound on chords, and woody jazz tones with guitar volume on max and tone rolled off to taste.
So I tried D'Addario flatwound 11's, and thought they were terrible - took the life out of the tele, and the string tension felt very, very high. The combination of increased gauge and flatwound seemed too much tension on a 25.5" scale with no string overhang as of course the tele is strung through body. Also needed to raise the action for the 11's, which with the increased tension made playing very stiff.
Ripped them off and put the Fender 250 10's back on, all good again. And also makes the tele more adaptable to other genres.
For reference, my other guitar is a Gibson ES 175 with DAddario Chrome .012 flatwounds, which I love the sound and feel of.
YMMV.
Reply With Quote
“Shearing style”
Today, 05:26 PM in Comping, Chords & Chord Progressions