hot rod tele

  • Thread starter Thread starter mentoneman
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update is so far so good. i was getting a bit worried and the warnings you folks shared started resonating in my head as the tuning and intonation process took a bit to dial in.
still on the original strings as i managed to swap the fralin lipstick in without needing to cut the strings.
the true tuning test will be once i change in new strings to the custom set i prefer at let the neck settle in with the new tension.

with the proper tool for the job, it’s been a blast so far trying to learn this masterpiece

 
I am sure this is way off your plan but do yourself a favor and try an Ultra 2 Telecaster. Surprised the shit out of me.
 
I am sure this is way off your plan but do yourself a favor and try an Ultra 2 Telecaster. Surprised the shit out of me.
will do!

i was kinda struggling with the intonation on the new indo tele until i pulled out my old Feiten offset chart:

IMG_7972.jpeg


even though the gtr doesn’t have the Friten compensated nut, i learned from Victor at Mojave that the intonation offsets can really help fine tune any guitar.

you just can’t be super precise regarding the +/- cents without the nut, but by starting with the chart above, and then fine tune by ear, it really helped me control and settle the intonation on my tele.
 
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IMG_7981.jpeg

the initial experience of using this tonex pedal feels an awful lot like a mix between homework and dating a robot.

3 hours in and i’ve registered the product, set up the ik account, downloaded the manager thingie, updated the pedal, downloaded tonex editor and librarian, and tonex.net.
i customized 6 presets so far and will probably hate them all come tomorrow🤣:

twin clean
dumble dirty lead
bogner goldfinger blues
orange crunch
marshall 800
diezel VH4/ch39



but atm i’m pretty clueless regarding exactly how to store and move presets from the tonex.net to my pedal,
how to add the available od/dist/fuzz boxes i see on tonex.net into my preset chains,
and how to audition the 78/79 pack before i buy.
 
Lollar makes some really killer tele pickups. If you are throwing a chunk of cash that way.
 
Nice Tele and thanks for the Feiten offset chart.

I've gotten to a really good place with the Tonex plugin. For me it took some work and other plugins and pedals but there is gold in there, you just have to dig for it. I dig the VH pack but found that I liked the captures that I did of my amp just as much for my sound. I'm still struggling with the Brent Mason type sounds but am confident that there is a way. I use mine W/D/W through the computer with 8" Kali monitors and a DIY Celestion full range 1x12".
 
the one that keeps coming up more and more in my immediate circle of tone chasing friends is Ellis.
Well, my Daughter just recorded an EP and one of the guitarists had a partscaster tele with lollar ? Classic T's? Anyway, the tone was killer, so good I am putting them in my Am Pro Tele in the near future.
 
Nice Tele and thanks for the Feiten offset chart.

I've gotten to a really good place with the Tonex plugin. For me it took some work and other plugins and pedals but there is gold in there, you just have to dig for it. I dig the VH pack but found that I liked the captures that I did of my amp just as much for my sound. I'm still struggling with the Brent Mason type sounds but am confident that there is a way. I use mine W/D/W through the computer with 8" Kali monitors and a DIY Celestion full range 1x12".

glad you found your groove with the tonex.

what always gets me about these digital all in one boxes is how companies can load so many utterly crappy useless factory presets into their products, forcing me to have to learn how to weed through page after page of high school tones, burning out my ears for hours to arrive at a few questionable candidates because now my ear fatigue can’t distinguish between a diezel and a deluxe.

maybe that’s their hidden strategy.

the first preset that pops up when you first turn the thing on should be a masterpiece, period.
instead i was greeted with the worst sounding jcm800 i’ve ever heard. and imo the factory cab IR’s are a joke. but i have yet to hear any cab IR that reproduces anything remotely close to the experience of playing through an actual cab.
 
I kept fighting with the digital world. I then went hybrid with a Grandmeister 40 and spent less time dialing and saving stuff, but still quite a bit.

