Fender Telecaster B Bender
- Maple Neck
-.009 - .052
-Scruggs tuner on Low E
-S. Duncan PUs (Nashville Studio Brent Masons)

EFX:
MXR Dyna Comp Compressor
sometime some delay
Goodrich Volume Pedal

AMPS: Twin Reverb, Webb 6-14E, or Nashville 400

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Tim Harr
Carter D-10 8p & 9k w/ BL-705s; Hilton pedal; Webb 6-14E Amplifier

http://groups.msn.com/TimHarrWebPage/yourwebpage.msnw

Jussi's list is very interesting, but I don't believe it is completely objective despite he says "Seems like no brand over the other....", since it's clear that in this list, Gibson and Gretsch prevail, and I'm sure that was the case in the '50's when solidbody guitars were new and considered by most as newfangled planks with strings, despite a few high-profile players using them such as Joe Maphis and Les Paul.

Personally, I love the older Gibson and Gretsch guitars, that's what I started on, but I believe Billy's question is asking what IS the best guitar for country music, not what WAS the most popular guitar for country in the '50's. Country music isn't quite the same as it was in the '50's, not even in bands claiming to play the "traditional" country music....one big difference is the volume bands play today. In the '50's, ampls with 25 watts RMS were considered quite high-powered. Playing a big-bodied Gibson or Gretsch with modern bands using amps with 100+ watts presents a whole different scenerio than the 10-25 watt amps of the '50's, namely, serious feedback, and I know of what I speak, having played a '69 Gibson Super 400CES through a Fender Twin and Super Six Reverb for some years. You wanna talk feedback, try playing a Super 400 while standing a couple feet in front of a 100 watt all-tube Fender blasting through 6 10-inch speakers! This is one reason why the Tele (and other solid bodies) are more popular than full-size hollowbodies, these days. The hollowbodies can be played, if a player really wants to take the time to learn how to place his amp, keep his right-hand palm ready to damp the low strings on the bridge, etc. I think most players likely find it easier to just play a solid body than control the feedback tendencies of the hollowbodies.

We have to also mention the dreaded "S"-word, that "best" is subjective. Any objective person must admit that most people in the last 20-30 years consider the Tele as THE country and country/rock axe, but for SOME, it may be a Gretsch, Gibson, Guild, Microfrets, or whathaveyou.

Experienced guitarists know which kind of guitar turns them on in different situations, and whatever guitar that is, is the best for that player.

If a guitarist doesn't have enough experience onstage with different types of guitars to know what guitar is best for him, specifically in country music, the Tele is the most likely candidate, but as things go, that doesn't mean that player may not end up finding that his ideal country guitar is a Gibson Super400CES (I played my '69 several years and would give my right arm to have it back) or something else totally un-Tele-like.

Bottom line, IMHO, is that the best guitar is whatever guitar really just turns on the player. That's how I know I'm playing the right guitar for the music/style, for me; when the sound inspires me to play. The wrong guitar for me, is the one that doesn't turn me on, or inspire me to play and I have to think of what to play. When I'm playing the right guitar, I don't have to think of what to play, I just play automatically. Forget about trying to play the guitar with the sound the audience will prefer, 99% of them can't tell the difference between an L-5 and a Tele. Play whatever turns YOU on.

[This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 02 December 2004 at 09:53 PM.]

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Steelin' away in the ozarks and life,
Scott
www.scottyhenderson.com

Possibly a Steel Player in drag ?

It's a good thing the Steel only faces forward..

t

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 03 December 2004 at 07:16 PM.]

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Fessenden D-10 8+8 / Magnatone S-8 (E13)

quote:

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Which guitar with what set up (electric) do you think is the best all around guitar for country, new and old and Rockabilly too?

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Country is in the hands. Not in the guitar.

When a player finds the guitar that really resonates with his or her style and "sound they hear in their head", it does something. I'm sure that Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Roy Nichols, Don Rich or any other Tele monsters could have played anything they could play on any guitar, but would they have played the same way on an L-5 or Les Paul? I don't think so. There are some players who play their unique style on anything, but there are also many players who play differently on different guitars. I'm one of the latter. Different guitars with their different responses bring out different things in me, and many other players, according to the tones and responses of each unique instrument.

This is why Guitar players have a Guitar of CHOICE..not necesssarily because one is better.. that is not the issue..
The Tele' pickup and saddle design makes for a very comfortable/consistent right hand position for playing in a specific style as opposed to the semi hollow body guitars with the tailpieces.

Overall final tone is also a desirable consideration, this is personal choice,not because one is better than another. Round Wound bright snap from a Tele is dominant..It's what the slab bodied, screwed on neck, simple angled PUP close to the saddles does.

If one really likes the kind of tone and characteristics of a particular style which is perhaps played on a Tele..why would you go out and get a 335 and try to simulate that style on a 335 ?

Lots of if's going on..If Roy Nichols, If Don Rich , If James Burton, If Brad Paisley, If Brent Mason, If If If.. point is ..they didn't..and don't..the only real IF is IF you like that style and Tone characteristics..then play it on Tele.. IF you really like Duane Allman then do it on a Les Paul..IF you really like BB King do it on a 335 style with the HBuckers..

