What does it mean to be a "Tele"?

[pzaxtl]

Re: What does it mean to be a "Tele"?

When it comes to Teles I'm a bit of a purist, but not a snob. Gotta have the body, neck, bridge and pickups of a traditional tele or it's just a variation on a theme, rendering it a Tele-ish guitar but not a true Tele. IMO.

 

[Hellion]

Re: What does it mean to be a "Tele"?

Teles are like Strats. They're varying shades of the same tonal shape. Some are darker, some are brighter. I've had a love/hate relationship with my "infants" from Day One. I don't really like them much, but they're annoyingly addictive to play, and let's face it, they have a tone. Which means I play them a lot. Have mercy on my soul.

 

[Will S-T]

Re: What does it mean to be a "Tele"?

Okay, let's talk about wiring for a minute. I have a set of Tele Tex-Mex pickups that I like. If I went with a classic 2-pickup deal, and I used a standard 5-way blade switch, are there any cool options I could employ?

I do this mod on all Tele's I've owned over the past 5 years.
The series / out of phase position sounds almost "Wah" like.

http://www.guitarnuts.com/wiring/triffic/index.php

 

[3'scompany]

Re: What does it mean to be a "Tele"?

I've never understood why people say that a Tele/Strat/LP/(insert any other guitar name) ceases to be that model any more when you start to change woods, pups, etc.

Maybe I'm weird, but I look at guitar models as being definitive by their shape. Everything else is up for variation in my book.