Telecoustic Vs. Stratacoustic...???

Is there a difference in sound between the Telecoustic vs. the Stratacoustic?

Don't say crap and crapper. I know there is not much love for the two.

I would like to know if there is a tone / sound difference between the two.

Thanks!!!

I don't think there is if we are talking about the ones that 1st came out in the mid/late '90's- same materials/construction/electronics. I think the only differences were shape (duh!) and color options- like the Strat came in black and creme, and the Tele in black and Red ??? Personally I'd pick a Tele ( the look of a Tele just connote 'acoustic/country' better) in red!

I can't imagine that there would be much of a difference. They've got to be getting 99% of their tone from the piezo alone. (also, I wish I had one!)

I was wondering if the shape of the body made a difference in the tone...

Not as much difference as the strap length...

I was wondering if the shape of the body made a difference in the tone...

I've played a Telecoustic before and truth is, acoustically, they sound like what you expect - boxy and shallow, no real depth of tone. That all changes plugged in, for the better. Also despite the electric shaped neck and sleek look of "Strat or Tele as an accoustic" I found the action (guitar was strung with light gauge acoustic strings) to be pretty high, which when you are seeing this and feeling this on a guitar which visually looks like a Tele (albeit with an acoustic bridge), just felt strange

I can't imagine they sound any different unplugged, and no difference plugging in. Just pick the body and HS shape you like. I prefer the Tele shape.

The Telecoustic Deluxe is a fine axe. Defunct model. "Real" wood, spruce top, mahogany body, good quality overall, magnetic PU and piezo. Loud enough for practice with no amp. The acoustic sound is identical to the electric sound. Doesn't howl at regular playing volume. Fancy metal-flake red finish. Poor man's shed & jam session L5, at least strung with Labella flatwounds as I do it. Why this model didn't catch on is a mystery to me. I feel lucky to have one. I put a Wilde Bill Lawrence PU on mine for a good hum-canceling sound.

^ Very nice Tele!!!

The action can be lowered. I think they are a great addition. Light weight and easy to use for practice unplugged and they sound good unplugged. I have lightweight accoustic strings on mine. Going to put electric strings on it next time.

A few days ago, I played both the Strat and Tele acoustics while guitar shopping and they sounded a little different to me -one was brighter than the other. I don't remember which and chocked it up to a difference in strings between the two. One had a fresh set of light guage bronze strings (Markely Vintage Bronze, I think -felt kinda familiar) and the other had a more "used" set of thicker phosphor bronze strings. I thought they both sounded good plugged in to the Acoustisonic that I ran them through. I didn't buy either, because there's a shop I know of that still might have one like Donelson's and that's the one I'd rather have.

T-C

My buddy has the silver sparkle tele. Action is high and it sounds boxy unplugged but through his Plexi it's got a pretty cool sound. Great for those grungy buck Owens jams.

The Telecoustic Deluxe is a fine axe. Defunct model. "Real" wood, spruce top, mahogany body, good quality overall, magnetic PU and piezo.

Thinking that I'll check out a used one of these that looks like the photo you posted (red with white banding). Price is under $200, might be fun to goof around with on the porch. :smile: Worth it?

I see that the new ones are also pretty cheap ($255 at GC) but they have fiberglass backs and sides.

I recommend that you get one, if it's the model with the tele neck PU & real wood construction. I use that guitar all the time for practice & occasionally even actual playing. Very versatile. I have Labella flatwounds 14-53 on mine. Plenty enough acoustic volume for unplugged practice. I think I paid around $350 + - new for it about three years ago, then couldn't find the factory hardshell case for it so got a Fender gig bag.

Thanks! I think the red one that I saw advertised probably has the black fiberglass back and sides, but you can't tell from the picture.

Is there a resource somewhere that would help to understand which models were made when?

My buddy has the silver sparkle tele. Action is high and it sounds boxy unplugged but through his Plexi it's got a pretty cool sound. Great for those grungy buck Owens jams.

Standard bolt-on Tele neck... just shim it back and he can lower the action as much as he wishes. Bone saddle helps too. I put one on mine.

Thought I'd update this thread. I went to the Guitar Center that had the used red telecoustic and bought it after talking them down to $150. Will do a separate NGD thread on this soon. It's the model with the black fiberglass (plastic?) back and no neck pickup, which is fine because I'll use it as an unplugged "porch guitar".

Regarding the action, it seemed a bit high to me (mainly the low E-A-D strings) for an electric guitar but about what I'd expect from an acoustic. There was a noticeable bow to the neck, and tightening the rod helped that a lot, but didn't completely eliminate. I reached the point where I had to apply a lot of force to the allen wrench and was afraid something might break if I went any further.

Next I pulled the neck and it already had a Bank of America credit card shim at the base. It was an usually thin credit card though, so I replaced it with one of my own old cards. That was just enough to create a problem with the high E string when you went above the third fret though, so I put the old shim back in place and decided this wasn't the solution.

I then gently filed a little off the top of the saddle to lower the E-A-D strings. Repeated this three times, taking just a little more off each time - was worried I might create a big problem if I went too far. Didn't want to file the bottom of the saddle since the top G-B-E strings were pretty good as-is.

Now it feels much better, but it took some time to get there.