Why do Telecasters look so nice?

JD50 · May 2018

darthed1981 said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

They dont [look nice]. [They are] f[ucking]ugly slabs.

A slab is a large flat thick piece of something. It's not contoured or shaped, like a Strat or an SG is.

Does that help?

Don't mince words @Phil_aka_Pip tell us what you REALLY think...

Fender make Teles with tummy cuts, think its the recent professional range with the truss rod wheel at the heel?.

Strat54 · May 2018

carlos said:

I saw Lage with his original '54 telecaster last week and I was underwhelmed. Looked okay, but it's a sort of primitive-ish, clumsy design.

No, you saw Lage playing his Nachocaster replica Tele made by Nacho Banos...close. Primitive? Yep that was the point, to design and mass produce an affordable functional electric guitar for the working musician 68 years ago.

impmann · May 2018

richardhomer said:

A 70s Deluxe with a bloody great scratchplate all over it, massive Wide Range humbuckers and a CBS Strat headstock is not a ‘thing of beauty’....

Beg to differ.

I adore mine. And mine has the abomination of having a factory fit Strat trem...

I even forgive it for being bloody Sunburst. Yuk.

Veganic · May 2018

@Carlos said:

@Branshen ;;
he's incredible. I've heard and played enough guitar through the years that most soloing is fairly predictable. I can tell what's next more or less. But with Lage last week, it was as if every note was brand new. As if he was playing an instrument I'd never heard before but somehow I was familiar with.
He's got this level of mastery that makes it all seen effortless.
The Tele sounded good but it didn't really matter. Also he constantly ran out of frets. I think he's enjoy a two octave fretboard.

Jazz Now - Julian Lage -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b12jsl

Off-topic alert.

Wazmeister · May 2018

I think that there is something simple, beautiful and almost organic about the Tele.

It just looks 'balanced' to me, in a way that even a Strat doesn't...

Rarely as beautiful as some, nonetheless the Tele is better than most at all things geetar.

TheMarlin · May 2018

I used to hate them. The can sound too sharp and biting

Have come to love Teles. They are the pure
essence of electric guitars. The most pure form. Tele is my second favourite guitar, after my beloved Gretsch Anni

Love teles, struggle with strats. Just bought another Strat, going to have another go at it

Branshen · May 2018

carlos said:

@Branshen ;
he's incredible. I've heard and played enough guitar through the years that most soloing is fairly predictable. I can tell what's next more or less. But with Lage last week, it was as if every note was brand new. As if he was playing an instrument I'd never heard before but somehow I was familiar with.
He's got this level of mastery that makes it all seen effortless.
The Tele sounded good but it didn't really matter. Also he constantly ran out of frets. I think he's enjoy a two octave fretboard.

I know exactly what you mean. His playing is sublime. My favourite piece by him is his duet with Margaret Glaspy "lazy bones" in someone's living room on YouTube. If you've not seen it, you really must!

Thanks for the link @Veganic. Listening to it now!

Wazmeister · May 2018

TheMarlin said:

I used to hate them. The can sound too sharp and biting

Absolutely spot on.

For me, a Tele is like walking a dog that's always pulling on the lead, growling and snarling; it's the fight and struggle that forces those gorgeous tones out of the guitar. That's why, refined and 'modern' Tele don't always work for me.

A Strat, on the other hand plays nicely when on the lead. Very biddable, always wanting to please, and very amiable.

Just my mad thoughts

Bluebeard · May 2018

I love my Tele. It is a beautiful guitar and probably the one I keep the most care of despite it not being the most expensive.

Teles have to have 21 frets though. 22 frets just looks ugly and makes me want to puke.

ESBlonde · May 2018

Used to hate teles, shapeless and sounded nasel when played. I avoided owning one for decades, there were better options to buy. Then I played a few country/rock gigs and decided to buy one (any excuse to increase the heard), and gradually realised that it's about the simple versatility.
Just a hint of drive in there with the volume all up, but clean when knocked back a touch. Manipulate the tone control too and some great classic tones are there. Now I also use it on funk alongside the strats own classic sounds.
It's the girl you marry as opposed to the girls you chased and dated when young and single. I just took a long time to get around to it.

carlos · May 2018

Strat54 said:

carlos said:

I saw Lage with his original '54 telecaster last week and I was underwhelmed. Looked okay, but it's a sort of primitive-ish, clumsy design.

No, you saw Lage playing his Nachocaster replica Tele made by Nacho Banos...close. Primitive? Yep that was the point, to design and mass produce an affordable functional electric guitar for the working musician 68 years ago.

In interviews he says it's an original 54 Telecaster. I guess the word original there is open to interpretation.
There isn't much that can go wrong with a Tele, I agree, and the fact it's consistently the most produced model in our "making and modding" forum means something.

Strat54 · May 2018

carlos said:

Strat54 said:

carlos said:

I saw Lage with his original '54 telecaster last week and I was underwhelmed. Looked okay, but it's a sort of primitive-ish, clumsy design.

No, you saw Lage playing his Nachocaster replica Tele made by Nacho Banos...close. Primitive? Yep that was the point, to design and mass produce an affordable functional electric guitar for the working musician 68 years ago.

In interviews he says it's an original 54 Telecaster. I guess the word original there is open to interpretation.
There isn't much that can go wrong with a Tele, I agree, and the fact it's consistently the most produced model in our "making and modding" forum means something.

He has a refin '54 that came from Fiesta Finishes also, but he seems to favour the Nachocaster for touring. It has Ron Ellis pickups fitted.