Our Telecaster Love Affairs.

springhead

Thank you!  I didn't ask for flamey maple, but that's what arrived and as soon as I started applying the Danish oil up it popped.  The body painting was by rich, @lamf68 , Gretsch Cadillac Green.  Here's a gratuitous flamey headstock shot.

FastEddie

I've only ever owned one.
A Fender Mexican. I changed the pups to BK Country Boy's and was blown away. Through my Cornell it was gravy.

The neck was adorable and the tone made me purr.

Had to sell it. Had a bad SAH so rarely play now. I would like another, humbucker or P90 at the neck this time. 

In my life they have always been seen as a poor relation to the strat and Les Paul. I remember buying my last strat in 2003. the team at GAK, Mike the lefty in particular, tried to get me to try a tele but I thought they were all brittle and irrelevant (what a plonker I must have sounded). 
They told me it was a real rock and roll guitar but all I heard was Gilmour and Jimi. 

How things have changed. 

historyisjunk

Clean water

The flushing toilet

Anaesthetics

The V8

& the Telecaster

We haven't progressed much from there

roberty

historyisjunk said:

Clean water

The flushing toilet

Anaesthetics

The V8

& the Telecaster

We haven't progressed much from there

Sent from my iPhone™️

historyisjunk

Sorry, tongue in cheek emoji not available.

BTW what's an I Phone?

v12cat

historyisjunk said:

Clean water

The flushing toilet

Anaesthetics

The V8

& the Telecaster

We haven't progressed much from there

...If wine counts as an anaesthetic then you have nailed it!

The first time I plugged in my Telecaster was the first time I ever played a guitar (albeit very badly) and thought 'wow'. The sound, for the first time, was exactly what I hoped it would be.

As for the V8 ( I have two), the sound just can't be beaten. Not even a V12 comes close. (have one of them too )

paulphoenix

springhead said:

It was many years of playing before I tried and loved the Telecaster.  I built a cheap partscaster (known in our band as "The Doncaster") and then got the Tele bug even stronger after playing a real 1952 blackguard.  I toyed with getting a Baja, or Roadworn and swapping out parts but eventually settled on getting Graham as GSPBasses to build me a swamp ash body, roasted maple neck with rosewoord board.  Paint job from Rich, final woodwork and setup from Feline, pickups from OilCity, neck oiling and wiring by me.  It's lovely. 

Ooh Suit you, sir

mo6020

My first “proper” guitar was a Tele. It was a 1997 (I think) American Standard and I played it to death until I had to sell it in 2013 to help fund divorce bills…

Here is the only remaining picture of it, from a gig we did supporting Biffy Clyro in the early 00s: https://imgur.com/a/UstJd6z

I’m still scouring Reverb on a daily basis to try and buy it back, so if any of you chaps happens to have bought it in Chapel Market Cash Converters, N1, perhaps alongside a rack mount JMP1 and some other gear, I'll pay good money for it  

I have a '77 Tele Custom at the moment that I love, too. It does something that none of my other guitars can do, and that Wide Range Humbucker is a beautiful thing: https://imgur.com/a/F3FYlom

I'd post some pictures but I am struggling to embed images from imgur on this thread, sadly... you'll have to click the links instead...

Schnozz

I have a UK made Fret King in my collection and I'll only pick it up for jazz and middle position rhythm. I've had a '62 AVRI, a Squier 50s CV (Butterscotch) and a G&L Asat before that. G&L are my most bought brand, but even then...Just don't get them and the Fret King is as good as I'm going to get. The '62 neck was whippy and the CV weighed a bit and couldn't do jazz for some reason.

They are odd.

historyisjunk

Due to seeing something in the Music section I found this which you might enjoy-

I remember when I first knew about Dan Auerbach he played a JD Tele with a Bigsby, I haven't liked anything much he's done since then- but that's progress...

FWIW my comment above about technology is really not serious, feel free to remove Wis Frets. It's a joke thing I say to people having computer problems. But I still think those were pretty significant inventions.

Without wanting to derail the thread @v12cat ; what V8's have you got? Don't feel obliged to answer.

Have to go, should not be messing abount on here.

Jim54

historyisjunk said:

Due to seeing something in the Music section I found this which you might enjoy-

I remember when I first knew about Dan Auerbach he played a JD Tele with a Bigsby, I haven't liked anything much he's done since then- but that's progress...

FWIW my comment above about technology is really not serious, feel free to remove Wis Frets. It's a joke thing I say to people having computer problems. But I still think those were pretty significant inventions.

Without wanting to derail the thread @v12cat ; what V8's have you got? Don't feel obliged to answer.

Have to go, should not be messing abount on here.

It was Auerbach's tele that made me get this years ago

v12cat

historyisjunk said:

[....]

Without wanting to derail the thread @v12cat ;; what V8's have you got? Don't feel obliged to answer.

[....]

I've actually owned several V8's. Way back to a Rover SD1, old Range Rover, I put a V8 into a LWB S3 landrover, along with an auto box.

My present car is a V8 Mercedes S500 .  

The other V8 is this.....  16 litre twin turbo, intercooled Daimler Benz V8.

