Who was the first player to influence you on the Telecaster

For me it was the guy in the video below. I've had many influences on the Tele since but he was the first and biggest. And I'm talking about the lead guitar player not the singer.

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Keef. For the Tele...Absolutely. Keef was the first.

Keef. For the Tele...Absolutely. Keef was the first.

Yes he was an influence for me but not quite as much because he played a Tele Keef played lots of different guitars. I've never seen Ray with anything but a Tele and to me was the first that I took notice in that super country picken style that is carried on by the likes of Brent Mason, Brad Paisly Redd etc. There were others that certainly came before Ray Flack but he's the first I noticed.

Peter Waltz....

+1 for Keef R. When and where I grew up the Tele was not in style. But when KR started playing them regularly I noticed.

Believe it or not...Paul McCartney.

The picture of him with a sunburst tele on the inside of the 'McCartney' solo album sleeve really made an impression on me when I was a kid, and there are plenty of good guitar licks on it as well, some played on that guitar....obviously. Had a lot to do with me getting into playing guitar.

My first recollection of learning what a Tele was came form an article on Roy Buchanan in some guitar magazine in the late '70's/early '80's. He was on the cover with his Tele, and I was intrigued by its "primitiveness" and simplicity. I dove into the article, and after reading it, I have always equated his skill and mystique with that Blackguard Tele. Since then, rightly or wrongly, I have associated Telecasters in other contexts with excellence, taste and reverence for great playing. Clearly, I still do.

Whenever I see a guitar player break out a Tele, I initially presume that he is going to be a cut above the rest. They usually have been. It seems like many players who choose Teles are really into playing above all other showmanship and/or fanfare. I like lots of different guitars, but there is nothing like a Telecaster.

Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys was the first Tele-player I ever listened to. I love his music!! (even though he doesn't play the Tele as much these days).

One more for Keef. Used to play his way, but the tele made me play differently over the years. I blame the guitar!
Actually, I used to think that a tele was one of the ugliest guitars out there. Now, I revel in its simplicity.
Of all the popular timeless guitars out there, the tele is probably the hardest to play. You've really got to learn how to coax sustain, vibrato, and tone out of it. But as we all know, once you do, it's a thing of beauty!

James Burton in "A Black and White Night."

brad paisley after watching his 5th gear concert on cmt. i gained a whole new respect for him and what the tele can do in the right hands. up to that i had written it off as the stereotypical country guitar, and while it may largely be that, it can also be much more if you can work the strings.

Andy Summers first. Joe Strummer later (after I realized I was never going to play as well as Andy).

One more for Keef. Used to play his way, but the tele made me play differently over the years. I blame the guitar!
Actually, I used to think that a tele was one of the ugliest guitars out there. Now, I revel in its simplicity.
Of all the popular timeless guitars out there, the tele is probably the hardest to play. You've really got to learn how to coax sustain, vibrato, and tone out of it. But as we all know, once you do, it's a thing of beauty!

Its funny I've heard others comment on the ugliness of the Telecaster. I think its the nicest looking guitar ever made and every time I see one it turns my head like good looking girls turn the heads of most of us men.
As for being harder than other guitars to play, I guess because its the first electric I picked up I don't find it harder than other types. I find strats and les pauls harder to feel comfortable on. I don't even like the teles with the contoured shapes on the body for supposed comfort.

i used to think teles were ugly as sin, but then i started to realize that they have very beautiful qualities about them even in spite of the small headstock and single cut. i think the looks thing is just preference, as is the playability factor. i love fixed bridges and the tele has the best fixed bridge around. if i could find a 22 or 24 fret tele i would be in heaven as both of my "real" teles are 21 fret and unless you play Eb tuned stuff on it in standard tuning you end up limited in that sense.

Who made me see the tele as a nice capable guitar instead of simplistic, outdated, country prop? My guitar teacher. Now I don't want to play anything else. Sold my strat. etc.

Buck Owens and Don Rich

Joe Strummer. Though it's not like he really "played" it the way other tele players do, mostly he just bashed on the thing, but I loved what the Clash were and I loved their sound and to me that telecaster is what made it happen.

Keith and Clarence. Martin Carthy also played a Tele with Steeleye Span but I didn't know it was a Tele until later.

Springsteen - 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'. That tone! Plus, when I was a little kid I had a poster of him playing live and I'd just stare at that Tele (not really even knowing what a Tele was at the time). Way cool.

i didn't get influenced by telecaster players until after i bought one, really. I bought one when i was 17, because i wanted an american made strat. or so i thought. ended up not liking any of the strats, but falling in love with a tele...

fast forward 10 years, and i discover this place, and soon i'm listening to all kinds of tele players i had never heard of!

This thread inspired me to listen to some Roy Buchanan on youtube as I've never really took the time to listen to his playing. Definitely see what the hype about this guy. Phenomenal playing. But I'll probably get flamed for saying but I have to say I'm not liking his tone that much. At least on the live cuts I watched. The clips seem like fairly good audio quality but you never know I guess. Its a tone reminiscent of Danny Gatton. Who is another player I love the playing but don't like the tone.

No one. I got tired of all the guitar options and the Esquire seemed like a fundamentally sound guitar. I'm in an extreme less is more stage in life.

I've only been playing a Tele for a little over a year. The first influence was probably Billy Gibbons. Lately, I'd say Jim Campilongo & Jim Weider.

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That's some great, almost jazzy playing. And what's up with Skag's mini-Tele? :mrgreen:

Definitely Buck and Don. The Buckaroos, and that whole Bakersfield zeitgeist blew me away as a children. Sparkly guitars ftw.

Oddly, Jimmy Page. Before he was into Les Pauls.

But I think I bought my first one not so much because I saw who was playing them, but because I just liked how it sounded and felt. It was after I bought it that I really began to see who all played teles regularly.

Mick Green was the first guy that made me want a Tele. Several others followed.

Seeing THIS performance in person by Bruce Springsteen back in my college days. Went home that year for Christmas break, scraped up every damn cent I had and went to a shop in Red Bank, NJ called the Guitar Trader, pointed to a '74 Tele on the wall and haven't looked back. I remember the shop owner asked me how long I had been playing and I defiantly responded that "I know a G chord." His next question was cash, check or charge?

4iIweNHqALY

Jim Messina on the early Loggins & Messina and Poco recordings.. I remember hearing that opening lick on Angry Eyes (and being a Les Paul w/Marshall kinda guy at the time) thinking.. "Wow! what kinda guitar is that???" Oh yeah... the opening guitar lick on "You Better Think Twice" by Poco.. another "what the???" moment...although I'm not positive he played a Tele on that one, it sure sounds like one.

Keef and Joe.

(Joe is a way underrated rthym player. Very simple but effective. Outright "King of the Barre Chord.")

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My brother on his 69 Thinline.

Yep, Keef ... and then, when I learned that Page had played all that early Zep stuff on a Tele, Richards and Page.

mud

Waylon...that tele covered in leather...man that was something else!

Luther Perkins.

Don Rich!
Kieth Richards.

Tidepoolbay

John5. I grew up with Metal - what can I say? He's not so much an influence in the traditional sense but he turned my thinking (Tele's are plain and boring) around on what a Tele can do.

Albert Lee on Luxury Liner made me think that I needed to play a Tele sometime.

Waylon! Dukes of Hazzard into got in my blood!

"She dont understand, they keep showin my hands and not my face on TV"

[QUOTE=golfnut;1741759]Its funny I've heard others comment on the ugliness of the Telecaster. I think its the nicest looking guitar ever made and every time I see one it turns my head like good looking girls turn the heads of most of us men.



amen brother



start with the neck it just looks so nice ... those curves



unzipping gig bag
"simply irresistable"

brewws


brewws

I go through phases, but I remember Albert Collins demonstrating to me that you can play the blues on a Tele.

Teenie Hodges

Keef,

it were Keef wot we saw playing it,

that made us aware that other guys used them too. Steve Cropper probably needs a mention but we couldn't see him.

Terry Kath.

Later, Andy Summers.

