Tele with Hot Rod Deluxe

[Royal Tele]

I play a homemade Warmoth-parts Telecaster... 2-piece alder body; fat maple neck; rosewood fretboard; body and rear of neck finished with Tru-Oil; Gotoh standard Tele bridge (flat, not ash tray; six individual saddles); bone nut; Lollar Special T pickup set; Sperzel locking tuners...

It goes through this signal chain:
BOSS TU-2 > stock Ibanez TS-9 > Fulltone OCDv4 > MXR 10-Band EQ > input on HRDlx (with T. C. Electronic's Nova Delay in the effects loop)

It wasn't too long ago that I sold a 2005 Les Paul to pay for the build project (which I am proud to say I do not regret at all--the Tele turned out to be more than I hoped it would). Anyway, I've played for many years, and I've become most familiar with setting up my gear with a nice tone for a thick mahogany-bodied guitar with humbuckers. I've fallen in love with Teles, and I've really enjoyed re-discovering how to get killer tones with my new guitar going through my rig. I really think I've found some sweet sounds, yet I'm still curious to hear from my fellow Tele-slingers about their methods for getting awesome tones from their Teles and other gear. I'm particularly interested if you play the same amp I do (Hot Rod Deluxe) and/or any of the same pedals I use (listed above). Call me a nerd, but I'll probably go home and try out anything I can that is submitted in response, whether you post something as general as, "I go for a tone with mostly MIDS and HIGHS and nuch much LOWS," or if you get as specific as sharing exactly where the knobs are on your amp/pedals in your favorite settings (this is what I'm hoping to see more of). I think there's a lot to learn about tone from listening to other players' tones or their thoughts/ideas on methods of acheiving good tone (yes, very subjective). I like to think I have some pretty good "formulas" for sweet tone with my gear, but I know without a doubt that there's more good tone to be had that I won't stumble upon by myself.

So, please share your "secrets", your "methods", even your "knob settings" if you will (seriously--the more specific, the better if you ask me). I'm curious and I bet most of you are too even if you haven't said so... I'd share my knob settings if I knew what they were but I'm still experimenting right now.

Thanks,
Eric

[Fret Wilkes]

Try this thread out...

Good luck on your tone quest!

Fret

Hot Rod Deluxe Settings...spicy!

[Royal Tele]

Thanks, Fret... I went and checked out that other thread. I hope everyone doesn't decide to come in here and rip me a new one for asking about their "settings". I too am a strong advocate of using your own ears to get the best tone you can. And I also think it's true that you will always sound like you, no matter what guitar or amp you play, because it's mostly in your hands. Additionally, like the original poster of that thread you referenced above, I find it interesting to hear and learn about other guys' methods or processes of acheiving the tones they like. For example, if it NEVER occurs to me to try running something a certain way then I'll never try it out. So sometimes I love hearing others' ideas because they spark those "eureka" moments in me. It's like "you don't know what you don't know" or "you're unaware of what you don't know about". Anyway, starting to ramble...

[Lascaster]

my signal chain is Tele > Hot Rod Deluxe as far as settings go, I dime everything except the volume, reverb and prscence. those i adjust as needed. I dont usually use the overdrive channel. I just turn up real loud. To me there is no better tone than straight guitar > amp. Nothing pisses me off more than having a digital jigger in my chain. Thats just me though

[Royal Tele]

That's not the first time I've heard of turning the BASS, MID, and TREBLE all the way up. I've never tried it before, but I'm gonna have to now. One of my best friends does that and swears by it. I'm with you on the purest signal possible from guitar to amp. But I can't get away from my overdrive pedals... :) Thanks!

[cousinpaul]

The only thing I'd change might be the TS9. It's a great pedal (I have two), but I don't think a tele needs that much help with the mids. I'm having better luck with a modded Boss BD2. The highs are sweeter and IMO, it sounds more like a cranked amp. I recently got to try out Paul C's Timmy and Tim pedals and liked those a lot too. The flatter EQ really seems to work for me.

[Bryan]

I play a tele thru a hrd...I just plug straight in-no pedals--sounds good to me--i play with the settings on the amp

[Jakester93]

I play my tele through a hot rod deville with no added effects. Settings are treble - 7.6, bass - 10, middle - almost 9, gain - a little past 3, like 3.2, and presence at a little past 4.
I play a 2006 standard telecaster, and i replaced the stock pickups with Fender CS texas specials. i love the tones i get.

