Getting a Les Paul tone from my tele...

[Davo17]

So Ive been listening to alot of ZZ tops old stuff the last few days. Awesome.
I love the fatness and articulation of my tele, and I love Marshall amps. In this clip, I LOVE the tone Phil X is getting, and I want to know how to approximate it. Its an old blackguard tele...is this all in the amp or is there more to it? How can I get these tones?

I am playing a Baja tele and have a Marshall Class 5.

[Cymro14]

Originally Posted by Davo17

So Ive been listening to alot of ZZ tops old stuff the last few days. Awesome.
I love the fatness and articulation of my tele, and I love Marshall amps. In this clip, I LOVE the tone Phil X is getting, and I want to know how to approximate it. Its an old blackguard tele...is this all in the amp or is there more to it? How can I get these tones?

I am playing a Baja tele and have a Marshall Class 5.

Video disabled. Can't help you mate!!!

[Chet Johnson]

If its an old blackguard, then there's not much to it but quality vintage pickups and the amp.

[imsilly]

Blackface Telecaster into a Magnatone, maybe with something extra from a Bad Monkey pedal. I have a CS Nocaster and a Magnatone amp, with a nice overdrive pedal thrown into the mix is sounds like this.

[twiggymac]

sounds more sg to me, that or a p90 les paul. i'd have to say the tone is 50% amp, 50% guitar, and 100% phil x

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by twiggymac

sounds more sg to me, that or a p90 les paul. i'd have to say the tone is 50% amp, 50% guitar, and 100% phil x

Well the chords at the beginning are what Im looking for. Clearly its doable on a tele, but even clean it does not strike me as classic tele tone, meaning there is more going on in the amp.

[scantron81]

Judging by the video, I think you have to paint your fingernails black.

[Hoopermazing]

Four way switch... and cutting the top off of the neck pickup cover doesn't hurt either.

[Mur]

Just depends on the amp you're using ...plus technique.
.

[stilesg57]

Originally Posted by Hoopermazing

Four way switch...

ESSENTIAL. Really gives you that full, thick sound that you just don't get out of a traditional Tele wiring. Still not perfectly LP-ish to my ears, but a darn good impression.

[dalandan]

Tele pickups that are close to lap steel pickups (think GE Smith) and a 6V6 amp that's breaking up. That's a recipe for success right there. Almost like the Jimmy Page formula for Zep I.

[Doth]

I know Phil and have played through his rig. Like nearly all players, most of his tone is coming from his fingers and technique.

The guitars that Fretted Americana sell are usually 100% original. This is a very early video, so Phil is probably playing through a vintage amp with his Bad Monkey pedal. In early video's he would either use his Tonemaster or a very early Fender Deluxe.

Don

[Chris H.]

Pickups wise, try and find a Hot Nocaster bridge pickup or a Bareknuckle Flat 50 bridge pickup.

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by Doth

I know Phil and have played through his rig. Like nearly all players, most of his tone is coming from his fingers and technique.

The guitars that Fretted Americana sell are usually 100% original. This is a very early video, so Phil is probably playing through a vintage amp with his Bad Monkey pedal. In early video's he would either use his Tonemaster or a very early Fender Deluxe.

Don

Good to know, thanks. In another vid I think may be from the same day (hes got the same shirt on), he appears to be playing a tweed amp (perhaps the early deluxe you mentioned), and when hes seen stepping on a pedal the volume jumps but there is no eq change heard so im thinking maybe a boost.
I have never heard a tonemaster, are they tweed amps?

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by stilesg57

ESSENTIAL. Really gives you that full, thick sound that you just don't get out of a traditional Tele wiring. Still not perfectly LP-ish to my ears, but a darn good impression.

Agreed, my Baja (see you have one too) has that option, and its great. In this clip hes playing a stock blackguard though, with an output of 7.4 K.

[Davo17]

Originally Posted by black custom

Pickups wise, try and find a Hot Nocaster bridge pickup or a Bareknuckle Flat 50 bridge pickup.

My tele has a Fender Broadcaster pup (around 9k), Im hoping that gets me close.

[The Quasar-Kid]

Originally Posted by twiggymac

sounds more sg to me, that or a p90 les paul. i'd have to say the tone is 50% amp, 50% guitar, and 100% phil x

+1 ^

It's got a P90 Les Paul thing kinda going on there

[Doth]

Originally Posted by Davo17

I have never heard a tonemaster, are they tweed amps?

The Tonemaster is an old Accordion amp made in Chicago in the late 60's. It is not made anymore, however John Kasha of Kasha Amplification reverse engineered it and developed the Evil Robot, which you can get from Fretted Americana. The hand-wired version is about $1,600 and comes in either a combo or a head and cab. They just announced their Asian version for less than $1,000.

In full disclosure, I am friendly with John Kasha and the Brass family, but I did play through the hand-wired version and it was pretty damn awesome.

Don

PS, the name was changed to Evil Robot because Fender owns the rights to "Tonemaster" and would not sell it to Fretted Americana. In fact, Fender thought the "F" in Fretted Americana looked too much like their "F" and made David change his "F".

[fezz parka]

Roll the tone back a little and crank the amp wide open.

[Doth]

Originally Posted by fezz parka

Roll the tone back a little and crank the amp wide open.

+1 Works for me with my Blues Junior into a 2x12.