This damn 52RI tele is making me sick. It's the first tele I've owned & it's every bit as resonant as any of my Les Pauls. I've had at least 10 strats (& 2 or 3 G&L legacy's), and none of them even come close to being as resonant as this tele. Why oh why can't I find a strat this good?
It's that tele magic :) Once I really got a chance to play with the tele bridge pup, it's hard to ever go back.
I really wasn't expecting to like this guitar much, but it sounds so alive. Even the neck pup has some nice warm jazz tones. I always thought of a tele as an ugly-ass country guitar. I just want a strat with this much magic. I know one's out there somewhere.
Last edited by Gizmo59; 09-30-2002 at 06:23 PM.
I suspect the trem and all the routs make Strats a lot less resonant than Teles. Have you tried any hard-tailed Strats... then again.. why not just play the Tele ;) You might even start playing some country lics ;) :) :)
Yeah baby! Welcome to the club. Stringing thru the back and the bridge PU sitting in that bridge really help give that killer tone. A favorite mod is to screw down the front corners of the bridge to make the bridge sound a lil "tighter."
I was a Strat guy for 10 years but once I got my first Tele, that was it. Over the years, many guitars have come and gone, but the current crop has 4 Teles - none ever sold, couldn't bear to part with 'em. Each time I play one, I feel like its the one, until I pick up another and feel the same way again!
Have fun and twang a lot. BTW, Teles are great for most any American music, jazz, blues, CW, funk, rootsrock, whathaveyou. Enjoy!
I gotta disagree.........I've played many more dead teles than strats.
My first guitar was a SQUIER strat and I luckily ended up with one that resonates like a tuning fork........
Nonetheless, Strats and Teles have their own distinct vibes. So stop comparing them!!............:tw59
Teles and Strats, you talk about different this, defines different.
Your Tele is ash and you have probably always bought alder strats! The Strat has a bounce to the note thanks to the trem, the Tele is true no bounce! A great Tele is the hardest guitar to make hands down!
I dunno, Scott... *you* seem to manage pretty well...! :tw59Originally posted by Scott Lentz
...A great Tele is the hardest guitar to make hands down!
Regards, Dave Orban
I gotta say, I have played most models in some 37 years of playing and nothing beats a good playing tele. And yes, you can play all kinds of music with them. (Remember this is just my opinion and my experience guys and girls). Now I am going to take another stretch here. Try teaming your tele up with a Peavey (yes) Delta Blues 115. The 15" speaker really gives the tele some oomph. If you get a chance try one of these amps out, esp. with your tele. Okay, flame away. : )
Don't know about the Delta Blues per se (although Peavey has been making some decent tube amps in recent years compared to how I remember their durable but lifeless sounding products from the '80s), but Teles sound amazing when paired with a nice 15 inch speaker. Alot of guitar amps in the '50s had 'em as the standard configuration and it seems to bring out the twang factor in a big way. I discovered this when trying my Tele through my brother's old bass rig ('72 tube Bassman head and an old Traynor 2x15 cabinet). I use a '55 Flot-A-Tone Model 600 with a 15 inch Jensen field coil speaker (i.e. electro magnetic, not fixed magnet) and it seems to make both my Teles sound livlier.
I have to agree there is nothing thats beats a good tele, I actually think a tele's neck pup does a strat better than a strat. Its very trasnsparent and "woody" the way it should be.
Formerly Bluesgtr20
Oh yeah!!!!!!!!!!!Originally posted by Bob Craver
I discovered this when trying my Tele through my brother's old bass rig ('72 tube Bassman head and an old Traynor 2x15 cabinet).
are for girly men
I've been considering the acquisition of a Tele recently... then I went to a local guitar shop and played a few. The first two were nice, but the third one blew me away. I hooked up to a '69 BFDR (since I have a '66, it made sense to me to play it through something as close to my current setup as possible), and the tone... well, I now know what everyone here in the Telecaster group is talking about.
... now if only I could talk the wife into letting me spend the money :)
Stet
You have to remember some of that tele tone comes from that massive brass bridge. Some people have put brass plates under the pickguard of the strat helping hold the birdge Pickup in and they get some tele tone from it.Originally posted by Gizmo59
I really wasn't expecting to like this guitar much, but it sounds so alive. Even the neck pup has some nice warm jazz tones. I always thought of a tele as an ugly-ass country guitar. I just want a strat with this much magic. I know one's out there somewhere.
1999 Squier Stagemaster with Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz combo.
2002 Crate GFX212t
2000 takamine g240
1999 Crate GX15
My .02, is Leo lifted the string thru body design, detachable neck, 6 pole adjustable pickup, side mounted input jack, separate Volume/Tone controls and location from the Rickenbacher Bakelite Electros of the 30s. If you ever have the opportunity to play an original pre-war string thru body Bakelite Rickenbacher. you will immediately feel and recognize the similarity to the Telecaster family.
True, the string thru body, massive bridgeplate, brass or steel saddles and strong magnetic pickups made the Telecaster a popular guitar. The real beauty of the equation is the simplicity in design, and resulting low fabrication costs. This instrument became the natural design extension of the wooden lapsteel guitars, which Leo, Forrest White and others developed. However, keep in mind the connection to the Rickenbachers of the 30s and their amplifiers.
The original marketing of these Lapsteels and later guitars, amps was mainly to the Country and Western musicians in Southern California. They liked Steel in their bands and were receptive to the new guitars, amps and instruments coming out of Leo's workshop. He even used to sell the instruments out of the trunk of his car, and ran a shop to sell "Factory Seconds" much to the dismay of his business partners.
Last edited by Plankspanker; 10-06-2002 at 04:46 PM.
