Tele help

[Hardtail]

Hey all,

 

My next guitar is going to be a Tele; I'm quite sure. I won't be getting one for a year so I have lots of time to decide what I want.

 

The only thing I know is that I want one of the American made Teles. Also, I want a Tele with the standard two pickups on it. I don't want one with a humbucker.

 

Also, it has to have a maple neck.

 

If possible, I want a "butterscotch blonde" one too but that's secondary.

 

That being said, there's still a few different options I could get.

 

For the body: There's ash and alder. I know what an alder Strat sounds like (mine is alder) but I've never played an ash guitar. Of course I'll try both out at my earliest convenience to try to tell the differences but can anyone here give me any insight?

 

There's also the case of the tailpiece. The newer models have stainless steel tailpieces, adjustable for each string. There's also a '52 reissue vintage model with some brass in the tailpiece (this model I happen to like a lot BTW). Can someone give me some insight there as well?

 

Thanks.

[Trucks]

Dont they do em with maple bodies too?

[Hardtail]

All I see are ash and alder. I've never actually heard or played a guitar with a "full" maple body... just ones with maple tops.

[Trucks]

Oh Ok thats prolly what ive read before then

[Bluesape]

Mine is ash - heavier than alder, with a more brittle tone. Mine's a '71, so I guess it's a plated brass tailpiece, with 2 strings on each section. No one shouldbe without a Tele.

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by Bluesape:

Mine is ash - heavier than alder, with a more brittle tone. Mine's a '71, so I guess it's a plated brass tailpiece, with 2 strings on each section. No one shouldbe without a Tele.

So you have something similar to this:?

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0100202850

[mdrs]

HT,

 

Teles are core instruments. IMO they occupy an important place in the library of clasic electric guitar tone!

 

The old bridges, with the "two strings on each saddle" can limit the adjustability of the intonation. The more modern ones are probably better, although I'm NOT an expert on this stuff like some of you here!

 

Old Tele's rule!! They simply have a sound and feel that is hard to replicate. But, these days you may need a second mortgage to afford one!

 

I bought a new Am. Tele about three years ago. I played about 10 of them at the Guitar Center. They had some of those Butterscotch ones with the pick ups wired like the old ones, where the neck pick up is "muted" to sound sort of like a bass. I didn't really like that. But, it was the prettiest of the lot by far. Today, I understand that they sell those where you can convert it into a standard set up where the neck pick up has the "normal" neck pu tone. I tend to like a guitar where you can see the wood, like that Butterscotch model. But, after playing literally all of the Teles they had in the place, I came home with a black one. They all played well. But, the tone of the black one I bought was the best of the lot. And, like I said I really wanted the "scotch" one.

 

According to the Fender web site, you get an Alder body on the 3 color sunburst, black, red chrome, and vintage white American Teles, and Ash on the 2 color sunburst and natural finish (both with maple fretboard only).

 

Don

[The Geoff]

Get the Ash body - much brighter than alder, and Teles should be bright. The all maple neck will add to that.

 

The 52 ReIssue pups are excellent - I can vouch for that.

 

My advice for the bridge is to get the Wilkinson 2-strings/saddle which are angled.

 

2 strings per saddle pushes them harder onto the baseplate and is a major part of the Tele mojo, but, as you know, the old fashioned ones will not intonate exactly.

 

The Wilkinsons improve this immeasurably, although it's still not perfect.

 

I got a pickguard which took a full sized Strat pickup at the neck from GFS. This gives you a *lot* more lattitude. I had a Schaller S6 in the neck and the Fender 52 RI in the bridge with a 4 pos p/up selector, which is also (IMHO) well worth it, as the 4 position is almost humbucker-like (and *is* humbucking if you have a matched pair of pups)

 

Geoff

[John O. Lennon]

Many don't recognize it but some guitarists, such as Hendrix, Page, Clapton and Harrison, primarily identified with other instruments, used Telecasters in the studio.

Besides their usual identification with country and rock music, I personally think the have a great jazzy tone when the highs are rolled off a bit.

 

One other thing you might consider is one of those Parson-White (currently Parson) string benders. There's also another company, Glaser, that makes their own version.

[Bluesape]

Originally posted by Hard Tail:

Originally posted by Bluesape:

Mine is ash - heavier than alder, with a more brittle tone. Mine's a '71, so I guess it's a plated brass tailpiece, with 2 strings on each section. No one shouldbe without a Tele.

So you have something similar to this:?

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0100202850

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/reifspano/Mr/Me%20pics/71Tele.jpg

[AeroG33k]

Really...? I learned something today then, I always thought Ash was lighter (or was supposed to be lighter, I heard that heavy pieces of swamp ash sound lifeless). I also thought ash was a bit more mellow than alder.

 

But I never played a guitar with an ash body, so I'll take your word for it.

[Hardtail]

If ash has the more brittle tone, then that's what I want.

