randythoades

Sounds like it just needs a setup. Might be a slightly high fret or a slightly low bridge that might need adjusting, which your luthier of choice can sort easily enough. Fair play though reaching up to 17th fret on acoustic, I don't think that I have gone north of 12th fret more than a handful of times on acoustic. In fact, I rarely get higher than 15th on electric.

That is a very good point. I am not really a fan of pedals, I like just setting my amp and using the volume the alter things, but my drummer (who is also a guitarist) suggested just using a preamp/boost with tone controlsto change the character without using a tubescreamer etc.

Also agree totally with @Dad3353. I did get frustrated with my playing at the beginning and went to a tutor. We did everything really slowly and then gradually built up speed a couple of bpm at a time. To repeat the other comments: Do each exercise for 10 minutes and knock the bpm up about 5 times over that period. Next day drop the bpm back a couple (but about half way to where you had started yesterday). Suddenly feels easy at that tempo. Slow and regular wins the day.

Been looking at videos on you tube for this Area T and I very much like both the normal and hot versions, the normal being a little more sedate and the hot version a little bit more raw and angry sounding in the same guitar. Exactly what I am looking for. Think i will go with one of those anbd see how things go! Much appreciated.

You are completely correct of course, maybe my wording isn't right, but I essentially want to leave my amp settings closely matched and just change guitars to get that extra bit of grunt, I just want a slightly fatter, raunchier tone out of the tele straight out of the gate which I think is mainly the pickup and the winding. I have used some varied strat pickups and got wildly different results with similar amp settings: the SD hot rails sounded like fizz, Texas Specials just lacked any sort of sizzle with a bit of drive (to my ears), and settled on some Tonerider City Limits. When I started putting higher gain into the equation they gave almost the opposite results. The videos I had found online for Dimarzio in particuler were either dead clean and sounding the same, or they were high gain and not suitable for what I wanted. Maybe you are right in that I just need to change amp settings and leave the pickup alone!! But I need one in any case, so I thought it prudent to find one more suitable to my needs. Otherwise, why do we all spend thousands changing the pickup in our precision basses to get different results?? I have more experience in changing pickups on my basses rather than guitar and there are a HUGE amount of options out there.

On the subject of Dimarzio, anyone any experience of the Fast Track or Chopper? They sound good on paper but all the videos i found were either too much gain or just straight clean and I want that crunchy side.

Cool, thanks, I will check them out. That sounds good actually, I have a p90 in a les paul junior clone and like it a lot, but need something a bit more lightweight in my older years! I was thinking about putting in a p90, but I like the look of the traditional tele bridge.

Morning good people of GC, I am about to start a new home built project, a thinline tele / strat type esquire with just a volume, no tone (single pickup). I have one Esquire strat/tele already (but solid body) with a vintage broadcaster type pickup from Oil City, which I like very much for rockabilly and country type. I am looking to do something slightly different to my normal role to cover artists such as Status Quo, Georgia Satellites, Skynyrd, ZZ Top, George Thorogood, more of the blues boogie/southern rock/country end of rock etc so wonder what pickup would be suitable for this? I could just use a similar pickup to my other one and just crank the gain but can't see the point of having one exactly the same. So I am thinking something with a little less treble and a little more mids and touch more grunt but still a bit of snap. Cost isn't really an issue as just a single pickup, but don't want anything fizzy, high gain or too modern or too high an output. And I can wire with a 250k or 500k pot as suitable. Anything that someone has used successfully and can suggest? There are so many versions available it is hard to know where to start outside my normal comfort zone. I am happy to spend the time and watch you tube, but difficult to compare with different players, amps and setups, so a starting point would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I would also suggest that you could speak to other members of the band. If it is too loud for you to hear then I would say that your stage volume is too loud overall and others may also be suffering. As @ezbass suggests, you might benefit having more go through your PA out forwards and better on stage monitoring. I don't know your age, but I can tell you from bitter experience that after 30 years of gigging has left myself and 2 of my band mates with hearing issues, and it really is no joke. But it was a revelation to move onto in-ear monitors. It was very odd and difficult to get good levels and help at the beginning, but SO much better to be actually able to hear yourself and everyone else at a volume that was comfortable. Now we all go through the PA in some way, even the drums and bass guitar. I play directly out of my multi effects into a HK Red box and into PA, or use my 30w Roland Blues cube HOT which has emulated line out into PA (depending which band I am in). It also saves a huge amount of space and set up, no more lugging guitar speaker cabs and head, full bass rigs etc and our general levels are pretty much set at rehearsals so it is just a case of tweaking at each venue.

