Tele twang - amp settings help

Mel Mandville · Post by **Mel Mandville** » 29 Apr 2005 12:42 pm

I know there are a lot of guys out there that are seasoned
Tele pickers besides playing steel.. I'm looking for help with some ball park settings on my amp.
I'm playing a American Tele with Texas pickups
through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Also got the Dynacomp.
Just looking for that Classic Nashville twang.

Dynacomp running at about 10 oclock now. It's pretty sensitive. It's a new one

Thanks

Paul Arntson · Post by **Paul Arntson** » 29 Apr 2005 3:56 pm

Hi Neighbor!
I'm not a pro tele player, but I've got a franken-tele with Seymour Duncans and a Hot Rod Deville 4x10. I find a lot of the twang factor in my setup comes from fairly high action (0.090" clearance above the 12th fret) and the Presence control maxed out. I also find I get more twang using a combination of both pickups (modern wiring - not vintage wiring where the neck pu had a tone cap). Also a tiny taste of reverb enhances the twang. On the old fenders, the reverb driver actually added treble, so that might just be a habit I've retained. The 10" speakers also add to the twanginess.
Are you playing anywhere around town?
-Paul
PS (edited) I don't use any outboard compression, just change strings often.[This message was edited by Paul Arntson on 29 April 2005 at 04:57 PM.]

Bill Bassett · Post by **Bill Bassett** » 30 Apr 2005 6:08 am

Howdy,
As a former Seattleite, I feel I can comment. Sounds to me like that set up should twang like crazy. My old rule-of-thumb is to turn the treble up to about 7, the bass up to 10 and the mid to 0. Let the human ear fill in the gap. Lot's of reverb helps too of course.

You might just try recording yourself a little. You might be surprised to find all the twang you ever dreamt of already there.

BDBassett
Rimrock AZ

Mel Mandville · Post by **Mel Mandville** » 30 Apr 2005 8:01 am

thanks guys,

I'm getting a great sound out of this rig now and it has a lot of twang. More twang is always better!. I was just wondering if there was a standard approach like rolling of the mids on my Nash 1000 for the steel.
Some one had found some settings on Pete Andersons site, but I can' remember what they are.. bass cranked down a lot?

I'm currently putting a Southern rock band together to play put this summer. Salmon days in Issaqua. Casinos etc.. Stuff like that. We are called DoubleWide, but we may have to change the name.

keep picken, Mel

Buck Dilly · Post by **Buck Dilly** » 1 May 2005 7:23 pm

Twang is more in your right hand than in the settings. Experiment with pick and finger techniques.

Ben Slaughter · Post by **Ben Slaughter** » 2 May 2005 1:53 pm

Buck speaks the truth.

Lot of opinions here but, I like the bass up quite a bit. I like the action low and use the bridge P/U on a G&L ASAT classic and Fender Twin.

Lots of guys use a slapback delay, and some use compression to get more twang.

Keep in mind with Fender tube amps (someone correct me if I'm wrong on this particular amp), to get a "flat" response, set the Bass and Treble to ZERO (or thereabouts) and the Mid to 10+-. Start there and adjust. I often find that when you're on the bridge P/U of the tele and a fender tube amp, the highs can get a little harsh and brittle.

Al Carmichael · Post by **Al Carmichael** » 2 May 2005 11:29 pm

There is a fine line with the treble, for sure. Too little and you dampen the twang. Too much and you get that brittle icepick in the ears thing going. I use a Dynacomp compressor when I use a Tele just because it tames the high transients that make the high end hurt.

Fresh strings help. Don't use a "hot" overwound pickup. Stick to something voiced vintage--there's a bunch of choices. My personal preference is maple necks, ash or poplar bodies, noise cancelling humbuckers that sound like single coils (Barden, Lawrence 280T, Duncan vintage Stack), Fender amp and a Dynacomp. The rest comes from your hands.

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 3 May 2005 5:16 am

try working on the natural tone with new strings and NO AMP...listen to your right hand technique without the amps...

You can hear your Tele talk to you if you treat it right..

natural tone first..Amp tone second.

And I also like what Al says above, nice vintage PUPs without too much gain.

On my #1 tele I have used several PUP combinations but have always returned to the stock vintage PUPS. (1989/52RI)

And..without fresh strings ALL THE TIME, say goodbye to the quest for TWANG...

just my take..

and we do all have one don't we..!

t

Colin Keyworth · Post by **Colin Keyworth** » 3 May 2005 2:14 pm

I mess about with settings quite a bit but the active bass boost on my guitar helps. Being aggressive in your playing helps i listened to a lot of Roy Buchanan and it rubbed off

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Sho-Bud LDGsp,levinson Blade,Peavey session 400 Limited,Boss GT-3

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 3 May 2005 3:13 pm

Something that you might also want to experiment with is the height adjustment of your bridge pickup. This can make a huge difference in your sound. My Teles are pretty much stock except for my Zion with 3 Bardens. I never ever play the bridge pup by itself yet I get tons of twang. It seems to me that when I try to adjust the amp so that I can use the bridge pup by itself, I lose the nice sound of both pups together, and the neck pup sounds too bassy. You just have to keep tryin' different things.
"Twang your magic twanger, Froggy!"[This message was edited by John Billings on 03 May 2005 at 04:14 PM.]

