Steven Kaplan
TDPRI Member
Title says it all. I love my standard single coil tele, but never played one with humbuckers.
Should I get a tele with humbuckers, or am I better of getting a Gibson ?
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Slim Chance
Tele-Afflicted
Get a Gibson for the traditional sound. I resisted getting a Gibson, but finally bought a Les Paul last year. Wish I hadn't waited so long. The LP opened up a new sound pallet and neck shape that I thought I wouldn't like. Still love my Teles, but the Gibson is a whole other animal.
giogolf
Tele-Meister
+2 on what Slim and Doc said.. I am a firm believer in stick with what the manufactures are good at (but every one is entitled to their preferences)
Gibson's for Humbuckers and p90's
Strats for Strat sound and Tele's for Tele sound..
Im a recent LP owner but long time Fender player/ owner.. Each guitar is about the experience and sound it gives you, and I much prefer getting this from the people who do it best (so to speak).. Much of this adage is carried over to other guitar and amp purchases.. If I wanna Fender sounding amp I buy Fender, Marshall, get a Marshall.. or at least clones of them
Guitars, I stick with who invented it or does it best ( Fender, Gibson, Rick, etc..) Not a fan of Strat or Tele copies by other manufactures..
Ok major tangent there, but you get what I am saying..
One last thing.. If you have been playing a Tele for awhile and then plug in an LP expect a very different sound.. It will not do anything a Tele can do.. especially in the punchy clean tones.. LP are midy and a bit muddy in the neck and bright and raunchy in the bridge.. So overdrive and gain are its closets friends..Or smooth, warm single note jazzy blues.
Gibson's for Humbuckers and p90's
Strats for Strat sound and Tele's for Tele sound..
Im a recent LP owner but long time Fender player/ owner.. Each guitar is about the experience and sound it gives you, and I much prefer getting this from the people who do it best (so to speak).. Much of this adage is carried over to other guitar and amp purchases.. If I wanna Fender sounding amp I buy Fender, Marshall, get a Marshall.. or at least clones of them
Guitars, I stick with who invented it or does it best ( Fender, Gibson, Rick, etc..) Not a fan of Strat or Tele copies by other manufactures..Ok major tangent there, but you get what I am saying..
One last thing.. If you have been playing a Tele for awhile and then plug in an LP expect a very different sound.. It will not do anything a Tele can do.. especially in the punchy clean tones.. LP are midy and a bit muddy in the neck and bright and raunchy in the bridge.. So overdrive and gain are its closets friends..Or smooth, warm single note jazzy blues.
loopfinding
Friend of Leo's
Get an SG. Not a big leap feel-wise from the tele aside from scale length, and various models like the older specials or tributes can be had just as cheap as MIMs.
Personally teles with humbuckers (aside from minis/firebirds) just sound kind of neither here nor there to me.
Personally teles with humbuckers (aside from minis/firebirds) just sound kind of neither here nor there to me.
Fluddman
Tele-Holic
This is a really good question. I played a thinline tele with humbuckers for a few years - it still sounded like a tele but was able to get a better dirty sound. I think a Gibson and a Tele are two different beast regardless of the pickups.
Good luck with it - you probably need both!
Good luck with it - you probably need both!
Teles with filtertrons are great too, it doesn't sound like an SG but I'm not sure what the OP wants.
If you want a gibson sound get a gibson, if you just want something with a humbucker in then the world is your oyster.
It may be in no small part, a 'looks thing' that favors a regular, single coil Tele. I love the way those 2 traditional style pickups look!
But also the fact that I love the sound of the 3 stock pickup sounds of a (2) single coil Tele, I'd hate to mess with that.
- plus, I have a silly, 'no duplicates rule!'- only 1 each of the style guitar I want to own/gig. ( This wasn't always the case, but now, $$, and space dictate this...)
So, amongst others, I have ( on a budget) a Squier Thinline and an Epi SG:
But also the fact that I love the sound of the 3 stock pickup sounds of a (2) single coil Tele, I'd hate to mess with that.
- plus, I have a silly, 'no duplicates rule!'- only 1 each of the style guitar I want to own/gig. ( This wasn't always the case, but now, $$, and space dictate this...)
So, amongst others, I have ( on a budget) a Squier Thinline and an Epi SG:
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Wooly Fox
Tele-Meister
I would look at PRS SE Custom 24 as another choice for a 2xHB guitar.
I own two Gibsons with 2xHB and both do different things even though they are fundamentally the same guitar underneath (tone carved mahogany). I also have owned a AO 70s Tele Custom with the WRHB which was a cool sound but just didn't do anything for me in the end.