I'm shocked nobody said G.E. Smith !:shock:

i didn't get influenced by telecaster players until after i bought one, really.

That's sort of my situation, too. I was influenced by the GUITAR, rather than the PLAYERS -- and even then, not until I owned one.

It was after I had one in my paws for a period that I started noticing how much music I like was actually Tele-generated.

Even now, I'm not so much influenced by players, stylistically. When I hear a Tele record, or watch a Tele clip on YouTube, I'm intensely focusing on the tonal quality. I like hearing how people use Teles differently, in different styles of music: twangy, smooth, clanky, chimey, grinding...

Roy Buchanan, without question. Warner Theatre, Erie, PA, sometime around 1978.

Er... A lot of players I like played Teles but that's never made me want any guitars. I play stuff because I like it, not because someone else does :s

That being said, Brad Paisley's tone is really what made me want a Telecaster above other guitars, if you see what I mean. But I wanted one before just because I didn't have one.

Er... A lot of players I like played Teles but that's never made me want any guitars. I play stuff because I like it, not because someone else does :s

That being said, Brad Paisley's tone is really what made me want a Telecaster above other guitars, if you see what I mean. But I wanted one before just because I didn't have one.

The original question wasn't who influenced you to buy a Telecaster. When I bought my first Telecaster its because someone wanted me to join a band. I had played bluegrass only acoustic up till then and knew nothing about electrics. So I went in to a music store and really randomly picked an american Fender Telecaster. I figured it was as good as any and I liked the looks best. It was a couple of years after that I started to take notice of other players and what they played. The question was who influenced you on the Telecaster? You may or may not have already had one.

The first was Robbie Robertson, back when he used a Tele, which was something like 1959-1972 or so. It was hit tone on the Rock of Ages show, a blonde Tele with a humbucker in the neck position. Up until then, my only electric was a cheapo Ventura... with a DiMarzio in the lead position!

After hearing the Tele, I went down to Ray's and got a brand new Tele. I had a Peavey Musician (ugh) with a home-built speaker cab, and traded the Musician for a Music Man 210-65, which I played for several years.

Then I heard Roy Buchanan...

Keef. For the Tele...Absolutely. Keef was the first.

After giving it some thought, I have to agree. I remember as a kid seeing a pic of Keef with a cig drooping out of his mouth strumming away on Micawber. I think that may well be where my Tele love began.

Later on as I went through my Punk/New Wave phase, Will Sergeant of Echo & the Bunnymen and Daniel Ash of Bauhaus both sported black Teles. That helped things along as well.

I remember before I ever owned a Tele (or even a nice guitar by that point) I had a little scrapbook where I kept pictures of Telecasters and people playing them. Seriously.

Dan Baird. He was a big influence on me when I was gigging. There is some really heartfelt stuff in Dan's music...

Some stuff I love:

All Over But The Cryin'
Second Chance
Two For Tuesday
Runnin' Outa Time
6 Years Gone
And so many more...

Just good roots music with Dan twangin' in there!

Keef, of course.
Dave Faulkner (The Hoodoo Gurus).
Marty Stuart.
Can't deny Bruce either.
Arlen Roth just blows me away

But it was Keef first.

Believe it or not...Paul McCartney.

The picture of him with a sunburst tele on the inside of the 'McCartney' solo album sleeve really made an impression on me when I was a kid, and there are plenty of good guitar licks on it as well, some played on that guitar....obviously. Had a lot to do with me getting into playing guitar.

YES! I loved that album. One of the first I ever bought! Also, George playing his rosewood on the roof concert. It was around that time that I played my first Esquire! :lol:

Who made me see the tele as a nice capable guitar instead of simplistic, outdated, country prop? My guitar teacher. Now I don't want to play anything else. Sold my strat. etc.

Same here, John Candilario (broke my heart the day he died)

James Burton on "Hello Mary Lou" (Ricky Nelson 1961)

Steve Cropper on "Green Onions" 1962 (though it was actually an Esquire)

Somewhat later on, players like Robbie Robertson, Mike Bloomfield and not least Roy Buchanen have influenced me a lot.

Live, it would have to be Albert Lee. When I first moved to London in the late sixties, there was a circuit of pubs where country bands would play, and I used to get to one or two near where I lived. Albert's band "Country Fever" used to play regularly, and I'm sure that Ray Flacke used to play in one of the other regular bands.

As for recording/TV it would have to be Roy Buchanan, who had a minor hit in the UK with "Sweet Dreams" and I remember watching his performance on a music show in the early seventies. I think possibly "Top of the Pops!"

I was never really a Telecaster fan until fairly recently. I did however, really admire the tone and sound of Jeff Buckley on his telecaster. I also admired Graham Coxon and what he did with his telecasters. When I was looking for a change of guitar I went for a Telecaster...and whilst looking around came across Jim Campilongo...and wow what a sound he gets out of his. Now I own two Telecasters!

Aren't we forgetting someone???

JOHNNY GREENWOOD FROM RADIOHEAD!

Aren't we forgetting someone???

JOHNNY GREENWOOD FROM RADIOHEAD!

Yeah! Good shout!

Andy Summers, later Johnny Greenwood

Jimmy f'in Page was THE reason I decided to get a tele.

I don't know if Mike Campbell's been mentioned, but seeing him with his candy apple red 3-humbucker Tele definitely made an impression on me too. What a Class A musician.

+1 Jonny Greenwood

In the beginning 'twas Keef, these days Jonny Greenwood.

Eugene Moles.


...and all the various guitar players my dad had through the years. Gawking at them three nights a week was nothing short of serious inspiration.

Arlen Roth really got me stuck on Tele's.

Without a doubt, Steve Cropper was the first player that made me aware of the Telecaster, and remains a big influence.

Next was probably Mike Bloomfield on the first Butterfield album, with the tele pic on the back, and Albert Collins a little after.

Didn't pay much attention and wasn't exposed much to the country giants when I was a kid, later came to appreciate them of course.

Jeff Beck on the Yardbirds "Having a Rave Up" album. Well, it actually was an Esquire but it looked like a Tele to me.

Jeff Beck on the Yardbirds "Having a Rave Up" album. Well, it actually was an Esquire but it looked like a Tele to me.

He played a tele on 'Heart Full of Soul'....the one he later gave to Jimmy Page (the early Led Zep tele).

I had to sit down and really think about this one...but have to say the answer's Billy Gibbons and Keef too.
The Tele just wasn't all that popular in the 60's and 70's in rock music. Then add to the fact I wasn't really dialed into any guitar but the LP and Strat myself. Some music I was influenced by was being played on a tele and I didnt know it, like most of Steely Dans solos from Skunk and denny. George H. with the Beatles was reputed to play one, but I never saw him with one until way later because they didn't play live much if at all.
I would say in order 1. 70's Keef/ Bill Gibbons 2. 80's Jeff Beck/ Roy B./ B. Springtseen. In the early to mid 80's there was a short lived country revival in Seattle and I used to go out and watch live country bands play. There was a bar near my house who's house band had a killer player with a butterscotch Tele that just influenced the heck outta me - prolly more than any single player. How funny too - I don't even know his name. But he could do it all...slide...chicken pickin, twang for days etc and to this day one of my guitar heroes. I wonder what ever happened to him..... He played with a band called something like Sherry and the Blue Mariah band. I'm not sure if the "Sherry" part is right, but it was some girl's name and for sure "The Blue Mariah Band". I wouldnt doubt it if that guy is a person on this site somewhere.
When I finally concentrated on the Tele it was the the new millennium and I got me a 52RI because I was migrating into more country music because of my fascination with chicken pickin. I'm now somewhere between a chickin picker and a straight on blues player.....but also love blues rock ala ZZ TOP Fandango Album as I was weaned on it, and the Allman Brothers too - when developing my love of guitar.

Steve Cropper all the way for me : first class, IMO, when it comes to the Tele sound. Albert Collins impressed me very much too.

Big Jim Sullivan.

