All this is very subjective, I know, and I have both instruments. I find when I use the Strat (rarely these days) I twiddle knobs until I get close to the Tele tone, but it ends in compromise. I have the Strat because, when I did studio work back in the UK, producers would sometimes specify the guitar they wanted me to play ( )....

The other reason I like the Tele? I've never used a pick and there's no middle pick-up to get in the way of my fingers.....

Overriding all these justifications is the star-factor - Roy Nichols, James Burton, Don Rich, Jimmy Bryant and many others made their ground-breaking impact on country music playing a Tele - there will always be guys who simply want to stand up there with the same instrument as the Masters....

I've used Strats as my main guitar for years and years, and the Tele is in fact one of the few modles I'm NOT able to emulate on my Strat.
A jazz box? Sure, no problem. Heavy metal axe? Just wait a minute while I install the tremolo arm. A Tele? Oh... errh, well.., can you wait while I call my guitar pusher?

Someone once said that it's one thing to play the electric guitar, playing the Tele is quite another matter.....

Steinar

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www.gregertsen.com

Aside from the fact that the sound of the Telecaster is on some of the most classic of country music recordings, that Leo Fender used the opinions of Los Angeles country musicians in creating his guitars, and that sound is accessible basically by just plugging the guitar into a Fender amp as thousands have done before us, the Telecaster is the classic country guitar for another important reason:

It LOOKS like a country music lead guitar should look like. Like a black Emmons PP, or a Sho~Bud permanent... when a guy I've never heard shows up to a gig with a Telecaster and a Twin Reverb, I silently say to myself "well, at least he knows what rig to play."

Other thoughts would come to mind if the guitarist hauled out a Parker Fly or a Steinberger with some "boutique" rock amp. He might be a monster, but he'd have to show me pretty darn quick.

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Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

At the moment, Warmoth, in conjunction with Line 6, is making strat style bodies routed for Variax electronics, (I suppose they will call it the strat-o-variax) and they will soon start making similarly routed Tele style bodies.

"The other reason I like the Tele? I've never used a pick and there's no middle pick-up to get in the way of my fingers"

I would also contend that the middle PUP position ( that means Pick-up ) is not like a Strat..owning several of each for years and a few of each now..for me, and I believe for many others it is the comfort of the right hand over the bridge assy..and the very dominant consistent TWANG..especially with new strings and a Fender Tube amp !

and..A great looking Tele' really brings the Tele' bangers out of the woodwork on the gigs..they all just gotta see it..Strat heads don't know a good Tele' when they see one !

here's my latest which I recently added a B5 to..

it's a 1999/50's classic with Noisless PUPS and now the B5..I do have threaded Brass saddles on the way for it as well..but the primary Tele is still my '89/52 Butterscotch RI..

Thank You Leo..

t

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 29 April 2004 at 03:31 PM.]

There's no doubt he acheived that with the three pick-ups and the combinations that became available. Unfortunately, the only sound he left off the Strat was the Tele's bridge pick-up sound! Deliberate, maybe?

Someone above has expressed my thoughts on the Tele better than I could. It's almost a pure sound - simple and unadorned, and sounds to me just like a string vibrating throuhg a piece of wood. Put another way, the Tele sounds the same whether it's plugged in or not - through the amp it's just louder. I believe that's true with a good Tele, anyway - I've played a few 'dogs' in my time.....

My favourite Tele tone? James with Rick Nelson - especially in the '50s and early-'60s. Dry, compact and edgy - that sound can still make the hairs stand up on my arms! Of course, it helps that he could play a bit, too!

I played a lot in the UK with a terrific guitar-player named Billy Bremner (he was with Rockpile and the Pretenders) - Billy got as close to a Tele sound as I've ever heard.....

.....on a Fender Jaguar! He liked it's versatility, but preferred it to a Strat because of it's psuedo-Tele tone. Billy always spent too much on beer to be able to afford two guitars!

RR
(He's a great singer, too!)

[This message was edited by Roger Rettig on 29 April 2004 at 06:58 AM.]

Me loves me Strat too. I've got a 50's-style Japan edition w/ maple board, 2 Fender Lace Sensors and a Duncan JB Jr. It's probably the most versatile guitar I've ever owned, and SO BEAUTIFUL

I just got a new James Burton Tele in the shop that has some of the qualities of both of these guitars, including the Lace sensors. WOW!

Cool Bigsby, Tony. We may have some things in common I've been grieving for 25 years over the ES335 w/ factory Bigsby that I traded away, and often think about adding one to a Tele here.

I saw your post on TDPRI regarding your Tele. Nice job on adding the Bigsby. I'd like to add the B5 kit to my MIM Fat Tele.

cheers,
Drew

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Drew's Website

???

Don't discount this slab body as being only
Commercial Country ( I'm talkin' to you Donny Dude )

I'm thinkin' Jazz..Rock and Roll..Blues...whatever pops your Cork...

There's a couple of rockers, one named Bruce somethin' or other..lets see..Keithy from across the pond..then there's that Danny guy ( who played with "E" ) I'm thinkin' it's a pretty long list for sure..

Add yes..the string thru or the top loader with hard tail stop makes this slab guitar capable of incredible bends and twangs and return to tune..that is if it was in tune to begin with..unlike the inconsistent , hardly ever return to pitch , Strat..

If you're gonna twang and yank..it's a Tele
all the way..
t

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 30 April 2004 at 07:06 AM.]

