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Originally Posted by Clint 55
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10-16-2021 07:28 AM
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Originally Posted by Lobomov
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Originally Posted by L50EF15
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
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It is difficult to sort out myth and fact when it comes to guitar tones. What has changed my view a lot, has been the comparison vids that Warmoth has done. Things that I thought were myth, I can fully hear in those vids.
For example (and experience), I like an alder tele, but a swamp ash strat. I hear a difference. I used to assume I was carzy, but those vids at Warmoth, really had me thinking.
Maybe a tele based on the construction gets a better warm yet articulate sound, then say a LP. I think that scale length, might be a key factor here.
In my world view, tele and lp, are pretty close to each in what they can do. However, they both accomplish the same ends a little differently and have a different sound. I guess if I was going to sum it up: when I want good note separation for chords, I would gravitate towards a tele. For nice lead lines, I would chose a LP. Of course both can work, but there is a slight difference.
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Originally Posted by Clint 55
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Originally Posted by Clint 55
I bought a brand new '73 LP Custom that was my "good" gigging axe for years - I played hundreds of weddings, commercial dates, blues gigs, etc etc and loved it despite serious quality issues like fingerboard binding that kept coming off from the first few months I had it (yes it was humidified properly and no, my Gibson authorized dealer's repair staff could not make it stay put). I've had two American Teles, one I bought new in '70 and kept stock, plus one I bought used and to which I added Duncan Hot Rails. I've also had 3 "strats". I bought a Squire when the MIJ line first came out (1993?) and used it stock for several years. I bought one of the first relics because it actually felt and sounded fantastic, and I got an Epi Strat clone for next to nothing that lived in my office or locker at work so I always had a guitar handy. All of these were fine jazz guitars - I never got a single complaint from bandleaders, sidemen, names I backed, contractors, employers, or anyone else.
And then I bought a brand new but lonely and forlorn Epi LP 7 string from Sam Ash about 25 years ago. It was stuck on that wall for months - nobody wanted it and the sales guys couldn't wait to get rid of it. I went there to buy the black Levy's leather gig bag they'd also had for a long time. By buying them together, I think I ended up paying about $200 for the bag and $250 for the guitar. I bought the guitar as a beater, but it felt really good. So I removed the marginal hardware and electronics, replaced the tuners with 7 of the Grovers in a 12 string set I'd picked up on clearance long before, and stuck an EMG into the neck position to see how it sounded and felt (which turned out to be fantastic). So it became my "I'm not taking a good guitar there" guitar.
Over the years, I removed the bridge pup, filled all extraneous holes, and ended up using it for the vast majority of my gigs. I started to refinish it after plugging the holes, and I suddenly realized that I didn't know how thick the veneer was, if it was even a solid cap, and if the "finish" was even real. So I colored in the plugs with a furniture touch up stick and brushed a light vintage tone poly over the repairs. It's nothing more than a chunk of cheap wood with good tuners and a nice pickup. The original bridge and tailpiece have never given me trouble (e.g. broken strings), so other than than the above and 2 fret jobs, I've left it alone. It sounds jazzy as hell with Chromes through my Little Jazz, Jazz 12, Vibrolux, and ELF head through a Revsound RS8 cab. But it also sounds bluesy as hell through a Wampler Tumnus and pretty much any amp. It may not be much, but it's mine, it's wonderful, and I love it. And (as I always say), it ain't what you play, it's how you play it.
PS: FWIW, I also have a 7 string Tele clone that's equally jazzy. I use it almost almost every week on my Thursday night jazz show. Since this pic was taken, I added a hipshot bridge and Lace Alumibuckers, which are very responsive and run the gamut from deeply jazzy to screaming leads.
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Again the Wand or the Magician? Some of my favorite players have used solid bodies like Lenny Breau, Ed Bickert, and it never hurt their tone in my opinion.
But I do enjoy a great Gibson Johnny Smith which essentially is a
D’Angelico replica of sorts. It’s just the Tele can cover so much more sonic territory than the JS.
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I often play a Les Paul Recording for jazz gigs.... and that can sound very much like a Telecaster with the right settings. It can also sound very much like an archtop. It is however a very heavy guitar, and not great for long gigs where I have to stand and play. My Telecaster is more useable in that sense, but I prefer the sound of the Les Paul if I'm playing jazz. The difference is pretty subtle though, the audience would likely not notice.
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I was having trouble getting a decent tone out of my Sadowsky archtop on a job the other night. A big curtain next to us, carpeted floor, etc. I just couldn't get the tone knob in the right spot, for that balance between bright and dark. Then the sax player says to me, "That guitar sounds gorgeous." So I didn't worry about it.
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The big rectangular neck joint bothers me. But I have seen some "teles" built with a smooth set in neck.
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Originally Posted by Jim Soloway
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Teles are just plain fun to play, especially if you indulge yourself in some country chicken pickin' every once in a while. Just plug her in and play some Brad Paisley style riffs, it's a good time
Last edited by jim777; 10-18-2021 at 01:39 PM.
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Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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I've mentioned that the best jazz tones I've heard came from archtops.
What I didn't mention before is that the worst jazz tones I've heard also came from archtops. When I hear a guitar making a band sound like mud, it's likely to be an archtop, presumably in the hands of a player without the skill to control the feedback and make sure he's getting mids and highs into the audience.
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Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
That was when I bought a new '69 L5CN and my first Fender, so I could do right by every style. Sadly, the L5 was a QC disaster (as I've described in other threads) and was returned within a few days. But I used it on one gig and discovered the greatness of a fine acoustic archtop. I was able to pick up an early L50 and immediately fell into the rhythm groove. That little sucker was right there with the bass - it was in a different world from the 175 for rhythm work on swing tunes. Truth be told, I think it was at least the equal of the L5 for straight rhythm.
And those days were the beginning of my fondness for Teles for jazz gigs. I bought a bound, sunburst custom in '70 and never looked back. With a good acoustic archtop strung with RWs and a good solid body with flatties, every base was covered. Nothing's changed since. My Eastman 810 is strung with RWs, while both my Tele 7 and my Ibanez AF207 carry TI flatties. The right tool for the right job..........
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Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Speaking of the Ibanez AF-207, While I think they are great sounding guitars (I had two of them, one was stock and one had a Benedetto pickup...I preferred the all stock one), the 24.7 scale meant that the low A string was always a bit wonky on the intonation front, even using a .85 string.
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Originally Posted by Stringswinger
As for strings, I recently went to bronze acoustic RWs on my Eastman 810 (I had a few sets of 80/20 Pearse in the string drawer) and love the sound. But back in the '60s, I used Guild EA610 flats that were similar in sound and feel to Chromes as best I can recall from decades ago. Compared to Chromes, TI flats brighten up the tone on my AF207 and make it a much better rhythm chunker than I recall my flat-strung 175 to have been. I also tried D'A half-rounds and liked the sound but found the feel to be annoying - Stringjoy RWs actually sound and feel better to me.
I did have intonation problems with the 207 when I first got it - as I recall the original strings when it was new were 13 to 65 flats. John Pearse told me to use a much heavier 7th, so I bought a range from 70 to 80 and worked my way up. It's been fine with an 80, as long as I use a very light touch. To be honest, it's been a constant struggle and I still have to watch my grip. I keep the action as low as possible, which also reduces a tendency to fret hard enough to go sharp.
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Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
An interview with Henry Robinett
Yesterday, 08:49 PM in Everything Else