I bought my first good guitar, a 1969 Tele, when I was in 9th grade, after one year of playing the guitar, and shortly after started watching Big Jim Sullivan on The Tom Jones Show. On every show he had a featured spot where he played a Tele that looked exactly like the one I had (blonde, maple neck). I remember being thrilled at the sounds he got out of it--and spending a lot of time wondering why I wasn't getting the same sounds he was getting :-}.

Jonny Greenwood was the first guitarist that made me want a Tele.

If Jonny can make 90% of all the insane sounds he makes from one guitar, it's certainly good enough for me.

i distinctly remember this guitar..... tone


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzt1iA2D_Kg

those wonderful picking qualities

now we have youtube and you can watch and weep

brewws

"Springsteen - 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'. That tone!"

Have to agree. I'd admired alot of other players but that was the first time I fell in love with a tone.

Roy Buchanan, without question. Warner Theatre, Erie, PA, sometime around 1978.

I'd listened to a lot of players who happened to play a tele (and they were great and probably influenced me a lot) before hearing Roy, but he was definitely the first who influenced me not only because he was a phenomenal player but also because of the particular instrument he played.

roy was my first tele hero also, garybobb

and our guitar player (I played bass) idolized Roy, to the extent of playing duplicates of his tele and amp (A Magnatone tube amp).
The parts-Tele I own now is my 4th, and I wish I had never sold any of them.

mark

Keef,Cropper and Muddy Waters.

The first player who really attracted me to the Tele is Pete Townsend back when he played Schecters. Playingwise, I love Muddy, Keef, and Jimmy on Led Zep I.

I wasn't drawn to the Telecaster by a particular player, since I basically got my Tele by a lucky bid on ebay, never having been interested much in them before.

But a few of my favorite guitarists play Teles, like Andy Summers, Steve Cropper and Keith Richards.

Once I got my Tele I was immediately smitten and have paid more attention to Tele players as a result. My mind has been opened to players such as Don Rich, Brad Paisley, Roy Buchanan, Clarence White and Roy Nichols.

Waylon.

another one for brad paisley. when i first heard him 10 years ago i knew i would end up playing tele's (soon as i could afford one). since then he got me into buck owens, albert lee, james burton, brent mason. since then i got a LP junior just for the variety but i always start with my teles!

Keef!
NH5gfO5UFEE
When I started playing guitar 20 years ago, it was the peak of hair metal, Charvel/Jackson, Floyd Roses, etc. I couldn't play any of that stuff, but I could play songs by the Stones, and I wanted a Tele cause Keith played one, and it seemed like such a perfect rock n roll rhythm instrument-no frills, just a hunk of wood, a big beefy neck, and two pickups. I still have that one (see avatar), and still love Teles.

Keef, Roy B & MOSTLY Chicago Transit Authoritys' Terry Kath. Man, what a talent!

Jim Mesina another good one........

Dave Faulkner (The Hoodoo Gurus)

Stoneage Romeos and Mars Needs Guitars were on heavy rotation in my house for a looooooooooooong time.

Also:
Syd's Pink Floyd
That Petrol Emotion
Bauhaus
The Police

Hard to say. I picked out a Tele for my 9th? birthday back in like '85...I didn't know squat about the "Tele" style, I just liked the look of the guitar....but I come from a family of musicians, so I was exposed to Buck Owens on TV as a kid...maybe that was it....or maybe it was Waylon during the intro to the Dukes of Hazzard....maybe it was Steve Cropper from the Blues Bros, or watching footage of him backing Otis....whatever it was, it was subconscious, but it's also for life.....

Keith Richards & Bruce Springsteen.
What else ?

Graham Coxon of Blur. Listen to Charmless Man and Tender, lotta good tele twang and zip in there.

Seeing THIS performance in person by Bruce Springsteen back in my college days. Went home that year for Christmas break, scraped up every damn cent I had and went to a shop in Red Bank, NJ called the Guitar Trader, pointed to a '74 Tele on the wall and haven't looked back. I remember the shop owner asked me how long I had been playing and I defiantly responded that "I know a G chord." His next question was cash, check or charge?

4iIweNHqALY

that was a kick A$$ post

I didn't even LIKE telecasters. i wanted a strat (the Honda of the guitar world). but i could not afford one. in my junior year in high school i saw an ad for a tele. it wasn't a strat, but it was a fender and i was tired of my first electric (aria pro). so i convinced my dad that 300 for a 77 fender tele custom was a good deal. we bought it from some gal that wanted to learn how to play "country" and never did. So i wasn't influenced by a player to go to teles. but once i was there i was delighted to see Andy summers, Joe Strummer, and of course, Keef. Funny how you go from hating the tele headstock to physically unable to play a strat. of course i am grateful now. :-)

hynde, page, paisley, gatton, etc... all great - what guitar has so many varied stars and champions. and that headstock - awesome :-)


still have the 77. kicks butt :-P

Keith Richards, I grew up in the 70's with the Stones. There are so many great Telecaster players out there. But, I have to give the nod to the man who first made me aware of this guitar.

Who was the first player to influence you on the Telecaster
golfnut

The way this question is worded, it would seem to be asking who the first guitarist was that influenced “you on the Telecaster,” i.e., a player that had an impact on my own playing on my Tele. However, I rather suspect that the intent of the question was “Who was the first Telecaster player to influence you”, so I will answer in that vein.

The first influence to nudge me toward the perception of the Tele as a guitar to rock with would be George Harrison on his Rosewood Tele in the Let It Be sessions and the “Rooftop concert.”

http://www.juliensauctions.com/images/auctions/ent-legends/harrison/images/harrison3.jpg

http://www.juliensauctions.com/images/auctions/ent-legends/harrison/images/harrison2.jpg

The next influence was Springsteen’s Born to Run album, which I bought on a whim when it was released in 1975. I hadn’t heard any of his music before I bought it; the cover just looked promising to me (scruffy bearded guy, black leather jacket and that well traveled Tele).

And I may get blasted for saying this, but that was my first and last Springsteen album. My distaste for Springsteen had nothing to do with his tone or his Tele. I just didn’t and do not care for or relate to his music. Still, the prominence of that Tele on the cover was a conscious influence in viewing the Tele as a guitar to rock with, so I acknowledge that.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/BruceSpringsteenBorntoRun.jpg

The next influence was Roy Buchanan. Ironically, it was not his playing that first got my attention; it was his article in the October 1976 issue of Guitar Player magazine. I subscribed to GP for most of the 70s, and his cover and article really got my attention. I remember being stunned at the wear and tear on his Tele, and that being impressive to me. The article was really great. I really related to it at the time. As a player, he was phenomenal. As a musician Roy Buchanan was more educational than entertaining (to me, at least). I listen to his stuff when I want a kick in the butt, a reminder of what is possible on a Tele.

BTW, a Google search turned up an online archive of that October 1976 article (http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/roy-buchanans/jan-00/6510) and the cover.

http://i2.ebayimg.com/02/i/001/34/ec/fec4_1.JPG

No body.
I figured out how cool a Tele was first, and then I started to realize all the folks that play them.

Jeff Beck..
In 1966 I saw a picture, in a teen magazine, of Jeff playing a humbucker in the bridge position Tele.(a black and white picture)

The very first?

Has to be Don Rich, even though I didn't know who he was or what he was playing. I remember Tiger By The Tail when I was no more than 4 or 5 years old, then the Buck Owens Ranch show was on WKY-TV here every week (Saturday, I think). I loved that stuff.

It took many years to come back around, but that's the one.

Jeff Beck on the Yardbirds "Having a Rave Up" album. Well, it actually was an Esquire but it looked like a Tele to me.


Me, too.

I wasn't 100 % sure about going to the Tele until later, and that would be Jimmy Messina.

I didn't have access to Television, so there were probably a lot of other players using Telecasters - but I simply didn't know and everyone I knew local to me played something else. Lots of Gibsons, Guilds and Gretsches.

Roy. Saw his PBS special in the early 70's, went out and got his 1st two albums- they still knock me out ! Mike

that was a kick A$$ post

Yes it was.

