MY Telecaster collection

jamesoliver1234

@TADodger thanks! i think them CV are fantastic.. id recommend them to anyone.. the fast picking hand thing i dont know its just happened from gigs and practising i suppose.

jamesoliver1234

@skay i don't have a nocaster or a broadcaster ... plus i want the paisley .. oh dear! im blaming you for the nocaster if i buy one... its always good look mind.. ive often thought about selling most of them and trying to get a real 52/53.. ill see what happens in the future..

is your nocaster a custom shop one? 

skay

@jamesoliver1234  Mine is a Custom Shop 51 nocaster in NOS that I bought new in 2007

If the image shows, this is the current condition of it after 13 years of playing the crap out of it, so i'm glad I save a few pennies on the relic process as i've done a pretty good job myself the old-fashioned way!

https://i.imgur.com/rGXYVXp.jpg

Imgur is not working for me today, but i'll try and get a photo from our last rehearsal in March this year, as it shows the wear on the body quite well, and gives this guitar a really cool worn-in vibe IMHO. 

https://i.imgur.com/Vc6OqlU.jpg

Great guitars, and the neck is perfection, as a thumb over the top player, it fits me like a glove.

Gassage

James, your passion is a credit to you. Amazing.

PLEASE DO MORE!!

tomajoha

Your enthusiasm is infectious James, lovely little video

SRD81

Just checked out the video and thought it was brilliant, love the passion that comes across for your guitars

Funkfingers

jamesoliver1234 said:

is your nocaster a custom shop one? 

All twenty first century Fender Nocaster production is Custom Shop. IMO, it would devalue the model if they offered it at any other price point.

There is a point where Country and early Rock ‘n’ Roll music overlap. The Nocaster is the guitar for that. 

Pickup swaps in an AVRI ‘52 only get you so close. A Hot Rod ‘52 with Monty’s Danish Pete Honoré pickups would be interesting - especially with Jerry Donahue half-out-of-phase wiring.

If an MIJ Paisley Tele would be acceptable, there is a shop in Pembroke that would be happy to oblige you.

skay

Funkfingers said:

Pickup swaps in an AVRI ‘52 only get you so close. A Hot Rod ‘52 with Monty’s Danish Pete Honoré pickups would be interesting - especially with Jerry Donahue half-out-of-phase wiring.

Did someone say Jerry Donahue?

https://i.imgur.com/Mg0XilQ.jpg

Just received this back after a refret and return to the 5-way Jerry Donahue stock wiring, using the original OTAX super switch that luckily I had saved, and it sounds great with the clear Strat neck pickup, but the faux out-of-phase position is a bit poor to be honest. 

https://i.imgur.com/FllAPrM.jpg

It's more twangy and does that Bill Kirchen/James Burton better than the nocaster, plus it sounds like there's always a bit of grit in the sound, which makes it different enough to justify keeping and is such fun to play.

Funkfingers

IMHO, the stock pickups in the MIJ JD Telecaster leave much to be desired. 

My name is Funkfingers and I am a Blackguard addict. 

skay

Funkfingers said:

IMHO, the stock pickups in the MIJ JD Telecaster leave much to be desired. 

My name is Funkfingers and I am a Blackguard addict. 

I used to think that, so over the course of a few years I began a pickup swapping journey to replace these 'crappy' pickups I was told were inferior to all these other great pickups out there.

First I swapped the bridge out for a proper Seymour Duncan APTL-3JD pickup (which this Japanese-made pickup is meant to copy), but it was too smooth and lost the attack.

I then put a Fender nocaster pickup, to get back that edge and sound closer to my real nocaster guitar, but it lacked character.

Next in went a Texas Special (after reading that the James Burton signature Tele comes with these), but that sounded awfully dead when played clean, and far too over-the-top and lost dynamics when driven.

Next was a Fred Stuart Blackguard bridge pickup (of 90's Fender Custom Shop fame), that was just ok, but nothing special, and this guitar couldn't do anything else that my other 3 Tele's could do. With all the pickup swaps, i'd buggered up the 5-way wiring in the process, so had a regular 3way switch installed, and I never picked this guitar up for a number of years.

I started a project to return this guitar to stock, so first in went the 'poor' OEM pickups, and instantly there it was again, that gritty, dirty and edgy sound that gave this guitar its character.

I have a nocaster that is my number 1, and it sounds like the perfect Tele I could ever wish for, but these OEM pickups just suit this guitar and bring out the best in it. I'd never buy them as an aftermarket set for any other Tele, but sometimes it's simply matching the right pickups with the right guitar and magic happens, in spite of what the internet tells you what you should prefer.

Funkfingers

Some of that is down to ash versus alder versus basswood. 

Some of the differences are down to amplification choices.

Some of the differences are down to playing technique choices. 

I never understood why Fender put Texas Special pickups in the MIM James Burton signature model. My choice would have been the American Vintage ‘62 treble pickup with the “staggered” length rod magnet polepieces. 

I pay far more heed to my ears than Interweb consensus. Thus, my AVRI ‘52 Telecaster has pickups that imitate the “wrong” years. (1951-style neck/Rhythm and 1953-style bridge/Lead with … gasp! … coil tap.) If I manage to obtain a suitable 4-pole 3-way selector switch, it will have Tele and Esquire modes. 

skay

@Funkfingers That was kinda my point, there is no right or wrong (not that you were arguing there was) it's what works for you in your particular guitar that is 'best', as there's no objectively 'best Tele pickup' out there, nor is there an objectively 'crap' one, as sometimes the stars align and that so-called 'crap pickup' sounds amazing paired with the right guitar.

These Japanese-made JD pickups work very well in this Japanese-made JD Tele, hold on a moment, maybe that's why they put them in there in the first place....

rze99

 Not nearly enough Teles. Seriously. 

skay

rze99 said:

 Not nearly enough Teles. Seriously.

https://i.imgur.com/Esd9VFK.jpg

BluesyDave

Enjoyed the yt vid James.  Loving the passion and energy mate.  Keep 'em coming.

jamesoliver1234

@rze99 i agree!

@BluesyDave thanks Dave

@skay i like that! 

jamesoliver1234

@SRD81 ; Thanks!

@tomajoha cheers!

@gassage gretsch next! 

jamesoliver1234

@Funkfingers ; which shop?  is it main street music... mij pink paisley would be smashing 

Funkfingers

Affirmative.

Funkfingers

A little bird tells me that this thread may need updating.

”Play it, James.”