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Tele Tastic!

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18 hours ago, EdwardMarlowe said:


Very nice. What's different about the JD wiring, aside from the Strat pup in the neck? 

 

The JHS Vintage range is lovely stuff; I'd genuinely struggle to choose between the likes of a Squier CV and the Vintage 52. I'd probably be seduced by quite a lot of the Vintage range, save for the fact they don't do many of the more interesting looks left handed. For Gibby styles, I think they're far better value than Epiphone, and snapping at the heels of the very top Squiers for Fender types, while being markedly cheaper than either. 

so the JD wiring,

starting at the bridge pickup, position 1. 

Position 2 gives the out of phase strat 'inbetween' sound

Postion 3 both pickups in parallel (like a normal tele)

Position 4 is the neck pickup plus some sort of capacitor which tries to make the neck pickup sound like a humbucker (roll the tone down a bit and it's not toobad)

Position 5 is the neck pickup.

 

I actually have 4 vintage guitars now, one is the Geoff Whitehorn signature from July 08. I keep this in my office and use it to learn songs on, during lunchtimes.

I have an SG with vibrola and a 335 type, both used in my Paul Weller and Stereophonics tribute bands.

They are all excellent guitars and hold their own against my other higher range stuff. (I have 3 Les Pauls, an SG jr, PRS signature form 1989)

 

I am making it my goal to only gig with these cheaper instruments as taking 3 to 4 grands worth of guitars is starting to bother me

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On 05/08/2021 at 11:00, police squad said:

so the JD wiring,

starting at the bridge pickup, position 1. 

Position 2 gives the out of phase strat 'inbetween' sound

Postion 3 both pickups in parallel (like a normal tele)

Position 4 is the neck pickup plus some sort of capacitor which tries to make the neck pickup sound like a humbucker (roll the tone down a bit and it's not toobad)

Position 5 is the neck pickup.

 

I actually have 4 vintage guitars now, one is the Geoff Whitehorn signature from July 08. I keep this in my office and use it to learn songs on, during lunchtimes.

I have an SG with vibrola and a 335 type, both used in my Paul Weller and Stereophonics tribute bands.

They are all excellent guitars and hold their own against my other higher range stuff. (I have 3 Les Pauls, an SG jr, PRS signature form 1989)

 

I am making it my goal to only gig with these cheaper instruments as taking 3 to 4 grands worth of guitars is starting to bother me


Aha! Thanks, that makes sense. 

I hear you about gigging with cheaper guitars. If I were playing out these days, I'd be the same. To be honest, though, with guitars like MIM Fender, the 5xxx series Gretsches, Vintage and Harley Benton around, I'm honestly increasingly questioning whether I could ever begin to justify the price of some big money guitars now. I mean, *sure* if money were no object I'd buy a 6210, but I'm honestly not convinced the price gap to the 5240 now is worth it - for one comparison. In particular, given that my main preferences tend to the more utilitarian Fender styles, there's a lot to be said for going cheap now. I remain of the opinion that the higher end Squiers are arguably the truest product line Fender now produce to Leo's original design intent of putting a giggable, workingman's instrument in the hands of as many players as possible... 

Those Vintage SGs are the ones that really got me to look at the brand. They're stupidly good for the money. Ironically, I also think they look better than the Epiphone option, a headstock thing mostly. Just looks nicer than the Epi, even the new one imo. The relic style Vintages are great fun too, especially considering the cost of any such thing from the big boys. Sure, they might look a little uniform if you study them, but the general vibe is there, and it must be so much nicer to gig with a guitar you can play in anger and not worry about damaging... 

 

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On 06/08/2021 at 15:42, EdwardMarlowe said:


Aha! Thanks, that makes sense. 

