what about the telecaster

[ScottMoney]

I hope to get to guitar center soon but until I do, what should I expect from the telecaster as far as uniqueness in sound and playability?

[Dr_simon]

They are very nice breezy twangy sound.

If you like Fenders they are a nice choice.

[alucard0941]

Telcasters are the laid back, cooler, bothers of Stratocasters.

They dont have the punch as the strat, but they are very warm and mellow.

[ScottMoney]

So are Tele's more expensive than Strats since they're probably not as common? Also, Do they have levels of quality like the Strats have (e.g. Mexican, Japanese, American)?

[PonyOne]

they generally cost within $50 or so dollars, up or down, from their comparable Strat cousins.

the nationality has little to do with quality. I prefer Japanese Teles to American ones 9 times out of 10. new, most of the Japanese Teles will be artist models.

they aren't as comfy to play or as graceful as a strat, but they have very endearing personalities and and a very distinct, twangy tone. very vintage sounding, but, they also have found use with the likes of Marilyn Manson, Fugazi and Filter as well as old standbys The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, and half of the 50's rockers.

[Jolly McJollyson]

they generally cost within $50 or so dollars, up or down, from their comparable Strat cousins.

the nationality has little to do with quality. I prefer Japanese Teles to American ones 9 times out of 10. new, most of the Japanese Teles will be artist models.

they aren't as comfy to play or as graceful as a strat, but they have very endearing personalities and and a very distinct, twangy tone. very vintage sounding, but, they also have found use with the likes of Marilyn Manson, Fugazi and Filter as well as old standbys The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, and half of the 50's rockers.
You've gone over 2000.

[PonyOne]

You've gone over 2000.

holy crap, you're right.

[Jolly McJollyson]

holy crap, you're right.
Perhaps we should post short quips for no apparent reason?

[PonyOne]

why the hell not.

well, i'm a moderator now, so i probably shouldn't.

[Akira]

well, i'm a moderator now, so i probably shouldn't.

You are? @_@

[PonyOne]

scary, huh?

not in this forum... go to open discussion and look in the mod box at the bottom.

[The Ace]

But I rule all of y'all in here...


-word-

:cool:

[Akira]

scary, huh?

not in this forum... go to open discussion and look in the mod box at the bottom.

Damn, I feel the need to look up to you as an authority figure. Damn you.

How'd you suddenly become a mod anyhow?

[Dr_simon]

Well every 6-months to a year or as other mods leave, we discus the current state of the forum and ask people who we think would do a good job at moderating to take the wheal.

Both PRSPlayer and PonyOne have proved there metal on numerous occasions and are helpful, informative and have a habit of not not starting arguments with people.

I think they will both be excellent mods.

[PonyOne]

thanks chief!!!

don't think of me as an authority figure unless you come in here all like "I BEEN PLAYIN GTRAR 4 3 MNOTHS N I M LIKE THE BEST @ PLAYING xTrEmE RIFFz!!!!! ACOUSTIC SUXX"

Or if I tell you to knock it the hell off (which I don't think I'll end up doing to you...)

I'm still your homie.

[Jolly McJollyson]

I think they will both be excellent mods.
What about meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?

hahaha, I guess that may answer my own question...

[Akira]

What about meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?

hahaha, I guess that may answer my own question...

I would dread to think how the forum would end up if you became a mod. :p :rolleyes:

[TELEGIRL39]

Telecasters are smooth and easy playing guitars. My opinion they are a softer playing guitar then the stratocaster

[ScottMoney]

yea I got to play a few at guitarcenter a couple days ago. One of them was not getting really any sustain or sensativity to my hammer-ons. It had 2 single-coil pickups and one of the managers thought I was crazy. Another one I played was awesome, 3 pickups, had some real "spank" in one of the employees words.

Also, I'm used to my epip so going to the bright maple top was exciting. I definitely want to get one in a few months.

I'm also going to get the 30W Line 6 spider II. That thing is amazing for your buck. $200, you get delay, chorus, flange, some others and great sound. Plus, there's a built in Distortion Boost and Noise Gate, and 4 preset buttons you can manually set.

[PonyOne]

well, traditionally, Telecaster neck pickups are way less powerful than even your standard single coil pickups. Initially, the main reason they put a pickup in the neck of the Telecaster wasn't so much for you to be able to use that position on its own (though of course you can) so much as it was to be used in parallel with the bridge pickup to reduce hum. Guitars from the 1950's tended to hum a lot more because of the quality of the materials used in their electronics, and that was a way to alleviate the problem.

So because of this a lot of telecasters will, especially if you're used to a humbucker equipped guitar, sound weaker in the neck position.

the bridge should be better for hammer ons and pull-offs; again, don't expect the same dynamics as you'll get from a modern HB. listen to some songs by Muddy Waters; all recorded with a Telecaster, and full of slurs like hammer ons and pull offs.

the 3-pickup model you played was most likely a Nashville Telecaster, which uses more powerful pickups and will definitely give you more bite.

