The Steel Guitar Forum

Exactly what is it that gives an old telecaster it's great bite?Is it pick-ups,pots or switch or all three?What can I do to my made in Mexico telly to get more bite?I can't buy an old one,they cost to much.

1) Do the strings go through the body? I believe that this is a major part of the sound.

2) Does the bridge pickup have a metal plate on the bottom of it?

3) Put on some new strings. This will make any guitar sound better.


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Artie McEwan

This may be useless information for you, but I, too, own a Mexican-made Telecaster. New strings will do it justice, but I invested in a new amplifier (Fender Princeton 65 DSP with a big 12" speaker), and that made a world of difference. I can relate to being forced to settle for whatever my income will allow for, and I can appreciate that fact that small tips like that can be helpful. I look forward to reading other posts concerning this topic. GOOD LUCK!

Your truly,
Tay Joslin

Mine is a MIM too..I scraped the last 1/8th in.off of the wiper on the tone pot,so it would be out of the circuit when cranked.I also installed a 4 way switch,that helps.
But it's still mostly in playing technique. PJ

I should have said mine is the deluxe model with 3 pick-ups and a 5 position switch,I've had it for several years and went through many sets of strings.I have a fender stage 112 amp.Oh,it is a string thru body.

you may spend a bunch of money here with no success.

The closest thing to it is a 52 RI and even they are not exact, but they are closer.

The wire used in the PUPS, the wood, the bridge, the saddles , electronics , the whole deal..

The Mexican made Tele which is similar is the 50's classics..

The Guitar you have I believe is called the Nashville Tele. You may want to try a QUALITY vintage PUP in the bridge and see if that helps as all...

IF you can find an 82 thru 89 / 52 RI you will come across about the closest thing to one of the early Tele's as possible. I don't really know what they did in the 90's but the guitars were not consistent at all.

have fun

t<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 26 June 2006 at 01:42 PM.]</p></FONT>

Change the P/U's to the TEX-MEX with a center strat Tex-MEX P/U go to a 1Meg volume pot. If money is a reason just change the pot and see the difference right away. The P/U's will make it a lot hotter.

The answer is simple, go to this really big building downtown where they keep all the money and tell them you want a loan to buy an American Telecaster. You will improve the bite you are looking for in your sound, you will employ a US Worker, who will have enough money to pay for a ticket to come out and hear you play on your great sounding US Made Telecaster.

Next question please. P.S. Cut the neck into on your Mexican Tele so someone else won't get stuck with it and have the same problem you are having with it.

Try a set of Seymour Duncan Vintage Stacks.
STK-T3B for lead and a STK-T1N for rhythum.
Twang to the bone and no 60 cycle hum....
oh, and a Fender Twin couldn't hurt!

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72 Professional 8&5,73 PRO II 8&4, 79/80 PRO III 8&4,Fender Steelking, Hilton pedal, USA Tele, Fender Twin,Peterson tuner,Tut Taylor Reso's and Twang to the Bone!!

"buy an American Telecaster"

I've had some guys tell me that are much better guitarists than I'll ever be that if you want to get a contemporary version of a Tele that's a lot closer to Leo's originals from the 50's - buy a G & L version of a Tele (the ASAT) and forget about Fender all together.

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Mark
<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 26 June 2006 at 06:11 PM.]</p></FONT>

Play it real snappy and with conviction,it will "bite" just fine. Dont use really light strings. Put some relief in the neck so it can breathe. Use 3 saddles.Get a fender tube amp. Get rid of any effects. If these are not realistic options just play it real snappy and with conviction and it will "bite" just fine.

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Got Twang ?

Mark

Thanks for all the info guys.I'll try another pick-up,if that don't help guess I'll do some swappin'.Gary

Check out Jason Lollar for pickups, he makes some great ones. One thing you might consider is raising the action. If the action is too low you lose a bit in terms of "spankiness" and tone.

Bring your tele to the best guitar tech in town and get the guitar set up properly, with some nice workable action. There is a lot of technique behind a biting sound. However, the action can be set properly to make this kind of sound easier to obtain. I recently had the neck set on my tele, and the feel is now a lot more conductive to pull-offs and double stops. There's nothing like a good tech to bring life back to an instrument.

I should mention that I have a Lindy Fralin rewind in my bridge, and it sounds really hot. A great bridge pickup does account for some of that hot tele picking you hear live and on recordings.

The Teles with the lightest bodies and stout necks w/maple fingerboards and big frets always have more spank no matter where they're made or what brand they are. Good pickups help(no humbuckers allowed)but don't get them too hot or it will bulk up the tone and it will sound like P-90s on a Les Paul Junior instead of a Tele. For aftermarket,I like an SD Duckbucker in neck position and something close to stock in bridge position.You don't need 3 pickups - then the Tele becomes a hardtail Strat. Play it thru a blackface Fender tube amp like a Deluxe,Tremolux,Super or Twin. G&L ASATs are definately better made than any Fender and sound just like Teles if you get a lightweight one like the semi-hollow one w/one F-hole - otherwise heavier swamp ash ASATs can get a little hi-fi(which I like)compared to the classic Don Rich chicken tone.YMMV

Try picking harder...like you're mad at it.

