Reasons for stiff feeling on Tele?

[boris bubbanov]

Yea, Dan said a 1/6" of an inch makes quite a difference. They both said it makes string tension more slinky.
Mario and Dan both commented on it somewhere on here. I can't find it at the moment, but it was in '15 I believe.
I would think a CNC is the best way, but I want to do it on one of my bodies and I have no CNC. I'm just going to take a flat piece of wood, shape it the shape of the neck pocket and put on some 320-400 grit and hope I can sand it down level.
If that doesn't do it, I'll go buy a router and learn how to do it.
If you find the post they commented in, let me know. Thanks.

Yup.

I like to keep working on a project until the feel is slinky and the action fairly low, and perhaps a good number of the "Hire a Tech" guys could train themselves to bring in a guitar in this fashion. I use paper, but also those English steel cabinet scrapers.

But here's where I depart: Now is time to raise the saddles back up. You've "proven" the neck and the fret finishing, but now it is time not to cruise but to make bigger, tastier sounds with the guitar. And strings with the additional room to sing out, and the added effort in playing the guitar with the higher action, and what I consider to be the end objective - at least for some of us. I guess if the player is recovering from time off (perhaps vacation, illness or injury) he could keep it low and slinky, and maybe the day will come when I must have it like this also, but for now, I prefer the extra fight and I prefer the sounds I get as well.

 

[Gitaarman Ad]

When the set up of two Telecasters is the same,i.e. specifically for me.

Same action.

Break angle of strings over the exact same bridge.

Same cut depth at nut.

Same string gauge and make.

Why then does one guitar feel way stiffer than the other? To give a comparison,it's like the difference between using 9s and 10s,or having one dropped in pitch by a semitone.

It doesn't make the guitar unplayable or anything,but it's noticeable and I don't know why it ought to be.

Ideas/solutions welcome.

BTW,the stiff one is new,so do they sometimes 'play in'? It's never happened me before,that I've noticed.

The reason is flexibillity of the neck or the lack thereof.Contributing to stiffness are 1) truss rod too tight. 2) The way the year rings are in the neck's wood. Quarter sawn is more stiff. 3) When the fretboard was formed concave to allow for tighter fret slots, so it would end up with a near straight fret level. I concider this last one very wrong, but some factories do this to prevent loose frets. With very tight fret fittings the neck will be forced to bow more and more convex. So when you start with a concave neck, in the end it will look straight. BUT my friends, the neck has lost all of its flexibillity with this method.
For most guitars, especilally tailpiece models, the string's angle over the bridge is of great influence to the string's flexibillity.
Ofcourse this go's for your Tele's too and can be adjusted with the neck/body angle and string saddle height.

 

[Gitaarman Ad]

I think it boils down to wood also. Every guitar has its own personality because of it. You can change the set up and make it better, but if I a guitar is stiff, it is gonna be stiff. imo.

true

 

[Fretting out]

Dang zombie!

I’ve seen more zombie threads since the overhaul than ever before!

 

[ABetterTelePlayer]

Are the two models the same? I have a handful of Teles. My 60's reissue & my Hwy 1 are a night & day playing experience. Both have the same strings, same bridge & are set up by me to my liking. The major differences between the two are fretboard radius & fret size.

It wouldn't matter. Even if the two were exactly the same, they would still feel somewhat different. I've learned this by playing years in the studio. Now in my 20's, I can say that there are not just a few different variables that can affect the feel but millions of variables.

Multiple pieces of one type of wood can be vastly different based on the life that the tree had before it were turned into lumber. Some trees are healthier than others and so forth.

 

[Boreas]

Hard to say. I would start by polishing both sets of frets. If that makes a difference, I would focus on fret wear and/or fret height. Sometimes a good polish is all you need.

This is an easy fix. If it doesn't help, probably neck design.

 

[Boreas]

Christ - foiled by another zombie...

 

[tlsmack]

Break angle at the nut maybe? I have a few Telecasters with different string tree and stagger configurations.

 

[Monoprice99]

By stiff, does that mean the strings feel tighter for a bend while playing ? I think it might have to do with he relief, maybe some frictional binding with a plastic nut ? If the string action heights are the same, maybe a tad bit higher. A string 1st has to depress to the fret, then bend side to side when played. That said there is a range of motion the string will be able to move. If the string uses up most of that range of motion for being depressed to the fret, there string will be stiffer and it's bend over the fret as side to side note is reduced as well. the bend will be there for a note, yet may not have the range of bent notes that it's desired for being bent when playing.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

To me, top loader Teles always feel slinkier for bending than string-through ones.

My only experience with quartersawn necks has been on Strats, but they do seem to feel stiffer.

 

[fender4life]

given what is already the same on both, the neck stiffness and saddle hardness/smoothness will both affect how stiff the strings feel. If the saddles are the same then the neck is the likely reason. Also co0nsider the break angle at the head. If theres more angle on the stiffer tele try reducing the angle with less wraps or winding them so the windings go towards the top of the post instead of down. Some teles will have shorter posts or a steeper headstock cut.

 

[Wrighty]

When the set up of two Telecasters is the same,i.e. specifically for me.

Same action.

Break angle of strings over the exact same bridge.

Same cut depth at nut.

Same string gauge and make.

Why then does one guitar feel way stiffer than the other? To give a comparison,it's like the difference between using 9s and 10s,or having one dropped in pitch by a semitone.

It doesn't make the guitar unplayable or anything,but it's noticeable and I don't know why it ought to be.

Ideas/solutions welcome.

BTW,the stiff one is new,so do they sometimes 'play in'? It's never happened me before,that I've noticed.

‘Reasons for stiff feeling on Tele?’…………….you’re getting over excited

 

[Mur]

Seems to me each Tele has its own stiffness factor. And tonal factor.