Is there such a thing as too much twang ?

[sandman72202]

my new partscaster from a padouk body. sounds clean and clear....but it may have.....too much twang. i can tone it down a bit with the tone...but its almost too bright and twangy.
i think part of it might be coming from the bridge...because it has a briht sound even when unplugged. thing weighs a ton. but feels wonderful to play. my pickups are GFS vintage alnico's. they seem clear and clean..don't really tthink its them, i don't think they are coloring the sound at all. i'm using a wilkinson bridge with the brass compensated saddles.
just curious if anyone else has encountered this.

[bebopalula]

pots and capacitor did you wire it up with?

this may help ya some
(from Ole FUZZY's website):

[sandman72202]

but the pots are 250.
it was a drop in unit from HasSound. standard three way. nothing special.

[maestrovert]

i'm wonderin'......
how'z yer tone control ?
can you get "tone control wah wah" fairly easily with it ?

one of the attractions of the Tele {for me anyways} is it's tonal responsiveness and the variety and nuance inherent in the tone pot....

[BB]

Originally Posted by sandman72202

my new partscaster from a padouk body. sounds clean and clear....but it may have.....too much twang. i can tone it down a bit with the tone...but its almost too bright and twangy.
i think part of it might be coming from the bridge...because it has a briht sound even when unplugged. thing weighs a ton. but feels wonderful to play. my pickups are GFS vintage alnico's. they seem clear and clean..don't really tthink its them, i don't think they are coloring the sound at all. i'm using a wilkinson bridge with the brass compensated saddles.
just curious if anyone else has encountered this.

It's probably more of a synergistic effect with the padouk body and GFS pickups. From what I understand,
( I don't have much experience with Padouk ) Padouk is a very dense, bright sounding wood. Couple that with GFS pickups ( every model I've tried has been very bright and clear ) and you have the makings of bright tone.

I would venture a guess that a different set of pickups would tame some of the brightness....but the inherent tone of the body wood will always be there.

If it's too much too bright for you, a graphic eq may tame some of the high end.

[sandman72202]

Originally Posted by maestrovert

i'm wonderin'......
how'z yer tone control ?
can you get "tone control wah wah" fairly easily with it ?

one of the attractions of the Tele {for me anyways} is it's tonal responsiveness and the variety and nuance inherent in the tone pot....

plenty of wah wah in the tone control.
i can tame it with that. i guess it is the wood.
should i go with a lower less powered more vintage pickup ?

[lostpick]

Noiseless PUP??
The compression of a stacked coil
might tame the sound, some guys
say they have less spank....

[PhatTele]

I have a Padouk neck on one of my Teles. According to the Warmoth site, it's supposed to have the tonal characteristics of Maple...which explains part of the brightness.

If you're trying to tame the brightness a bit, you need to add a bit more midrange. You can do that by adding hotter pickups with more output...not the other way around.

You can also turn the tone down a bit on the guitar (maybe a quarter) and add a bit more midrange at the amp.

You can also fatten the tone by rewiring the neck PU selector position to have both PUs "in series" giving you a wide spaced, fat sounding, humbucker-like tone. You can also get this option by putting in a 4-way switch.

[Johnny Caster]

If you think it's too bright even without being plugged in, maybe you could try different saddles or maybe try putting a strip of tough plastic under the saddle screws to dampen some of the shock so it doesn't resonate too much.

Another thing to try would be changing to different type of strings. Also, the brightness will be much more relieved once the strings are worn in (but you probably already know that).

[bebopalula]

Originally Posted by Johnny Caster

Another thing to try would be changing to different type of strings.

JC makes a good point,
altho sandman may already be on to it:

nickel strings.

[sandman72202]

strings are about 4 weeks old and still pretty bright.but i like the idea of sliding something under the saddle screws if it doesn't raise my action too much. thats an easy fix and reversal if it doesn't work.

[JohnnyAtomic]

sandman72202 what part of arkansas are you in? I'm in Little Rock.

Johnny Atomic

[sandman72202]

down off cantrell, although i'm in seattle currently. i have a travel job that keeps me on the road about 11 months out of the year. won't be home again till most likely august.

[bwanasonic]

+1 for trying solid nickel wrap strings. Also maybe try going up a gauge, esp. if you are using 009s.

Kerry M

[JohnnyAtomic]

Originally Posted by sandman72202

down off cantrell, although i'm in seattle currently. i have a travel job that keeps me on the road about 11 months out of the year. won't be home again till most likely august.

Oh, now i get the 72202, i'm an 05 hillcrester here.

Johnny

[Wally]

On the strings, NickleRockers (GHS) might help even more than the Pure Nickles. The 'rockers are compression wound which takes some of the harmonics/brightness out. They are not as 'dead' as flatwounds, but they lean in that direction tonally.
One thing that has not been mentioned is the amp. Can you adjust the settings on the amp to make the guitar work a bit more to your liking?
I bet that dense paduak yields big sustain as well as the twang, eh?

[Durtdog]

I had a GFS Vintage bridge pu in an alder Tele, and I felt it was a *little* on the bright side, and I usually like 'm pretty trebly. Changed it out, problem solved. It may be a combination of materials, but I think the pickup could be contributing to the brightness.

[sandman72202]

they are about due. I'm using 10's now , not even sure what they are.
i'm adjusting the tone down with the amp, i have the treble down pretty good as it is on 3 with the base about 12 oclock. i was thinking maybe the pickups because they are inexpensive but the more i play it they are exceptionally clear and clean and i do have a full range of tone with pretty good base response. so i think i'm gonna stick with them and try to tame it another way. it does sustain real well. its heavy but i love the feel and clean sounds i'm getting out of it. just a bit too bright.

[franchelB]

My bass player accused me of having too much "twang" on my Tele!
A lethal "ice-pick to the forehead" combination:
Tele + wah pedal = TWWAAANNNNGGGGG!!!!!!