Looks totally fantastic. But I do find it a little odd though why such amazing craftsmen 'custom build' high quality guitars but still stick to the tried and trusted designs from 70 years ago rather than their own styles. I can appreciate why a customer might want the best that the design can offer, but there must be plenty of custom shop models that do that (although I haven't ever had the money available to splash out on such so haven't looked in detail). As a fully fledged craftsman, does it feel a little like selling your soul to build these rather than a new design to show off your skills...?

I would agree with other posts in that a MIM tele purchased used would be a good bet. Not everyone gets on with every style of instrument. Myself, I love the sound of a tele but dislike the feel, the weight and the look of them, so built a tele into a hardtail strat (which I love the look and feel but can't get them to sound like I want). You might be a couple of months in and find that a tele just isn't for you, in which case you can sell it for basically the same money you paid for it. If you do like it then it is a perfectly good guitar that will last you for a long time, possibly for ever (or at least until GAS kicks in). There is absolutely nothing wrong with the Squier models, I have several myself and find them excellent instruments, but you will lose money on resale if you buy one new (and you will always yearn for one with the Fender logo on the headstock). The Harley Bentons are cheap and cheerful and perfectly servicable, but I think best suited to someone that knows how to smooth the rough edges and get them playing their best.

A bit late to the party, but my favourite and most influential to me personally must be Chuck Berry, Hank Marvin and Richie Sambora. Great feel and tone. After 30 years of playing Johnny B Goode and Apache, I still go weak at the knees hearing the originals with that extra something that I just can't give. I can play all the right notes but I haven't got that same feel. Hank Marvin was the one to get me started (and that was during the 80s) and I still marvel at his recognisable touch.

This may sound a bit strange, but I was also suffering with the same problem. Although I play electric too, sometimes I just want to pick up and strum for 5 mins rather than getting out cables and extension leads. I ended up changing the strings from the loud, bright bronze strings to heavyish electric strings and putting a jumper inside the cavity. Didn't change the feel as much as I thought, but really brought the volume down by quite a bit. I ended up keeping one acoustic strung this way as I play mostly through a preamp into the PA where I have almost unlimited volume, and it cuts the feeback down. But I suppose, acoustic guitar is one of those instruments that you learn the dynamics of playing both quietly and loudly purely with changes in technique and how hard you hit the strings. I haven't worked out this part yet though!!

Back in the day when I was learning, I struggled with a similar problem. I couldn't understand how my heroes could play things so perfectly. But then my guitar teacher at the time pointed out that the recordings I was listening to were just a snapshot, a capture at that time and that they had played the same part 20 times and just chosen the best version. They weren't perfect at all, they were mostly improvised and just happened to be what the fingers played. When I went to watch some of those players do it live I realised that he was right, they rarely played it like the record, they hadn't listened to it in the same detail I had, they just played it with the same 'feel'. Sounded just as good. Sometimes those 'mistakes' are what defines us as players, otherwise everyone would play in exactly the same way.

I also have a Marshall AS 50 which I like for both guitar and ukulele. It has a decent rather than stellar sound. I don't like the chorus to be honest, but the reverb is pretty good. I have tended to use mine with a floor preamp as I prefer the sound of my soundhole pickup through the preamp rather than straight in, but piezo pickup sounds good just into the amp. I have tried a couple of others too in a fit of GAS, nothing wrong with any of them (the Roland street cube, Ashdown Radiator, Laney AH80, Carlsbro Sherwood), but the reason I keep coming back to the Marshall (this is the third one I have bought) is that, to my ears, the DI output sounds close to the sound when sat in front of the speaker, so i can use it for monitoring and know that the adjustments I make sound similar out front. I am sure some of the AER etc combos are better overall sound quality, but my Marshall was only £150 and it has a more than acceptable sound.