I was always strictly a strat player...I had a gibson SG for awhile and would occasionally take it to a gig and play it on a few songs but it was mainly strats all the time. I was always tossing the idea of getting a telecaster around and the day after I saw my first ever Springsteen show last summer, I bought a lite ash Telecaster and have never looked back. I absolutely love that guitar.

Local to Kansas City where I grew up was a guy called Stranger from a band called Hickory Wind. I heard the tone of his tele and really liked the way it cut through the band.

On a national level, Jim Messina about the same time. He did some amazing guitar work in Loggins and Messina. Also about the same time, Stephen Stills after Buffalo Springfeild.

The first guy I noticed was Jeff Beck, but what really got me was Rory Gallagher Live, an album somebody left at my GF's apartment. Back then, a used fender was hard to come by, but I DID have a single pup Danelectro I had picked up for $10.00. As luck would have it, I found a Tele lead pup at one of the local stores for $20.00, so for $30.00 I had a sortaTele that got me in the ballpark tonewise. Even after I got real Fenders, that Dano was my favorite beater.

Albert Lee on Luxury Liner made me think that I needed to play a Tele sometime.

I absolutely agree with Robin Nahum....Albert Lee was my inspiration. I was a Strat guy, I also played a Gibson 330 and never really took much notice of Tele players until I bought an LP (we are talking way back here, '70/71 ) called Country Fever...that was the name of the band and the guitarist was not even mentioned..but when I heard him play I was totally hooked....it was years afterwards that I found out it was Albert. He has continued to inspire me ever since.
After Albert it would have to be Don Rich & Buck, some of Dons solos on early Buck stuff was amazing..his tone was awe inspiring,especially on some of the songs that he used dropped D tuning..wow it really made me want to play a Tele....but what about Steve Morse ??? what a great player. Now he is not playing a Tele anymore but his early stuff was done on an old heavily modified Tele.
Before I finish I just want to mention the people who continue to inspire me, even now after a life time of playing music I am still like a kid who has just started playing..its my life..I make my living from it...and I adore the Tele.
These guys...Brent Mason...No comment needed..he is the best. Brad Paisley..what a great player..he plays his tele with such a sense of humour.Vince Gill...instantly recognisable style and tone..great,great player. Too many more to mention..but I think any good player is an inspiration.

Roy Buchanan witout a doubt. I remember coming home one night, maybe '78 or '79, so I was about 17 or 18. I was pretty high on a certain hallucinogenic substance (hey, it was a long time ago :wink:) and was looking for something to watch on TV (pre-cable of course). I turned on channel 11 (Chicago PBS) and Roy was on, not the original PBS special, I think it was Soundstage. I was absolutely blown away, of course being wasted had something to do with it, but I had never heard anyone play like that. I had seen people playing Teles before, but I had never heard anyone make it talk, cry, and sing like Roy did. He still amazes me to this day. :shock:

First player that I really noticed playing a Telecaster was Albert Collins. Next was Rich Robinson playing his Esquire. It didn't really occur to me that Muddy played one, but I don't know why.

I grew up playing in a family band and always had access to several diff guitars (tele, les paul, strat and some others) and i mainly played strats because of the weight, but the one player that made me want to play a tele was Bill Lloyd.

cletus

He's not real well known for it, but Tommy Emmanuel was the first guy I ever saw play a tele. He came right up in front of me at a show here in Ballarat and basically played a solo to me! I was grinning from ear to ear!

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Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt of Status Quo... saw them first on tv when I was about 8.

9XcvAzcF0qE

I'm one of those people who thought the Telecaster was an ugly guitar first, but learned to appreciate it by listening to bands like Tom Petty & the HBs, The Who, Led Zeppelin.

Hello,
for me it was Roy Buchanan. He was the first guitarist ho made me wonder what guitar/amps he used to get his sound. After I knew he played a Telecaster, I saved money until I could afford to buy one (I still have it). Do I need to mentioned that even with the new Telecaster I did not sound and could not play like him?:wink: More than 25 years later today I still cannot play and do not sound like him but Teles are still my favourite guitars.
Klaus

I go through phases, but I remember Albert Collins demonstrating to me that you can play the blues on a Tele.

Yes for me it was also Albert Collins. It was a blues shootout at some guitar event in Spain several years ago. I recall Clapton, Rober Cray and a few others all took their turns playing. Then Collins turn came and his tone completely blew me away.

I started realizing that many of my favorite players played teles at one time or another. Keef, George Harrison, David Nelson, Andy Simmers, Page. This led me to Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, Johnny Hiland.

Well growing up in DC how could you say anybody other than Danny, Roy, Tom Principato, and of late, Bill Kirchen?

Clarence

I think it was Luther Perkins, but I recall my Dad having a hand in convincing me to get a Telecaster. And he doesn't even own an electric guitar.

Now thinking about it, I think it was Phillip Moore (Ray Scott's Lead Guitarist (Google Ray Scott)).

+1 on Jim Messina and Robbie Robertson. Everyone else seemed to be playing Les Pauls and Strats when I was first learning guitar in the early 1970s.

It was a 4 pronged attack

Keef

Waylon

Andy Summers

Steve Cropper

I reckon Keith & Waylon have had the most staying power for me although I am always quick to acknowledge Cropper as a tasteful player. Andy Summers & The Police were huge when I was a kid but I never play them these days.

I keep mentioning my friend Matt Pierce he plays a Esquire that blew me away and landed me here where all I do is dream of twang and rustic Esquires with magical tone and mojo with no comparison.

Of course the Jim Wieder country blues DVD was my first real interest in a Tele/Esquire guitar. TDPRI is mostly to blame for my Tele fever though.

After really sitting down and thinking about this, the first player I ever heard about the fact he played a Telecaster was George Harrison. I was at a friends house and maybe 11 years old. His brother was about 5 years older than us and had started a little rock band as a guitar player. One day we were sitting around his house when I asked him what kind of guitar was that he was playing. He said "this is a stratocaster" I said that was cool and I said something like isn't that what Hendrix plays? Then we started talking about all sorts of different rock stars and what guitar they played. He then informed me George Harrison preferred Teles. Being a huge Beatles fan, the Tele then came within my sphere of knowledge as a viable and even desireable guitar. I owned a little 3/4 nylon stringed guitar back then and was learning classical (hated it) and just wanted to rocknroll. But feigning interest in classical was the quickest route to guitar ownership back then-LOL! So the real answer for me was Harrison, then I started to really pay attention.

Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys was the first Tele-player I ever listened to. I love his music!! (even though he doesn't play the Tele as much these days).

+1
Me makes me fall in love with Tele! Now, I have to get one! :D

hmm, I don't really have one...

I just played one in the store, and liked the way it sounded, as simple as that.

For me it was my uncle, Lawrence Burleson.

Another vote here for Albert and the Luxury Liner solo which turned guitar playing from black and white to colour for me! That got me to "Country Boy" and it's been fun trying to achieve that level of greatness, knowing you'll never get there but if you can absorb some of it you'll be a better player than someone who has never listened to Albert. Also Ray Flacke. I used to go see him around the Fullers pub circuit in London in 1976 and 1977 when he played with Meal Ticket. He played a Tele Custom in those days through a solid state HH amp and then a Roland JC160. His solo on the Meal Ticket second album track "Snow" is up here with the best Tele solos ever recorded. He ends it with an entire lick using harmonics and bends behind the nut. Astounding. I have it on vinyl but never found it issued on CD. I got to know Ray a little bit before he went to Nashville and he told me his biggest Tele influences were Amos Garrett and Jim Sullivan. He also admired Jerry Donahue who is another big influence on my playing. I also love Robbie Robertson's playing on Dylan's Planet Wave's.

Keith of course. I have always been a huge Stones fan. As a preteen Noddy Holder seconded the Tele for me (anyone remember him?)

I'd been aware of Telecasters since I can't remember due to my dad's country music but had not given them a second look until Keith.

Actually, I guess you could say, the Ventures... while they weren't generally seen with Teles, they got me hooked on Fenders. That led me to a love of guitars...