Tube amp (Fender Twin) and my choice is the Kinman Broadcaster pickups. Oh, and get a high dollar cord like a George L which a lot of guys seem to like or Planet Waves, Monster...whatever you can get a hold of.
Maybe try a nice aftermarket maple neck.
If your Tele does not have an Alder body, or the real light swamp ash, consider getting one.

Little things make a difference as well as the big ones. I really like the idea of getting a loan at the bank and just get the best you can afford. If none of this works...get a Les Paul Custom.

Good luck on the endless quest for tone...

A good compressor and a slapback delay can help.

But ultimately, and not to be a smart a$$, but the tone is in you hands.

Michael writes;

The Teles with the lightest bodies and stout necks w/maple fingerboards and big frets always have more spank no matter where they're made or what brand they are. Good pickups help(no humbuckers allowed)but don't get them too hot or it will bulk up the tone.
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And I think he is totally correct...

I mentioned above the 82 thru 89 /52 RI's as those guitars are light, have very slick maple necks (7.5 round not V ) with medium jumbo's and not so HOT pups..

whatever the formula was for that series at that time was excellent..

I would only comment that I string up with 9's, and I would argue the case with anyone about whether the guitar can kick butt with 9's...

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TPrior
TPrior Steel Guitar Homesite
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I'm finding that the height of the frets makes a difference to my ears.
New guitars I've bought always seem to have more definition and musical harmonics till the frets get worn.
It makes some sense since the frets are really acting as a nut and the down angle behind the nut is important.

Features common to original 50's Teles, custom shop Nocasters, 52' RI models, and 50's Classic models made in Corona, Mexico...

ash body
maple neck, small radius fingerboard
three heavy bridge saddles, brass or steel
250K vol & tone pots
simplest circuitry, no added resistors & etc.
strings thru body, 4-bolt neck, etc.
single coil pickups, not heavily overwound

These things all provide the best vintage Tele twang, IMHO.

Don't let anybody tell you that the 3-saddle bridges won't intonate. You can bend the length adjustment screws slightly (old-school) or purchase ready-made compensated s saddles where the length adjustment hole is drilled at an angle to compensate for string gages (hi-tech). I like the brass saddles better, some guys like grooved or threaded steel for even more bite.

Deviations from this checklist can make your Tele more versatile for gigging, but may also subtract from the basic twang equation. Also, to reinforce what Mark said, it's important to play it loud and proud!<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by D Schubert on 28 June 2006 at 08:59 AM.]</p></FONT>

Gotta love Em'!!

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72 Professional 8&5,73 PRO II 8&4, 79/80 PRO III 8&4,Fender Steelking, Hilton pedal, USA Tele, Fender Twin,Peterson tuner,Tut Taylor Reso's and Twang to the Bone!!

it'll never sell..

it's all a marketing ploy...

t

Iin the upper right hand corner did they black out "Broadcaster" and print "Telecaster" above the line?

I have been playing Telecasters since I was 10 years old. The one I have now is a stock 1997 American Standard with the factory installed Parsons/Green B-bender in it. I bought it New. I use Rotosound guitar strings 10 to 46. I play it through a Line 6 Flextone II 112. I got MEGA Bite! If you are in the first 3 rows of tables, my rig has the ability to chew your head off and twang you through the roof. I often get Tele players, Strat players, even the occasional Les Paul guy to come up and compliment me on my tone.

I have taken my guitar to jam sessions played it and let other players play it through their amps and effects and always get the same results. IT SOUNDS GREAT LIKE A TELE SHOULD.

In My Honest Opinion, You get what you pay for. If you want $400 worth of tone buy MIM. A couple hundred dollars worth of pick ups is not going to help that much. If you want $1200 worth of tone and be done with it, buy MADE IN USA.

And in the words of Forrest Gump, "Thayat's Awl I Have To Sayee About Thayat!




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Clark Custom D10 8&5
Fender Steel King
B-bender Telecaster
Line 6 Flextone II Plus
www.jimwalkeronline.com
My Space

My '68 tele has a lot of snap & pop. I don't know why, but I suspect it's a combination of the pickups, the old 3-barrel Saddles, and of course "strings through body".

I love the way the tone control goes instantly from all-bass to all-treble. That's great for the boo-wah effect. I play this guitar and my '94 tele on a lot of gigs (and my '76 Emmons PSG too!)

The '94 tele has slightly more sustain than the '68, but not as much bite.

<img width=660 src="http://www.playsteelguitar.com/68tele33.jpg">

<img width=660 src="http://www.playsteelguitar.com/68tele11.jpg">
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<font size=-1>My Site | My SteelTab</font><font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 02 July 2006 at 10:37 PM.]</p></FONT>