NGD: After 30+ years, my first tele

Everyone should have a good tele in their line-up. I have 2 currently and one currently being built for me. They have their own type of aggression, cut and clarity for high gain that no other pickups can do the same way

For pickups the clear best to me has been actual vintage ones (I have 2 early ‘60’s pre-cbs ones), but after that is easily the Tone Specific ‘50 Deluxe set, which is on imo another level (or 2) to the Fralin or Lollar pickups. I prefer it also to the Virgil Arlo set I had

I also really like the ‘80’s Bill Lawrence and Schaller’s, which are stacked ceramic hb’s, but one of my Bill Lawrence Tele pickups is more like a traditional Tele pickup with the signature Bill Lawrence flavor (mainly the pronounced midrange quality they have). I will say I find with Tele or P90’s not as many pickups get them right
 
I guess I'll throw my tele out as well.
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Jimmy Page recorded all the electric guitar parts on Led Zeppelin 1 with a 1959 Telecaster, except for a Gibson Flying V on "You Shook Me".

(This link will take you to the playlist of all 9 tracks)

This show is all Telecaster. Jimmy bought his Les Paul from Joe Walsh a month later.



This video is amazing. Watching Page work his magic with the Tele is pretty cool.

 
scottosan said:
I’m a sucker for relics and I needed an excuse to buy another guitar :D

I like the neck on this one. Meaty frets, and a comfy carve. I don’t know the radius but I’m assuming it’s a bit smaller than my preferred 12”. The body seems very light as well. I was really surprised how fat and good a tele can sound under gain, although the bridge pickup isn’t potted.


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That thang is beautiful!

These videos might be of interest.







 
I'm thinking of doing a traditional tele for myself. I'm torn between swamp ash and alder for the body wood though. It will have a 1 pc maple neck. I don't normally like swamp ash but it might be right for a tele and I will go on the more traditional side with pickups too. Any recommendations on swamp ash over alder or vice versa? Thanks
 
That dull and weak sound is just the traditional tele neck pickup sound but there are plenty of other options out there these days. I have the twisted tele set in one of my teles and I like it a lot. The bridge pickup is hot but still sounds like a tele, and the neck pickup is more open and bright than a traditional one.

I’ve also got one with the fatpups Freedom ‘55 set that I like a lot. Bridge pickup has that really good midrangey twang and the neck pickup, like the twisted tele, is more open and bright, although they don’t sound the same.
 
Got to the root of the mud. traditionally, tele neck pickups are 43awg wire in the neck and 42awg in the bridge.

The tele neck is supposed to be 0.47” tall. The stock bobbin was only 0.40 which is 15% shorter. Additionally, the bobbin wasn’t very full. On a stock tele, the bobbin should be pretty full. So, considering the 15% reduction in size along with much of the bobbin being unfilled, tells me that the cheap pickup someone threw in this likely had either 44awg or 45awg wire in it to get a resistance of 7.8k. Furthermore, the magnet rods protruded about 2/32 above the bobbin instead of being flush. All of this mean it was a weak pickup with a poor resistance to inductance ratio and a poor coil location, as it sat lower than normal. If the rods were flush I could have raised the coil another 2/32.

I rewound it with 43awg plain enamel per original spec, but came up about 1000 winds short due to filling up the small size. That said, it sound infinitely better.

My fralins come in today, and flatwork to make some legit winds myself will be in Monday.
 
I’m in the same situation Scott. Finally traded for a tele and played one for the first time in almost 30 years. Only problem is it’s not really a tele. Dual humbucker Jim root model. I have one of your sunset strips in the bridge now. Mahogany body…it chuggs.
 
Chubtone said:
I'm thinking of doing a traditional tele for myself. I'm torn between swamp ash and alder for the body wood though. It will have a 1 pc maple neck. I don't normally like swamp ash but it might be right for a tele and I will go on the more traditional side with pickups too. Any recommendations on swamp ash over alder or vice versa? Thanks
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If I was going for a traditional Tele, I'd go with swamp ash.
 
Chubtone said:
I'm thinking of doing a traditional tele for myself. I'm torn between swamp ash and alder for the body wood though. It will have a 1 pc maple neck. I don't normally like swamp ash but it might be right for a tele and I will go on the more traditional side with pickups too. Any recommendations on swamp ash over alder or vice versa? Thanks
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JohnnyGtar said:
If I was going for a traditional Tele, I'd go with swamp ash.
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If I were to build one from scratch, I think I’d do ash as well. I’m not even sure what mine is. It’s a light weight mystery wood,LoL.

I love the high gain tone from this ash CS one

 
scottosan said:
Got the Fralins installed. They are great in this guitar, so much that I can’t put it down. I get it now why people say how versatile teles are. I always rolled my eyes before. i get it now
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Haha. I hear you man and congrats. I got my first tele about 7 years ago...they are rock and roll monsters and super versatile and simple. Love them with high gain too. Glad to hear you like the Fralins, Lindy makes great stuff. Congrats again.
 
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