I covet one of these bad boys so much!
The bite of a Tele, fattened up by the semi-hollow chambers.
And it's so damn beautiful!

Anyone play one?
How do you like it?
When are you going to be ready to sell it?

Pretty sweet, although you'd probably want to swap out the stock pickups for something a little meatier.

Actually, I like the stock pickups in most of the Fender guitars. Putting in a Seymour Duncan or something like that, I've found (in my friends' Teles) takes away from that Tele tone. If Bertolini (is that the right name?) were still making pickups, and I had the $$, I might consider a swap. But otherwise...

I personally like the humbucking model thinline...but yeah, those are pretty sweet.

Bartolini. And I've never been too wowed by their guitar pickups (unlike the active bass pickups, which are fucking amazing).

Best thing you can do, Todd, is to get your hands on a japanese-make thinline, and then drop either a set of Fender Broadcaster or Nocasters into it, OR go with the always stellar Bill Lawrences. He, in my opinion, is the only person making tele pickups that rival the stuff coming outta Fender's custom shop. And he'll talk to you on the phone. Just make sure not to ask about pickups having "high output," because he's kindof a nazi about educating people on dc wiring (and the fact that pickups don't actually output anything). Still, they're phenominally good pickups, and aren't all that expensive.


You ever think of ordering your own body and neck from Warmoth and making one? They can be sprayed and finished... just bolt and solder!

I was wondering when you were gonna show up in this thread.

To your point:
I can't even make a decent Pinewood Derby car!!! The last thing I wanna fuck up is a sweet Tele Thinline! I've seen some Jap-built reissues at my local shop every now and then that sound pretty damn good -- and play great. When I get the cash up, I'm gonna probably hit that place up first. Barring that, I'll start cruising around online.

And to your Bartolini comment: there's a guy at this open mike that I see play a Tele with Bartolinis... he just plugs directly into the PA and it sounds like the Axe Of God. So good. But, like you said, they ain't making 'em any more.

(Oh, and the HoP bassist has Bartolinis in his Rickenbacker. They sound amazing.)

Thanks.

The stock p/u's in those Japanese thinlines are ok, say an 80/100. To get that last 15 or 20% you have get selective. If you like the old Steve Cropper sound (thin, lo-fi, plain-jane but authentic) then the Nocasters are great. If you want a little more country charatcer out of it, then the Lawrences or the Broadcasters are great.

And then if you wanna be 50/50 between Tele-sound and P-90's, go for the Texas Specials... overwound, lots of meat in the middle, able to stand up to a Marshall Halfstack and pull off anything from Zep 1 in absolute style, with no mud.




Mmmmm... tobacco burst.

If you know it, think about the intro to Brinsley Schwarz - "Dry Land"
THAT is the tone.

alas I do not.

This is what I should have said.

I'll bring the disc tomorrow and rip it for you.
Sweetness. Everywhere.

Depending on what you're shooting for, too much meat can get in the way.

I've got one with texas specials, and it's got BALLS for a tele. It's the one guitar I'd bring to a gig if I had no idea what kind of music I'd be playing... roll off the volume a little and it cleans up alright, yet flat-out into something heavy (mesa, marshall, etc) it doesn't sound wimpy like a classic fender single coil should (classic strat back pickup/older marshall excluded).

But for more delicate work, where there will be no distortion used, I have a 3-pickup Deluxe model with a Broadcaster in the back, and it just barks in a way that anything beefy would never do. When I palm mute and pick heavy stoccato notes on the low E and A strings into a vibrolux with slap-back delay, it makes perfect sense. It has to sing on the high notes, not screech. The lows have to give way to the amp - the amp wears the pants in that relationship. The amp is glassy and pushy, and the guitar's gotta get out of its way, or else speakers get farty, or the tone gets piercing.

PopTodd,

speaking of guitars, I was wondering if you knew of some good resale shops in the Chicago area (I think you're close to Chicago, right?) I'm trying to find a Harmony H19 in good condition.

Midwest Buy and Sell
http://www.mwbuynsell.net/

Chicago Music Exchange (fun to visit but pricey)

those are the two best.

agreed.

Also, lindy fralin can give you anything you want in a pickup.

dude is sick.

http://www.fralinpickups.com/

fuck it, put in lipsticks...

Thanks for the tip, Prince.

Here's that Tele tone I was talking about earlier:
Brinsley Schwarz - "Dry Land"
http://www.sendspace.com/file/t03myf

In partular, listen to that tone in the intro. Love that.

EDIT: for more sweetness...
"Egypt"
http://www.sendspace.com/file/kswgjh

Another Thinline fan here.

I've got a '72 replica in 2-tone Sunburst.

It's a new one so it doesn't have the single coils but dual humbuckers. I actually like the sound of that better than the single coils.

I'm no sound expert though. I really just know clean and distorted.