[Okieactor]

I don't have any advice for you in terms of settings. But I do admire your gear. Very similar to what I hope to be running in 6 months. I'd agree with what somebody else said about leaving the computer doohickeys and multi-effects that look like a plastic kidney out of the equation as much as possible. Otherwise what's the point of having a tube amp? I'm liking the Boss Tuner pedal into the Ibanez distortion, into the deluxe or deville. Maybe with a crybaby or something added in at most. To me, when you see a guy setting up a big computerized board onstage, it says "cover band in a college bar" a little bit. It sounds to me like you're more old school, tele player who does stuff himself and plays through a tube amp.

A question about the Tru Oil: Did you have a hard time getting it to smooth out with sanding and have a "fast" feel to it? I've experimented with a $50 guitar neck, trying both Tru Oil and Tung oil, before making a final decision on my warmoth neck. I think I'm going with nitro because the tru oil just felt overly tacky and not fast for me, but maybe it's because I didn't give my test area the full treatment that I plan to on my Warmoth neck. But the tru oil is so much cheaper and requires less in terms of working area. What was your experience in finishing your neck with it?

Good luck to you with the new amp levels.

[Royal Tele]

Thanks, Okieactor. I guess I'd regard myself as having an "old-school" approach to my gear/sound as well. And I think you're right--what's the point in having a tube amp if you're going to put all kinds of digital crap in front of it? I've owned a Line 6 Flextone II 1x12 amp (the amp I had before then was a small, crappy Peavey solid state 1x8 practice amp, so the Flextone was gold to my ears then--and I was still a beginner). I've also played through PODs and a few different KORG multi-effects processors. They all have their own bells and whistles and stuff, but none of them sound as good and pure as a cranked tube amp. You just can't get the tube amp sound from anything but a tube amp. Later on, I had a big immaculate pedal board with lots of different OD/Distortion pedals, a couple of different delay/echo pedals and some modulation stuff too. That pedal board was almost as heavy as the amp! So I've tried to really down-size and I've had awesome tones come from the more simple setup! Much less crap for the signal to go through. And the only digital thing in my setup is the Nova Delay, and it is the most incredible delay/echo out there, in my opinion.

As far as the Tru-Oil goes... I had great results with it. The key is to apply VERY thin coats. It's faster drying than just about everything out there. But you still want to give it 30 minutes to an hour between coats if you can. And keep those coats THIN. Did I mention keeping the coats THIN? Then you just need to build them up until they start to create a glossy sheen on the neck and harden up (and you don't see/feel "grain" anymore). Once I felt like I had enough built up, and I was done, I took some 2000-grit sandpaper to it very softly to smooth it all out (the "bumps" and "tackiness" on it will disappear too). Then apply generous amounts of 3M Finesse-It II and polish and buff the heck out of it. I'd go that route before going with nitro... Nitro has been a big pain in the rear for me. And if there's even the slightest bit of oil in/on the wood from your skin or other sources when you begin applying the nitro, then you're going to get a lot of "fish eye" on there, and there's no getting rid of it (in my experience).

Good luck!

[garytelecastor]

I play a tele through an HRD and I now love it.
Check out this site:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT
The mods that are listed here turn this amp into a whole new machine. Everyone in my band was shocked at the tone after I had these done. Takes about 2 hours and the vendor supples written and pictorial directions. I am not kidding about this. These mods have totally gotten rid of the standard complaints of an HRD.
CHECK IT OUT.
I A/B'd this with my RI twin and it is actually as good if not better in tone. My tech kept asking me why Fender doesn't just do these at the factory.
I also use a TS-9. My settings change from room to room but right now I have the tone on 9 oclock, Level on 11 oclock, and drive on 3 oclock. I also use a TS-10 for an overdrive boost. Drive on 5 oclock, Tone on 8 oclock; and Level on 11 oclock. When the two combine I get some real sweet feedback.
I use a Hardwire DL-8 for delay, but it is on my board. I use the efx loop for my TR-2.
The settings for the delay are Level at 11 oclock; Repeats at 11 oclock, time at 1 oclock and I am on the analog setting.
Remember that the faster the picking the less level you need on your delay. Keeping the delay up while chicken picking can make you sound like mush.
I also use a Carl Martin Compressor. Threshold at 11 oclock; Compression, Response, and Level at 1 oclock.
My amp settings are, again, dependent on room but here is what I use the most:
Channel 1 input
Volume= 2.5-3
Treble= 9
Bass = 10
Middle = 5 (experiment here)
Reverb = 4
Presence = 9

Again, DO THOSE MODS, you will absolutely love them.
I am working again this weekend, and I'll let you know if I change anything. I do have my amp miked in live situations.

My main guitar is a MIJ tele and I have a Bill Lawrence 70's neck pickup and a Seymour Duncan 5/2 in the bridge. I would suggest trying the SD Alnico 2. Talk to Forrest Lee about tone. He is a member here and will answer your emails.
This guy is unbelieveable and he will do all he can to help.
Let me know if I can help you anymore.