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I love Telecasters. I love the way they look. I love the way they sound in the right hand

Posted on 2/25/23 at 7:27 am
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
30900 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 7:27 am
I've invested craploads of money and time into them, but the truth is, I'm not really a natural Telecaster player.
I can do what I want and sound like I want on almost any other guitar. It always seems like a struggle for me with the tellies, to sound like I want.
Been thinking about this all week, since I got this new Mustang.

How the hell did this happen to me?
Posted by Telecaster
Memphis
Member since May 2017
2152 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 8:25 am to
As you journey, always remember this: Leo got it right the first time.
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
30900 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 8:31 am to
quote:

As you journey, always remember this: Leo got it right the first time.



Oh, I know it's a fact, but it's just true for everybody else not me
oh and you aint biased at all
This post was edited on 2/25/23 at 8:57 am
Posted by BayouBlitz
Member since Aug 2007
18126 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 11:39 am to
Is it the shape? Fender only or have you tried other T style makes?
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
30900 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 11:44 am to
It's the original sound, as much as I love it, it's just not natural for me. Lord knows I've tried.
Posted by shutterspeed
MS Gulf Coast
Member since May 2007
70525 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 1:54 pm to
How much of a savage am I that I wouldn't be able to detect the sound differences between any type of electric guitar (or acoustic for that matter)?
Posted by kingbob
Sorrento, LA
Member since Nov 2010
69275 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 2:22 pm to
I don't love a tele for everything (although they are very versatile). However, there are some sounds you just can't make without one. For me, there are three tones in particular that a tele is perfect for:

1. bridge pickup with a tubescreamer-esque pedal into the dirty channel of a clean style amp. This gives that twangy, trebly country/southern rock sound that no other guitar can really capture

2. middle position with a chorus pedal into a clean style amp gives that perfect tone for spacy ballads and CCR style psych rock

3. bridge pickup into a cranked orange amp or mesa boogie stack gives the perfect sound for pop punk that's heavier than country and most classic rock but cleaner and tighter than modern metal.

The only thing I don't like about my American Standard Tele is that it doesn't have the tummy cut so it rubs in a few spots which can get uncomfortable after 3 hrs of playing.
This post was edited on 2/25/23 at 2:30 pm
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
30900 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 5:06 pm to
I think I am too much of a Neanderthal for a telly, I can't keep them turned down where they need to be most of the time.
These lower output pickups on this Mustang have really opened my eyes to that.
quote:

2. middle position with a chorus pedal into a clean style amp gives that perfect tone for spacy ballads and CCR style psych rock

62 AVRI pickups adjusted real low have this perfect sound.
Posted by TheFretShack
Member since Oct 2015
1343 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 5:14 pm to
This custom build for a client checks a few of y'all's boxes ... my P-90 blueprint compressed into unmodified Tele footprints ... plus arm and tummy cuts for comfort ...



Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
30900 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 5:18 pm to
I've been thinking of buying one of those new affininty tellies just for the thin tummycut string through poplar body.

It's a frickin sickness.. Oh, and that telly is a beaut.

Just noticed that I'm wrapping my little finger around the trem part of this Mustang bridge, exactly like I do on the LPjr. wraparound bridge.
Now I have to go to work
I'll be back when I get there, and get everything plugged back in.
This post was edited on 2/25/23 at 6:09 pm
Posted by Philzilla
Member since Nov 2011
2185 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 7:17 pm to
Get yourself one of these.
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
30900 posts
Posted on 2/25/23 at 7:23 pm to
quote:

Get yourself one of these.


yeah, I've had a couple of them and 1 of the 72 thinlines with those wide range humbuckers, they make the problem worse and everybody goes home deaf.

That's kind of what I'm getting at, I really like what I call a "doomsday sound". I'm always crankin harder and turning everything up trying to get it, but this Mustang with the pickups out of phase gets that sound even turned down.
I aint knockin a telly one bit, I'm just sayin that I wish I had been trying out other guitars along the way, instead of kind of gluing myself to them.
This post was edited on 2/25/23 at 7:46 pm
Posted by wareaglepete
Lumon Industries
Member since Dec 2012
17416 posts
Posted on 2/26/23 at 1:21 am to
It’s frustrating. I love the sound of a Rick bass. Love the looks. I often think how much I want one. Then I try to play one and realize every time they just don’t work with me. I am made to play Fender style basses. It is what it is.
Posted by RoscoeSanCarlos
Member since Oct 2017
2013 posts
Posted on 2/26/23 at 4:39 am to
I had a similar epiphany and had to accept I was not a Les Paul player and the Strat fit everything about my playing style and desired tone. I suppose it’s part of the journey.
Posted by FightinTigersDammit
Louisiana North
Member since Mar 2006
46146 posts
Posted on 2/26/23 at 7:46 am to
It's the hammer of the honky-tonk gods
Posted by BayouBlitz
Member since Aug 2007
18126 posts
Posted on 2/26/23 at 7:54 am to
quote:

How much of a savage am I that I wouldn't be able to detect the sound differences between any type of electric guitar


As long as there aren't a ton of effects in a chain, I can usually tell a tele from a strat. Or copies of them.

Same for Les Paul's.

That 4th position strat sound is pretty identifiable.

Smaller bodied acoustics sound way different than jumbos.
Posted by TheFretShack
Member since Oct 2015
1343 posts
Posted on 2/26/23 at 11:28 am to
You can absolutely hear the difference between different guitars. And it's more than just pickups, amps, effects ... it's the wood species recipe and general and specific structural and design facets that influence a guitar's tone.

Part of a Ric 4000 series's signature tone, for example, is neck through construction, a lot of maple, a lot of heavy chrome hardware and a finished rosewood fingerboard. Even if you rip the Ric electronics out and put a vintage Fender P or J set in it, the Ric will still be bright, percussive and snappy by design.

That's just one example, I can go on and on and on. The set neck, mahogany and maple sandwich and the pure mass of a great Les Paul; ash vs. alder in a Strat, the bridge-mounted pickup on a stock Tele, my list could fuel boredom and nausea.

I envy guys who can't hear or feel the difference between wood species in guitars. I would have literally saved a fortune during my lifetime.

This post was edited on 2/26/23 at 11:59 am
Posted by shutterspeed
MS Gulf Coast
Member since May 2007
70525 posts
Posted on 2/26/23 at 4:49 pm to
quote:

As long as there aren't a ton of effects in a chain, I can usually tell a tele from a strat. Or copies of them.


Maybe that's where my mind is at. How many people just play clean through an amp? Even clean, though, I probably wouldn't be able to tell brands/styles unless it was something extreme or unique.

I usually think of brands and styles in terms of just sound quality like lack of hum, etc. Maybe a strat if a tremolo bar was used.
Posted by wareaglepete
Lumon Industries
Member since Dec 2012
17416 posts
Posted on 2/26/23 at 7:27 pm to
quote:

Part of a Ric 4000 series's signature tone


That’s part of it for me but a lot of it is ergonomics. When I strap one on, it’s just not right. Everything just feels wrong.
I had the same experience with a BC Rich Mockingbird.
It’s not just weird shaped instruments though. I played a Thunderbird bass and thought I would hate it, but it was pretty cool, just don’t dig that Gibson bass sound.
Posted by kingbob
Sorrento, LA
Member since Nov 2010
69275 posts
Posted on 2/26/23 at 9:11 pm to
quote:

How many people just play clean through an amp


I do so frequently. It's very common that I play clean through my fender with just a reverb pedal.
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