Then as I would work on Strats, Jazzmasters, Mustangs, and of course the Tele... it was overwhelmingly apparent that I could not get the fullness of sound from any but the Tele.

So by process of elimination, I eliminated everything else....

Ron Kirn

My friend Ian Stewart bought a Tele when he was 19. I was 16, and I was blown away with his guitar skills. He was a major Stones fan, and he got me hooked on them. Ian also gave me my first guitar, a beat up old acoustic of his. I learned to play because of him.

Roy Buchanan: Saw him in NYC when he first hit the big stage in about 1971. I don't think he even had a record out yet. And I was wowed by his playing, like most everyone else who heard him.

Jim Messina on the early Loggins & Messina and Poco recordings.. I remember hearing that opening lick on Angry Eyes (and being a Les Paul w/Marshall kinda guy at the time) thinking.. "Wow! what kinda guitar is that???" Oh yeah... the opening guitar lick on "You Better Think Twice" by Poco.. another "what the???" moment...although I'm not positive he played a Tele on that one, it sure sounds like one.

Me too! "Angry Eyes" was the song, and the cover article in GP about Jimmy in 1976 or so. The second huge push for me was seeing James Burton playing with Emmylou Harris on "Soundstage" sometime in the mid/late 70s.

Before that, I thought Teles were ugly, and Les Pauls were IT for me.

I currently have my Beloved 1966 Telecaster, a home-brewed Tele 12-string and Hoss, my short-scale Tele bass mutant. So I guess I don't think they're ugly anymore...

:mrgreen:

Tim

Albert Lee on Song For Susie (Heads, Hands, And Feet) on a compilation album called El Pea. By the way, I did a guitar clinic with Ray Flacke once, and he is as aggressive a player as I have ever seen. Very sharp-witted, as well.

Albert the Iceman Collins

Syd Barrett, his Esquire with mirrors from Floyd days and his black bound Tele from his solo days.

Oops, forgot... Prob Jimmy Page as well :razz:

I would have to say johnny greenwood, since i saw him play the tele, i had to get it and didnt regret it once.

Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt of Status Quo... saw them first on tv when I was about 8.

9XcvAzcF0qE

I'm one of those people who thought the Telecaster was an ugly guitar first, but learned to appreciate it by listening to bands like Tom Petty & the HBs, The Who, Led Zeppelin.

Hey I started my Telecasting with Status Quo too!
And here's my dream guitar, this was THE guitar for me in the 70's:
http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/537/B204693.jpg

Keith, Joe Strummer and Chrissy Hind did it for me.

Danny Gatton. I used to think Teles were crap til I saw him on Austin City Limits one night. One of those life changing moments...

This may sound weird, but Joe Walsh. I have never been a huge Eagles fan, but when I was in high school I saw a live version of Hotel California on T.V. In the solo, there was a real good contrast between Joe's tele and the other guys Gibson double neck. The tele was so much more expressive to my ears.

A few years later, I was playing my 335 with a band and it just sounded small. A guy lent me a cheap tele and it cut right through and had those dynamics, the expressive howl when you bend and pick differently. I haven't looked back much since.

James Burton on my sister's Ricky Nelson records when I was little. Though I had no idea who he was or what he played. I just loved tht sound. A close second was the cover of "Having a Rave Up with The Yardbirds" where Jeff Beck had that Esquire.

Andy Summers

Springsteen...he's always been my favorite artist and when I started playing 20 years ago, it was telecasters only and still is today

Ages ago I read an interview with Albert Lee, and he just could not quit raving about teles, about how they fit his hands and read his mind almost. The smile he had while holding the tele on the cover of the magazine made an impression on me.
I think in that article he mentioned how Page used teles in the studio with Zep. I'm glad he mentioned the Zep thing, since I was going nuts trying to get Page sounds using my Gibson! After reading that, I put in a coil tap switch in the 'Ol Sonex in order to sorta fake tele sounds until I could get a tele..

Vince Gill (early 90's recordings and onward). I had never heard a Tele say so much with such tone. IMO his tone keeps getting better with every record he releases.

roy, bruce,chrissie&joe.

well...from the "old school" i'd have to say keith richards..and from the "new school" it has to be graham coxon and johnny greenwood...they're great tele players both imo...

ED BICKERT, ED BICKERT and ED BICKERT :rolleyes:

NOBODY.... saw the guitar, played fine I guess... bought it, then when I saw keith richards play it I was HOOKED :wink:

Roy Buchannan

Denny Dias, later Jeff Buckley, later still Jonny Greenwood

Danny Gatton...

His VHS "Hotlicks" was on at the local music shop. I hung my strat in the willows (as we say in Holland) and 11 years later I bougth myself a Tele after I had my courige back...

Roy from the 1971 WNET Special. That tone has been imprinted on my brain ever since.

I had always liked telecaster and country music, got mildly into it.

Then I listened to Clarence White.

It's been downhill since.

Jeff Buckley & Jonny Greenwood.

it was primarily seeing Jeff Buckley play songs like Mojo Pin, Grace, Dreambrother & Hallelujah that got me hooked on the Tele sound. front pickup & reverb = heaven.

later on Jonny Greenwood showed me that a Tele can roar like a Les Paul. I've gone on to put hot humbuckers in my tele. love it.

Mike Bloomfield

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg254/Manolian/51f-m1dVzL_SS500_.jpg

Waylon Jennings. my parents had His albums, so they passed that gift of knowing good Fender planktwangin' on to me when i was only around 7 years old or so. Later, it was Justin hayward of the moody blues. You can see a video of him playing a Telecaster, performing ride my seesaw at youtube under ride my seesaw if you like. It's pretty cool seeing all of the original moody blues members so young! I have to mention Keef, and of course bruce Springsteen. Shalom Mishpocah!:smile:

Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers

James Burton, Jeff Beck then Mike Bloomfield and Steve Cropper
all within a year or so mid '60s.

Springsteen - 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'. That tone! Plus, when I was a little kid I had a poster of him playing live and I'd just stare at that Tele (not really even knowing what a Tele was at the time). Way cool.

You got the player and album I was going to name! Specifically, "Badlands"...
Also, Pete Anderson. Wow.

Definitley ARLEN ROTH

Muddy Waters.

Lots of others after that.

/ Tony

Prince - no doubt. If anybody asks you belong to prince.

The Great Albert Collins.

Hands down, it was Waylon Jennings in the opening theme song shots of "Dukes of Hazard". I don't remember another tele player till The Boss's Born In the USA video so I guess no one else had impact on me. I was probably 11 or 12 when I first saw that and I remember not liking the guitar at first because I thought it was plain. I wanted a Kramer because Eddie Van Halen played one and because I was a dumb ass. Bruce's guitar grew on me. Even though he plays a "guit-steel" instead of a guitar and it has p90's or something, Jr. Brown's playing and tone sealed the deal for me with Telecasters. I had already been playing Tele's when I saw him. I knew it was the 2 Twin Reverbs making the awesome sound, but I knew that even if I never was able to play that well the best guitar for me to go that direction would be a Tele.

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/8446/picture2xiq.png

Elliot Easton, for sure. His tone, his obsession with string bending. I mean, if it wasn't for "Magic", I would've never picked a guitar up AT ALL.

Not to mention, that is a damn cool Telecaster. I love how at the end of the solo, he grabs the tuning peg and twists it to drop the pitch. So cool.

Hugh Cornwell form the stranglers is my Telecaster inspiration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJINoq94gTE

Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead. Not to mention the other two guitarists. Truly inspiring.

I believe for me it was mostly from my seeing a picture of Pete Townsend with a 1952 Tele that got me interested, and then I learned that Jimmy Page also used one for the first four albums... and I suppose Brad Paisley too.

