Telecaster exposes bad playing.

[Steve G]

Telecaster exposes bad playing....

Damn, Id better go get me a Gypsin...

[beep.click]

Originally Posted by johnnylaw

Personally, I enjoy the range of dynamic response offered by the Telecaster... Its a particularly expressive instrument.

Yeah, that's why I find it easier to play a Tele, compared to most other guitars. On other stuff, I'm struggling to get the dang thing to REACT.

As a result, I can sound like a better player on a Tele, because it will actually DO what I'm asking it to do.

[Elliot Easton]

Teles respond very quickly-it's what I call a 'fast response' guitar.

[dagger4]

A Tele is recommend (or even mandatory) for every guitar player.
As a long time Les Paul and Stratocaster player (24 years), I never improved my playing that much as in the two years I owned a telecaster.
In that Time:
1, my picking has become more accurate,
2, I dropped the High gain settings on my amp,
3, I became stronger in my left hand, "Long scale",
4, I haven’t been to the chiropractor for my back,
5, appreciate other genres like country.

Even if you don’t like the looks or sound of the Telecaster, your overall skill will improve if you play the Tele on a regular base.
If you pick up a Les Paul after a long period of playing the Tele, you and the audience will notice.
It is also recommend to practice on a Tele in the time before a recording session.
You will become stronger and more accurate during the actual recording session.

[rhh7]

After years of noodling, I decided to get serious. I bought my Fender Squire Avril Lavigne Tele because it sounded so good acoustically in the store. Now it is in my hands 30-45 minutes every night. I play it acoustically, rarely use my amp.

I bought a copy of "Blues You Can Use", by John Ganapes. It has 21 lessons, each of which builds upon the previous lesson. After almost a month, I am still on the first three lessons. But I have learned more than in the previous 20 years on my own. My wife had 14 years of classical training in voice and piano. She also taught piano for years. She says I am finally sounding "musical".

[cknowles]

Originally Posted by rhh7

My wife had 14 years of classical training in voice and piano. She also taught piano for years. She says I am finally sounding "musical".

Ouch!! That's Harsh!

[Durtdog]

Originally Posted by rhh7

After years of noodling, I decided to get serious. I bought my Fender Squire Avril Lavigne Tele because it sounded so good acoustically in the store.

OK, does no one appreciate the irony here?

[Tele Fan]

Tele make sound when hit with plastic thing and fingers inbetween metal things. Sound gooooooood!

[Flat357]

Sorry , but I have to chuckle reading this thread
If you can play , you can play .
If you can't , you can't .
No guitar on the planet is gonna make a darn bit of difference , whether it's a Tele , Les Paul , or any other guitar .

Hiding behind a trem ? That's a good one .

As for clean amps , what exactly are you defining as clean ?

Once you add reverb , compression , drive , or any other effect , the signal is no longer clean . Country players use effects a plenty .

For every 1 good Telecaster player , there are thousands of good players using different instruments , and for every 1 bad Telecaster player , the same can be said .
The Tele is a damn cool guitar , but not so different to many others .

I'm sure on some far away forum , 'x brand ' players are comforting themselves in the knowledge that their brand of guitar is this , or that too .

[TELEkinetic]

Originally Posted by Joe Gagan

timeline for most guitarists:

teens/twenties- les paul type or other HB equipped guitar to 'smooth out' the innacuracies of sloppy fingering and picking, use lots of gain for single note stuff

late twenties---
discover the strat, get a little cleaner with the tone and playing

early thirties to 40s---
enter tele-dom. everything you know is wrong , more or less. slow everything down and learn to make every note count. you are now a 5th degree guitar black belt. add gain back in to taste whenever you like, but you have the mastery to play crystal clean and still kick ass.

Joe - You have much wisdom for such a youngster !

You nailed my path to a tee with the exception I started in single digits with "clean" knowing no better!

[Arlo]

No matter what guitar I pick up it sounds like me. If I suck that day I will suck equally on anyone of them. If I am on that day I may prefer a certain one cause thats the sound I am after.

This whole debate is all good but it reminds me of the tone-wood and saddle material debates.

Does it trully matter what guitar you are playing if you are having a off day?

And vice versa??

I find it hard to blame the guitar design for any exposure of lack of skill. The Telecaster is a harder instrument to play and I think that is evidently what the issue is. But is it that noticeable? I mean if a guy doesn't poses talent it will be as bad on the Stratocaster as a Telecaster in my opinion.

I think Mark makes a good point about the whammy bar. Especially if the guitar has whacked out of tune a bit during a performance. It would be frightful on a Tele playing out of tune.

[Durtdog]

Originally Posted by Flat357

Sorry , but I have to chuckle reading this thread
If you can play , you can play .
If you can't , you can't .
No guitar on the planet is gonna make a darn bit of difference , whether it's a Tele , Les Paul , or any other guitar .

Hiding behind a trem ? That's a good one .

As for clean amps , what exactly are you defining as clean ?

Once you add reverb , compression , drive , or any other effect , the signal is no longer clean . Country players use effects a plenty .