Al Carmichael · Post by **Al Carmichael** » 3 May 2005 8:40 pm

One thing I forgot to mention is that simple little knob called the tone control. With the bridge pickup only, it is often too trebly--but you don't want to change the high end setting of your amp because it makes the other pickup combinations sound too dull. So, the answer, for me, is to roll off a little bit of high end with the tone control when using the bridge pickup. If you mess with that, you will find a sweet spot--still plenty of highs, but less harsh. Most of the pure single coils and some of the hum canceling stacks benefit from this approach.

The Tele is unlike any other guitar to me. It makes you work it and sometimes fight it to get the tone you hear. Its part tone control, part amp and FX, part picking technique. But--when you get it dialed in, it will speak like no other guitar in the world.

My Dynacomp settings start with the output at about 2 o'clock and the sensitivity at 10 o'clock, so that parameter is about what you have dialed in. Since your Texas Specials are a bit overwound, you might back the sensitivity down a bit more. If the Dynacomp squashes out too much highs, you can try a different bridge pickup. The 52 Custom Shop Fender Nocaster pickup is supposed to be the epitome of single coil Tele tone, but YMMV. ANother compressor option is the Keely compressor. Supposed to be great, lets more highs through. Just some thoughts. Maybe you'll find what you are seeking without anything more.

Charles Turpin · Post by **Charles Turpin** » 5 May 2005 9:10 am

I think that Twang sound you are looking for maybe the original old sound that Buck Owens and Waylon was getting back in the 60s and 70s. There was a lot of things people did to there guitars back then that gave them that different sounds. One thing i still do is replace the third and second strings with Banjo strings when i put on a set. Don Rich that played with Buck back then did that i got to doing that and it realy makes for a different sound. ANother thing they did back then but i don't do anymore is to play what was known as a drop tuning. IN stead of tuning the original. E,B,G, D,A,E to 440 on a tuner you tuned the guitar to Eb,Bb,Gb,Db,Ab,Eb. Along with the banjo strings on the second and third string this gave the guitar a more lower tone to work with. They also dropped the string as close to the fret board to give it that rattle and bang song like a piano hitting the strings. These things working all together give you that low twangy sound you are looking for.
HEHHEHE a friend of mine once told me if you aint got a rattle in a tele you aint got a telecaster.

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Paul Honeycutt · Post by **Paul Honeycutt** » 15 May 2005 9:27 pm

In an interview with Roy Nichols he said that he backed of his tone knob then turned it back until it made a "wah" sound and left it there. On my guitar that's about 2/3 from full bass. I use several different amps, mostly a Fender Deluxe Reverb or Rivera S120-210. My starting point with a Fender preamp is Treble-7, Middle-7 & Bass-3 with the Reverb on 3. Jerry Donahue (Hellecasters) says that turnng up the middle control is the key to good Tele tone. YMMV.
I also play through a Vox AC-15, but it's more Tom Petty then Don Rich.
Twang on, brother!

Les Pierce · Post by **Les Pierce** » 16 May 2005 7:39 pm

I play a "Franken-Tele" that my Dad built. It has a standard Tele pickup at the bridge, and some kind of Humbuck at the neck. I play through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. The settings are as follows:

Treble 6 1/2
Bass 2
Middle 0
Reverb 3
Presence 6 1/2

I get a good Tele twang on the back pickup, I guess. However, the secret to getting that Tele sound is to pick hard. You have to snap those strings. Kind of half muting them, and half pulling them up and off.

Of course, you can play soft and pretty, too, but no "twang" that way. Tele's are a great guitar for just about anything, I think.

Les

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Strat,Tele
Dekley S-10

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 16 May 2005 9:17 pm

I agree with Buck, Al and Tony - a lot of it is in your hands, and if you want your electric tone to twang, your acoustic tone also needs to. Everything makes a difference, but listen with your ears and not your eyes or intellect.

Guitar setup is also key. Low action and generally lighter strings twang more easily for me, but I know players who do exactly the opposite and twang nicely. I generally find lighter Teles like lighter-gauge strings - I have a featherweight '62 Custom Tele Reissue that likes .009-.042, but my older Teles, more middlin' in weight, prefer .010-.046. 

Of course, if your acoustic tone is together, the wrong pickups can sabotage you. I definitely prefer the more vintage style, not-overwound, single-coil traditional Tele pickups for real twang. A single-space humbucker like a Barden or your Texas Specials do sound real good, but I think they naturally "sing" more easily than "twang". You may want to up your treble and cut back your mids just a bit more than 'typical' to compensate. I also agree, the tone control can be your friend for the reasons stated above. 

One other thing. On roughly 1967-1982 Teles, a 1000pF capacitor is soldered across the two left lugs of the volume control (looking from the back of it). With this filter, the guitar gets more trebly/twangy when you turn the volume control down. Some people use the 1000pF cap in parallel with a 150KOhm resistor here, it smooths that effect some. I always do this on a Tele that I really want to twang. 

I know this was your question, but amps/settings are very, very hard to generalize about, IMO. I generally prefer blackface/silverface Fenders, but most Fenders and many other amps can be adjusted to get "the tone". Compression can be useful, but it's easy to overdo it. Again, throw your preconceptions away and let your ears do the listening, and don't be afraid to really fiddle with the knobs. Hands, guitar+tweaks, and amp+settings all work together. This stuff is so subjective.... Lots of good ideas here.