Love the tele tone, not the guitar. Alternative?

[itstooloudMike]

St. Blues makes a model that is like a Telecaster with a LP Jr or Nighthawk body shape. I had an original Strings and Things Bluescaster, and foolishly let it go. Great design. I wish I could find where to buy a body in that configuration.

 

[Gclef]

Build a strat and either:

Build it with tele routes

Or

Cut a pickguard for a tele neck and bridge pickup.

 

[Benz2112]

John Page Aj?

 

[Nigel Davenport]

What specifically do you not like about the guitar?
Is there an example of your favorite Tele tone?
The tele sound is the pickups, bridge & scale length.
Ash and Alder have been used on legendary Teles.

If you don't like the body shape:

Sold my T style guitar and bought a Whiteguard Strat. I love it!

 

[Kostas]

... What is the most important element of the tone ?

The bridge single coil.

 

[Doctor Morbius]

 

[K-Line]

 

[Whiskeyrebel]

A Tele is easy to shape with a belt sander, too.

Sure, but if the important difference is the front strap button aligning at the 12th fret vs. 15th, you en't gonna sand more wood onto the upper bout.

 

[Tone_Terrific]

Sure, but if the important difference is the front strap button aligning at the 12th fret vs. 15th, you en't gonna sand more wood onto the upper bout.

Even that CAN be altered with a little addon strap hook. See above.
You just have to want it bad enough.

 

[wrxplayer]

Grosh ElectraJet VT. Great guitar and with a four way blade a little but more versatile than a "regular" tele.

 

[EasTXan]

I have an alder offset with a TOM bridge and neck P90 that sounds eerily similar in switch position 1 to my traditional ashtray bridge tele with copper baseplate on the neck PU. More than one way to skin a cat.

 

[sanhozay]

the more you peck away at a 50's telecaster to update or change it, the more you alter its character & voice, especially if you deviate from the bridge design. some of the variations to the body are intriguing and sound great. I am not a purist and prefer bigger frets, flatter boards and "modern" wiring but everything about the older methods appeals & connects with me over the modern accouterments

 

[Gclef]

The most important part is the bridge and the pickups.

I'd do a strat body routed for a tele bridge and pickups.

The best of both worlds

 

[MrGuitarhack]

Bunch of these on Reverb

 

[diego]

Sälen Classic Ice Blue Metallic | .strandberg* Guitars

The Sälen is the .strandberg* take on the legendary first solidbody electric guitar from the 1950’s: not a mere copy of this iconic guitar that changed the history of music but a thoughtful and innovative design that balances the best of the tried-and-true traditional with the thoroughly modern...

strandbergguitars.com

 

[No_Stairway]

Bunch of these on Reverb

Bunch of these new on GC being sold below used prices

 

[MkIII Renegade]

Gotz to have that bridge and bridge pickup, my man.

 

[Man_on_the_Silva_Mountain]

Blasphemy....the greatest tool ever made is the Tele. P90's are close, but not really.

Teles are workhorses ...plain and simple .. They cover a LOT of ground so to speak in terms of available tones .. Roll off V & T .. Sooo many tones born of roll-off ..

Lots of folk diss the lipstick style pickups .. Not me .. That's a useful tool .. Only available to you - for the most part - in Teles and Danelectro models

Hit a store and rrreeeally put a Tele through its paces .. Try other available T types ...If after rolling off the pots you are still unable to find anything that you really like .. Try an ASAT .. ESP makes a cool T type .. Someone mentioned the Ibanez Talman .. Very cool instrument .. Good luck ..

 

[msquared]

I have this problem too. I like but don't love the Tele tone and I like but don't love the Tele look.

Telecasters and Precision basses are such a consistent piece of the rock uniform. It's hard to stand up there with a straight face playing the same guitars that our dads all played and knowing that I'm a leather vest and a can of Aqua-Net away from looking like I'm on stage in the late '80s.

I solved this problem with an EBMM Valentine. It has the two pickup thing so it is close to a Tele but has its own thing going on both with sound and looks.

I also second the Reverend recommendation. They are doing killer work building guitars that function like Telecasters but don't look like your dad's electric guitar. If I didn't like my Valentine so much that would be my next stop for sure.

 

[Just1m]

The Greco BG will likely get you all you need on that front. https://zemaitisguitarcompany.com/products/greco-bgwt22-aged-white