The V12 is this which I have owned for 20 odd years, and from where the username I use for a lot of things comes from.

To drag this back to topic, my lovely Player Telecaster.

historyisjunk

@v12cat

Thanks for taking time to post that. Great looking Tele.

I had guessed what the V12 would be, great old thing & wondered if one might be a Rover/Buick, the old SD1s could be really good.
But, didn't guess the S500 & certainly not the Claas. If the S500 is what I think, it's a brute & looks really good.
I never knew what engines Claas machinery had. Sadly never had any kind of V8, have had the odd Tele though & it is strange that it's not that easy to find a good one.

Andy79

v12cat said:

historyisjunk said:

[....]

Without wanting to derail the thread @v12cat ;; what V8's have you got? Don't feel obliged to answer.

[....]

I've actually owned several V8's. Way back to a Rover SD1, old Range Rover, I put a V8 into a LWB S3 landrover, along with an auto box.

My present car is a V8 Mercedes S500 .  

The other V8 is this.....  16 litre twin turbo, intercooled Daimler Benz V8.

The V12 is this which I have owned for 20 odd years, and from where the username I use for a lot of things comes from.

To drag this back to topic, my lovely Player Telecaster.

That tele is ginormous 

juansolo

djspecialist said:

Andy79 said:

djspecialist said:

Here's my 50s Baja, somewhat modded:

- BKP Flat 50 (I think) in the bridge

- Mojo Gold Foil in the neck

- Poly finish stripped

- S1 switch removed, and all wiring replaced

- Control plate reversed

I just love it. So versatile, and just feels right!

I’d be interested to hear that gold foil. Have you got any audio?

Greatape said:

djspecialist said:

Here's my 50s Baja, somewhat modded:

- BKP Flat 50 (I think) in the bridge

- Mojo Gold Foil in the neck

- Poly finish stripped

- S1 switch removed, and all wiring replaced

- Control plate reversed

I just love it. So versatile, and just feels right!

Nice. How does the neck pickup sound? And did stripping the finish improve the sound?

I haven't got any recordings, but I'll have a go at making something.

As for stripping the finish, that was done (by @juansolo) before I bought the guitar.  He said it removed a whole load of weight, but didn't mention whether or not it affected the sound.  I think @Alnico also stripped and refinished a Baja at some point.

It had half a pound of poly on it

It's going back a long time now, I can't remember if it made it better. It certainly felt better... Having a quick read I mentioned that it was more resonant but I've no idea how much of that is psychological.

v12cat

historyisjunk said:

I never knew what engines Claas machinery had. Sadly never had any kind of V8, have had the odd Tele though & it is strange that it's not that easy to find a good one.

Claas do use a mix of engines. Deere in some tractors and MAN in later harvesters. The 900 is a future classic, flagship model and a very powerful thing. Getting a bit older now but my pocket doesn’t stretch to the £300K+ for a new one. 

I’m no guitar expert compared to a lot here but the tele is everything I hoped it would be. Maybe an experienced tele player would say differently but the minute I plugged it in I loved it.  The little AC30 amplug goes really well with it too. 

A better picture of it....

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6fdJxp7agHR7cXct5

Clecko

Has anyone seen that episode of That Pedal Show that's devoted to Telecasters, where Danhere plays the neck pickup on every Telecaster in the studio, then Mickhere gives him one Strat switched to the neck pickup and it's significantly better than all of them?

Whitecat

Clecko said:

Has anyone seen that episode of That Pedal Show that's devoted to Telecasters, where Danhere plays the neck pickup on every Telecaster in the studio, then Mickhere gives him one Strat switched to the neck pickup and it's significantly better than all of them?

I mean, I’d kinda expect that. Do a switcheroo though on the bridge pickup setting - try all the Strats first - and I bet one Tele would be significantly better. 

historyisjunk

v12cat said:

I’m no guitar expert compared to a lot here but the tele is everything I hoped it would be. Maybe an experienced tele player would say differently but the minute I plugged it in I loved it.  The little AC30 amplug goes really well with it too. 

I think that's all that matters- if it sounds like you hoped it would that's a good one. & thanks for the info on the Claas.

OilCityPickups

Roland said:

Gassage said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

I never got on with neck pickups in teles, but oil city wound me one that's higher output and uses great bit lumps of metal (so that cover doesn't actually fit on!). It sounds much more like a stratty/p90 almost. Maybe @OilCityPickups can remember what it was. Pairs lovely with the bridge, which is also hefty in output but honestly just sounds like a classic tele to me (but louder!). 

I love the one Ash does with the oversized poles. Can't recall its name, but it won't fit inside the chrome cover.....

Californian? I always liked the way a Telecaster hangs. Right height, right angle, and the bridge directly where I need it for palm muting. However I could never get on with the Telecasters I tried. Fat necks, controls in the wrong place, and no subtlety in the pickups. A couple of years ago I made a Tele for a Fretboard challenge, with thinner neck volume knob under my fingers and control switch at the back. The pickups were still uninteresting until I put a Californian in the neck position. Ash said it was his most Strat like Tele pickup. It transformed the guitar, both the neck and in-between positions. I’ve not played anything else since.

You are thinking of my Liquidator Tele neck pickup :-)