Do you play your Tele with Hi-Gain ?

Just curious to see how many Tele Owners play their S/C'ers through Hi-Gain amps on a hi gain setting, or through a hi gain dirt box, also at hi gain settings.

Just curious . . .


OK, over to you guys !

Through a cruchbox and an 808 into a ZT Lunchbox with gain at 10 (but volume at about 2!)--serious crunch. But MAJOR hum if you're not playing. It's the gain setting on the crunchbox that does it mostly. Have to click it on-off for solos. I usually leave the 808 on and click in the crunchbox. As a follow-on to your question, I wonder if a noise suppressor pedal would take out most of the hum and not change the tone.

Yea,, if it calls for it I will take my tele to high gain territory no problem. And yes a noise gate helps a lot.

Tweaking the EQ is the secret to high gain on a Tele

Tweaking the EQ is the secret to high gain on a Tele

More low end and less treb on the amp knobs ?

That too, if you use an EQ you cut around 3 or 4k about 3db.

That too, if you use an EQ you cut around 3 or 4k about 3db.

Thanx for the tip . . . Santa is bringing me an MXR 10Band (i think) :wink:

I don't have single coils in many of my Tele's so, it's not an issue. And even on the ones that do, when I use high-gain it's generally not also coupled with high volume.

Almost never. I use very little high in general and even less so with a single coil Tele. Perhaps I could dial it in with an EQ but I seem to switch it off pretty quickly because it has never sounded right as it does with humbuckers.

I use hi gain
Its fine, roll off some highs
I run stacks these days but when I was using straight single's it was a bit more of a trick.Unpottted single coil tele pickups sound great but will tend to feed back with high gain settings on amps or boxes
I prefer a high out put pickup so the stacks are my answer
I don't mind the double coil rolling some highs back.

i put the gain on 6 on a little marshall, jack the volume up and rock out. the bridge pup on mexican teles are great, theyre surprisingly hot and fat- brilliant with a paf, for blues and rock, or anything, really

Nope.

Nope, I want clean cutting tones from my Tele.

For hi-gain I use me Lester. :mrgreen:

He seems to be doing OK with a stock Tele and stock S/C'ers into a Mesa Dual Rec.


http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g317/bluetone73/BANDS/19738282_c9e60a0397_b.jpg

Thanx to all so far . . .


. . . keep 'em comming !

I used a Mesa Dual Rectifier half-stack with my '52 RI for the last couple of months. While I didn't like the amp a lot anymore (which is why I got rid of it) it worked pretty well. It's not a very Tele-like tone that combination produced, but anyway, it's not that it's impossible to use a single-coil Tele with a gain monster. But it helps to boost the signal a little (in front of the amp) or EQ a little, as has been mentioned - straight into the amp it wasn't that spectacular. Wouldn't really have played metal with that combination, but for Alt. Rock it was ok.
As it stands now, no more hi-gain for me (have a Bandmaster Reverb now) and if I want more dirt, I'll grab the Lester :wink:.

The stock pups in my MIM Standard work very well with some distortion, plus they don't squeal. I have 4 or 5 dirt boxes, but the Beri OD100 seems to work best for low volume stuff, just ahead of a TT Bandit 112 set for crunch.

Kind of like the tone of my CV into a Peavey 5150 model setup. However, gain stays around 12:00. I've found that I can get SO much more bite and raunch out of my Tele than I ever could with the HB equipped gtrs I used to own. They almost seemed too smooth and dark for my liking.

I can say that the dirt of a '62 bassman model on my RP500, along with a DOD 250, again, gain backed off to around 11 or 12, and I'm a happy camper.

Not to say the Tele can't make it happen on a very high gain setting. It's fun doing pinch harmonics on F# on a Telecaster! Give me single coils any day.

I do, sometimes. I like to stack dirt pedals and I like variety - I always have at least 3 on either of my pedalboards, so it's not a problem to make any guitar into a high gainer. Some of the ones I use: RC Booster, Barber Direct Drive, Crunch Box, Liquid Sunshine, Bad Bob booster, Keeley BD-2, Keeley Sparkle Drive. A Tele is not the first guitar I reach for when I need some crunch - I'd rather use a humbucker or P90-equipped guitar for that - but it's easy enough to step on a pedal if I happen to be playing a Tele and a tune needs some dirt.

