Marty's Clarence specs ?

[WaylonFan76]

Went see Marty Stuart and the Superlatives last night and was absolutely knocked out by the tone coming out of Marty's amp. The most beautiful tone I've ever heard. The studio recordings don't even do it justice. I was wondering if you guys could help me with the specs of Clarence, ( saddles, ferrules materials, bridge pickup specs ) as I want to ultimately get my PartsEsquire as close to that heavenly sound as possible.
Thanks !

[Tele Fan]

There's a ton of info on google. Just put in Clarence White Telecaster. Good luck on the hunt.

[telex76]

Go here to see.
http://www.pbase.com/jroy/inside_cla...tes_telecaster

[WaylonFan76]

Originally Posted by telex76

Go here to see.
http://www.pbase.com/jroy/inside_cla...tes_telecaster

Thanks ! Already found that page... I'm really looking for what material the saddles are and what pickup would be the closest to the original. Thanks for the tip...

[Chet Johnson]

Velvet hammer pickups. I believe that guitar has brass low e, a,d and g saddles, and a steel b and high e saddle because of the b bender.

[WaylonFan76]

Originally Posted by Chet Johnson

Velvet hammer pickups. I believe that guitar has brass low e, a,d and g saddles, and a steel b and high e saddle because of the b bender.

Thanks !!! Red Rhodes used to have a web page, can't find it now for some reason...

[djalt]

Hey fellas,

Went through this in Nov 2010.

Searched the tdpri and the Clarence White forums and found an enlightening series of pointed yet friendly debates on this topic. Mostly between Silverface and Brian Friend. Bob Warford as far as I know has yet to go on record, neither has Roland, Clarence's older brother. Gene Parsons has politely stated his pickups are/were stock, a 54 tele bridge and a 56 strat neck with a switch to get it out of phase.

Various amps and pedals were used, along with *possibly* a set of modded Velvet Hammers from Red Rhodes.

I say possibly 'cause neither Clarence nor Red are here to tell us. :(

But Google 'Jeff Rhodes'. Reds son started winding them again,great deal from what i read. $159 -ish.

Happy searching!

(Cue BrianF and Silverface for the next round of debating..... :)

[WaylonFan76]

Originally Posted by djalt

Hey fellas,

Went through this in Nov 2010.

Searched the tdpri and the Clarence White forums and found an enlightening series of pointed yet friendly debates on this topic. Mostly between Silverface and Brian Friend. Bob Warford as far as I know has yet to go on record, neither has Roland, Clarence's older brother. Gene Parsons has politely stated his pickups are/were stock, a 54 tele bridge and a 56 strat neck with a switch to get it out of phase.

Various amps and pedals were used, along with *possibly* a set of modded Velvet Hammers from Red Rhodes.

I say possibly 'cause neither Clarence nor Red are here to tell us. :(

But Google 'Jeff Rhodes'. Reds son started winding them again,great deal from what i read. $159 -ish.

Happy searching!

(Cue BrianF and Silverface for the next round of debating..... :)

I think it's 56 Tele bridge pup and 54 Strat pup. Correct me if I've been reading wrong. I am in touch with Owen @ OC Duff and he said he can wind me one of his "Whiteguard" pickups, mid-50s Tele pups to match Marty's tone. I'm looking forward to that. I think that's gonna be my ticket. Clarence looks like it has steel saddles, it's what I have in my Esquire, with a aluminum E/A saddle, aka the Bakersfield Twang set from Glendale. So it's all good. I think I'll go with Owen. He already wound me a super nice blackguard-type neck pickup. You know I'll post an update whenever I get the pickup.

[djalt]

Just re-checked your OP, you mentioned his amp. Marty mentioned something I found in an article ( which I will post later once full find it ). He likes using 60s silverface Fenders

-***with the bright switch OFF***

I play a ParsonsWhite long throw B bender (which other than the bender is a stock 2010 American Special tele) Through a 68 Silverface Vibrolux, with the bright switch off, every thing else set on 7, its amazing!

I think in simple terms, turning the amp UP (i.e. past 5) allows the tubes to really do their job. Then you get into the rich harmonics and overtones that you never hear at bedroom volume levels.

The bright switch ON at 7 is just not ear-friendly. :)

Just my 2c.

[djalt]

Originally Posted by WaylonFan76

I think it's 56 Tele bridge pup and 54 Strat pup.

You are right about the pickups, my bad!

[WaylonFan76]

Originally Posted by djalt

Just re-checked your OP, you mentioned his amp. Marty mentioned something I found in an article ( which I will post later once full find it ). He likes using 60s silverface Fenders

-***with the bright switch OFF***

I play a ParsonsWhite long throw B bender (which other than the bender is a stock 2010 American Special tele) Through a 68 Silverface Vibrolux, with the bright switch off, every thing else set on 7, its amazing!

I think in simple terms, turning the amp UP (i.e. past 5) allows the tubes to really do their job. Then you get into the rich harmonics and overtones that you never hear at bedroom volume levels.

The bright switch ON at 7 is just not ear-friendly. :)

Just my 2c.

Thanks !

[Lerb21]

I remember reading somewhere that Marty had at least the bridge pup rewound... hmm.