[ScottMoney]

Thank you for your post it was very very inciteful. So if I buy a Tele with HB's equipped like my epip, does that pretty much defeat the purpose of buying a Tele? Also, what's the main diff between the "nashville" Tele with 3 single coils and whatever the standard Strat w/3 single coil pickups as well? Also :P, is the Nashville used by many country bands as opposed to blues/rock guitarists or how is that distributed as far as who uses what?

[PonyOne]

actually i see more Nashvilles with alt rock bands than country bands. could just be because I'm in Los Angeles. but it is just fine for rock.

the nashville Tele and the Strat are still very different; a Telecaster bridge pickup is a different design than the pickups they use in a Strat; it's physically thicker and has a steel base plate that makes it sound different. the next time you're out looking at guitars, put a Strat and a Tele side by side and you'll see the difference. A Telecaster neck p/u is different too; it is smaller and has less output than a standard Strat pickup (again, this is why many Telecaster players never really use the neck pickup, and if you go to the websites of a lot of pickup makers, they have upgunned Tele neck pickups and say things like "FINALLY, a usable neck position!").

The middle pickup is, IIRC, a Tex-Mex Strat middle pickup. fender's Tex-Mex pickups are actually pretty cool; a little bit gutsier than standard, and better with gain and distortion. Strats have a little bit more, i guess you could say, "universal" tone to them than a Tele; they are less twangy, and have a little bit more brightness to them.

getting a Telecaster Custom or another Tele that has a humbucker in the bridge and the neck does kind of defeat the purpose of a Telecaster. the Telecaster's bridge pickup is what really gives it its character. that being said, a Tele with a normal bridge and a neck humbucker is actually a pretty cool, versatile guitar; you get that great Tele tone for lead, and you get good old humbucker output for rythm.

[Tele Master]

WOOOOOHOOOOOO TELECASTERS RAWK!!!!....hence the name...

[ScottMoney]

So Pony, I've gotten a lot of info since my last post, thanks for your posting as well. really helps to know as much as you can about a guitar before you really consider getting it.

So now, the low output metal, single-coil pickup I think is called a lipstick pickup. But since it has the low output on it, it's used for rhythm and the traditional bridge pickup is the lead pickup. I messed around on that Nashville like I said and it had that middle Strat pickup. Needless to say, now I really want a Nashville Tele :P. Although it's not going to have near the range of a strat, I'll still be able to get a strat sound with brilliant sounds at the bridge and neck characteristic of Tele's. Now all I need to do is wait out Guitar Center and see if I can get something like a used American made Nashville Tele for like $350 (and don't tell me better deals don't exist because I'll find them ;)). I'll probably wait till the end of summer to get a new guitar. Gosta save that $$$$

[PonyOne]

well, be sure to hit up mom and pop places, ebay, and if you live in or near a major city, craigslist.org it will probably be cheaper there than at guitar center.

the Tele pickups aren't actually lipstick pickups; lipstick pickups were used in Danelectros and other cheapish guitars in the 50's and were called that because the covers were long chrome tubes that were actually supplied by a company that made lipstick tubes (you can tell by looking at them). they do look close though and when i first started playing i thought they were lipsticks too.

and the Tele may not have the same range as the Strat but the Strat can't sound like a Tele, so, they're even :)

[SpeckledJim]

WOOOOOHOOOOOO TELECASTERS RAWK!!!!....hence the name...
they sure do, i recently got my telecaster, its my number 1 and i think it always will be

[ScottMoney]

well, be sure to hit up mom and pop places, ebay, and if you live in or near a major city, craigslist.org it will probably be cheaper there than at guitar center...

...and the Tele may not have the same range as the Strat but the Strat can't sound like a Tele, so, they're even :)

Well I live in Oklahoma City and the only place really willing to make good bargains is Guitar Center. We used to have a Mars Music and I hear that was pretty good, but everything else around here pretty much just sucks. Also, I don't think I could ever bring myself to buy a guitar off ebay just because of the warrenty issue and you never know who you're dealing with. Same goes for craiglist, I just want to play the guitar before I purchase it (even if that means I gotta pay a little more).

I would say the Nashville Tele is more than even with the Strat in my biased opinion :p

[PonyOne]

strats are cool guitars; i have one and i like it, but, i don't love it like i love my Tele.

and here's a link to a gbase.com search i did for you http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearList.aspx?PageIndex=1&PageSize=25&SF0=10&SD0=1&SF1=12&SD1=1&F1=2&F2=2&F3=2&Keyword=nashville+tele&Track=Y there was one for $499 but it sold :(

[ScottMoney]

thanks man I appreciate it. So if it doesn't say where it was made on there, are they probably MIM?