|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 11:13:21 GMT -7
Post by sonicgator on Mar 29, 2007 11:13:21 GMT -7
What is it about a Tele that is just so right? Is it the history, thus some sort of Mojo? It just feels so good to play a Tele...they're versatile and sound great. My only issue is the 5 lbs of finish Fender insists on sticking on the necks with the new ones.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 11:39:34 GMT -7
Post by rcrecelius on Mar 29, 2007 11:39:34 GMT -7
I dont know what it is about a good tele but I just love em My first "good" electric guitar was a Les Paul...I wanted it cause a buddy of mine had one. Later, I tried a few teles but they didnt seem right to me...always ended up w/strats...then 1 day I picked up a tele and it just "clicked" and I've been a tele player ever since. I think the tele makes you play differently than other guitars...most people either love em or hate em, not much in between. You should try making your own...as in buying the parts and putting it together. I did that myself last year and its the best tele Ive ever played period! I can hardly wait to build another one.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 12:03:20 GMT -7
Post by skydog958 on Mar 29, 2007 12:03:20 GMT -7
Still waiting to finish my parts-tele...
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 12:08:08 GMT -7
Post by jvdunne on Mar 29, 2007 12:08:08 GMT -7
A Tele is a magic instrument. Simple, direct, easy to play, easy to get a good sound out of- what is there not to love? I have a 2000 American, and I love it. Just picked it up last night, after Joe Pichkur ( Floral Park, NY-he does great work!!) did a set-up, so its playing like butter. I even love the sound of it unplugged. A Tele is very different, they play so snappy, yet they can do a wide range of tones. Gotta love 'em. However, I agree that Fender puts too much finish on them, both on the neck, and on the body. It wouls be great to stripe the finish off, do a very light stain ( think butterscotch-mine is natural), then a thin few coats of nitro-wow, what an idea. I f I then put a black pickguard on it, it would look 50 years old. Maybe someday........
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 12:32:11 GMT -7
Post by dock66 on Mar 29, 2007 12:32:11 GMT -7
I love Tele for its simple design and versatility. Love Tele costume with double bindings is just truely awesome.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 12:41:37 GMT -7
Post by rcrecelius on Mar 29, 2007 12:41:37 GMT -7
Love Tele costume with double bindings. My dream tele would be a silver sparkle with double binding and matching headstock ala Buck Owens. I went to the Crystal Palace a while back and I nearly cried at the sight of those teles just sitting there not being played...especially the one that exactly fits my above description
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 12:48:36 GMT -7
Post by dock66 on Mar 29, 2007 12:48:36 GMT -7
Love Tele costume with double bindings. My dream tele would be a silver sparkle with double binding and matching headstock ala Buck Owens. I went to the Crystal Palace a while back and I nearly cried at the sight of those teles just sitting there not being played...especially the one that exactly fits my above description I saw a few of those under $2k recently. Almost took the bait.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 12:58:24 GMT -7
Post by rcrecelius on Mar 29, 2007 12:58:24 GMT -7
My dream tele would be a silver sparkle with double binding and matching headstock ala Buck Owens. I went to the Crystal Palace a while back and I nearly cried at the sight of those teles just sitting there not being played...especially the one that exactly fits my above description I saw a few of those under $2k recently. Almost took the bait. I did too...wish I'd had the money to get one of em!
