Telecaster Question

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Major Tom

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I picked up a used Peavey Telecaster clone recently for what I thought was a decent price, it has a maple neck, alder body, conventional tele picups. It plays and sounds great - good sustain, etc, very telecasterish. I mostly play rock type stuff, but with influences from other genres, including country.

I am looking for any tips on how to achieve maximum twang like the sound that I hear on some country stuff like older Dwight Yoakum, Bastard Sons, etc. - throaty twang at the edge of overdrive. I'm especially looking for tips on the setup of the guitar itself.

I read somewhere that a trick of country pickers is to lower the action to the point where the strings "bang" on the adjacent frets more than a conventionally adjusted guitar. Does anyone have any specifics; is it all 6 strings, or just the wound ones? How low do they need to be? Do you adjust the neck for relief with this, or ruler-flat? How about pickup height/adjustment? String gauge?

I know about using some compression - are there any specific settings? Are there only certain compressors that work well for this? Also, I know about the Fender tube amp thing, I have a 3 of those (BF Champ, HR Deville 4x10, '71 Quad Reverb), and a tube Peavey that has been modded into sounding very much like a Vox; any specific setttings, tips?

Any tips would be appreciated...
 
Pick right between the bridge pup and the bridge.....I know, sounds too simple, but the sound is very twang.......there's a sweet spot that will still let the strings resonate so you'll know if you're a bit too close to the bridge itself....you might have to turn the vol up, though...

You can do this the same way in the same place with the neck pup volume turned waaaay up.......yet another sound......and both pups too......more sound.....and yeah, you can do this with a Les Paul too, lol......

Poor man's solution to getting some twang........!

gibs:cool:
 
Long time tele player here. Here are a few tips.

String height as lo as you can go but not rattling on the frets. The sound you are after comes from popping the strings with your right hand as you play.

Pickups. Go to the fender site and find the page on adjusting pickups. For the knarliest sound you want to have them touch the strings and then back them off about 1/8th of an inch. For an airy sound take them back 1/4 of an inch or more. Don't have them rattling on the pickups though.

Compression is of course the other necessary ingredient. I would just play with the ratio until you get the sound you want 6:1 and lower but this is not cast in stone. Long release times for sustain. 15ms is about right on attack to let a little pop through.

Slight delay is another piece.

I use Fender lights the bullets .009 on the high E for lead picking and for nice rhythm I will jump up to the regulars with the .010.

That should get you started. The last tip is the right EQ range.
 
Regarding compression, I'm pretty hot right now on the MXR Super Comp. Its like the Dyna Comp but it has an attack knob, which is very useful for dialing in just the right amount of snap. Because a compressor will cut the transients, especially on a Tele, it actually makes your guitar/amp combo sound cleaner. If you want more dirt, you might have to turn the amp up a notch or so.

I'd say that your picking technique is more important than lowering the action. Brent Mason gets incredible Tele country tones with a Fender Deluxe Reverb, the guitar and his fingers. A little slapback echo can help too.

Basically, you want to pick with the thumb, index and middle fingers--or hold a pick with the thumb and index, then pick with your middle and ring fingers. A part of it is plucking the strings so they pop, like a funk bass player does on the high strings. You actually sort of pull UP on the string and let it go.

If you want the sound of Dwight's guitarist--Pete Anderson--its Tele on bridge PU, tweed bassman cranked about halfway, play by the bridge AND set that action low--you want to hear a little rattle on the low strings.
 
Yeah--the Super Comp is the bomb, and its cheap. I think mine cost 67 bucks. I love that MXR stuff. The Micro Amp is also very nice for the price--just adds a little low and high back in at the end of the pedal chain, or can be used as a clean boost.
 
Crawdad, what is the Micro Amp? Not familiar with that one.
 
The type of short delay called slapback is a standard in that type of material. Also, a lot of times a piezo pup is run direct to the board, as in a "Nashville" tele, and a little mixed in with the magnatic pups for some high end "crack".-Richie
 
I've always heard good things about the MXR compressors, I know they are used by a lot of pros, including a lot of tele masters...before I spend the $$ on one of those though, I do have a Boss CS-2 that I have had for 15+ years, it also has an attack control - has anyone owned or used both, if so how would you compare the 2 ?? Does the MXR possess any mojo necessary for the tele twang ?

I've been a rock player for 25+ years, I have always admired a lot of the country pickers from afar - Pete Anderson with Dwight, yeah! That guy rocks; that is pretty much the sound I'm talking about.

Thanks again
 
Middleman--The Micro Amp is a small white pedal in the standard MXR sized box. Its basically a clean boost which can be used to drive the front end of an amp a little harder or just to buffer your signal after its gone through a bunch of stompboxes. To my ear, it makes your guitar sound like you are using a very short cord, if that makes any sense. It puts the bottom and top back.

Major Tom--The Boss sounds different than the MXR. It makes a "pop" sound every time you pick a note. The Super Comp is a lot less noticeable, which is why I like it better. The Boss has a fast release time whereas the Super Comp has a slower release. Its all a matter of preference--they are both decent pedals. With the MXR, the key is to play with the attack setting until its just slow enough to let a bit of transient through. You'll get more sustain without sounding over compressed. The idea is to keep some dynamics.
 
I just got done playing with my SuperComp today :p


I like to boost the output a bit sometimes so I can get some drive with it.......

But those chords just blend together sooooooooo smooooooth.

But this was with my LesPaul today. I went into the super comp into my BigMuff into a Boss DD6 and right into the SupeReverb. Should have brought my Ratt instead:o That BigMuff belongs to the Tele;)
 
Can any of you guys compare the MXR with the Keeley or Analogman compressors? Are they worth the extra dollars?

Aaron
www.voodoovibe.com
 
Crank up the treble on your amp with just enough reverb to make it resonate in the air. Most Tele's have hillbilly souls built right in.
 
Aaron Cheney said:
Can any of you guys compare the MXR with the Keeley or Analogman compressors? Are they worth the extra dollars?

Aaron
www.voodoovibe.com
Click to expand...

I got to try a Keely one night, which was loaned to me. I thought it was very nice and rather transparent for a compressor. With the arrival of the Super Comp, though, I can get pretty much the same sound without paying $200+. If I were making my living as a studio player, I'd think about the Keely maybe, but for live--no way. YMMV

Never heard the Analogman. Isn't that a modded DynaComp?
 
crawdad said:
Never heard the Analogman. Isn't that a modded DynaComp?
Click to expand...

They started out that way, but now he only builds his own. It's called the Comprosser, and modled after the old Ross compressor.

Thanks for the info! I'm actually starting to think seriously about the Route 66 compressor/ overdrive.

Aaron
www.voodoovibe.com
 
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