I hear you about gigging with cheaper guitars. If I were playing out these days, I'd be the same. To be honest, though, with guitars like MIM Fender, the 5xxx series Gretsches, Vintage and Harley Benton around, I'm honestly increasingly questioning whether I could ever begin to justify the price of some big money guitars now. I mean, *sure* if money were no object I'd buy a 6210, but I'm honestly not convinced the price gap to the 5240 now is worth it - for one comparison. In particular, given that my main preferences tend to the more utilitarian Fender styles, there's a lot to be said for going cheap now. I remain of the opinion that the higher end Squiers are arguably the truest product line Fender now produce to Leo's original design intent of putting a giggable, workingman's instrument in the hands of as many players as possible... 

Those Vintage SGs are the ones that really got me to look at the brand. They're stupidly good for the money. Ironically, I also think they look better than the Epiphone option, a headstock thing mostly. Just looks nicer than the Epi, even the new one imo. The relic style Vintages are great fun too, especially considering the cost of any such thing from the big boys. Sure, they might look a little uniform if you study them, but the general vibe is there, and it must be so much nicer to gig with a guitar you can play in anger and not worry about damaging... 

 

yep i agree. 10 years ago I spent £2K on a new Gibson AFD Slash guitar. Gigged it hard for 3-4 years. It's a really great guitar. I see them going for more than I paid for mine. I dont think I could justify spending that now. I did have a proper White Falcon, again 10 years ago. Another truly great instrument but it was only 1700 quid as it was 'B stock'. Nwe they're pretty expensive and I wouldn't buy one.

Up the Vintage!!

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On 09/08/2021 at 11:58, police squad said:

yep i agree. 10 years ago I spent £2K on a new Gibson AFD Slash guitar. Gigged it hard for 3-4 years. It's a really great guitar. I see them going for more than I paid for mine. I dont think I could justify spending that now. I did have a proper White Falcon, again 10 years ago. Another truly great instrument but it was only 1700 quid as it was 'B stock'. Nwe they're pretty expensive and I wouldn't buy one.

Up the Vintage!!


TBH, the biggest thing the big money makers can offer me as things are now is typically a much better range of left handers. That has improved a lot in recent years - Fender have gotten much better in their Mexico range, in particular. Still a bit limited (none of the reissue Tele / Strat models are available left handed in MIM), but it is now possible to get a MIM P Bass, and even a reasonable range of both colours and *maple* boards left handed. 

Vintage are tempting me for a Tele, as I really like their V52 model with the new shape headstock; what holds me back much more with the Strat option is that they only have the left handers in a burst, though at a cheap enough used price I might be tempted to swap out the body, or have a respray... Big thing I need to do is try their necks. Much as I love my old US Std Strat (a 1994), that 43mm nut and flatter neck profile is noticeably less comfortable for me to play on than the 42mm nut MIM necks. (Money no object, I'd be very tempted to buy a Fender Clapton type neck for it.) Need to have a go on some Vintages to see how their necks feel. Have learned over the years - much to my surprise - that sometimes something that has a reputation for being a thicker neck works better for me. 

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On 30/10/2021 at 11:34, EdwardMarlowe said:


TBH, the biggest thing the big money makers can offer me as things are now is typically a much better range of left handers. That has improved a lot in recent years - Fender have gotten much better in their Mexico range, in particular. Still a bit limited (none of the reissue Tele / Strat models are available left handed in MIM), but it is now possible to get a MIM P Bass, and even a reasonable range of both colours and *maple* boards left handed. 

Vintage are tempting me for a Tele, as I really like their V52 model with the new shape headstock; what holds me back much more with the Strat option is that they only have the left handers in a burst, though at a cheap enough used price I might be tempted to swap out the body, or have a respray... Big thing I need to do is try their necks. Much as I love my old US Std Strat (a 1994), that 43mm nut and flatter neck profile is noticeably less comfortable for me to play on than the 42mm nut MIM necks. (Money no object, I'd be very tempted to buy a Fender Clapton type neck for it.) Need to have a go on some Vintages to see how their necks feel. Have learned over the years - much to my surprise - that sometimes something that has a reputation for being a thicker neck works better for me. 

