The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

[MVI]

I have owned about 12-15 Gibson Les Pauls. All diffrent models, years, necks, pickups, etc., etc. I'm a total nut case for the things. Early this year I got a wild hair, branched out, and splurged on a brand new American Series Tele. It came with nines instead of the tens I've always used on LPs, and it just played soooo effortlessly. I've been playing it ever since, and hardly picked up a LP for 6 months. I figured it was the nines that made it so much easier to play. I didn't even bother to restring a LP with nines, because I was so busy with my Tele.

Recently, I went over to a friend's who also bought an American Tele. His had a Rosewood (?) fretboard however, compared to my Maple neck / fretboard. His felt like playing with barbed wires on a sand paper fretboard, and it was then it struck me "like a diamond bullet to the forehead" (as Brando would say). It's the Maple neck / fretboard !!! If you aren't hip to these things, you might try playing one before you purchase your next axe. The life you save could be your own.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

I'm a big fan of maple boards too.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

snap sparkle and twang

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

I like'em all. It's not really a world of difference to me.

 

[Curly]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

uh ... sorry to disagree, but the fretboard material should have no effect on the ease of playing - that's a product of the setup. And IMHO, any tele with 9s should play easily.

BTW, if you're friend's fretboard feels rough, he might be due for some fretboard oil treatment. Rosewood grain does tend to open up a little over time.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

And any LP with 10s shouldn't be too far removed from a Tele with 9s, as far as string-tensions go, given the difference in scale length -- and tension + action seems to be what most people mean when they talk about ease of play.

any tele with 9s should play easily.

 

[Artie]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

uh ... sorry to disagree, but the fretboard material should have no effect on the ease of playing . . .

I'm glad you said that first. I was beginning to wonder if I was missing something. Two of my guitars are rosewood, and two are maple. I can't tell a difference in playability between any of them.

Glad its not just me.

Artie

 

[MVI]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

uh ... sorry to disagree, but the fretboard material should have no effect on the ease of playing - that's a product of the setup. And IMHO, any tele with 9s should play easily.

BTW, if you're friend's fretboard feels rough, he might be due for some fretboard oil treatment. Rosewood grain does tend to open up a little over time.

Interesting comments. I am looking forward to setting up an LP with 9s as an experiment ( I've tried 11s and 12s before, but not 9s ). Maybe it's the Spring time air that helps my fingers move along. Thanks for the input.

 

[Quencho092]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

And any LP with 10s shouldn't be too far removed from a Tele with 9s, as far as string-tensions go, given the difference in scale length -- and tension + action seems to be what most people mean when they talk about ease of play.

A big difference between theory and practice though. Tele necks and les paul necks are two different animals, plus the scale length, etc, make the tele a special axe.

Fender tend to feel really great with 9's. I just went down from 12's to 10's and I'm loving my strat. I might consider dropping one more gauge. The thinner strings tend to compliment the funky tone of fender single coils.

 

[Curly]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

FWIW, I find 9s too light on a short scale guitar.
This is a matter of personal taste, though ... I'm most used to strats with 10s, so I tend to over bend LPs or other short scale guitars with 10s.

 

[MVI]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

uh ... sorry to disagree, but the fretboard material should have no effect on the ease of playing - that's a product of the setup. And IMHO, any tele with 9s should play easily.

BTW, if you're friend's fretboard feels rough, he might be due for some fretboard oil treatment. Rosewood grain does tend to open up a little over time.

After thinking a bit, I am really interested in this subject now. I have had only Ebony and Rosewood fretboards until my Maple neck, and they seemed moderately different to me with the same gauge strings. The Maple, as I said, seemed REALLY different, but then it had 9s. Then I started thinking : "Why would they put different fretboards on if they are all the same?". Clearly, I am more than a little ignorant on the subject. Now my friend says I can use his Ebony fretboard LP Studio, my LP Rosewood Standard, and my Tele Maple, have them all set up with 9s by the same luthier, and see if I can compare "apples to apples". Perhaps the experiment is flawed, but with such a profound apparent difference, it will influence my future choices dramatically. If anyone is interested I will let you know.

 

[St_Genesius]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

Fsck that! I like 10s on my Tele and 11s on my LP. Feels better and sounds better than smaller guages, imo. And it makes switching between them easy, since the tensions are very similar -- and that's all I was comparing in my ealier post, if you'll re-read it.

Fender tend to feel really great with 9's.

 

[Pepi]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

They all play the same to me. Now, jumbo frets make a difference to me. I like 11s on my lester and 10s on my tele

 

[Artie]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

"Why would they put different fretboards on if they are all the same?"

I think they affect the "tone", just not the playability.

 

[Frantic_Rock]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

Yep I'm with Artie and Curly
Any Paul with 9s should fly absolutely smooth.
Tell your friend to use Dunlop 65 Lemon Oil on his rosewood tele neck. It will make a big difference. A proper set up and fret burnish will help too.

My ebony boarded LP is currently my smoothest playing guitar. After that comes my maple neck strat. My rosewood lado. And finally my maple necked tele (Because the fret edges are sharp, and there is no finish on the neck)

 

[big_black]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

Some #0000 steel wool should smooth out your friend's rosewood board too.

 

[Mincer]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

i have a fretted maple neck on my 82 strat and don't notice a 'feel' difference between that, separate maple neck/fingerboard combo, or rosewood.

 

[benjaturner]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

Definately sounds like that rosewood fretboard needs some treatment. I've never bought anything for this, I just use plain old domestic lemon oil. I'm not sure of the chemical reasons as to why this works, I just know it does.About every six months when I re-string I take a toothbrush to the fretboard and go mental for about 10 minutes. Then I use the smallest amount of lemon oil I can and rub int into the 'board. After re-stringing the difference never fails to amaze me. Try it!

-Benja

 

[strat_master]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

from what ive seen lp's tend to be mroe easier to play or any short scale gibson over a fender.

 

[Mephis]

Re: The "secret ingredient" in an American Tele

I love my maple neck/FB tele.

I had a full fret level and have the strings super low with 9's, no fret rattle anywhere, no matter how hard my pick attack is. It plays stupidly smooth and fast, and with that super powerful Qp, I can play van halen riffs and such. Makes me wana have work done to my other guitars...


Amazing guitar, really, but the tele tone comes from the bridge design, everyone knows that .