Improving Tele tone

Bill · October 20th, 2005, 02:47 PM

The discussions about Esquires made me think about how I could really improve my Tele tone. I suspect if I could only play the following setup for one year, my tone would improve markedly:

A Tele wired so straight through the bridge pickup to the output, no neck pickup, no Volume control , no Tone control.

One cable, no effects, straight to a Twin Reverb with every knob soldered in place except the Volume control and Power switch.

I have (well, have back home) multiple Teles, multiple Fender amps, and drawers full of effects. I'm not sure it improves my playing, if for no other reason than I spend more time playing with my gear than playing the guitar.

51mike · October 20th, 2005, 02:58 PM

You may be onto something there.
Nothing worse than "twiddlers hunch hump"!
I'm a "plug in the guitar to the amp and play" kind of guy.

playin loud · October 20th, 2005, 09:16 PM

I did this for a little while when I painted my pickguard. As I was taking out the neck pu out I figured I might as well clean up my soldering joints, put in fresh wires, and I am glad I did. Ole Fuzzy had a post a while back where he used his sons Tele straight to the jack. If it was fun for Ole Fuzzy, I figured it had to be good. Sure was, I hope you enjoy it too 8)

firewire · October 21st, 2005, 06:06 PM

I recently played a gig with a few other bands in a small DC club (Madam's Organ)...a guitarist in the first band had a huge Marshal stack, PRS guitar, and about a dozen pedals. He was a better player, but his tone was awful - plus he was a note-for-note type of guy. I was so proud of my little deluxe reverb (I leaned it up against his Marshal) with the tele plugged straight in. The amp was perfect..at least I thought so in an unbiased kind of way

BTW, PRS's are great too.

AJ Love · October 21st, 2005, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill

I have (well, have back home) multiple Teles, multiple Fender amps, and drawers full of effects. I'm not sure it improves my playing...

Well the effects don't really help many people's playing or tone, imho ;) Had to learn that one the hard way over the course of time

bonzo · October 22nd, 2005, 05:28 AM

I have a small tweed amp, a cornell romany based around 1 6L6 made by an English guy called Dennis Cornell. (Apparently he makes amps for Eric Clacton or somebody).

It has an EQ cut switch, which defeats the bass and treble circuits, giving a rawer sound. You simply just plug in and adjust the volume for gain, use your guitar volume to clean up. Sounds great and I love it for its simplicity.

October 20th, 2005, 02:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
Bill Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bay Area, California Posts: 2,668 59 Photos	Improving Tele tone The discussions about Esquires made me think about how I could really improve my Tele tone. I suspect if I could only play the following setup for one year, my tone would improve markedly: A Tele wired so straight through the bridge pickup to the output, no neck pickup, no Volume control , no Tone control. One cable, no effects, straight to a Twin Reverb with every knob soldered in place except the Volume control and Power switch. I have (well, have back home) multiple Teles, multiple Fender amps, and drawers full of effects. I'm not sure it improves my playing, if for no other reason than I spend more time playing with my gear than playing the guitar. __________________ B i l l B a e c k A journal of our year in London

October 20th, 2005, 09:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
playin loud Tele-Meister Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Francisco/California/USA Age: 30 Posts: 108	go for it I did this for a little while when I painted my pickguard. As I was taking out the neck pu out I figured I might as well clean up my soldering joints, put in fresh wires, and I am glad I did. Ole Fuzzy had a post a while back where he used his sons Tele straight to the jack. If it was fun for Ole Fuzzy, I figured it had to be good. Sure was, I hope you enjoy it too 8) __________________ Inspiration is one mishap away

October 21st, 2005, 06:06 PM	#4 (permalink)
firewire TDPRI Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 41	I agree... I recently played a gig with a few other bands in a small DC club (Madam's Organ)...a guitarist in the first band had a huge Marshal stack, PRS guitar, and about a dozen pedals. He was a better player, but his tone was awful - plus he was a note-for-note type of guy. I was so proud of my little deluxe reverb (I leaned it up against his Marshal) with the tele plugged straight in. The amp was perfect..at least I thought so in an unbiased kind of way BTW, PRS's are great too.

October 20th, 2005, 02:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
51mike Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Webster, NY Age: 58 Posts: 624 11 Photos	You may be onto something there. Nothing worse than "twiddlers hunch hump"! I'm a "plug in the guitar to the amp and play" kind of guy.

October 22nd, 2005, 05:28 AM	#6 (permalink)
bonzo TDPRI Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 11	I have a small tweed amp, a cornell romany based around 1 6L6 made by an English guy called Dennis Cornell. (Apparently he makes amps for Eric Clacton or somebody). It has an EQ cut switch, which defeats the bass and treble circuits, giving a rawer sound. You simply just plug in and adjust the volume for gain, use your guitar volume to clean up. Sounds great and I love it for its simplicity.