For every 1 good Telecaster player , there are thousands of good players using different instruments , and for every 1 bad Telecaster player , the same can be said .
The Tele is a damn cool guitar , but not so different to many others .

I'm sure on some far away forum , 'x brand ' players are comforting themselves in the knowledge that their brand of guitar is this , or that too .

Hahahahaha! +1!

But it's fun to sit around and pat each other on the back about how we play a real no-nonsense man's guitar!

[Flat357]

Yup .
Aliens have refrained from invading because they know we have TELECASTERS
Thank heavens for the twang

[Joe Chaney]

Originally Posted by Elliot Easton

I love the title of this thread-I can imagine seeing it as a headline in the National Enquirer while waiting in the checkout line at the supermarket!

has anyone seen naked gun 2? you know when Frank drebin and Dr meinheimer are tied up, and the guard is reading the newspaper and it says: TRICK CIGAR BLOWS MANS HEAD OFF and SNEEZING INCREASES YOUR BUST SIZE, well this topic sounds like one of them

[psycho gun]

Telecaster makes me much better musician, it's amazing.

I can imagine a "Chuck Norris Fact" :

When Leo Fender created the Telecaster, he was thinking "what kind of guitar could resist when Chuck Norris plays ?"

[Twangmeister]

Tele: Arguably good at exposing bad notes.

Tele Discussion Page: Not so good at exposing humorously ironic ripostes!

You are now returned to your regularly scheduled discussion.....

[ucnick]

My $.02 worth...

FWIW: in addition to all my Teles and ASATs and Suhrs and Rices and etc - I have a 1971 (or thereabouts) Gibson SG200 (which is an eBay-purchased duplicate of one I had back in my foolish youth that I stupidly sold for illicit substance money ), which has an SG body (albeit a bit thicker than an SG Standard) but with two DeArmond (rebadged Gibson) single coils (whoever came up with the slide switches oughta be shot, however). Even with the 24.75" scale, It sounds a lot like a Tele (actually a LOT like a Broadcaster, I can get very close to a Mike Campbell sound on it, sounds great for Tom Petty tunes) and it has the same characteristic - nothing to hide behind! So, it seems to be pretty much true that when you play any guitar at low gain, dry (or almost dry) and no hair on it, then it pretty much is all in your fingers.

That being said - I love my Teles (and ASATs and whatnot) above the rest...

[asatfan]

Elliot Easton! What an honor to have you here!!!! I've always loved your playing....This place is so much fun!

[Norrin Radd]

Originally Posted by ucnick

My $.02 worth...

FWIW: in addition to all my Teles and ASATs and Suhrs and Rices and etc - I have a 1971 (or thereabouts) Gibson SG200 (which is an eBay-purchased duplicate of one I had back in my foolish youth that I stupidly sold for illicit substance money )

Was it Polyurethane finish????

[freddie]

'ello,

What is being said about the Tele here I feel applies to my experiences with the Les Paul and strat. I feel spoiled by the Tele's playability and alive pickup tone. I could never master a hammer on on a Les Paul and most strats I've played have higher action due to the tremelo arm (harder for me to fret barre chords).





freddie

[Mid Life Crisis]

I dunno. I always think a Strat is harder to play, certainly more work to get a good sound out of it. One of my guitar students bought a lovely new MIA Strat (having been playing a PRS SE) but nearly gave up, he was so frustrated with it.

But I find that, certainly playing clean, any Fender-type (single coil I guess) guitar rewards the player the more you put into it - the more you dig in, the more complexity, spank, quack or whatever comes through, and acts as a kind of positive feedback system.

[Amos]

Part of the difficulty in playing a Tele, compared to other electrics, is the neck angle relative to the Tele body. If you hold a Tele horizontally against your tummy, the neck is pretty much in a straight line in relation to the guitar body. A Les Paul's neck, however, angles back closer to your body, which makes it anatomically easier for most folks to play.

The Tele's slab body is another factor. Coupled with the neck/body angle issue noted above, it can be more anatomically difficult for a lot of folks to play because there is no relief where the forearm rests on the body. This results in the wrist of the picking hand sitting at an angle that isn't the easiest for playing.

The Tele's neck also joins the body a few frets further up than a Strat, making more reach necessary for first position notes.

Strats hug the body more and have relief carved where the forearm rests, making for an easier picking angle for the wrist.

For those comparing Gibsons to Fenders, Gibsons have a shorter scale length, which also is easier for a lot of folks to play. When Larry Carlton had his Strat made by Valley Arts, he had them build it with the shorter Gibson scale length.

I've always been able to set my Strats and Teles with similar-feeling low actions. As much as I love my Tele, when I absolutely, positively must pull off a difficult passage in a song (especially if I'm a bit rusty), I'll use my Strat.

[Gerry Lambe]

Yes the Telecaster is without doubt a very unforgiving guitar if you are prone to bum notes etc.
However in the right hands the very best sound and instrument ever made!
To hear the true Tele go to
Skunksukofficial and check out the intro to our song " Heart Attack" its an old tele through a very old marshall 50 watt head !
Enjoy!
Gerry - London