Now that I think of it, I told my Dad I would learn a Paisley song and I haven't even looked at one to try yet :lol:

As with some other people in my age group on here . I started on a the super strat type, Jackson/Ibanez floyd rose guitars. My dad is a country musician and sings Bob Wills,Ray Price,George Jones etc. so old country music was always around. So it probably was put in my brain from the get go with the tones that Tele guitars made. Trying to play lead stuff and not getting any faster to play those Steve Vai,Van Halen acrobatics I eventually sold off those guitar to buy a good Strat. my MIJ 50' Reissue and then wanted a Tele and now have one.
So if there is a player I aspire to be like it would be a great Rhythm player with some tasty lead chops thrown in..Bruce Springsteen comes to mind. I picked up the Born in the U.S.A. album before I was a teenager so that might be the link.
other players that may have made me think Tele.
Jimmy Page and the First Zep stuff
Jeff Beck and "Because we've Ended as lovers"- Clearly influenced Satriani in the Ballad instrumental
Keith Urban
Brad Paisley
Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes
I could go on..

Don Rich.............................................. ..............................

For me, Roy Buchanan was the first player that demonstrated the endless possibilities that only a Tele could deliver. When I was a kid living in the SF Bay Area--I heard Roy Buchanan's: "The Messiah Will Come Again" on the radio (K-SAN), Soon thereafter I was out the door buying his first album. IMHO--his first 2 albums are still epitomize American Roots Music and what a Tele plugged straight into a BF Fender (Vibrolux) amp can do. Roy Roy Buchanan's 2nd Album would perhaps be my "Desert Island" album. :?:
Before Roy, volume swells--using the tone knob for "wah wah" like phrasing and many other techniques were almost unknown.
It was later that Don Rich, Keef, Beck and Page, Albert Collins, early Gatemouth Brown, Johnny Guitar Watson, Roy Nichols, Steve Howe, and an endless list of awesome Tele players influenced my playing.
After buying my first Tele--I was hooked--I have been a Tele guy. I'll play a str@t or 335 when the gig calls for it--however--the Tele rules!

If you haven't tried using the tone knob for a simple "wah wah" lick--give it a shot, Roy created magic using this technique! Just turn up your amp a bit--start with the tone knob muted, volume wide open--try hitting a note on the B string first and bring the tone knob up (at the same time, bending the note a whole tone from the 7th to the 1st). It's very nice! :lol:. Eventually--you'll have some cool licks and can make your Tele cry, talk, scream, very cool. It won't really work in a str@t or other guitar.
Sure, it's not for every player--however, it's still fun to experiment.
Thanks Roy! RIP
King Regards . . .
Blue

Wilko Johnson
John 'Gypie' Mayo
Albert Lee
Mick Green

http://www.fender.com/news/news_images/20//SH_3.jpg

Yes's Steve Howe - and one album at that - Relayer.

Best known for his ES175, I always favoured and bought humbuckered guitars because of this - in fact I was a little bit snobby about Fenders.

Then I found out that Howe played a tele almost exclusively on the Relayer album and so I purchased my first single coil - my (now) beloved Am. Std. - yes, I know he put a double coil in the neck position.

In the last few years, he seems to have become a fan of Variax modelling guitars and I wouldn't mind having a long-term evaluation (that's what I tell my wife) of one of these.

The strange thing is, though, although Howe is my guitar god, I don't particularly want to sound like him - my own tone is very important to me - I guess he just points the way.

Anyway, I have learned to love the telecaster - it's really opened up a new world of tonal posibilities for me.

http://www.fender.com/news/news_images/20//SH_3.jpg

Yes's Steve Howe - and one album at that - Relayer.

Best known for his ES175, I always favoured and bought humbuckered guitars because of this - in fact I was a little bit snobby about Fenders.

Then I found out that Howe played a tele almost exclusively on the Relayer album and so I purchased my first single coil - my (now) beloved Am. Std. - yes, I know he put a double coil in the neck position.

In the last few years, he seems to have become a fan of Variax modelling guitars and I wouldn't mind having a long-term evaluation (that's what I tell my wife) of one of these.

The strange thing is, though, although Howe is my guitar god, I don't particularly want to sound like him - my own tone is very important to me - I guess he just points the way.

Anyway, I have learned to love the telecaster - it's really opened up a new world of tonal posibilities for me.

Fascinating; I had no idea and, like you, thought he was a one-guitar-for-life guy. Must buy the album!
A bit of trivia for you; my '56 Les Paul Junior was once owned by Mr. Howe and was sold to me by luthier Hugh Manson

For me it would be Keith Richards. I was a HUGE Les Paul fan thanks to Jimmy Page, Mike Bloomfield, Billy Gibbons, Neil Young, etc. After seeing the Rolling Stones "Lets Spend The Night Together" concert, and all of those Teles, I knew I had to have one (actually I knew I had to have several, but that's a whole other story!). Since then I have gotten into Tele players more then Les Paul players, thanks Keef!

Fascinating; I had no idea and, like you, thought he was a one-guitar-for-life guy. Must buy the album!
A bit of trivia for you; my '56 Les Paul Junior was once owned by Mr. Howe and was sold to me by luthier Hugh Manson

I've gone week at the knees....that, sir, is not trivia!!!!! Next time I'm in Devon can I come 'round and sniff it?:grin: (Look at me, a 41 year old man, gone all giddy!)

Is it one of the guitars he got rid of in his 'great guitar clearance'? I'm sure I've seen a picture of him using a LP jr. - what's the paintjob?

The telecaster really fitted in with the higher timbre of the synths used by Patrick Moraz on Relayer, rather than the deeper Moogs previously used by Wakeman. Plus with the music being so intense at times it was needed to cut through the rest of the band. It went perfectly alongside the fender lap steel. 'To Be Over' contains what i think is one of Howe's finest solo's and a real example of how his 'country' sound fits perfectly with the avant guard music of Yes.

As a boy I really liked the boogie rythm of Status Quo and they started me wanted a telecaster. But at that time it was impossible to buy any instruments of your choice if you're not an professional musician. Just second hand and copies if you were lucky. In 1980 I bought a second hand Fender telecaster and till today is my best guitar. After that I realize that my favourite tunes were played on telecasters and then I understand why I liked them, because of the sound of telecaster.

I remember when i was around 9, I told my friend that I just started playing guitar. He then told me that his dad has an old electric guitar in the basement and I could try it out if I wanted to. It was a tele with a cream coloured body, white pickguard, and a maple neck. He also had a small little tweed amplifier which could've been a champ.

I thought the guitar was awesome because it said "Fender" and at the time i was playing a cheap, small, electric guitar for kids. Ever since than I loved teles..they just fill me up with happy memories and I just think they are the best electric guitars.

I've gone week at the knees....that, sir, is not trivia!!!!! Next time I'm in Devon can I come 'round and sniff it?:grin: (Look at me, a 41 year old man, gone all giddy!)

Is it one of the guitars he got rid of in his 'great guitar clearance'? I'm sure I've seen a picture of him using a LP jr. - what's the paintjob?

The telecaster really fitted in with the higher timbre of the synths used by Patrick Moraz on Relayer, rather than the deeper Moogs previously used by Wakeman. Plus with the music being so intense at times it was needed to cut through the rest of the band. It went perfectly alongside the fender lap steel. 'To Be Over' contains what i think is one of Howe's finest solo's and a real example of how his 'country' sound fits perfectly with the avant guard music of Yes.

Ha! The paintjob is an ancient refinish from, I suspect, TV to its current sunburst. The dark part of the 'burst encroaches much, much further into the middle of the body leaving only a small patch of yellow-very different from every other Junior I've seen from that era. I have no idea when it was re-done but the finish is well-knackered and crazed suggesting a good few decades. There were a couple of non-original parts on it; the machines, one knob and the truss-rod cover but the important stuff was there!

Howe used a LP Jr on Tales From Topographic Oceans - I just don't remember where. I must find that picture...

As a boy I really liked the boogie rythm of Status Quo and they started me wanted a telecaster.

Oh god - just as I was begining to love my tele - now I'm going to have to sell her and give myself I good wash. :wink:

From a visual standpoint, Pete Townsend in the video for "Rough Boys."

From a musical perspective, Danny Gatton for showing me that a Tele can truly play any kind of music you can imagine.