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 13:43:23 GMT -7
Post by mward on Mar 29, 2007 13:43:23 GMT -7
Now here's the thing: Is the tele so perfect because Leo got it right the first time, or do we think it's perfect because we've been listening to those magic tones for 60 years and by now we just think that's what sounds good. It's like.. if you were born in another country where what is considered beautiful is not what the west considers beautiful, you would just accept that as normal. So have we been socialized to love tele tones because we've heard em all our life, or are they really perfect? There's a brain teaser for ya! I love my tele. My grandpa bought it new in 1968 and played it live until he died a few years ago at age 77. I inherited it and it's a real dream.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 13:44:01 GMT -7
Post by Joey Beverages on Mar 29, 2007 13:44:01 GMT -7
What is it about a Tele that is just so right? Is it the history, thus some sort of Mojo? It just feels so good to play a Tele...they're versatile and sound great. My only issue is the 5 lbs of finish Fender insists on sticking on the necks with the new ones. I love my Tele - it makes me work like a dog to get it right. But man, when the notes are there, the tones are there and the clams are nowhere to be seen it is all Good. I dig the older Fenders circa 1950s (wish I had the real-deal). I have tried a few G&Ls and really like a few from the late 80s .... let the best one get-away - but that's another story. Teles are practical, built to be indestructible and can find a home in just about style of music. One day I hope to find the time and pieces to put together my own custom-built.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 14:03:13 GMT -7
Post by dock66 on Mar 29, 2007 14:03:13 GMT -7
Now here's the thing: Is the tele so perfect because Leo got it right the first time, or do we think it's perfect because we've been listening to those magic tones for 60 years and by now we just think that's what sounds good. I say both ;D.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 15:37:43 GMT -7
Post by billyguitar on Mar 29, 2007 15:37:43 GMT -7
It's actually said that Freddie Tavares designed the cosmetics and style of the early Fenders. I think they are perfect functional industrial design. I think a good Tele is just right. It hangs better on me than a Strat, which I can not play, the right thickness and when the pickups are right, the sound is perfect. Ed Bickert played great jazz on his. Good enough to be Paul Desmond's favorite guitar player, and that's saying something! Can't be beat for blues and country too. Having said all that I actually prefer a larger humbucking at the neck, flatter fingerboard radius and tall frets, but the basic design is great! My Tom Anderson has an arm cut and a tummy cut. The arm cut is nice but not a deal breaker but I do not like the tummy cut. It makes the guitar tilt up like a Strat and that's just wrong.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 15:51:07 GMT -7
Post by Curt on Mar 29, 2007 15:51:07 GMT -7
Ehhhh...There alright I guess..................
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 16:08:00 GMT -7
Post by sonicgator on Mar 29, 2007 16:08:00 GMT -7
You should try making your own... In process now...I bought a Fender American Deluxe Tele at Gruhn Guitar's for a steal and am in the process of customizing it. Here are my planned upgrades: 1. Locking Tuners - Done 2. Custom Pickguard - El Dorado maybe, but I need someone that can cut it to my specs for the pickups. I've sent request to a couple of different shops about this. After my last experience, I want someone that'll get it right! 3. Seymour Duncan Phat Cat Neck Pickup 4. Joe Barden Tele Neck in the middle position 5. Joe Barden Tele Bridge pup 6. New Pots and switch ala RS Guitarworks 7. GraphTech Nut My Tele is black...any suggestions on a pickguard color? I was thinking either tan leather (El Dorado), Smoke Mirror, or Red Mirror (would match the SRZ-65).
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 17:14:58 GMT -7
Post by BW on Mar 29, 2007 17:14:58 GMT -7
I have a mid 70's blonde/maple tele (bought for 300 bucks in the deep dark 70's) that has so much plastic paint on it it'll hardly 'twang'. The UPSIDE to all this is that the yellowed top coat of clear is finally beginning to wear/ rub off after all these years leaving a nice clean light cream color underneath....I'd LOVE to rub it all of, but I'm gonna wait and see if the good Lord will let me be AROUND long enuf to wear another'n out. Jerry A. put some of his pickups in it and its a better guitar than its EVER been, and I've had almost everything you can think of in there. Now if it wasn't for that skinny little toothpick of a neck.... This is why I'm havin' so much fun playin' the Lentz guitars, all that has been addressed already!
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 17:54:58 GMT -7
Post by mward on Mar 29, 2007 17:54:58 GMT -7
It's actually said that Freddie Tavares designed the cosmetics and style of the early Fenders. I think they are perfect functional industrial design. *** A student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) once asked Buckminster Fuller whether he took aesthetic factors into consideration when tackling technical problems. "No," Fuller replied. "When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty. I think only of how to solve the problem. But when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong." *** Kind of like the Tele, eh?
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 18:16:48 GMT -7
Post by seaking on Mar 29, 2007 18:16:48 GMT -7
I have a 90s Asian tele with a set of hand wound pups from tonefordays. She started off as a modern hot rod and has evolved into a vintage hot rod ( thanks to the pickups ). A year after getting this i sold my strat, because it wasn't being used.
I have to say, in my younger years i though tele's were pretty much, uncool guitars with odd styled head stalks (seemed like they we're skimping on materials too much). Today i get them. I appreciate their styling, comfort, simplicity and sound. I love the sound of a strat (one day I'll have another) but a tele cuts through with a sparkle and chime like nothing else.
My newest tele will fulfill that fifties feel and sound that's been in my head for so long. She's presently on route having spent a 4 hour turnover in Nashville today. All Tele's need to pass through Nashville for a spiritual awakening ;D ;D
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 20:38:15 GMT -7
Post by JChance on Mar 29, 2007 20:38:15 GMT -7
Tele is my "go to" instrument. Not just for twang gigs, but rock & blues gigs, too. If I'm playing with a new band/players that I haven't worked with before, the Tele is what I bring because it's so comfortable. I've never understood how folks couldn't get comfortable with one, as it's such a simple instrument. Working the pickup switch, tone knob, and bringing a few stomps and a good amp will make you able to cover an awful lot of ground. Outside of metal or really pure jazz, it's hard to go wrong with one.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 29, 2007 21:20:22 GMT -7
Post by Lefty on Mar 29, 2007 21:20:22 GMT -7
I have yet to find "my" tele.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 30, 2007 8:48:37 GMT -7
Post by billyguitar on Mar 30, 2007 8:48:37 GMT -7
Check out Ed Bickert for pure jazz on a Tele!
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 30, 2007 10:19:59 GMT -7
Post by frank4001 on Mar 30, 2007 10:19:59 GMT -7
I just lucked into a '63 re-fin fairly cheap that is as good a guitar as I've ever come across. It can do anything. Puts out just what you put in.
|
|
|
Tele's
Mar 30, 2007 12:57:04 GMT -7
Post by John on Mar 30, 2007 12:57:04 GMT -7
I've been playing guitar about 30 years (!), since I was a teenager. I've always been a Les Paul type of guy. Back in the 80's I finally bought a strat, I still have it and I still like it. But I never played a tele until about two years ago. I basically purchased one off of Ebay because it had the things I was looking for, and it was local, so I could pick it up. I fell in love immediately!!! Of course, I had to have new frets put on it, a new bridge, new saddles, new bridge pickup, new pickguard and new nut. But I really loved it before all that was done. Now it's just better.
The neck is big and fat...like a Les Paul Because of the big thick body, the guitar hangs on me...like a Les Paul. But of course, it doesn't sound or play anything like a LP.
|
|
|
Tele's
Apr 14, 2007 20:52:27 GMT -7
Post by harry on Apr 14, 2007 20:52:27 GMT -7
Well, I just got back to Tele-Town. I have been missing having one for a long time because I had not found "the one" yet. That quest is finally over with the Tom Anderson Hollow T I just picked up. It was guitar of the week for Feb 18/25, 2007. Been playing it through my Maz Jr NR 1x12 and it is unbelievable!!!! It has an alder top and back, the hollow body just makes it sound huge. I thought it needed to be swamp ash to twang but this thing twangs and screeches if you want it to. Check out the website if you have a moment. www.andersonguitars.comHarry
|
|
|
Tele's
Apr 16, 2007 7:51:06 GMT -7
Post by deltone on Apr 16, 2007 7:51:06 GMT -7
Ehhhh...There alright I guess.................. Curt, I thought I remembered you saying that you have a MIM tele that you were awfully fond of. I'm assuming you did some upgrades (p'ups, etc.) to it...maybe not. I've been lookin' at some MIMs and thinkin' about pullin' the trigger on one. What's the make-up of yours? David
|
|