Getting Julian Lage's honky tele tone

Brokenpick

Tele-Afflicted
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
Posts
1,441
Location
Dixie
(Honky tone. Racist! Ha!)
Actually, Honky Tone, or HonkTone seems like a great
Pickup, amp or guitar co. name.
 

nosuch

Friend of Leo's
Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Posts
4,882
Location
Cologne
I understand that you are impressed by Lage's tone (though I humbly believe we should all search for our own>) – but IMHO you can get close with what you already have. A blues jr with the preamp volume to where you get a bit of break-up and the tone on the tele rolled back will put you in the ballpark. Don't be shy to use the bridge pickup.
No you don't need a special pick or certain gauge of strings ... really, it's in the hands and the brain.
 

Ben-Zion

Tele-Holic
Joined
Apr 11, 2017
Posts
637
Location
Indiana USA
I'll say the same thing as I did in the thread on his tone in the pedal section of this board. Most of that is in his technique. His set up is so simple that there is very little that alters the tone except his fingers. Nothing to hide behind. I'm afraid this means you will ned to hit the practice room. No amount of gear will ever get you the same result as some hours of practicing, even though we sometimes would like that short cut.

Do you play alot of melody stuff on acoustic guitar? Julian has a very dynamic way of picking in this song that makes me think of acoustic players. Playing chord melody on acoustic demands a bit of another approach than on electric. You sort of need to play with the guitar, rather than just on it. I myself noticed a drastic increase in my ability to shape tone and getting my instruments to really sing after I began taking my acoustic playing beyond standard chord comping, even when going back to the electric. So my advice would be to really get in to acoustic for a while. Then you can start worrying about silly things as different flavours of 50's style pickups.

Bingo. I've always thought that Julian has a style that can ONLY have come from his experience as an acoustic / bluegrass / Dawg music player. I hear "flatpicking" all over his Tele approach...
 

VikinginLA

Tele-Meister
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Posts
240
Location
Los Angeles
I saw him play here in LA late last year.......One of the best improvisers in any style any day of the year. Live is where he really shines. At that show he played a no-name Tele model
and a deluxe reverb I believe.


lage.jpg
 

stefanhotrod

Tele-Holic
Joined
Aug 27, 2016
Posts
894
Location
germany
Old thread, still interesting to read.

The Gretsch is everything but new :rolleyes:- it’s an early 1950‘s with a 1958 neck non vibrato Duo Jet.

Julians Tone is 90% attack control, whether he plays a Champ or the totally different Vibro Prince, he still sounds the same. He sounds a bit different with that wonderful Gretsch but still pretty similar.
It‘s basically a single coil guitar and a Fenderish tube amp on it‘s sweet spot, the rest is his fabulous dynamic playing and that‘s the major part if his signature tone.
 

LKB3rd

Friend of Leo's
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Posts
2,811
Location
CT
There's no gear that will get you this sound unless you can play like he does.
It's just a Tele into a cranked up amp.
 

Alter

Tele-Holic
Joined
Jul 29, 2007
Posts
518
Location
Greece
I always have judged teles by how the treble strings play. So if you get any tele with a warmish sound, good treble, you can get close. Closer than that, you can find a 60s Champ pretty easily, but good luck with the 50s tele!.. ;)
 

skidbrake

TDPRI Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Posts
65
Location
Paso Robles, CA
Like others here, I was struck by Julian's Live in LA sound, so I went on a tone quest to see how close I could get without having Julian's hands and talent.

I have a Fender 52 Tele reissue with Don Mare Hayride pickups, Broadcaster blender wiring and 11-gauge pure nickel strings. My amp is a 5F1 clone I built to stock specs, with an 8-inch Weber speaker, old Tung-Sol USA 6V6 and 5Y3 tubes, and a NOS RCA 12AX7.

With amp volume set on 7/10 and guitar volume dialed to 9/10, the chime and touch sensitivity and dynamics are all there, but it still has some stiffness and bark that isn't pleasant.

I looked at my cables, which are premium ultra-low capacitance. Which are nice for delivering all of the bell tones out of a Strat, but too articulate for a Tele's natural treble. I bought a Vox coily cable, knowing they are high-capacitance tone suckers, and was pleased with the improvement. When I play a C# on the high E string, it's no longer piercing. This helped me get closer to Julian's sound, but it was still not as warm and 'brown' as his.

Looking at the amp, it's a 5F1 circuit with specs from a time when USA wall voltage was 110-115VAC. I have an old variac in my shop I use for amp testing, so I dialed up 110VAC and plugged the 5F1 into it. This made a noticeable difference. The voltage drop browns the sound, softening it and adding a little fur around the edges of the tone.

My signal chain:

Tele --> Vox coily cable -->TC tuner -->Xotic EP Boost --> Holy Grail Reverb --> 5F1 amp running on 110VAC, with amp volume on 7/10.

The EP Boost dial is set on minimum, and I use it to add 'bigness' to the sound. It gives more girth to the tone as well as increasing the touch sensitivity. I don't use it often, but it's nice to have and really pushes this amp in a good way.

I may try a AmpRX BrownBox for playing out with this rig, as the variac is a too heavy to tote around.

So I have officially ended my Julian Lage Tone Quest and will now spend the rest of my days trying to become 1/100th as good as he is on a blackguard Tele. I hope this info helps.
 
Last edited:
Top