[John O. Lennon]

Are you guys using "brittle" to mean "bright"?

I can't think that you actually want a brittle tone.

 

PS, Hard Tail, that dancing cat's making me a bit ill ; can't you calm him down a bit?

[The Geoff]

The ash body on my FrankenTele was very light and very bright. Sounded great acoustically too.

 

G.

[henrysb3]

My first electric. I always thought it was ash. It's really light and pretty twangy:

 

tele custom

 

those saddles kind of blow, though.

[Rock Soldier]

Mine is a Squire so I won't be much help there Hardtail, but by your post it almost seems you got your mind made up on what you want. I'd go with that. As for the bridge there is a reason they invented the 6 saddle one. Intonation! If the other one was better they would have stuck with it. The modern 3 saddle ones are just being vintage replicas. They are a different style of saddle though and might alter the tone some. I believe the 6 saddle ones have saddles like a Strat. The vintage ones are round bars aren't they? As for the wood, try them out and use your ears. (Standard answer for all "what guitar should I get" questions).

[teleman65]

I have an old Blackguard Tele made of Ash. Best guitar ever.

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by trguitar:

Mine is a Squire so I won't be much help there Hardtail, but by your post it almost seems you got your mind made up on what you want. I'd go with that. As for the bridge there is a reason they invented the 6 saddle one. Intonation! If the other one was better they would have stuck with it.

Good point about the bridge.

 

Based on the info I got here, I'm going to try this one out when I get a chance:

 

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0101702750

[mdrs]

That is the one I craved! It is a beauty!

 

We want to know when you get one (it?), and we want photos!!

[Guitarzan]

i would wonder how tele those "noiseless" pickups are.

i like plain old single coils.

does anyone here have noisless pickups? do they actually sound correct?

curious me.

it is pretty, but she needs a set of Seymour Duncans.

[Hardtail]

I'm not one to swap out stock pickups (unless the stocks suck). However, my LP does have '57 PAF reissues (which weren't stock) and they sound sweet.

[miroslav]

Originally posted by Hard Tail:

There's also a '52 reissue vintage model with some brass in the tailpiece (this model I happen to like a lot BTW).

I haven't played a lot of different Tele rigs...

...but when I decided to buy one...it was a no-brainer.

 

The '52 reissue model was hard to resistwith its ash body, maple neck and butterscotch color.

 

It's a beautiful guitar, and it plays real nice.

I did use the provided electronics option to switch the tone control to a more "modern" setup...

...and because of the studio-only use...I also installed the provided 6-string bridge...as the 3-piece bridge just didn't allow as much precision for setting intonation/string height.

 

I paid $850 for it back in '95...and now their selling for about $1350!

[Hardtail]

There certainly seem to be lots of options for this little twanger.

 

Two things I'll concentrate on when I try some out this week are the noiseless PUs that 'Zan had mentioned; also, I want to feel the differences between a "U" neck and "C" neck. I already have a "C" neck on my Strat. I just have to see what the "U" feels like.

 

I should definitely take my time deciding on this guitar.

[Bluesape]

Get used to holding it differently. It's slab-sided, and doesn't snuggle into your body like a Strat.

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by Bluesape:

Get used to holding it differently. It's slab-sided, and doesn't snuggle into your body like a Strat.

Can't be any worse than a LP in that respect, right?

[John O. Lennon]

You can always do a bit of body sculpting, too.

[Gabriel E.]

Ok, here's the deal:

 

-Ash is NOT necissarily heavier than alder. "Swamp Ash" (which comes from the lower part of an ash trunk that grows in swampy conditions) is very porous and light. It yeilds a "spanky" sound with lots of highs and boomy lows. This is what vintage Teles were made of. A single piece is better than a body made of 2 or 3 pieces.

 

-A 3-piece barrel style bridge is the ONLY way to go for the classic Tele sound. The six steel saddles on the American Standard Teles are OK but don't sound the same. The bridges with six small barrels suck and will make a Tele sound like a Strat. Best thing is a vintage Tele bridge with angled replacement brass saddles. I got mine from Stewart MacDonald for $11 (now they cost $15).

 

Leo got it right the first time and any guitar that messes too much with his formula should be avoided.

 

Look into the '52 reissue or a custom shop model.

[Hardtail]

Originally posted by John O. Lennon:

You can always do a bit of body sculpting, too.

You mean cut into the wood of a perfectly good guitar?

[John O. Lennon]

Some prefer to keep instruments in as close as possible to original condition but some make various alterations.

One might be the careful use of a router to reshape the body's contours.

I'm not suggesting an attack with a hacksaw.

[Rock Soldier]

They are a slab but I wouldn't cut it up. I own a Les Paul and I think the Tele is at least as if not more comfortable to hold. Actually I got 2 Pauls and one is a Special with scarfing on the back ala Strat style and it does make it hug the body better, but til Fender put that into a Tele I would make due with the way God .... errrr Leo made them.