I don't see this as any sort of which is better or worse..it's more of a choice of what works for you and what it is you are trying to accomplish..

I love my Tele's , but I play different on the Strats, and a whole lot different on the 335..I hear different music when I pick up different axes..

Now if I could just get them all in tune at the same time...

t

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 16 December 2004 at 02:41 AM.]

I copped a gorgeous blonde flamed/birdseye Epiphone Sheraton in trade yesterday. This one says "Kalamazoo, Michigan" on the label, but it may be one of the Norlin-era, Japan-made guitars. I put some flats on it this afternoon, and it plays and sounds like a dream! I may have found the perfect guitar to solve my problem.

I fully agree with the poster above who said that country is in the hands, not the axe. Didn't Reggie Young play a Strat on all those hits in the 70's and 80's- or is that my misunderstanding?

[This message was edited by Rick McDuffie on 25 December 2004 at 08:42 PM.]

Keep in mind that was the era for Strat-O-ad nauseam. Every producer on the planet wanted the Strat tones on the recordings. Session musicians did not and do not play what they want..they play in the style and tone structure of the man with the checkbook..

I did a session one time in NYC..early 80's..I went to do a very small Steel part..then they asked if I would do a small Electric part..

I only had a Tele' with me..they wanted a Strat out of phase sound..we recorded with the Tele'..a few days later they recorded the guitar track again with a NYC player who had a ..guess what.. A Strat..

Where are the Strats on the HOT chart Records today ? It seems most of the producers want the other guitar that Leo built..you know, the first one...

Happy almost New Year..

Right, doesn't Brent M. have a Gibson humbucker on his Tele? And the other pickups aren't Fender items either, are they? So what's left that makes it distinctively a Telecaster? The bolt-on neck and bridge? There's obviously more to Brent's (and Reggie's) sound than what's written on the guitar headstock. I'll bet Brent and Reggie could pick up my LP Deluxe and they would still sound like Brent and Reggie.

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http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...

Stock Fender PUPS are notorious for not being wound consistent,too bright..too middy..not enough lows etc...

Most cats that have the HB'er on the neck of the Tele use it for the ballad/bluesy tunes..NOT the pickin' tunes...

And yes Danny did play other guitars..but he is most recognized as a Tele' slinger..there is even a Tele cut bridge named after him...

I'm not sure what we are trying to do here but it seems we are attempting to take the Tele's out of the hands of the great Tele pickers !

Danny, James, Don, Brad, Brent, etc..Primary guitars of choice are Tele's..we ain't gonna change that..

happy New Tele' Year

t

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 26 December 2004 at 07:26 PM.]

quote:

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This guitar is on"Drift Away"(Dobie Gray)...on the choruses...Reggie used a Les Paul Deluxe on that famous intro...

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and the famous outro?

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....Strat in the 80s ... all the dance/pop records had that funky strat tone (Madonna, etc)

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-johnson

What do you guys think of the Gibson Valley Art Brent Mason signature guitar (click above)? Personally, I just gotta have that cool Tele headstock.

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Frank Estes
1978 Emmons D-10 8+7 #2441D
1968 Emmons D-10 8+4 #1234D

Frank, yes Gibson jumped on this one..and there is a story behind it I am told..but do look at the photo below..it tells the real story..

Rick..non issue my friend....there is no reason to defend..( hey..kinda rhymes)

It's still a slab body with a bolt on neck with a very close to the saddle angled PUP which will murder you on the high end..regardless of which over the counter PUP you put on the dang thing..

At the end of the day..It's still a Tele...and here we are over 50 years later still trying to figure out why we love these dang things and are still chasing the licks, style and tone of those that had them in there hands for over 5 decades !

and here is the real deal with the real Tele'..and do note the position of the pick up selector..( taken March 2004..3rd and Linley)

pretty amazing stuff..50 years from now I doubt anyone but my daughters/families will even remember I existed !
t

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 27 December 2004 at 04:05 AM.]

If I could choose any guitar I'd pick a blonde Switchmaster with no Bigsby and Alnico pickups. I have an ES5 (non Switchmaster) which can sound like a Tele, Strat, Super 400 etc. but it misses the switch!

quote:

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Full size humbucking pickups always sound mushy in a tele.

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In "American Guitars," Tom Wheeler makes the point that the Sheraton was the fanciest thinline electric Gibson ever built.

Hmmm... Brent's not only got the mini-bucker in there, but also the LP Deluxe trim ring. And check out the thumb pick... that's surely part of his sound, ain't it? Maximum twang. I'd be very interested in getting 'hold of that guitar for a few minutes. Now I may have to put a mini-bucker on my Tele, too! I wonder....

[This message was edited by Rick McDuffie on 27 December 2004 at 07:13 PM.]

here is my MIJ Squire..stripped ..great player but a tad too bright. I have tried a few different bridge PUPS and have just purchased yet another bargain 96' Delta Tone which I'll stick in at some point. One thing is for certain, the neck HB'er is killer on the non twang tunes..

t

[This message was edited by Tony Prior on 31 December 2004 at 01:26 AM.]