I Just Bought This! Sexy Beast, need advice

I find my classical guitar an awesomely sexy beast. It lets me play all styles...

Congrats on the telecaster. I have heard they are wonderful guitars. 8)

I found changing the stock tuners on my US Std Strat to locking ones helped with maintaining the tuning stability, and prefer orange drop caps in the electronics. But I'd say live with the guitar as is for at least 6 months before going down any modification routes - it's far too easy to get into it just for the hell of it and waste time and money otherwise. If you want to get any work done, or a set up, try KGB in Birkenhead, they're really good.

As for maintainence....I occasionally use some lemon oil (not the cooking variety) on the FB when it's really grimey. But it's mostly the usual stuff - don't drop it down a flight of stairs, don't drop it off the edge of a stage, don't use it to settle band disputes, etc. If you use a soft gig bag for it at any time, with our weather you might wanna get a plastic cover to go between the case and the axe (note to self - must must must do this for my soft cases...). And you're welcome to bring it to the jam in April if you want further "ooohing" and "aaahing". :wink:

Nice axe, hope you enjoy it for many years. Teles can serve you well over a wide range of styles.

All depends on how you play it. Well, what effect's you use anyway. Played clean, the Tele is a bit too country for my liking, but only on strums. The amp i bought with it, the vox one, has 22 in built modes for different styles of play, and this guitar takes to them all well. Wether it be the bluesy ones or the grungy ones, this tele sings like an angel through them!

Quoting Wattsie and acknowledging the post above is a strange way to reply, but I like the 3 barrel saddles okay, and perhaps their ancient tone characteristic, whereas the 6 are fine, modern, and up-to-date for the more contemporary sound that you like. So you win! Or you can have six barrels, now isn't that special? :shock:

Yeah, about that twang thang, however, meaning the deep "Ghostriders in the Sky" sound, Redd Volkaert and Bill Kirchen are just nailing it here. Who needs a trem,eh? If you got the brawn or the savvy, just bend the whole guitar! 8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=RTmNk3U1ujY&feature=related

Teles are really interesting and versatile. I just listened to a whole week of Youtube vids where the Tele was used as 'heavily' as possible in Classic Rock, and like Keef's "Micawber" Tele, I examined and paused on the efforts of so many of these famous artists who cut out and stuck a humbucker into either one or both positions. Some dudes had HH and changed their bridge to a shorter hardtail - there were just too many configurations to mention. I had to wonder why they just didn't buy this, like Canada's Tom Cochrane?

Or just go out and slay them, pure stock with this, somewhat like a Les Paul, or can be modded to single or PRS switching. You can change the pups out, from Fender's wide-range that are in this, get duplicates that split, or something altogether different and either pickup rings or a custom made guard. I'd have a new guard made to accomodate new 4 wire pups, and 3 knobs, PRS rotary, master volume and tone. Or put a splitter on a push/pull.

I have to believe that they just loved loved their Teles so much, and that long scale feel, that they stayed true to their instincts, or didn't want to carry twice as much weight, and wanted simple controls. :lol:

Oh, sweeeeet, the FMT seems to have that PRS vibe:

Anyhow, I wrote this partially to promote Fender's 4-way mod again, just a switch that keeps everything about the Tele, and adds series power. I use it on my main Tele, which I have never posted here before in its current look. (I think I ran a pic of one of my daughters shielding it for me). Neck pup is a one-off, really hot but no-hum, (not ho-hum, hehe, the pic inscrip below says "Texas Ne, Del Valle") super wax-potted Electrokraft, and the bridge is a stack, but Fender doesn't admit that, calling their Noiseless... single coils? It's a barn-burner, and that's just where it's been, and what it's done, many miles into America's cornfields and 'Heartland', and played in barns, doused in miscellaneous beverages and well spattered, strings-turned-slippery, then black with flying, frying zucchini! Praise the Lord and pass the butter. Yee haw.

And FWIW, spreading the news, Fender made this Texas Hot Rod for awhile, discontinued, a ready-made "Micawber" (Keef's main axe) disguised as a near-normal Tele, it has 5 way factory switching which splits the humbucker. And the bridge pup was wound as hot as they could get away with, to match the output of the Seymour Duncan bucker.

And Keith Richard's story, unraveled - he stuck with the Tele, and 5 strings, taking the road less traveled.

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And you're welcome to bring it to the jam in April if you want further "ooohing" and "aaahing". :wink:

Nice axe, hope you enjoy it for many years. Teles can serve you well over a wide range of styles.

I think i will bring it. You guys could definatley make it sing better than i could, so i'd love to hear that. See, I'm primarily a rhythm guitarist, but i'm teaching myself lead slowly.

And Nice, Lots of cool stuff there BlueJay