To be honest you can only go and try both types and see what sticks with you. Chapman make some cool 2xHB teles (think Reverend do too) and then there's the MM Cutlass which another beast all together.
I own two Gibsons with 2xHB and both do different things even though they are fundamentally the same guitar underneath (tone carved mahogany). I also have owned a AO 70s Tele Custom with the WRHB which was a cool sound but just didn't do anything for me in the end.
To be honest you can only go and try both types and see what sticks with you. Chapman make some cool 2xHB teles (think Reverend do too) and then there's the MM Cutlass which another beast all together.
sloppychops
Tele-Afflicted
Ok, I have a Tele Deluxe partscaster I bought used. It has Seymour Duncan Seth Lover hum buckers. Does it sound like a Gibson? Nope. Sounds like a Telecaster on steroids. I don't know how it's possible, but that Tele "twang" still comes through on the bridge pickup, even though the bridge is a chopped down affair and not the traditional Tele bridge.
I'm not a fan of Les Paul guitars for a number of reasons I won't go into. If you really want a hum bucker guitar, you might consider a Reverend. They're lighter, less expensive, always come with a great setup, and have a coil splitting feature so you can get a single coil sound from them when you realize hum buckers aren't really that great after all.
I'm not a fan of Les Paul guitars for a number of reasons I won't go into. If you really want a hum bucker guitar, you might consider a Reverend. They're lighter, less expensive, always come with a great setup, and have a coil splitting feature so you can get a single coil sound from them when you realize hum buckers aren't really that great after all.
Moonraker5
Tele-Meister
Come on, man, don't go for the substitute, get the real deal.
Tele with humbucker? Would you buy a Les Paul with Lace Sensor single coil pickups?
Go for a Gibson if you don't have one. My suggestion is the SG over the Les Paul. More bite, crisper sound, lighter, and cheaper by about 500 bucks.
Here's my humbucking guitar. It's good to have one. A real one. Not a Fender Telecaster with humbucker pickups. Accept no substitutes. If you do, you will forever be saddled with a nagging itch: "I should have gotten the Gibson, I should have gotten the Gibson...."
Tele with humbucker? Would you buy a Les Paul with Lace Sensor single coil pickups?
Go for a Gibson if you don't have one. My suggestion is the SG over the Les Paul. More bite, crisper sound, lighter, and cheaper by about 500 bucks.
Here's my humbucking guitar. It's good to have one. A real one. Not a Fender Telecaster with humbucker pickups. Accept no substitutes. If you do, you will forever be saddled with a nagging itch: "I should have gotten the Gibson, I should have gotten the Gibson...."
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sax4blues
Poster Extraordinaire
I have American Performer Tele with neck humbucker, and Les Paul 50's. The Tele does not sound like the Les Paul. To me it sounds like a fatter Tele.
It sounds like you just want to see what a Tele with buckers is like. Hit up a few local stores (might have to travel a bit) and look for any of Fender's humbucking offerings. You can even order one from GC, play it for 10 days or so and if you don't like it, return it.
If, on the other had, you're used to your beloved Telecaster but want to explore the world of humbucking guitars get a Gibson and give it a try.
As @scottser suggested the other alternative is to try a Tele with a humbucker or mini in the neck.
Most importantly...have fun!
If, on the other had, you're used to your beloved Telecaster but want to explore the world of humbucking guitars get a Gibson and give it a try.
As @scottser suggested the other alternative is to try a Tele with a humbucker or mini in the neck.
Most importantly...have fun!
jvin248
Doctor of Teleocity
.
A few notes:
Step One: Install a 4-way switch in your Tele to open up the option of both pickups in series humbucking mode. That will likely cure your need for a new guitar. Adjust pickup heights and bass/treble angle of the pickups by ear.
Make sure you are picking the strings in the same location as you would on a LP (like palm muting the saddles). You may need to cut down the Tele grub screws.
Step Two: Get your HH Tele. Adjust pickup heights, screw pole heights, measure pots 'n caps and swap control parts as you may want (vintage Gibsons had 300kohm pots, modern have 50kohm pots). Still matters where you pick the strings.
Step Three: Backup plan if you can't get the tones you want, buy the set of Gibson pickups AND Gibson pots 'n caps to put in your Tele. Adjust heights by ear. You'll have a Gibson tone set. These parts show up for sale because players wanted a 'Gibson' for the tones, but immediately swapped in boutique hand-wound pickups -- which reveals they were not after tone but the headstock logo. Vanity is fine, and important to some. You get cheap parts!
