why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

MVI said:
I don't know so much about the Tele being all that versitile. I play blues and the Tele fairly rips at some stompin' blues. I think Strats are probably more versitile, I just personally hate them. Les Pauls are nice. I've had about 10-12 LPs. I just have one Tele, and it's a keeper. If I was a speed metal guy, or some funk star I'm not so sure I would hold onto my Tele so tight. If you know what you're doing a ukelele (sp) could probably bring back disco. PS don't get me started on God or Nietzche.
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I feel that the dual humbucking Gibson guitars are the least versatile for our band's mix of music...I can handle everything our band does from clean to crunch on a strat..I can't do any old Clapton(Bell Bottom Blues) or the "Sultan's Of Swing" stuff on my SG or my LP though? Gibsons just don't do the Strat quack thing,,

I use the SG and LP for the heavier stuff....But to me,these 2 instruments are 1 trick ponies compared to the strat and even a Tele...That's another reason I own "several" guitars...This just ceases to be a problem then... :dance:
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

actually, i think you have to try harder to get good tones out of a strat

like if you're goin with mini humbuckers or regular ones, you gotta be REAL careful, cuz well, theres not all that much wood in a strat, it has a trem, and the pickups are gonna be mounted to plastic

teles are versatile because they're all around solid guitars. The same angle on the bridge pickup that gives you twang, can also be used to give you REAL mean tones. I also find the middle position to be more usable than any of the strat ones. Infact, side by side, same amp & pedal, i played a stock mexi tele, and then my HH black out, and the middle position on the tele actually got reasonably close to having humbucker tones, then i went to the bridge, cut through anything lead tones, jeez, up to the neck, wow, i found it to be bluesier than most strats.

i think my next is gonna be a HS config, lil 59 in the bridge, jazz in the neck, hopefully the middle will give me a lower output hot rail tone & the neck a kinda social distortion rythm crunch
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

Benjy_26 said:
Teles are way more versatile than LP's or strats. They have great cleans, excellent OD sounds, and decent high gain tones
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Hmm...having owned them all of them,I'll have to respectfully disagree Benjy. IMO of course.

:rambling:

I'd say a Strat has a (very small) edge in versatility over a Tele or Paul, However, my Gibsons (ES/LP/Explorer/V/SG) have always been capable of excellent cleans/ODs/High gain sounds. Granted the clean sounds are *different* than with a single coil, but they are no more or no less "great". At times I prefer them..e.g. when using a NMV amp of some type where the volume knob on the guitar is used to clean up the sound. Gibson's excel at this, whereas I feel Strat's/Teles lose tone and get too thin when doing so.

Also for a fat Jazzbox type tone, Strats/Teles, even with a neck HB just don't cut it, IMO.

That said, I love Tele's if nothing more than for that bridge pickup. Nasty (in a good way) :D

They all their strengths and weaknesses and different sounds. Over the years I've become much happier and less frustrated after I stopped worrying about "versatility" in an axe, and started enjoying each instrument for it's own unique sounds/characteristics :D
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

Pepi said:
Tele is one guitar where the tone control really makes a difference. You can cover a lot of ground with a Tele.
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+1

There's something liberating about having fewer options. If you have a good sounding bridge PU, you can get a Tele to sound good doing just about anything.
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

Lewguitar said:
I don't know that Teles are inherantly more versatile than a Strat, but it does seem that the players themselves who play Teles are more versatile musicians. Danny Gatton, Albert Lee, Roy Buchanan, Seymour...all these guys can/could play rock, jazz, country, blues, pop, etc. and do it with a level of virtuosity and authenticity that most players lack.

I think players who play Teles tend to be players who know how to shape thier tone with thier hands to a greater degree than most players...and that quality allows them to cover alot of ground.

Lew
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I find a lot to agree with in Lew's post.
I think the notion "Teles are versatile" has something to do with their simplicity. The simplicity is liberating in the sense that you have to rely on your hands to shape your sound. There are no push-pulls, forests of mini-toggles or multi-pole 5-ways to get lost in. Just a 3-way and a volume and tone knob. Once you master this, you will be capable of playing anything on Tele, rock to jazz, blues to metal, pop to hard rock.
Tony
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

Tony_H said:
I find a lot to agree with in Lew's post.
I think the notion "Teles are versatile" has something to do with their simplicity. The simplicity is liberating in the sense that you have to rely on your hands to shape your sound. There are no push-pulls, forests of mini-toggles or multi-pole 5-ways to get lost in. Just a 3-way and a volume and tone knob. Once you master this, you will be capable of playing anything on Tele, rock to jazz, blues to metal, pop to hard rock.
Tony
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Exactly! :)
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

