NGD: After 30+ years, my first tele

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scottosan

scottosan

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I’m a sucker for relics and I needed an excuse to buy another guitar :D

I like the neck on this one. Meaty frets, and a comfy carve. I don’t know the radius but I’m assuming it’s a bit smaller than my preferred 12”. The body seems very light as well. I was really surprised how fat and good a tele can sound under gain, although the bridge pickup isn’t potted.


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I've been a tele convert the last couple years as well. I have a couple of them.
 
Telecasters are awesome and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

A couple years ago I walked into a music store, saw a guitar that looked cool, picked it up, plugged it into some small clean tone demo amp, and started plinking around on it. Within the first three or four notes I knew I was going to take it home. That was maybe six years ago. I still have the guitar, it's still great. It was a Player series Telecaster, and the only guitar I've ever bought straight off the rack without planning to do so ahead of time.

Yep, it's just a cheap MIM Fender Telecaster and it was so good I bought it on the spot.

It could probably use a new bridge pickup but the feel of the neck and the resonance of the guitar overall is pretty much perfect.

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TheGreatGreen said:
Telecasters are awesome and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

A couple years ago I walked into a music store, saw a guitar that looked cool, picked it up, plugged it into some small clean tone demo amp, and started plinking around on it. Within the first three or four notes I knew I was going to take it home. That was maybe six years ago. I still have the guitar, it's still great. It was a Player series Telecaster, and the only guitar I've ever bought straight off the rack without planning to do so ahead of time.

It could probably use a new bridge pickup but the feel of the neck and the resonance of the guitar overall is pretty much perfect.

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Do you find the neck pickup warmer/creamier than expected?
 
scottosan said:
Do you find the neck pickup warmer/creamier than expected?
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The neck pickup is great actually. It's like a strat neck pickup and has plenty of highs but it doesn't have the stringy-ness of a strat. It's bigger and rounder sounding, more piano-like, but I wouldn't say it's warmer than expected because that would imply it's too warm or too dull sounding, which it is not. I tend to prefer bright neck pickups and I still really like it.
 
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scottosan said:
What are you favorite tele pickups?Something I should spec my own winds toward?
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I really love some wildly different but very specific tele pickups

Fralin vintage hot and blues special are the cream of the crop for high end stuff (depending on what kind of tone you want) and both can do just about anything

Bootstrap extra crispy are fantastic for cheap tele pickups (alnico 3!) although I wish they were a tiny bit hotter

For more modern stuff the EMG retroactive tele set is absolutely amazing, and probably my favorite tele set of all time
 
I can tell already that guitar sounds SWEET. Congrats!
 
It took me forever but I finally built a tele and love it. I find that no matter the guitar, I tend to like lower wound pickups for the neck and much hotter for the bridge. I think my tele neck is 6.8k and the Humbucker bridge is 13. Same with my strat, but the bridge is a single coil on the strat! I find that the tone stays clear and warm, focused without being too muddy. My tele is a strat hybrid look and sounds like it a touch. Tele, but something, else as well. I have yet to have a tele with a single coil in the bridge but soon will, as I am putting together a 'Tele-Bird' build.

Look forward to the day I can spend some cash on a set of your pickups, they sound killer. Anyway, nice tele.
 
Nice, congrats looks great. Agree that a Tele sounds fat under gain. Here's my build with a 12" radius neck and jumbo nickel silver frets. Has a set of Lollar Nash pickups that are incredible.

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TheGreatGreen said:
The neck pickup is great actually. It's like a strat neck pickup and has plenty of highs but it doesn't have the stringy-ness of a strat. It's bigger and rounder sounding, more piano-like, but I wouldn't say it's warmer than expected because that would imply it's too warm or too dull sounding, which it is not. I tend to prefer bright neck pickups and I still really like it.
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The perception I’m getting with these is the same I’m getting with P90s. Not quite as jangly and strat neck pickups but rounder on top with certain amps. Into a fender type amp, they’re perfect, but on the clean channel of channel switchers, I find that I like to add some time of clean boost to get a little more sparkle.
 
Tele fam. 🤟

Also a Tele convert here. Of all the guitars owned/played in my life, there's zero of them that feel and sound like my Tele. They're underrated shred machines.

The single coil alnicos bite and cut like nothing else. I like that they're more flexible in EQing vs a humbucker that typically starts off with some bloat.

Still have a few older PRS and HSS Strats, but the Tele has the spotlight.
 
I was the same and dismissed them until later in life. I love my partscaster Teles.

I've only had Lollar Vintage, Lollar Special, and Arcane '59 Experience bridge pickups and I slightly prefer the Arcane. But it has raised D/G poles and the Lollars are flat-pole and the D string in particular is better sounding to me with the Arcane. Both of mine have the Lollar '52 in the neck which is A2 but with the tone control disconnected. That's a somewhat common Tele mod, helps balance the top end of the two pickups.

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SpiderWars said:
I was the same and dismissed them until later in life. I love my partscaster Teles.

I've only had Lollar Vintage, Lollar Special, and Arcane '59 Experience bridge pickups and I slightly prefer the Arcane. But it has raised D/G poles and the Lollars are flat-pole and the D string in particular is better sounding to me with the Arcane. Both of mine have the Lollar '52 in the neck which is A2 but with the tone control disconnected. That's a somewhat common Tele mod, helps balance the top end of the two pickups.

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I just A/B’d the tele with my strat and the neck pickup is defiantly neutered on this one. Not only is it missing high end, but the output isn’t there. Into a clean up, it’s considerably less volume. It measures hotter than my strat neck too. I suspect this is a super budget neck PU and used very low winds on higher gauge wire to get close to 8k. I tried recharging it and it still sounds lifeless. I just ordered some tele flatwork
 
scottosan said:
I just A/B’d the tele with my strat and the neck pickup is defiantly neutered on this one. Not only is it missing high end, but the output isn’t there. Into a clean up, it’s considerably less volume. It measures hotter than my strat neck too. I suspect this is a super budget neck PU and used very low winds on higher gauge wire to get close to 8k. I tried recharging it and it still sounds lifeless. I just ordered some tele flatwork
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They always seem to have a softer top than Strat neck pickups but I like the tone. The Lollar '52 is 7k1/A2 but his vintage is 5k6/A5 and his Special (which is hot/overwound) is 6k3/A5. So I don't know what difference the wind is because the '52 is not more output. I chose based on Youtube videos by Scott Haskitt (which are extremely well done pickup comp videos).

As a pickup winder you'll probably appreciate this (timestamped).
 
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Got a baja tele last year
working vol/tone knobs is key
 
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