I do, once every blue moon or so. (Guitar->Tube Screamer->Metal Zone->good tube amp). Just gotta keep the guitar angled right for least hum! :lol:

- Scott

Every day. Tele with single coil bridge pickup into my homebrew Marshall 2204/2203 amp. I don't bother with humbuckers anymore. I find that the vast majority of humbuckers, and even the hotter single coils just lose too much character and articulation. I'd rather live with a little noise (which isn't that bad IMHO) than lose the tone.

The bonus is that I can roll off the volume and get great single-coil cleans - which nobody believes can come from a Marshall until they hear it.

The stock pups in my MIM Standard work very well with some distortion, plus they don't squeal. I have 4 or 5 dirt boxes, but the Beri OD100 seems to work best for low volume stuff, just ahead of a TT Bandit 112 set for crunch.

The girl guitarist in my church band used to have that very same combo - MIM Tele/Peavey Bandit 112.
She now rock that same MIM Tele and an AC15.
One of the fastest learners of the guitar i have ever witnessed.
She made me look like a ******, w an IQ of -120 :cry:

my homebrew tele through my shiva sounds killer, although I have only used it a couple o' times. For straight rock, the tele was always a backup guitar, I had to roll the tone knob down, but thats to be expected with a ton of distortion and a tele.

I use two overdrives in my pedal board...plus a compressor. I get a lot of gain when it's called for,

Vox V810 -> Keeley 4 knob comp -> Zendrive2. Vox is set for moderate overdrive, keeley has a little boost, Zendrive2 is CRANKED all the way. Never have a problem, not even a squeal.

I used a Mesa Dual Rectifier half-stack with my '52 RI for the last couple of months. While I didn't like the amp a lot anymore (which is why I got rid of it) it worked pretty well. It's not a very Tele-like tone that combination produced, but anyway, it's not that it's impossible to use a single-coil Tele with a gain monster. But it helps to boost the signal a little (in front of the amp) or EQ a little, as has been mentioned - straight into the amp it wasn't that spectacular. Wouldn't really have played metal with that combination, but for Alt. Rock it was ok.
As it stands now, no more hi-gain for me (have a Bandmaster Reverb now) and if I want more dirt, I'll grab the Lester :wink:.


The band (UNSANE) in post #14 uses a Dual Recto, and they sound pretty good to me, YMMV :wink:
As far as i know he does not use an external boost, but i think he might stomp on the amps boost footswitch.
Why do you feel that an unboosted Tele does not sound as good as a boosted one ?

Seeing that you are from Germany, what can you tell me about the German made Fame Bulldozer ?
Isn't is based on a Mesa Recto type of tone ?

Every day. Tele with single coil bridge pickup into my homebrew Marshall 2204/2203 amp. I don't bother with humbuckers anymore. I find that the vast majority of humbuckers, and even the hotter single coils just lose too much character and articulation. I'd rather live with a little noise (which isn't that bad IMHO) than lose the tone.

The bonus is that I can roll off the volume and get great single-coil cleans - which nobody believes can come from a Marshall until they hear it.

Ben,

I agree. My biggest surprise came when I heard my Tele's through a '68 Marshall model 1962 Bluesbreaker combo and with the flick of the volume knob go from stunningly rich cleans (that by the way embarass my Fender combo amps because the mids aren't scooped) to classic plexi overdrive with just a guitar, a cord and an amplifier.

I love my Tele's at high gain, they are really aggressive and punchy and perfect for that style of music when required.

all the best!

Talking about a Tele into a crunchy Marshall . . .

. . . let's not forget what guitar God used to record the first Led Zeppelin album, and used live in 1968/9 as his primary guitar !

He might not have used a Marshall in the studio, but it was still a Tele.


.....................o0o................

Not the best of playing, but the tone is there ! (...referring to UToob)

c8RQ4KJlATc

PS : not me - i do not do the sideburn thing.

The first Tele I owned was a 1960 slab-board, that guitar was so light, it only sustained if it was played loud. So, one Super Bowl Sunday (nobody around) I hauled it and my 100 watt SLP into work and set it up in one of the big storage buildings--Danny Gatton was right, turn it up loud enough and it doesn't need reverb.

