Valley Arts Brent Mason Signature Custom

Nighthawk · May 5th, 2008, 01:28 PM

Hi,

I own an American DeluxeTele, which I purchased in 2005 and I love it. I have been switching back and forth between it and a Gibson Nighthawk as my go to guitars. After buying the Tele and prior to buying the Nighthawk, I bought a Brent Mason Custom. It's nice guitar but in my opinion it just does not really provide what the other two guitars do. I find the tone of the higher strings to be almost too clean, like striking a glass with a fork, if that makes any sense, even when I'm trying to go for something dirtier and the lower tone strings often display too much bass. I also find that in terms of volume this guitar is lacking At home I have a small Fender Princeton 112 and in my band most of the time I'm going through am Fender Super Reverb. I do find the Mason useful for Rhythm when recording. When playing live with the full band, it just gets lost in the mix Thoughts about the Mason?

PJ · May 5th, 2008, 02:02 PM

I've only seen his demo video in the model. But, it seems, he was going for jazzier tones. His style is a great mix of country & jazz.
Sort of Chet Atkins influenced. So, I'm not surprised you're not getting the spank you're after. Perhaps a beter balanced bridge pickup
would help you achieve what you're after. I use a Duncan Alnico Pro
bridge in one of my Teles that cuts real well, without being too shrill.
Duncan offers a lot of varied tone options for Tele, tweaking the normal Fender palette of bridge pickup tones. They have audio clips on their website that might be helpful. But, the Duncan unit I have has very good definition of the bass trings, without being too shrill on
the tops. And, that was what I was after, when I went with that pickup set (I also run the neck from that series, as well - which is also terrific). What you might want to do, is try to find a Fender Lite Ash model in a store - that model runs these pickups and is how I was introduced to them.

Nighthawk · May 5th, 2008, 02:23 PM

Hi Tele-Afflicted,

A wonderful affliction even if I do say so myself and I do.

Thanks for the post. I believe you are correct. I think every guitar has its place and if not it should go. I will be holding on to the Mason. It has a great comfortable neck and I said it is very good for rhythm of differing styles. I have recorded some very nice sounding pieces using all three of the guitars I mentioned, with chiming sounds. Thanks again. "I feel better now. I feel better than James Brown".

braderrick · May 5th, 2008, 03:33 PM

You could probably try a different pickup setup if the current one does not suit ya. That is if you aren't worried about keeping it original, and I bet the stock pickups would sell for enough to pay for your new set. I have played a couple of these and both needed new strings and a set up so I am a little biased. They sounded okay and while I like slightly fatter necks this one is just too fat for my tastes. But then again it is Brent's signature series and not mine and I guess that's the way he likes it. BTW Brent is the best in the business in my opinion.

Dennis68 · May 5th, 2008, 07:37 PM

Here's the video. Looks interesting:

PJ · May 5th, 2008, 09:40 PM

Hawk....I would certainly keep it, if I had one. Looks like a nice guitar.
Although I would like to build one out with a Gibson mini-hummer like Brent's, I would also be disappointed if the bridge tones didn't give me what I'm after. I listened to TONS of Tele pickups, before finding those Duncans. The bass strings on the bridge pickup give you that nice Brad Paisley tone, when plucked. I was trying to get rid of the ultra-shrill character of the stock bridge pickup in my 50s Tele (which is OK for some stuff, but not real versatile). And the Duncan pickups deliver fabulous tone. When I changed the bridge, I thought it to be a good idea if I matched it with the Duncan neck. And that was also a good move. The neck pickup on the first switch stop can get nice and crunchy if you drive it, but delivers terrific rhythm tone when needed. Mixed in the middle stop, you get nice Doobie Brothers "Listen to the Music" chimey tone - not too bright, not too jazzy. Almost Strat like without too much shimmer.

I was also surprised that that series of Duncans isn't crazy expensive - I think they were something like $135 for the set.

