Tele guys, I have some questions about your guitar,...

[Guitar Slinger6]

I have always been a straight up Strat guy, I have never entertained the idea of a Tele, but I played one recently and was blown away with the tone. It was a road worn :dunno, not a custom shop or a vintage. The saddles were not brass, they look like steel. What does brass do for the sound? I am looking for a old school R&B sounding Tele (not twangy). Any thing else i should be aware of?

[AnthonyStauffer]

I am not a tele guy, but I believe brass is somewhat softer than steel, so steel saddles would probably be brighter?

[tonedaddy]

Glendale makes all kinds of saddles, and is a good source for dialing in your specific tone:


http://www.glendaleguitars.com/saddles.htm

"Different saddle material will give your guitar different tones.

"Brass has a very nice balanced tone of highs mids and lows. Aluminum adds highs without losing mids or lows. Cold rolled steel adds a very acoustical value to your guitars tone, more highs than brass but less highs than aluminum. Titanium is a very light weight and hard material the sound is similar to brass but adds a little sparkle to the highs."



I'd give 'em a call or email and tell him what you're looking for:
http://www.glendaleguitars.com/contact.htm

[Boris Bubbanov]

I have always been a straight up Strat guy, I have never entertained the idea of a Tele, but I played one recently and was blown away with the tone. It was a road worn :dunno, not a custom shop or a vintage. The saddles were not brass, they look like steel. What does brass do for the sound? I am looking for a old school R&B sounding Tele (not twangy). Any thing else i should be aware of?

Different types of steel, types of brass sound different also.

The main thing suppressing the Twang on the RW guitar you tried is, the pickups. Those are Tex Mex pickups; there's no base plate :huh attached to the bridge pickup at all. They're more of a rock pickup.

Check www.taipantone.com for more discussions on the relative sounds of different types of materials. Frankly I find aluminum does suppress mids a little and emphasizes different frequencies of highs than does certain kinds of stainless, certain kinds of cold rolled steel.

Over top of everything, if you use a Fender Super Reverb 4 x10 you're gonna get twang no matter what you do. Conversely if you play a Marshall the only way you'll get twang is, if you got it in your fingers (and some guys do!).

[sswanson]

I have always been a straight up Strat guy, I have never entertained the idea of a Tele, but I played one recently and was blown away with the tone. It was a road worn :dunno, not a custom shop or a vintage. The saddles were not brass, they look like steel. What does brass do for the sound? I am looking for a old school R&B sounding Tele (not twangy). Any thing else i should be aware of?

I'm not sure about the saddles but I use Lindy Fralin pickups in mine. A High Output 10% overwound in the bridge and a 2% overwound in the neck. That bridge pickup is pretty versatile, you can get pretty good twang from it if needed but you get really great rock sounds from it too. It's not so hot that it loses the "Tele" character either.

[OM Flyer]

I took the original steel six-saddle bridge off my '97 Tele and replaced it with a Wilkinson brass 3-barrel, and it sounds pretty much exactly the same. As far as I'm concerned, saddle material is just like wood type or finish type or maple or rosewood or the number of pieces in the body. All of these factors do make a difference, but none makes a very big difference all by itself. A guitar's tone is the product of their combined influences.

I am looking for a old school R&B sounding Tele (not twangy). Any thing else i should be aware of?

Maybe look for one with a humbucker in the neck position?

[Twangzilla]

Brass really doesn't emphasize twang at all. If anything, it adds thickness back into the sound. Your best bet is to find one with a deep natural resonance coming off the unplugged sound. It will do country when it's clean and rock when it's dirty.

[Richeray]

If you were blown away by the tone of that Road Worn, I would just go buy that guitar.

[big mike]

Brass really doesn't emphasize twang at all. If anything, it adds thickness back into the sound. Your best bet is to find one with a deep natural resonance coming off the unplugged sound. It will do country when it's clean and rock when it's dirty.

THis. And Ditto if that Road Worn floated your boat.

a good tele can cover almost any base. I don't find the steel/brass to be a HUGE difference, it's very subtle.

[whiteop]

I usually don't buy any 'cheapie' guitars but the other day I was at a music store in TN and they had this Squier Affinity Tele Special Edition that I picked up and was blown away by how well it played and sounded for the money; about $179. I picked up an MIM Tele and it sounded and played better than it so I bought it. The Squier name may have a stigma but they got that model right. Pulled out the electronics expecting sub par electronics and compared them to some stock Fender pots and caps and they were pretty close. Only thing I may change out is the pickup selector and the pickups but then again I always change out my pickups from stock though I will say the bridge pickup (which I think is made by Seymour Duncan if I remember correctly; if not correct me) sounds very good on it's on. The neck pickup sounds a little 'muddy' to me and needs more clarity. I got a Dimarzio Area T neck and Dimarzio Area Hot T Bridge pickup on the way to get rid of the hum and give me more sustain and better tone overall...

[Boris Bubbanov]

I picked up an MIM Tele and it sounded and played better than it so I bought it.


Which guitar did you buy, whiteop?


^)

[sanhozay]

The first thing I look for in any guitar is comfort. It's not always easy to notice the way one will interact with a guitar for the long haul with a quick store demo, but if you know your hands then you'll find the tele for you. I like the road worn tele's a lot but the tone of a guitar is impossible to isolate to one part unless you have hours logged on it and have experimented with various changes.

I've had brass saddles, steel, aluminum on my Tele and brass is the better sound for my guitar. The fact that they tune well and are comfortable is far more important to me than the metal of the saddles. However, all things being equal, my ears prefer brass. The tele's with the bridge screws ready to rip your hands apart suck, plain and simple. And they must go. And the compensated saddles are superior than the stock widgets on the Road Worn - or any vintage style Fender. So, those would go buh-bye ASAP, if it were my RW.

Good luck!

[Dave Wakely]

I have a Road Worn, and yes the tone is a thing of wonder. I'm not sure how much of that is down to the saddles, however (I changed them to brass, and the tone now has more depth to it, but is a variation on the same thing): think the lack of paintwork and nature of the finish is probably a part of it, along with a reasonably chunky neck.

Basically, if you loved what the RW sounded like, I suggest just buying it and enjoying it!

[walterw]

The main thing suppressing the Twang on the RW guitar you tried is, the pickups. Those are Tex Mex pickups; there's no base plate :huh attached to the bridge pickup at all. They're more of a rock pickup.
+1; the plate on the bottom of the pickup IMO makes as big or even bigger difference than the bridge material, and way bigger difference than the saddle material. (that said, i'm a rosewood board/steel bridgeplate/brass saddle guy all the way.)
...if you play a Marshall the only way you'll get twang is, if you got it in your fingers (and some guys do!).
i dunno, me and steve cropper might disagree with you on that one. check it at around 1:30.

U-7QSMyz5rg

i get aggressive "rock twang" all day long out of my marshall 2203, especially if i roll the guitar volume down a little.

[Guitar Slinger6]

Thanks guys, a lot of good info. The reason I did not pull the trigger on the RW Tele is because I have not played enough Teles to know the difference. I was at GC when I tried this one out. I played a few others out while I was there, but the RW kind of stood out. I did not want to pull the trigger before I really had some facts. I live in an area where GC is about the only option. I thought about Wildwood, but it is an expensive option without knowing a lot about the instrument.

[K-Line]

Some players are very strict in what they like, some not as much. I adapt to guitars fairly quickly. But, confidence in the piece is a must. If I am feeling off, I play reserved. If it speaks, then I go for it. My JM speaks loudly even though it is a pile of cosmetic defects and bad neck pockets. HEy I could not sell it but it is just so right in so many ways.