Im very close to buying a new Am. Std Tele.

[auffredou]

I just want to be sure of a few last things before I put the money down. After playing a bunch of teles the one I liked the most was a 2008 Sunburst w/ maple board (so its alder). I had gone in planning on getting natural since it was ash, but there was something about the sound of this one I couldn't get enough of.

What are the major differences I can expect from this versus ash? Does it vary guitar to guitar? I didn't notice a huge difference, just that the alder one played/sounded the best to my ear.

Second, my friend played in a band (www.myspace.com/magichourmusic (http://www.myspace.com/magichourmusic)) that is very close to the style Im going for these days. The guitarist plays a thinline and does a lot of high lead w/ delay type stuff. If anyone is willing to listen, is a semi-hollow important for that more high gain type of stuff? Or will I not notice much of a difference with the right effects? I definitely liked the clean sound of the American standard better than the thinline, but Im just checking out every aspect before I decide for sure. Thanks!!!

[ReddRanger]

My opinions are:

1.) You don't necessarily need a semi hollow for that kind of music. I only quickly listed to a couple tracks, but it reminds me of Coldplay / Radiohead type guitar work...which can be done with a solid body.

2.) Regardless of the differences between ash and alder, I would trust your own ear and go with what sounds good to you. You seem to have found a tele that's calling you...:)

[auffredou]

Thanks Redd. That's exactly the style Im talking about. It seems to always be done on telecasters, and more often than not on semi-hollow ones.

I should have added that he plays a '69 thinline I think, I know it has single coils. I wasn't a huge fan of the 72 with humbuckers when I tried it. But in both cases (ash vs. alder, semi-hollow vs. solidbody) its still a tele with single coils, maple neck, etc. so its going to be a pretty close sound either way... could be wrong!

EDIT: Woops, meant to say thanks for taking the time to listen to that and help me out too!

[auffredou]

1.) You don't necessarily need a semi hollow for that kind of music. I only quickly listed to a couple tracks, but it reminds me of Coldplay / Radiohead type guitar work...which can be done with a solid body.


Redd, if you read this again, Im thinking this could be taken two ways. It could mean the solidbody will work, and you can get away with it, or it can mean that it would sound essentially the same. The former is not really what Im going for, although Id like a tele that can cover a range of styles, so maybe a solid body would be better all around if not just for this specific style.

I can never tell if what's important in that kind of sound is the hollowbody or the combination of overdrive/delay/notes that gives it that distinctness.

[ReddRanger]

Redd, if you read this again, Im thinking this could be taken two ways. It could mean the solidbody will work, and you can get away with it, or it can mean that it would sound essentially the same. The former is not really what Im going for, although Id like a tele that can cover a range of styles, so maybe a solid body would be better all around if not just for this specific style.

I can never tell if what's important in that kind of sound is the hollowbody or the combination of overdrive/delay/notes that gives it that distinctness.
To me what's important is the combination of overdrive/delay/notes. I don't think you would really be able to tell the difference between semi hollow and solid body, like you would humbucker vs. single coil within that style.

I think you'll get there with a solid body tele. If for some reason you want a change at some point, you can always drop a humbucker in the neck position.

:BEER