[Whoa Tele]

Originally Posted by WaylonFan76

I think it's 56 Tele bridge pup and 54 Strat pup. Correct me if I've been reading wrong. I am in touch with Owen @ OC Duff and he said he can wind me one of his "Whiteguard" pickups, mid-50s Tele pups to match Marty's tone. I'm looking forward to that. I think that's gonna be my ticket. Clarence looks like it has steel saddles, it's what I have in my Esquire, with a aluminum E/A saddle, aka the Bakersfield Twang set from Glendale. So it's all good. I think I'll go with Owen. He already wound me a super nice blackguard-type neck pickup. You know I'll post an update whenever I get the pickup.

When you get the pickup, I'm sure Owen will make any changes necessary if you're not satisfied. I don't know him personally but have had 2 great OC Duff experiences

[WaylonFan76]

Originally Posted by Whoa Tele

When you get the pickup, I'm sure Owen will make any changes necessary if you're not satisfied. I don't know him personally but have had 2 great OC Duff experiences

He's top class, in my experience. Answers emails within an hour or so, always very helpful and very friendly. Love doing business with Owen.

[WaylonFan76]

Originally Posted by Lerb21

I remember reading somewhere that Marty had at least the bridge pup rewound... hmm.

[Don Miller]

If one could unequivically state when that guitar had what pickups youd be up for the Nobel Prize in Teleology...keep in mind that pickups are only part of the equation...that guitar also has a rim with a masonite cover on it,,,to cover the bender mechanism...that back..about 2/3s the thickness of a second body is hollow...and imparts an acoustic resonance that a regular tele just couldnt get...the strings go thru a block glued on the back of the tele body so you need not remove the masonite cover on the back to change strings...so theres a bunch of stuff in the mix....I dont know about Owens pickups..but I have a set of Velvet Hammers and to my ears, they are the finest tele pickup there is...now..mine are in a Stringpull Nashville West...with a thickened body so the resonance is there, etc...so the guitar isnt a straight tele.

One thing Ive noticed about Marty is that he and Kenny Vaughn frequently play interlocking parts...the live Country Boy Rock and Roll and Hummingbyrd videos show that pretty clearly...and what you think might be Marty is actually Marty and Kenny

[WaylonFan76]

Originally Posted by Don Miller

If one could unequivically state when that guitar had what pickups youd be up for the Nobel Prize in Teleology...keep in mind that pickups are only part of the equation...that guitar also has a rim with a masonite cover on it,,,to cover the bender mechanism...that back..about 2/3s the thickness of a second body is hollow...and imparts an acoustic resonance that a regular tele just couldnt get...the strings go thru a block glued on the back of the tele body so you need not remove the masonite cover on the back to change strings...so theres a bunch of stuff in the mix....I dont know about Owens pickups..but I have a set of Velvet Hammers and to my ears, they are the finest tele pickup there is...now..mine are in a Stringpull Nashville West...with a thickened body so the resonance is there, etc...so the guitar isnt a straight tele.

One thing Ive noticed about Marty is that he and Kenny Vaughn frequently play interlocking parts...the live Country Boy Rock and Roll and Hummingbyrd videos show that pretty clearly...and what you think might be Marty is actually Marty and Kenny

I know... I'm on a wild goose chase... Again... But that whole experience exposed me to the mid-50s Teles' sound, I'm anxious to put a "whiteguard" type pup in my Esquire. Different flavor. I'll report as soon as I get it in there.

[Lerb21]

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/b-bender-...nder-pups.html

Originally Posted by Don Miller

This topic has been discussed at length at the Clarence White forum..in fact theres currently a short thread. The consesus seems to be that at some point Clarence had pickups that were rewound by Red Rhodes, with the secondary coil on the bridge pickup, and unique wiring harness...which were produced commercially as Velvet Hammers...but when Marty bought the guitar, thise pickups had been removed.

One thing about that guitar...it has a rim on the back..about 2/3s of a tele body, covered by a sheet of masonite...the bender works are housed in there. That chamber on the back also acts like a sound box and gives a secondary acoustic resonance...and would be picked up by slightly microphonic pickups.

Velet Hammers are availble again, Reds kids are producing them now...but...Im not sure what Marty has inthe guitar now...

You said the same things 2 years ago Don...

I knew that I had read that the pickups had been rewound somewhere.

[Lerb21]

Marty had this to say back in 1986.

"After I got that guitar, I'd play along with the Byrds' records," he says. "I'd get the licks right, but the guitar just didn't sound the same, no matter what I did. Then, in 1980, I bought Clarence's guitar from his widow, Suzie, and found that it had just a little bit longer pull than any other bender I've ever seen. That little fraction of an inch seems to create an overtone or something, and it makes all the difference in the world. Roland says Clarence used to call it Frankenstein because of the way it was put together. The front pickup came out of a Stratocaster, and the rear pickup is a stock Tele that was rewound by Red Rhodes. It's a lot hotter and has a fatter sound than a stock Telecaster pickup. Clarence also had Scruggs [banjo] tuners put on the high E and the A strings. It really is an experimental axe."

http://www.martystuart.com/ZArt-GuitarPlayer-12-86.htm

[WaylonFan76]

Thanks, Clint !