Jim Campilongo.

It was definitely G.E. Smith for me.

If any of you get a chance, check out his solo material. Lots of great Tele sounds coming from those records!

Andy Summers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNVcTlfBzIk

this is my main influence,the first time I saw him he was playing "let there be more light" with a white tele.

http://www.hiwatt.com/gilmour.jpg

mike bloomfield and then joe strummer, even though he wasn't great he played it hard and showed you could use it for anything

I got into Teles about 10 years ago after listening to the first Hellecaster's album, Sweet Dreams by Will Ray which, of course, led to Roy Buchanan, to Clarence White, Don Rich, and I've always loved James Burton's playing in Emmy's Hot Band but really, if I go way back, to 1968, when I first got into guitars and guitar playing, it would have to be Michael Bloomfield playing that incredible guitar in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

Definitely Arlen Roth.

Roger Hoard of the Fabulous Bender Boys , a local legend was the first person to just blow me away when I was a kid. I've been playing for 18 years hoping to get good enough to carry his guitar inside someday.

Then I found out about the Hellecasters, and Danny Gatton, then Brent Mason, and Brad Paisley.

Joe Strummer. At first, not because of the quality of his playing, but because of the way his tele looked. It was so anti-establishment and the opposite of the brightly colored kramers etc that were popular with the 80's hair metal bands.

Wayne Moss - Played on "Only Daddy To Walk The Line", "Pretty Woman" Dylan's
"Blonde on Blonde". Session players in Nashville called him "The Claw". Headed a band
named "Barefoot Jerry"

Ray Jr.
www.rayedenton.com

For me
Jimmy Bryant and Buck Owens. Many since then.

I remember back in the early 70's a friend calls me in the wee hours one morning to listen to WYDD 104.7fm near Pittsburgh...there was this guy tearing the hell outta this guitar, ya gotta hear it! I recall not being able to get back to sleep after hearing those album cuts, listening through my Koss headphones the blues sound of that guitar haunted me until I found out who it was. I called the station and the DJ told me it was Roy Buchanan. Ever since then I have been a Telecaster guy. I once owned a Strat for 4 weeks and a Toronado for a year but no other axe lights my fire like a Tele or Esquire.
Other influences of honorable mention are Muddy Waters,Robbie Robertson,Mike Bloomfield and this Bruce guy from Jersey.

:cool:

Another vote for Keith Richards here. Before that I had felt that the Tele was Fender's cheap, crappy half-finished looking guitar. Then I realized that those wonderful riffs were coming out of a Tele!

Ha! The paintjob is an ancient refinish from, I suspect, TV to its current sunburst. The dark part of the 'burst encroaches much, much further into the middle of the body leaving only a small patch of yellow-very different from every other Junior I've seen from that era. I have no idea when it was re-done but the finish is well-knackered and crazed suggesting a good few decades. There were a couple of non-original parts on it; the machines, one knob and the truss-rod cover but the important stuff was there!

Which is why all that is left of the original is the smell and why our friend in Cheshire wants to sniff it. :oops: :wink:

More trivia - Yes were quite strongly influenced by Vinegar Joe from when they toured as support to VJ. So were Wishbone Ash (who I saw playing support to VJ). You can hear it in the music. Pete Gage was the VJ guitarist and musical director.

As with some other people in my age group on here . I started on a the super strat type, Jackson/Ibanez floyd rose guitars. My dad is a country musician and sings Bob Wills,Ray Price,George Jones etc. so old country music was always around. So it probably was put in my brain from the get go with the tones that Tele guitars made. Trying to play lead stuff and not getting any faster to play those Steve Vai,Van Halen acrobatics I eventually sold off those guitar to buy a good Strat. my MIJ 50' Reissue and then wanted a Tele and now have one.
So if there is a player I aspire to be like it would be a great Rhythm player with some tasty lead chops thrown in..Bruce Springsteen comes to mind. I picked up the Born in the U.S.A. album before I was a teenager so that might be the link.
other players that may have made me think Tele.
Jimmy Page and the First Zep stuff
Jeff Beck and "Because we've Ended as lovers"- Clearly influenced Satriani in the Ballad instrumental
Keith Urban
Brad Paisley
Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes
I could go on..


And after hearing about former Wilco guitarist,keyboardist Jay Bennett. I have to add Jay, and a few other 90's bands that played tele's and made them cool again.
Wlico
Whiskeytown
Toad The Wet Sprocket
and the Gin Blossoms ..
great Tele tones on those disc's

WHAT? 5 pages and only one reference to Jim Campilongo.

Jim's got my vote. He's pulled things out of the tele that mimic the era that the instrument emerged, with such an incredible dissonant, dark overtone. Never heard anything like it.

Tom Morello

Ray, you rock! I love your work, that is so cool that you have it available on your website www.raydenton.com thanks! I'm going to give Wayne a listen as well. Will

www.bac-rac.com
www.coolfoot.biz
www.mend-it.com
www.centralcoastbassfishing.com

That's some great, almost jazzy playing. And what's up with Skag's mini-Tele? :mrgreen:

I've got the original video and I believe the headstock says Glaser. I'm not positive about that, but judging from the short throw bender in the '80s, it probably is something he made.

I think it's a 4 string electric mandolin.

Ray Flacke's two solos in this tune are Killer! One of the best solos I've seen. It was this particular Austin City Limits show that made me take notice to Telecasters. Between that, Brad Paisley, and meeting Brent Mason.... I became a tele-lover.

I was in a club playing old 60s r n b and this Otis redding song comes on called PAIN IN MY HEART. When I heard that guitar I was hooked, wanted to know who it was and what he was playing. When I found out it was Steve cropper playing a Tele I wanted to play like that. Steves genius is he makes the simple sound amazing. With class licks and fills and an awesome cutting but clean tone. He is my first and biggest influence, also love Keith Richards. He is a riff-master.

Bruce Springsteen for sure. He has so much fun on stage and he has great tone. I wanna be like him.

Roy Buchanan for sure.

I was aware of plenty of Tele players, but the first guitarist whose music I really loved/respected who played a Telecaster:

Charles Thompson / Black Francis / Frank Black

I locked into the Pixies hard after 'Doolittle' came out, and quickly gobbled up everything I could find. Darned if I didn't discover that Frank was (and still is, IIRC) primarily a Tele player.

+1 on the Joe Strummer votes, though I came to the Clash later.

- Jay

I definitely got caught in a mix of Joe Strummer and Frank Black. I honestly believe that there is a profound beauty in simplicity!

For me it was/is Keith Richards its a facination with teles and the Man going on 25 yrs now, ever since Ifirst saw the Ladies and Gentlemen 72 concert movie-Stones in their prime -good stuff.

At a young age;
-Andy Taylor of Duran Duran with that Black Schecter PT ( I still want one)
-Jeff Beck in the "People Get Ready" video
AND
(believe it or not)
-Tommy Chong in "Cheech & Chong's Next Movie"- That mirrored/black Tele with the rearview mirror on the headstock.....now THAT'S an Iconic Telecaster!!

albert collins.....my brother had " ice pickin" and i thought it was just so cool.....

Muddy Waters and Albert Collins

JOE STRUMMER after seeing the Clash at the Palladium in 1979 as an 18 year old.

Early '80s - Pretenders - Middle of the Road - Robbie McIntosh outro solo I saw on some TV show - Killin'.

edit - This solo was a first/third position open/ringing string thing - crazy cool.

jeff buckley

Russell Lissack from Bloc Party (shows my age I guess), well I thought he sounded good, then I found out he was heavily influenced by Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead, and that was when I was really influenced.

Jimmy Page & I did'nt know it was a tele being used on those early albums.

Bought a '72 reissue Tele after seeing Paul Westerberg (The Replacements) play his:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y51/misterblasty/PaulWesterberg.jpg

Lm8xDftZXSI

...if I remember correctly...Roy Buchanan...those mornfull volume/tone swells had me from the word "go"..since then, Allen Roth, Albert Collins,Michael Bloomfield, Vince Gill, Robben Ford,Don Rich, Clarence White and a host of other fine players have inspired me to "try" with the Tele..one of the 20th century's greatest inventions..(so says I...)..

