Lite ash and Highway one, are they similar in sound?

[timeUnit]

Title says it all... or not:

I really love the open, bright and cutting tone of the Telecaster Highway one. It's exactly what I'm looking for. Being a hobby guitarist with many interests, I do find a bit too pricey.

And I just stumbled on a used Telecaster Lite Ash that seems like a similar guitar in many respects. Straightforward and with slightly more powerful pups than the "standard" Tele.

Are the Lite Ash and Highway one similar in sound?

Thanks!

[Dennis68]

The short answer would be No, they do not sound exactly the same. That's assuming all things being equal like amps, pedals, etc that you will use.

Assuming you are talking current models The Highway One uses their Hot Tele Single-Coil Pickups with Alnico 3 Magnets, while they put a Seymour Duncan APTR-1 and the APTL-1 Alinco Pro's in the Lite Ash Tele.

And all guitars are acoustic by nature, so wood differences will effect sound/tone as well to a degree. Best advice is try both through the same amp you'll be using if you can and go for the one that you prefer.

[Dennis68]

Oh, and Welcome to the forum!

[boris bubbanov]

Welcome, timeUnit!

Your description of the Highway One puzzles me. I don't find the overwound Alnico 3 pickups to be bright or open.

Unless that Highway One you tried is an earlier generation or has the pickups changed, it is a "distortion friendly" pup designed for high gain use. Only, IMO.

I like the pickups in the Lite Ash, however. I just don't like the rest of the guitar.
I know selection may be limited where you are, but the 2 models you describe are the ones I put back on the hook after I trial them.

Check out the Classic Series MIM Teles, and the Deluxe Nashville.

[timeUnit]

Well, I didn't mean exactly the same, of course. The wood is different, as is the laquer.

I tried two Baja Classic Players, and found both of them too bassy, lacking the Tele sparkle. The Standard Mex Tele was a little better, but the Hwy1 had the right sound.

The Lite ash, with the Alnico pups should, in my head at least, have a similar sound. Right?

Unfortunately I can't try the Lite Ash, as it's not available here anymore. I have found one used, but will have to buy it unheard. Price is about 300 GBP/580US/370EUR including a gigbag, shipping and upgraded compensated saddles. A good deal?

[timeUnit]

BTW, I tried all guitars through a Vox Valvetronix 30 Watt amp, not the XL model. AD30VT I believe.

[PJ]

After playing the Lite Ash, I immediately went out and bought a set of those Duncan Alnico Pro pickups that Fender puts in the Lite Ash model. Terrific. Sounds a ton better than a Highway IMHO. Not to say that a Highway wouldn't sound that way with different pickups.
But, I do like the Duncans.

[Dennis68]

Since you mentioned price as a concern, you could also look at the stardard series as well. Fine guitars for the money. And if it became necessary, you could swap the pickups to something more of your taste. I like the Nocaster pickups from Fender. Lindy Fralin also has some great offerings too. Just some extra ideas for you.

[SushiDanWah]

I really liked the ones I have tried; played into a Vox AC15CC one time and almost bought both as a set - what a nice clean tone with a some grit on demand! Other time I went into a Vox AD30VT as well - ran thru the cleans, the brits, and even the metal models - guitar sounded great thru them all! It was fun to have a simple rig that goes from country to clean to crunch to metal-ish, all with just the amp and the guitar! I also liked that the Lite Ash has great components - just not into buying a guitar and paying more to gut it and put in new stuff... Good luck whichever way you choose!

Dano

[timeUnit]

Thanks for all advice. I went ahead and bought the used Lite Ash, hopefully it will sound nice...

I had a Tele Deluxe vintage '72-'74 a couple of years ago, bought it from a local rock star (ever heard of Union Carbide Productions?). Sold it to a friend for about 850 EUR. A couple of months later I found similar, but more beat up, copy and it went for about 1400 EUR. I wonder what I could have gotten for that guitar these days...

[timeUnit]

Hi again,

(I feel like a total noob writing this.)

I just got the Lite Ash and have only played it for a couple of minutes before heading to work.

First impression is that it's a bit thin sounding and lacking sustain... I don't know what strings are on it, but I'm guessing 9-42. They are old and worn. Changing strings will improve sustain and tone I guess. I bought a set of D'Addario 9.5-44 per someones recommendation. I usually play on 10-52, but it seems a bit contradictory to put "metal" strings on a Tele...

The action is too low. I don't like playing on that and the fret buzz must have a negative impact on sustain and tone, right?

Changing to heavier strings will of course increase the action. But how do I go about adjusting the action? Truss rod or saddle height?

I'm just a bit worried that the new guit won't live up to my hope and expectations...

[kinkstah]

Welcome, timeUnit

As regards to the action, I think you should try to raise the saddles height (before tweaking the truss rod, which may not be necessary)

[chabby]

There's something wrong here:

If you take all the Tele's you want to play and plug them all into the same amp, (which preferably will be a tube amp set as as clean as possible) then plug in each of those teles into that exact amp on the exact same settings, hammer that selector switch all the way down and play, none of them should be "bassy". Some part of the story is missing here and since I wasn't there I can't know, but it doesn't make sense that you cite the Baja as being "bassy".

Nope, can't be. The Baja is as twangy as a traditional tele should be and as bright as it's single coils should be. In fact, the Baja is a well balanced guitar that does everything pretty well.

[timeUnit]

Originally Posted by chabby

There's something wrong here:

Nope, can't be. The Baja is as twangy as a traditional tele should be and as bright as it's single coils should be. In fact, the Baja is a well balanced guitar that does everything pretty well.

Well, I'm just following my ears. I tried two Bajas, both seemed to have reasonably new and nice strings. I found both of them a bit too "muffled", lacking sparkle, both compared to the MIM Standard and the Highway One. I had the guitars beside me, switching between them, with the same settings on the amp.

Maybe the Vox (modelling) amp did not like the Bajas? Maybe it prefers the higher output pups on the Highway One?

Anyway, now I got the used Lite Ash at home, for which I payed about half price compared to what the Baja would cost me. Hopefully I can adjust it to get the tone I'm looking for...

[chabby]

Could have been the modeling amp did have an effect on sonic nature of Teles - very possible. But if that's what you play through, so be it.

The important thing is that you got what you want and are happy!
Wlecome to the TDPRI!

[timeUnit]

I've taken the Lite Ash for a spin now.

Changed the strings, increased the action a bit.

Some issues:

The second fret on the "thin side" (down) of the fretboard is not correctly mounted and is thus 0.5-0.7 mm higher than the other frets. The thin/high E string sounds like a sitar, even with the action up real high. This needs to be fixed by a professional.

The bridge pickup is VERY bright. Of course the strings are completely new, they'll dull down eventually. I might want to find strings that are less bright, though. Right now I'm playing D'Addario XL 9.5-44. Any suggestions for a less bright string set?

The neck pup sounds nice, warm and open. Enough output, for sure.

I still think the guitar is lacking sustain, but I'll change to 10-4X strings and hopefully a set-up at a good guitar shop will fix intonation, action and that anoying fret buzz.

[timeUnit]

Originally Posted by chabby

Could have been the modeling amp did have an effect on sonic nature of Teles - very possible. But if that's what you play through, so be it.

Well, I have a Fender Quad Reverb as well. But I don't think my neighbors or my ears would like it if I started using that as a practice and home recording amp... ;-)