I think one listen to the Buckaroos Carnegie Hall Concert Album will explain better than all of the above posts. Except maybe Herb's.

quote:

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when a guy I've never heard shows up to a gig with a Telecaster and a Twin Reverb, I silently say to myself "well, at least he knows what rig to play."

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I've never owned a Tele. I am an abysmal guitarist, but I lust after one... I grew up in th DC area, about which there is now a song "DC is a Telecaster Town"... Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton and a score of lesser known but righteous Tele-whackers (my faves: Gantt Kushner, Dave Chapel , Brin Ried, Randy Leith, and Bob Hume among them) were the area pickers as I developed as a musician, with Gatton the 900 Lb gorilla...

"There's a couple of rockers, one named Bruce somethin' or other"

It has what very few guitars have..It can be sweet and mean and growl and yet have the subtle sounds of jazz in the right hands.

Im a Telecaster fan. It has all the tonal qualities of the Fender Steel Guitar sound and that was Leo Fenders intent.

Nothing has been more copied but never equalled as that of the Telecaster.

edited for more bite

[This message was edited by Jody Carver on 30 April 2004 at 10:32 AM.]

Roy Buchanan

Danny Gatton

"nuff said said the Flaming Torch"

Richie Blackmore played a Strat, and he cranked his middle pickup all the way down so that he could pick with his fingers in the middle position.

My fingers seem to find space in between the neck and middle pickup, and I love those "in between" positions on the Strat (the "Bell Bottom Blues" solo tone)... it's a great sound for chunking rhythm (and I BELIEVE in rhythm guitar- it's getting to be a lost art!). On the other hand, when you want to thicken it up for a rock or jazz sound, go to the neck or middle pickup. These Lace Sensors sound almost like humbuckers sometimes, especially with the tone rolled off a little.

My Strat's got a master volume and tone (like a Tele) and the third knob splits the coils on the J.B. Jr. humbucker. Lots of variations!

I'm playing the Strat tomorrow at an outdoor jazz gig. I usually play a big jazz box, but the low frequencies that roll around on festival stages are troublesome with an archtop. The Strat will do just fine.

But this Tele's a great guitar, too. Not as many bells and whistles, but it's built like a rock, stays in tune, sounds, looks and plays great. I'd take either guitar to any gig.

Guys..don't get me wrong..I talk a loud Tele' talk but I've played and owned Strats my whole 45 year playing adventure ( now 55 years old) and I would never be without a Strat in the barn..

I've been fortunate to own several beauties thru the years..

'54, '57, '58, '60,'62 the worst , '66 The Best..and I do have a couple of mid 80's MIJ's which are pretty incredible as well..and a stock HWY1 which I do use on gigs now and then..

All nice guitars..but..

they ain't Tele's !!

sorry Rick ole' Buddy..

oh and you too Buddy Holly..if you're listening in..

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1985 Emmons push-pull,S-10 Marlin,Evans SE200,Hilton pedal

quote:

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I think Roger got it right when he said that it's because the 'stars' played Teles (Roy Nichols, Don Rich, James Burton, Jimmy Bryant, etc.) that the Tele became so popular among country pickers.

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I agree too. People want to play what their heros played.

Don't get me wrong. I love my'68 B-bender Tele, and have more playing time on it than all the others (I have 23 guitars) combined.

But when it comes to SOUND, I still say that the Variax is the way to go. It has 5 different Tele sounds, 5 different Strat sounds, 5 different Les Paul sounds, 16 other Gibson sounds, including hollow and semi hollow body sounds, as well as a J 200, 5 different Gretsch sounds, 5 different Ricknbacher sounds, including two 12 strings, 3 Martin acoustic sounds, etc, even banjo, dobro, National steel body and sitar sounds.

On the gig today, I played my Strat (50 year old technology) and my blackface Princeton (50 year old technology). It sounded amazing! Tone out the wazoo. Through the big festival PA, the Princeton sounded huge. I got thick "humbucker" jazz sounds, thin "funk" rhythm sounds, out-of-phase in-between tones, slightly-overdriven bluesy tones and more... out of one guitar. To be fair, I did use my pedal board, which has a Boss chorus, tuner, octaver and delay, plus a Cry Baby.

I honestly think that Mr. Fender nailed it with the Tele and Strat. I've played ES335's, ES175's, Les Pauls, Gretsches, Gibson Howard Roberts models, Epiphone Joe Pass guitars, a Hofner New President, etc., etc. I have always kept coming back to the Fender. For me, the Strat is a one-beautiful-guitar-does-it-all instrument. It's beautiful in its simplicity and aesthetics. Why complicate perfection?

This doesn't mean, however, that I'll stay away from the Gibsons. I love them too!

About that Princeton Reverb... there's no need to take any more amp than that to a gig where there's a PA. I'm through hauling 40-lb.+ amps around.

Hearing is believing.

It's not just about tone..although that is a very important part of the package..it's also about feel..and lets not forget..the pride and emotion of holding a piece of history..

Line 6..although agreed are nice Instruments..are gonna have to survive at least another half decade before thay can make a "replacement" claim..

I'm not gonna replace my Tele's with a guitar that sounds like a Tele..I'm not gonna replace my Fender Tube amp ( Deville) with an amp that has a Fender Tube amp knob setting..

I'm recalling how many folks replaced their P and J Basses with P and J Bass clones only to come back to the real deal years later..after chasing tone since they put the original down..or worse..sold it..

If you really like the Pizza at the little joint at the end of the block why eat Pizza at another joint that claims there Pizza is just as good as the other guys ?