May 5th, 2008, 01:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
Nighthawk Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2008 Location: Massachusetts Age: 59 Posts: 236	Valley Arts Brent Mason Signature Custom Hi, I own an American DeluxeTele, which I purchased in 2005 and I love it. I have been switching back and forth between it and a Gibson Nighthawk as my go to guitars. After buying the Tele and prior to buying the Nighthawk, I bought a Brent Mason Custom. It's nice guitar but in my opinion it just does not really provide what the other two guitars do. I find the tone of the higher strings to be almost too clean, like striking a glass with a fork, if that makes any sense, even when I'm trying to go for something dirtier and the lower tone strings often display too much bass. I also find that in terms of volume this guitar is lacking At home I have a small Fender Princeton 112 and in my band most of the time I'm going through am Fender Super Reverb. I do find the Mason useful for Rhythm when recording. When playing live with the full band, it just gets lost in the mix Thoughts about the Mason?

May 5th, 2008, 02:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
PJ Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,909 4 Photos	I've only seen his demo video in the model. But, it seems, he was going for jazzier tones. His style is a great mix of country & jazz. Sort of Chet Atkins influenced. So, I'm not surprised you're not getting the spank you're after. Perhaps a beter balanced bridge pickup would help you achieve what you're after. I use a Duncan Alnico Pro bridge in one of my Teles that cuts real well, without being too shrill. Duncan offers a lot of varied tone options for Tele, tweaking the normal Fender palette of bridge pickup tones. They have audio clips on their website that might be helpful. But, the Duncan unit I have has very good definition of the bass trings, without being too shrill on the tops. And, that was what I was after, when I went with that pickup set (I also run the neck from that series, as well - which is also terrific). What you might want to do, is try to find a Fender Lite Ash model in a store - that model runs these pickups and is how I was introduced to them. __________________ PJ "I don't know if it's art, but I like it."

May 5th, 2008, 07:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
Dennis68 Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hudson Valley Posts: 757	Here's the video. Looks interesting: __________________ -Dennis

May 5th, 2008, 09:40 PM	#6 (permalink)
PJ Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,909 4 Photos	Hawk....I would certainly keep it, if I had one. Looks like a nice guitar. Although I would like to build one out with a Gibson mini-hummer like Brent's, I would also be disappointed if the bridge tones didn't give me what I'm after. I listened to TONS of Tele pickups, before finding those Duncans. The bass strings on the bridge pickup give you that nice Brad Paisley tone, when plucked. I was trying to get rid of the ultra-shrill character of the stock bridge pickup in my 50s Tele (which is OK for some stuff, but not real versatile). And the Duncan pickups deliver fabulous tone. When I changed the bridge, I thought it to be a good idea if I matched it with the Duncan neck. And that was also a good move. The neck pickup on the first switch stop can get nice and crunchy if you drive it, but delivers terrific rhythm tone when needed. Mixed in the middle stop, you get nice Doobie Brothers "Listen to the Music" chimey tone - not too bright, not too jazzy. Almost Strat like without too much shimmer. I was also surprised that that series of Duncans isn't crazy expensive - I think they were something like $135 for the set. __________________ PJ "I don't know if it's art, but I like it."

May 5th, 2008, 02:23 PM	#3 (permalink)
Nighthawk Tele-Meister Join Date: May 2008 Location: Massachusetts Age: 59 Posts: 236	Hi Tele-Afflicted, A wonderful affliction even if I do say so myself and I do. Thanks for the post. I believe you are correct. I think every guitar has its place and if not it should go. I will be holding on to the Mason. It has a great comfortable neck and I said it is very good for rhythm of differing styles. I have recorded some very nice sounding pieces using all three of the guitars I mentioned, with chiming sounds. Thanks again. "I feel better now. I feel better than James Brown".

May 5th, 2008, 03:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
braderrick Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kentucky Age: 25 Posts: 448	You could probably try a different pickup setup if the current one does not suit ya. That is if you aren't worried about keeping it original, and I bet the stock pickups would sell for enough to pay for your new set. I have played a couple of these and both needed new strings and a set up so I am a little biased. They sounded okay and while I like slightly fatter necks this one is just too fat for my tastes. But then again it is Brent's signature series and not mine and I guess that's the way he likes it. BTW Brent is the best in the business in my opinion.