MOST DEFINITLEY Joe Strummer!!

and Muddy!

Ralph Macchio !!!! LOL ...........im not even joking i think i was 14 ys ald when i saw that and was mostly into motley crue, ratt, and van halen .In the 80s as a kid shredders were in the spotlight .I wasnt thinking about blues untill i rented Crossroads on VHS (sad but true). I knew he really wasnt playing but i thought to myself thats one hell of a sick sound and hey its cool to not have a guitar shaped like an axe or a machine gun!!! I always wonder who has that crossroads tele today.

Jeff Beck: he was good and he still is. This shows he is still similar to what he sounds like today.

<object width="500" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/f9mQkFpkShg&hl=en&fs=1&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/f9mQkFpkShg&hl=en&fs=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="500" height="405"></embed></object>

Yes, I know he's using an Esquire.

Burton with Ricky and this guy:
http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/21/l_1635b7a1db4acde4be09324cc29a60b9.jpg
The great Howard Roberts.

Keith......





STRICKLAND!

Ricky Wilson was a big influence on me too, but I could never afford a Mosrite.

:cool:

One more vote for Vince Gill!

Johnny Greenwood (Radiohead), The Edge, Jeff Buckley. Don't know who was the first, but they all influenced me with the tones they were able to get from teles.

Ralph Macchio !!!! LOL ...........im not even joking i think i was 14 ys ald when i saw that and was mostly into motley crue, ratt, and van halen .In the 80s as a kid shredders were in the spotlight .I wasnt thinking about blues untill i rented Crossroads on VHS (sad but true). I knew he really wasnt playing but i thought to myself thats one hell of a sick sound and hey its cool to not have a guitar shaped like an axe or a machine gun!!! I always wonder who has that crossroads tele today.


Supposedly Steve Vai played both parts of the guitar duel. Ry Cooder is credited with playing all the blues parts of Macchio through out the movie but many years ago I attended a clinic that Arlen Roth was holding where he claimed that he did many of the parts that were credited to Ry Cooder.

Ok a little searching and I found an article by Arlen Roth that supports what he told us in that guitar clinic many many years ago.
Seems he got screwed on the credits and it also seems he has the Telecaster from the movie. At least I assume he's talking about the Telecaster.
Also I guess there was a fight as to whether the duel at the end should have stuck more to traditional blues or the metal style direction it took. I really enjoyed the ending they did but it would have been nice to have an alternate ending where the duel was strictly slide blues.

http://arlenroth.com/html/crossroads.shtml

Jimmy Page and the Edge I guess. But I got one mostly because of there simplicity and they just look right.

I didn't know their names, or the type of guitar they were playing, but Luther Perkins and Bob Wooten on the old Johnny Cash albums were my first big exposure to the Telecaster when I was a little kid. These sounds were permanently burned into my brain before the age of 8... my mom played these albums constantly. The music I heard when I was a kid influenced everything I did with music later on, and still does.

Jerry Reed. Saw him live in Dallas at a small club in the 80's. Holy crap could that man play and what an act. Him and that Tele were about the coolest thing I ever heard. He made it look so easy.

I just kind of moved to the telecaster after finding out what kind of things I liked on other guitars. The tele has everything I like in a guitar: master volume and tone controls, 2 single coil pickups, 25 1/2" scale length, etc.

As for players I like several that play or have played teles that have already been mentioned Roy Buchanan, early Page, Muddy.

One that I haven't seen mentioned is the late Michael Houser of Widespread Panic. He didn't play a traditional style tele though, he used a Telecaster Deluxe Plus. It had a humbucker in the bridge and single coil in the neck as well as a strat style tremolo bridge. He was a large influence on my playing years before I played a tele. He wasn't the best techniquely, but he had a style and tone that really spoke to me and he remains one of my favorite players of all time.

#1 JAMES BURTON, "Fools Rush In" (Rick Nelson).

Definitely Roy Buchanan. It's the one I remember off hand.

Muddy waters.

Kyle Cook of matchbox twenty. Even had a Tele set up similar to his. When I saw him play one live, I absolutely loved it. His lead tones just resonated from it like butter.

Keith Richards influenced me to have more than one Tele with different set ups.

As a kid, before I played guitar, I always dug Steve Cropper, Prince, and Bruce Springsteen. As a guitar player, however, it was/is Will Brady (http://www.willbrady.com/). Formerly(?) of the band Honk. He just made that plank-of-wood-thing seem so cool. And he plays the hell out of it.

http://www.willbrady.com/Borders-Law.jpg

He's been my teacher on-and-off for about 20 years.

He rules.

I still dig those other guys, by the way... :mrgreen:

Joe Strummer and Joe Strummer only.

Max Merrit (N.Z) Saw Max and the Meteors live back in the days when they were gigging around Sydders, and realized what a funky beast the tele could be. prior to that, the Strat and Les Paul were all I thought I needed. (more fool me)

Russel Lissack of Bloc Party.

Bruce Springsteen.

But since I started playing 'seriously' my style has been influenced most by Steve Cropper and Joe Strummer, my sound by Keef. I love playing playing percussive bar chords through a VOX with everything set on 5!

I still haven't found a guitar player I like who hasn't played a tele at some point in their career...

Although way back then I knew of many fine Tele players but the one that jumped out in front of the pack for me was Jim Messina. Yeh I know we see him a lot with a Strat but when I saw him with Poco he was on a Telecaster, when I saw him with Loggins he was on a Telecaster.

t

Joe strummer was good enough for me.

No artist influenced me on the Tele. The thing that influenced me is when I read the biographies of the guitar makers and history of guitars. When I read Leo's biography, I started reading about Fenders, and when I first touched a Tele, that's it. I'm hooked!

Jerry Reed, Ricky Skaggs, Vince Gill, Brent Mason, Albert Lee,Roy Nichols and James Burton.

I can't really tell you who I heard first on the Tele but it was probably Roy Nichols or James Burton. I was just a kid and my buddy was sitting in his Dad's car playing some songs on his Dad's 8 track player(remember those?) It was a Merle Haggard 8 track in there. Cruddy sound quality but you could still hear that Tele slicing through those crappy car speakers.

Jimmy Page, Keith Richard, Steve Morse and Richie Kotzen ....

Brad Paisley and Brent Mason. Before I heard them I thought I wanted to be a metalhead.

Daniel Fichelcher (Popol Vuh)
At least, I'd be out of the beaten path...

Bruce Welch out of The Shadows Band, the Blonde was slung over a chair by the strap
on one of the first Shadows album cover, I think I was about 12 back then in the 60's.

Brett Garsed

:grin:

I guess it would have been Don Rich but I was so young I had no idea that he was playing a Tele (or what a Tele was for that matter !!).
And if Jimmy Page was playing a Tele when he played guitar on Tom Jones songs, you can throw him in that pile, too.

Cropper

Ted Greene

Steve Cropper was the first player that made me aware of the Telecaster, and certainly he was an early and major influence. Maybe if I thought really hard I could come up with someone who before Steve influenced me with a Tele, only I didn't know it was a Tele.

Roy Clark is the one for me...

Dom Troiano in the summer of 65 with The 5 Rogues.

This was the show at The CNE/
Pix from Canadian Teen magazine.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/rdog/Domresize.jpg

Springsteen - 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'. That tone! Plus, when I was a little kid I had a poster of him playing live and I'd just stare at that Tele (not really even knowing what a Tele was at the time). Way cool.

Yup :cool:

One summer I went into my local music store around '71 or '72 looking for a Strat to buy. I didn't like the necks on the models they had so the owner handed me a '69 Thinline he said someone returned it because they didn't like it so I bought it for $225. No kidding. I liked the lighteness and the f-hole. I loved the guitar from day one but in
'75 I heard Roy Buchannan play Sweet Dreams and bought the album. My kids would disown me if I ever sold it.