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Thread: "Alder" Body Teles???

  1. #1
    Forum Member jokerjkny's Avatar
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    "Alder" Body Teles???

    Hey all,

    i have a chance to get a sweet Chapin Tele, but its an alder body.

    i was wondering what experiences y'all had with rosewood fingerboards vs. maple fingerboards???

    preferences? and how does each sound comparatively to one another?

    i'm looking for a nice tele'ish sound to compliement my PRS and my swamp ash/maple strat.

  2. #2
    Forum Member Teleologist's Avatar
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    My preference is ash/maple for Teles and alder for Strats but I'm looking for C&W twang with the Teles. Alder is generally warmer and doesn't have the snap of ash, but a good alder Tele can stilll twang(Brent Mason & Brad Paisley both play adler Teles). The trick seems to be in the PUPs and the saddles. The older 50s ash/maple Teles had hotter pups(7K+ for the bridge PUPs vs. 6K for a Strat bridge PUP)) and the brass saddles take out some of the sting of ash and warm it up. But that combination in an alder Tele can get too dark for some. The 60s Teles had brighter PUPs(~6.5K) and steel saddles and that combo puts some of the bite back in an alder Tele. JMHO and YMMV and all that ;-)

  3. #3
    TFF Stage Crew
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    Nothing wrong with alder! If you have an ash/maple Strat, you might want to go with an alder/rw Tele just to give yourself a little variety. You can always change out the neck to get closer to the traditional Tele sound & feel.

  4. #4
    Forum Member Marcondo's Avatar
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    I always thought Teles should be ash/maple neck until I got an Alder/rosewood.

    The Alder one had a much richer deeper tone and I ended up liking it better than the traditional ash twangy sound.

  5. #5
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    I agree with Marcondo. I was pretty committed to ash/maple on both Strats and Teles until I got my latest Tele, which is Alder, and I love its slightly warmer sound. It's the perfect compliment to my ash Strat.

  6. #6
    Forum Member Tonefiend's Avatar
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    If you must have alder, Get as light a piece as possible.
    Uber light Alder can almost reach Ash territory while having the mids. Very cool sound in the right context. You are going to have a rock and roll tele ala Jimmy Page on Zep I with the right pickups.
    A rosewood board is a must imho!

    To avoid the twang a light ash body is a must, as well as the right pickups. The Lentz's are anything but twangy when he does them up in his "broadcaster" inspired style. They get that percussive bark that rivals a Les Paul.
    The Fender '52 RIs are all about the twang.
    Last edited by Tonefiend; 04-12-2003 at 06:07 PM.

  7. #7
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    I have a 02 MIA Alder w/ maple board and it is a magical guitar!
    I have played many Teles and this is THE ONE! I would never sell it, but may look into a 2 tone ash w/ maple.

  8. #8
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    the 72 Custom, now, one color is poplar and the other is alder, right? Which one is which? and how do they sound differently?

  9. #9
    Forum Member SteveB334's Avatar
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    I believe all the solid colors are poplar and the sunbursts are alder, but I may be mistaken. Check out fender.com for the specs
    Formerly Bluesgtr20

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