I use two overdrives in my pedal board...plus a compressor. I get a lot of gain when it's called for,

Vox V810 -> Keeley 4 knob comp -> Zendrive2. Vox is set for moderate overdrive, keeley has a little boost, Zendrive2 is CRANKED all the way. Never have a problem, not even a squeal.

Good to know :twisted:

With that rig, you sure can get a lot of gain !

The band (UNSANE) in post #14 uses a Dual Recto, and they sound pretty good to me, YMMV :wink:

Hi SirJackdeFuzz, sorry for posting so late, but I didn't notice your reply earlier.
With regards to the Dual Rectifier: I didn't say it's a bad amp, it's just that I didn't like it anymore. If you happen to like really gainy sounds, go for it, it's in my opinion a lot better than most other high-gain amps. I just had a hard time finding my tone with it as my taste in music changed from metal, hardcore etc. to some "mellower" music styles. It's not easy to get good "hairy" clean / slight OD sounds from that amp. It's basically either absolutely clean (but with a lot less volume than the distorted sounds, which is a real problem, the clean sounds just aren't loud enough for live situations) or full-out gain.
For metal and heavier rock styles it's still a landmark amp for me, it cuts through anything with ease and is built like the proverbial tank. I've had it for half of my life and only had to switch tubes twice with absolutely no other repairs or maintenance on the way. That's pretty impressive for an amp that even fell from its 4x12" cab to the ground twice and got used and abused in lots of live situations, not to mention it being stored in mostly cold, damp rooms when not seeing action. So it's pretty much indestructible and I'm still a fan of Mesa products in general because of my experience with that thing.

As far as i know he does not use an external boost, but i think he might stomp on the amps boost footswitch.

Ok, my Recto was one of the first ones built, it had only two channels, not three like the new ones (only a switch on the backside to get some clean sounds out of it), but it definitely didn't have a boost function on its own. I don't think the new ones have a boost function either.

Why do you feel that an unboosted Tele does not sound as good as a boosted one ?
The Recto has one problem (that can be easily cured): Flabby bottom end, especially when using the Recto 4x12" cab, which is oversized (it really is huge combared to a standard Marshall 4x12"). Most people use a Tube Screamer in front of the amp because the TS takes away some low frequencies and gets the bass end sorted out. When I compare my LP to my Tele sound-wise, my Tele has a LOT more low end and this tends to get ugly if you don't boost / EQ in front of the amp.
One other thing to consider: I've always felt the Recto NEEDS high output pickups or it just won't sound tight (hard to explain, really). The best guitar sounds I've had from that amp were with my LP (when it still had the hot ceramic pups) or, even better, with my old Ibanez fitted with EMG humbuckers and an on-board boost function. Using that guitar, you can forget about the Tube Screamer, as the huge amount of output from the guitar puts the amp in line. More output = less dynamics, smaller frequency bandwidth. The Recto likes that a lot.

Seeing that you are from Germany, what can you tell me about the German made Fame Bulldozer ?
Isn't is based on a Mesa Recto type of tone ?
Sorry, I can't help you with that, never tried one and also never saw someone playing those amps either. I basically just know they exist and not much else :lol:.

Yep, I use fairly high gain with my Tele & ASAT. Sometimes I stack 2 Fulltone OCDs for leadwork. Working around the hum is a concern, but it just becomes part of what you do.


Dirty Telecasters are the BOMB.

I play a fender hwy1 model stock throughout into a Bogner or superchamp amp and it ripps high gain tones all day, the hwy1 actually has pretty darn hot pups in it, I think they are alnico 3's, anyways I can play heavy with np

High gain is not my bag. That's why I like guitars that sound interesting clean and unadorned, such as a Telecaster with SC pickups.

Joe Strummer of the Clash was the one that attracted me to the tele in the first place. He played his through a lot of distortion all time and I think it's one of my favorite guitar sounds. Ironically, I play mostly clean, but the stock, ceramic pickups on my tele seem to handle gain just fine. I either crank the gain on my Blues Jr. or use a DS-1 pedal.