Ended up getting my Rivera, plugged straight in with knobs at 5 and left the digital world forever.

Too much time spent trying to dial in and save patches that hardly ever sound good later or in context.

If I use digital, I have to do it basically much like analog.... Dial it for the part at hand and record it right then.

Later, I may not like it, but at least the work is done.

Once I found my perfect tube amp, the digital headaches left.

I understand many tube amps do not have the conveniences mine has built in and all that, just got lucky.


Good luck with the ToneX stuff! Would have been all over it a few years back myself.
 
I’m not much of a fender guy so I don’t have much experience with Mexican guitars, but I’ve had a whole bunch of Indonesian guitars that were/are killer.
Country of origin seems to mean less and less by the day in terms of playability
 
the one that keeps coming up more and more in my immediate circle of tone chasing friends is Ellis.
I’m a Lollar fan. Have them in my two teles. Fralins are great also though. But Ron Ellis i havent tried but talk about mucho expensivo. His prices are steep
 
I kept fighting with the digital world. I then went hybrid with a Grandmeister 40 and spent less time dialing and saving stuff, but still quite a bit.

Ended up getting my Rivera, plugged straight in with knobs at 5 and left the digital world forever.

Too much time spent trying to dial in and save patches that hardly ever sound good later or in context.

If I use digital, I have to do it basically much like analog.... Dial it for the part at hand and record it right then.

Later, I may not like it, but at least the work is done.

Once I found my perfect tube amp, the digital headaches left.

I understand many tube amps do not have the conveniences mine has built in and all that, just got lucky.


Good luck with the ToneX stuff! Would have been all over it a few years back myself.
although the vh brown 78/89 pack was the motivator to push me over the edge, plus i found a new unopened one in the box for $300, my intent with the tonex is to find a handful of some exotic outlier tones like dumble, matchless, two rock to store in the pedal and integrate with my rack.

still haven’t purchased the vh deal and won’t until i’m convinced the stock unit delivers results i’m satisfied with. so far the UA Lion pedal sounds way more realistic out of the box than the tonex marshalls.
 
I’m not much of a fender guy so I don’t have much experience with Mexican guitars, but I’ve had a whole bunch of Indonesian guitars that were/are killer.
Country of origin seems to mean less and less by the day in terms of playability
i’ve routinely been trying out different gtrs for decades. the indo tele immediately felt right in my hands and sounded great plugged directly into a princeton.
 
I’m a Lollar fan. Have them in my two teles. Fralins are great also though. But Ron Ellis i havent tried but talk about mucho expensivo. His prices are steep
i know. i’ve heard great lollar demos.

i’m not inclined to jump on the ellis bandwagon due to the price factor. in fact the stock indo tele neck lipstick pickup sounded fine and the replacement fralin only brought a tiny bit of an improvement in clarity. nothing radically different.
 
I’m not much of a fender guy so I don’t have much experience with Mexican guitars, but I’ve had a whole bunch of Indonesian guitars that were/are killer.
Country of origin seems to mean less and less by the day in terms of playability

Its not that the fender is FROM indonesia, it's that this particular model has an inconsistent (to put it diplomatically) reputation
 
i know. i’ve heard great lollar demos.

i’m not inclined to jump on the ellis bandwagon due to the price factor. in fact the stock indo tele neck lipstick pickup sounded fine and the replacement fralin only brought a tiny bit of an improvement in clarity. nothing radically different.
Some stock pickups are great! Even in cheap guitars! If it sounds good then it is good !
 
Its not that the fender is FROM indonesia, it's that this particular model has an inconsistent (to put it diplomatically) reputation
knowing myself, i will continue modding this thing over time. i already want to saw an arm contour in🤣
 
Some stock pickups are great! Even in cheap guitars! If it sounds good then it is good !
that mockingbird i briefly owned sounded absolutely awesome with my mark III. i would have kept it if the neck didn’t have issues, and i wouldn’t have changed out the pickups.
 
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