I love bigger necks, mostly. They sit nicely in the hand. I tend not to play with my thumb on the back of the neck and I do have quite big hands.

I rehearsed with my Vintage JD the other night and had forgotten just how good it sounds. You're right on the Vintges choice of colours, for lefties, they need to offer more

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On 06/11/2021 at 13:18, police squad said:

I love bigger necks, mostly. They sit nicely in the hand. I tend not to play with my thumb on the back of the neck and I do have quite big hands.

I rehearsed with my Vintage JD the other night and had forgotten just how good it sounds. You're right on the Vintges choice of colours, for lefties, they need to offer more


Yeah, it does seem to be the one big hole in their range.... I suspect they might do that in their custom shop version, but it's a stiff upcharge for "only" the colour. Still, props to them for doing left handers in their price range with a maple board.... for whatever reason, that seems to have been a rare option indeed in recent years. 

Really like their headstocks, though - especially the newer, smaller one for their T-types. There's something really nice about the mix of them being very obvious in what they are influenced by, and yet at the same time proudly their own thing. To boot, it's a much nicer alternative headstock shape than anyone else has ever come up with to avoid copying Fender's, and I very much include the likes of Suhr there. 

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Decided to have a small cosmetic upgrade. Gone is the cream and black is in. Also, I’ve started trying to play with a thumbpick again (heavy, bumblebee thumbpick) in order to play some Hellecaster licks that I can’t achieve with hybrid picking. Seems to be going ok.

 

592A5EBB-B542-4734-A62F-A59045E857D1.thumb.jpeg.7359cf96fe730bd06adb3066edfc7fa8.jpeg

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Just a straight down the middle Tele. 2016 'pro' US built. Have a MIM Vintera which is very good but as a self-confessed Fender nut, in the end it had to be a Corona. Went on the hunt for an ash body, maple neck and found this fairly locally at a fair price (I'm sure the market is soft at the moment).

I reckon the ash is great for me - a tads lighter and the balance improves a bit, plus there is a ring to it (unplugged) which the alders have a little less of.

Through the amp (Fender Super Champ all-valve with a Celestion Greenback 10 in it) it does seem to me to ring a little more, and warmer. I think the ash adds brightness but not the cutting top the back p'up does in shovels anyway, more a bright presence.

Basically loving it - it's a keeper. Tried a Strat for a while but personally prefer the Tele on a number of levels, the honest simplicity, the ergonomics (!), the rather 'workingmans' image, and the range of sounds which greatly exceeds what many players expect from a Tele. Particularly fond of the neck p'up with treble rolled back a bit.

Add a bit of reverb and chorus and we have Johnny Marr / John Squire (Stone Roses) and shedfulls of Fender chime. That'll do👍

 

te1.jpg

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3 hours ago, Soledad said:

Just a straight down the middle Tele. 2016 'pro' US built. Have a MIM Vintera which is very good but as a self-confessed Fender nut, in the end it had to be a Corona. Went on the hunt for an ash body, maple neck and found this fairly locally at a fair price (I'm sure the market is soft at the moment).

I reckon the ash is great for me - a tads lighter and the balance improves a bit, plus there is a ring to it (unplugged) which the alders have a little less of.

Through the amp (Fender Super Champ all-valve with a Celestion Greenback 10 in it) it does seem to me to ring a little more, and warmer. I think the ash adds brightness but not the cutting top the back p'up does in shovels anyway, more a bright presence.

Basically loving it - it's a keeper. Tried a Strat for a while but personally prefer the Tele on a number of levels, the honest simplicity, the ergonomics (!), the rather 'workingmans' image, and the range of sounds which greatly exceeds what many players expect from a Tele. Particularly fond of the neck p'up with treble rolled back a bit.

Add a bit of reverb and chorus and we have Johnny Marr / John Squire (Stone Roses) and shedfulls of Fender chime. That'll do👍

 

te1.jpg

Very Bruce Springsteen; nice.

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