That wouldn't surprise me. There was a lot of cross-over between the two companies, in particular Doc Kauffman(the K in K&F) during the early years. Rickenbacker is often overlooked as the originator of a lot of things - first electric PUP, first production solid body, first neck-thru construction.
F.C. Hall, best known as the owner of Ric in later years was one of the original four Fender partners and owned Radio Tel which marketed those early Fenders and sold parts to Leo. Forest White went from Fender to Ric in the CBS years and Roger Rossmeisl, who designed the semi-hollow 300 series Rics, came to Fender and did the Tele thinlines, the acoustics, and those funky semi-hollow bodies.
I really wish F.C. would have written a book, it sure would have been interesting. According to John Hall, F.C. was content to stay in the background.
I had the pleasure of babysitting a friends 57 Tele for a few months , his brother had passed away and my friend doesn't play . I have been playin 26 years and have a Strat with Fralins in it I love , as well as a Les Paul custom I've had for over 20 years . Well , that Tele is magic , I offered to buy it from him but wasn't sure of a fair price so I had Gruhns appraised it . Ouch !
George loved it as it was in very close to mint shape and his price was 9K .. Well that's way to steep for my blood , so now I'm a Tele convert savin my pennies .. My friend said he wouldn't sell it to anyone else .. It's a no frills plank , but ut has the spank.. it felt like an old friend from the beginning .
I'm with ya they are addictive
That's part of my rig and I agree. I play a 52 RI through the Delta Blues 115, and it does accentuate the tele. I use the clean channel with a Boss Overdrive/Distortion.Originally posted by scssgs
Try teaming your tele up with a Peavey (yes) Delta Blues 115. The 15" speaker really gives the tele some oomph. If you get a chance try one of these amps out, esp. with your tele. Okay, flame away. : )
Last edited by telegraph14; 11-05-2002 at 10:38 AM.
tele's just kick the living crap out of strats. they look better, sound better, and stay in tune for ages. the telecaster is my favorite axe from fender. the suckers feel nearly indestructible. gavin rosdale from bush tried to smash one onstage and only bent the truss rod... that my friend is pimp.
strats just can't compete with the sound and general greatness of the tele. oh and i've never owned a guitar that when i played it was like it inspired me. music just seems to flow out of it man. its like, wheni strap that sucker on and start playin all alone i don't need a band. its my songwriting axe cause its just the bare essentials and it "feels like an old friend". i'll probably never own a strat but i do see many tele's in my future.
Last edited by exalon; 11-06-2002 at 08:00 AM.
fender telecaster
jackson RR5
Ibanez RG320DX
Taylor BigBaby
Crate GFX212
Just slap a Strat pickup in the middle and a 5-way switch and there ya go.:nelsonOriginally posted by Gizmo59
I just want a strat with this much magic. I know one's out there somewhere.
You go Stet!:nelsonOriginally posted by Stetson
I've been considering the acquisition of a Tele recently... then I went to a local guitar shop and played a few. The first two were nice, but the third one blew me away. I hooked up to a '69 BFDR (since I have a '66, it made sense to me to play it through something as close to my current setup as possible), and the tone... well, I now know what everyone here in the Telecaster group is talking about.
... now if only I could talk the wife into letting me spend the money :)
Stet
Thanks, Butch...
Call it dumb luck, or good horse trading, but I was able to get myself a '72 Custom reissue last week (from one of the closing Mars stores). Of course, there was some work that needed to be done, but, I got it, it sounds great, and I am now "in the club".
Honestly, though, I really, really like this guitar! ...is it possible to love an inanimate object? ... if so, I retract my statement... I LOVE this guitar! :)
Stet
which mars in houston is closing down? i think there are 2, one of which is annexed with a mall. i liek to go to GC cause the guys are nicer and let us screw around with stuff more. mars is always too frickin quiet.Originally posted by Stetson
Thanks, Butch...
Call it dumb luck, or good horse trading, but I was able to get myself a '72 Custom reissue last week (from one of the closing Mars stores). Of course, there was some work that needed to be done, but, I got it, it sounds great, and I am now "in the club".
Honestly, though, I really, really like this guitar! ...is it possible to love an inanimate object? ... if so, I retract my statement... I LOVE this guitar! :)
Stet
i love walkin into guitar center and just hearin some dude thrash, it never fails to make me smile. :)
fender telecaster
jackson RR5
Ibanez RG320DX
Taylor BigBaby
Crate GFX212
exalon,
Actually, all Mars stores are closing. They are in liquidation now. I understand that the last day they are going to be open is Dec 26, but I am not sure about the date. The closer they get to the actual closing date, prices are expected to drop. Some say considerably... Don't know what will be left by that time, tho, may be 'slim pickins' by then. When I bought my '72 Custom, I got the deal based on the fact that it needed repair, and the manager was ready to deal on that particular guitar. They were only dropping everything else by 10% at that time. Who knows what they will be willing to take in a few weeks? I'm thinking of going back periodically to get accessories, as I'm pretty well set for gear right now.
Stet
Gizmo59, I have hit a maple neck strat all original from March 1957 and its as resonant as it gets for strats. Now, as far as Tele's go i have hit a Tele blackguard with the neck date of 6 June 1953 and it was even MORE resonant. It was so light that you could chuck it like a spear over the house across the street. John
wow John...did you use Mr. Peabody`s way back machine to get to this thread?
hehe, that's funny sneaky. I always thought Peabody and Sherman was way better than Rocky and Bullwinkle. Yeah, I'm reading the thread amd thinking, Mars closing in December? John, what do you mean 'hit' an old Fender...never heard that term before...except maybe in that song Fresh Air...ahhh, the 70's man...Originally posted by sneaky
wow John...did you use Mr. Peabody`s way back machine to get to this thread?
Hopeless modaholic...
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote