Confused by Telecasters

Andy Eagle said:
They have two issues for me, one, the extra material has an effect on the tone and two, the angle promotes the string to move.
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I’ve never compared side by side, so I have no opinion on tone. Is the effect detrimental?

Never noticed movement, either. Do you mean movement along the length of the saddle?
 
Rex said:
I’ve never compared side by side, so I have no opinion on tone. Is the effect detrimental?

Never noticed movement, either. Do you mean movement along the length of the saddle?
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A little more compressed sounding, not totally vintage open. The string tends to slip sideways. Don't get me wrong they are good but I think the Gotoh above sounds better and intonates just as well . If you used a non standard set these would help.
 
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Andy Eagle said:
A little more compressed sounding, not totally vintage open. The string tends to slip sideways. Don't get me wrong they are good but I think the Gotoh above sounds better and intonates just as well . If you used a non standard set these would help.
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Thanks. That helps.

Compressed, or lacking in highs, or...? I’m not sure that passive components can actually compress.
 
Commencing $0.02...
Dave Merrill said:
I managed not to go play a Player Plus Nashville Telecaster Maple Fingerboard Butterscotch Blonde today.
It was touch and go there for minute though...
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Dave Merrill said:
Anyone have any sense of what those pickups sound like, being noiseless and all? Never played noiseless tele pickups, but I didn't care for the noiseless strat pickups I played in a store a while ago.
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Well, I wanted to get this off my mind or do something about it so I went and played one.

IMO...

Meh.

Least important, the online pic make it look like a cool fun brightish yellow, but IRL it's a dull putty-ish brown.

Light strings, high-ish action feels weird to me. This was GC, so it probably could be better with a good setup.

I thought I might like a tele bridge pickup better than the stock bridge pickup on my EJ strat, but I didn't. None of the individual pickups were in any way great. Same as other fender noiseless ones I've tried.

The one upside was the push-pull switch on the tone control. Not the control itself, I detest the ergonomics of push-pulls, and I agree with myself.

But I dug both the two new pickups combinations (outside 2 and all 3 on).

However, I certainly don't need to buy a new (inferior) guitar to get those. I'm considering an S1 pot, need to take some time to figure out what I'd want to do with it.

Thoughts on that, for an SSS guitar?
 
Dave Merrill said:
Commencing $0.02...


Well, I wanted to get this off my mind or do something about it so I went and played one.

IMO...

Meh.

Least important, the online pic make it look like a cool fun brightish yellow, but IRL it's a dull putty-ish brown.

Light strings, high-ish action feels weird to me. This was GC, so it probably could be better with a good setup.

I thought I might like a tele bridge pickup better than the stock bridge pickup on my EJ strat, but I didn't. None of the individual pickups were in any way great. Same as other fender noiseless ones I've tried.

The one upside was the push-pull switch on the tone control. Not the control itself, I detest the ergonomics of push-pulls, and I agree with myself.

But I dug both the two new pickups combinations (outside 2 and all 3 on).

However, I certainly don't need to buy a new (inferior) guitar to get those. I'm considering an S1 pot, need to take some time to figure out what I'd want to do with it.

Thoughts on that, for an SSS guitar?
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What would you call high ish action?
 
My buddy went Tele berserk and wound up buying 4 models in a short time so I had a nice free demo. The Gold Foil Tele was an interesting instrument. Not so much on the Tele tone but the build and the neck was stellar (for me). It has the straight up 12" radius and 60's C profile neck. The Ultra is sweet and ultimately what I wound up buying. $2200.00 guitar and it still needed proper set up and the nut slots cut to intonate correctly. It has a compound radius 10" to 14" and a Modern D style neck and it's made from Alder. The vintage noiseless pickups are nice and with the S1 switch I can get a decent 4th alternate sound. The Ultra Luxe is the same guitar but with stainless frets and made from Ash. The Tele Elite has been discontinued but is nice if you get a good ebony fretboard. The one I bought a few years back had serious cracks out of the box.
I'm happy with what I have but I want to build a cheap maple fretboard Squier using Mama Texas Special pickups and a Schroeder TL bridge. I like the rounded edges but vintage style saddle setup.
 
nathan_393 said:
Hey folks! I am doing some Telecaster shopping and am kind of confused. I've not owed a Telecaster before, and Fender's lineup feels messy to me.

When it comes to Telecaster, what I'm mostly after is a versatile single-coil instrument that doesn't sound like a Strat and will be good for lower-gain situations while recording. So what's important to me is that it has two single coil pickups (not a Nashville configuration). I'm using this in a studio environment, so intonation is important, so 6 saddles. And it would be nice if those pickups were noiseless, but folks are welcome to talk me off that ledge.

Based on my 6 saddle requirement and SS configuration, I think I'm left with just a couple options:

  • The Player model, which I've played a bit and find fairly uninspiring.
  • The Player Plus model, which I've not played. But it's got noiseless pickups, S1 switching, a belly cut (which is nicer than not having one, to be honest), locking tuners, etc. I don't love the neck or the glossy finish, but for less than half the cost of my next option, perhaps I could live with it.
  • The next time 6 saddles shows up in the lineup is at the Ultra level, which has similar specs to the Player Plus, but a different neck profile (augmented D), and (I think?) different noiseless pickups (with a "vintage voice"), as well as a neck heel carve. (I could also buy a used Elite, which is not unlike the Ultra, but has previous generation noiseless pickups. This would save me several hundred dollars.)
  • Finally, there's Ultra Luxe, which is the same as Ultra, but a little more de-luxe or luxe-urious. Stainless steel frets, rounded fretboard.
I am sure I am missing something. Why would I buy the Ultra or Ultra Luxe over the Player Plus? Is there any advantage to getting the Player Plus instead and just upgrading the pickups?

I haven't been able to find an Ultra or Ultra Luxe in store to play, so I'm not even sure what I'm missing. I did find an Ultra Strat, and the neck profile on that (assuming it's similar to the Tele) was very nice. (It also sounded great.)

Anybody have any advice? I have no desire to build my own, but I understand why many would default to that suggestion.

Thanks!
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If you’re still shopping, get a Suhr Classic T… you will not regret it brother.
 
I'm kind of itching to get myself a Tele, so I have found the comments on here interesting.
One of the reasons I fancy one is that I went to a bar for a drink recently and as I walked in I heard this lovely "335" bluesy sound. I bought some drinks, found some seats, and sat down to see the 335 types of sounds coming from a Telecaster. The player's chords sounded "sweet" and nothing like any chicken pickin' sounds that I have always associated with a Telecaster.
I'm like so many people when it comes to Tele's, confused. I don't know the differences between all of the models, so as people have suggested, I will probably buy a body, a neck, and the fittings to suit my budget.
I am now amazed at the versatility of these guitars having in the past never ever fancied one. The other reason is a Gibson 335 costs £2000+.....T a Tele £500-ish. No brainer.
 
Dixiethedog said:
I'm kind of itching to get myself a Tele, so I have found the comments on here interesting.
One of the reasons I fancy one is that I went to a bar for a drink recently and as I walked in I heard this lovely "335" bluesy sound. I bought some drinks, found some seats, and sat down to see the 335 types of sounds coming from a Telecaster. The player's chords sounded "sweet" and nothing like any chicken pickin' sounds that I have always associated with a Telecaster.
I'm like so many people when it comes to Tele's, confused. I don't know the differences between all of the models, so as people have suggested, I will probably buy a body, a neck, and the fittings to suit my budget.
I am now amazed at the versatility of these guitars having in the past never ever fancied one. The other reason is a Gibson 335 costs £2000+.....T a Tele £500-ish. No brainer.
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Ted Greene's Solo Guitar album from 1977 is full of very non-tele tone from a Fender Telecaster (maybe very modified).
 
Dixiethedog said:
I'm kind of itching to get myself a Tele, so I have found the comments on here interesting.
One of the reasons I fancy one is that I went to a bar for a drink recently and as I walked in I heard this lovely "335" bluesy sound. I bought some drinks, found some seats, and sat down to see the 335 types of sounds coming from a Telecaster. The player's chords sounded "sweet" and nothing like any chicken pickin' sounds that I have always associated with a Telecaster.
I'm like so many people when it comes to Tele's, confused. I don't know the differences between all of the models, so as people have suggested, I will probably buy a body, a neck, and the fittings to suit my budget.
I am now amazed at the versatility of these guitars having in the past never ever fancied one. The other reason is a Gibson 335 costs £2000+.....T a Tele £500-ish. No brainer.
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Did you get a chance to ask the player how he dialled in his sound?

I’d grab a fender player tele to get acquainted and go from there.
 
Budda said:
I’d grab a fender player tele to get acquainted and go from there.
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I think there are a few good things to keep in mind, though, although they’re admittedly just my opinions after playing a ton of these and buying the Ultra Luxe.

But I guess, pay attention to the neck pickup, which is often too dark compared to the bridge. I think a good rule of thumb is that a Strat-like neck pickup is good on a Tele, and I like my bridge pickups to sound like a less saturated, less compressed, clearer and brighter Les Paul.

For me, those two rules alone immediately narrow down a ton of options and focus me in on what’s important when I’m trialling guitars.
 
For me, the neck profiles I have run into have turned me off. They were way to big like baseball bats.
Now on my custom Teles, I use the Fender thin profile with a 1 5/8 nut width and 9.5 radius.
That is my happy Tele zone!
 
Budda said:
Did you get a chance to ask the player how he dialled in his sound?

I’d grab a fender player tele to get acquainted and go from there.
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Sadly, I did not have a chance to speak to the guitarist, but seeing as they are a local band I will look them up hopefully sometime soon.
When my wife and myself go to see bands I get told off by my wife for wanting to talk to the guitarists in the bands. "You can't do that..blah blah blah...." I think though, that if I am polite and say things such as "You have a tone to die for" "That is the sweetest sounding Telecaster that I have ever heard" or similar, most guitarists will take it as a great compliment and open up with some chat and general information about their set up/guitars. So that is the plan, I'll grab the guitarist and ask him!

I will try to speak to the blues player first to ask what he is using before checking out a Fender player tele. But thank you, the player tele is now on my radar to be checked out in the future.
 
secondwindow said:
Ted Greene's Solo Guitar album from 1977 is full of very non-tele tone from a Fender Telecaster (maybe very modified).
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Wow, what a player. Mr. Greene has slipped me by up until now, and what a talent he is. Without me realizing it I think a gent by the name of Timothy Lurch may have played his music on his fantastic YT channel.
I feel stupid now having thought for years that Telecasters were only good for chicken picking ***t. :)
 
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