Remember a lot of Led Zeppelin/etc bands who 'are known for playing Les Pauls' actually recorded their songs with Telecasters. There are a lot of threads out there to rummage through. Recording studios want players to play in tune and the best guitar for that is a Tele. Hendrix played a lot of Strats on stage but he recorded songs with Teles.
If buying a PRS guitar, the 22 fret versions will sound like LPs and the 24 fret versions like SGs due to pickup placements. Too many players buy 24 fret models 'for the two free frets' and then complain they can't get LP tones out of the guitars.
Check out Gretsch and Reverend guitars if you need the Single Cut shape.
Epiphone models are quite good (and no Gibson fragile headstock issues, they fixed the design).
Or even Harley Benton SC450/SC550.
A couple of my HH guitars I rotated the bridge pickups so the screw poles are on the North/inside bobbin for a great P90 tone. It's become my 'auto mod' on any new HH I may get.
My most often played Tele lately is an Esquire-H modded from an HH model. Both bobbins are controlled by a 4-way switch, the pickup is lowered and the screw poles are raised - a very versatile guitar.
.
A few notes:
Step One: Install a 4-way switch in your Tele to open up the option of both pickups in series humbucking mode. That will likely cure your need for a new guitar. Adjust pickup heights and bass/treble angle of the pickups by ear.
Make sure you are picking the strings in the same location as you would on a LP (like palm muting the saddles). You may need to cut down the Tele grub screws.
Step Two: Get your HH Tele. Adjust pickup heights, screw pole heights, measure pots 'n caps and swap control parts as you may want (vintage Gibsons had 300kohm pots, modern have 50kohm pots). Still matters where you pick the strings.
Step Three: Backup plan if you can't get the tones you want, buy the set of Gibson pickups AND Gibson pots 'n caps to put in your Tele. Adjust heights by ear. You'll have a Gibson tone set. These parts show up for sale because players wanted a 'Gibson' for the tones, but immediately swapped in boutique hand-wound pickups -- which reveals they were not after tone but the headstock logo. Vanity is fine, and important to some. You get cheap parts!
Remember a lot of Led Zeppelin/etc bands who 'are known for playing Les Pauls' actually recorded their songs with Telecasters. There are a lot of threads out there to rummage through. Recording studios want players to play in tune and the best guitar for that is a Tele. Hendrix played a lot of Strats on stage but he recorded songs with Teles.
If buying a PRS guitar, the 22 fret versions will sound like LPs and the 24 fret versions like SGs due to pickup placements. Too many players buy 24 fret models 'for the two free frets' and then complain they can't get LP tones out of the guitars.
Check out Gretsch and Reverend guitars if you need the Single Cut shape.
Epiphone models are quite good (and no Gibson fragile headstock issues, they fixed the design).
Or even Harley Benton SC450/SC550.
A couple of my HH guitars I rotated the bridge pickups so the screw poles are on the North/inside bobbin for a great P90 tone. It's become my 'auto mod' on any new HH I may get.
My most often played Tele lately is an Esquire-H modded from an HH model. Both bobbins are controlled by a 4-way switch, the pickup is lowered and the screw poles are raised - a very versatile guitar.
.
JL_LI
Poster Extraordinaire
I played a 1973 Thinline with CuNiFe pickups a few years ago and liked it. Unfortunately it was a little rich for me at the time. I have a Gibson SG with 490 R&T pickups. That one works for me with nickel strings with a wound G through an equalizer with low frequencies suppressed. Everyone should have a variety of guitars if they can afford them. Gibsons and Fenders are different. Relish the differences.
loopfinding
Friend of Leo's
I don’t mean to dump on you specifically but I don’t get this sentiment (I see it pop up a lot).
A series wired SC middle sounds more or less like middle position of a humbucker guitar. And that’s a fine sound, and a pretty useful one...but it doesn’t by any means do what a bridge or neck HB does.
I’ve always been puzzled as to why people think it’s “good enough” for HB tones, when the middle on an HB guitar is probably the least used position.
Moonraker5
Tele-Meister
Yeah, variety of guitars -- humbuckers, single coil, solid body, hollow body, 12 string... -- is the goal.
Money does come in to play, but there is absolutely no rush to get all the guitars you desire at on time. It took me twenty years to finally get my big hollow body Gretsch White Falcon. Basically $140 a year set aside for twenty years. (I didn't do it that way, but when I look at it that way, the guitar wasn't at all expensive.)
Take your time and GET WHAT YOU REALLY WANT...even if it takes over twenty years! I am happy. No nagging itch. I bought the real deal.
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