Tony_H said:
I find a lot to agree with in Lew's post.
I think the notion "Teles are versatile" has something to do with their simplicity. The simplicity is liberating in the sense that you have to rely on your hands to shape your sound. There are no push-pulls, forests of mini-toggles or multi-pole 5-ways to get lost in. Just a 3-way and a volume and tone knob. Once you master this, you will be capable of playing anything on Tele, rock to jazz, blues to metal, pop to hard rock.
Tony
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Sounds like a les paul,too :)
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

boulder4112 said:
Sounds like a les paul,too :)
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I should have said, once you master your guitar, you'll be able to play anything on it, whatever the guitar. BTW Les Paul used to be my main guitar for about 4 years; I sold it when I was broke and I still regret it.

I own several guitars, some of them with pretty complex wiring and elaborate multiple-pole 5-ways. There's nothing wrong with that - but I've grown to appreciate the Telecaster's simplicity as well. Sometimes I challenge myself and play a gig with just a Tele and without any pedals (not even overdrive). It can be humbling but it can be rewarding too.
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

The folks that tend to tout the versatility of the tele are often the same ones that percieve a massive distinction between country twangin' and chicken pickin. I'm not casting any dispersions on those who love Teles or who play country/bluegrass music - Lord knows I have no country chops whatsoever, but it seems to me the versatility of the Telecaster lives primarily within a specific subset of musical genres that rely heavily on the tele sound to begin with.

It's like saying the Jackson USA Soloist with active pickups is super versatile because you can play thrash, grindcore, deathmetal, and neoclassical shred music on one.
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

sosomething said:
The folks that tend to tout the versatility of the tele are often the same ones that percieve a massive distinction between country twangin' and chicken pickin. I'm not casting any dispersions on those who love Teles or who play country/bluegrass music - Lord knows I have no country chops whatsoever, but it seems to me the versatility of the Telecaster lives primarily within a specific subset of musical genres that rely heavily on the tele sound to begin with.

It's like saying the Jackson USA Soloist with active pickups is super versatile because you can play thrash, grindcore, deathmetal, and neoclassical shred music on one.
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Exactly.


And I also agree with Lew as well...it's not so much the guitar but the players that play them.
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

sosomething said:
The folks that tend to tout the versatility of the tele are often the same ones that percieve a massive distinction between country twangin' and chicken pickin.

It's like saying the Jackson USA Soloist with active pickups is super versatile because you can play thrash, grindcore, deathmetal, and neoclassical shred music on one.
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Boy...that's funny. :smack: All that stuff sounds like the same thing to me! :laugh2: Just a bunch of distorted angry negative crud! :laugh2:

Pullin' your leg a little about that but really, that stuff you mentioned all sounds about the same to me. :) Especially once some screamy singer puts his voice on top of it.

Now compare jazz to rock to country to blues to r&b and you're really talking about some differant musical genres...and the Tele in the hands of good player can cover it all.
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

If you can find a really woody-sounding LP or 335 (and it ain't real hard), that's about as versatile as it gets. It will twang/chime/woof/scream/wail whatever you want -- if you've got the touch.

That said, if you have the right touch an use heavy strings, you can get great woody jazz tones out of a good Strat, no 'bucker needed. Fat 50's pickups will do the trick. You just have to use the meat of the side of your thumb tip for the chords and a thick pick for the single notes (or the thumb for slower single note lines).
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

Well just think of all of the players who have used a Tele and the variety of music they played as well.

Teles are just great guitars. I used to love Strats, but Teles have become my favorite in recent years. I don't necessarily agree that Les Pauls are that versatile. Maybe thats just true of my hands :laugh2:. I find it really hard to get a good clean jazzy sound from a Paul though.

There is a reason that in the 50's and 60's session guys like Tommy Tedesco and other jazz studio *cats* always made sure they had a Tele along for the pop tunes. I'm not sure I would ever use a Tele for a traditional jazz or metal , but I could use it for anything else. Coincidentally enough, Marlyn Manson's John5 uses a Tele.
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

it also has alot to do with the touch sensitivity of single coils and that cutting bridge pickup. I plugged an MIA tele into a deluxe reverb at guitar center and turned it up to a fair volume-it got amazing clean tones in 2 position, and in the neck spot i got the notes to chime and wail. The bridge alone was too trebly for my tastes, but rolling the tone knob back yielded some great sounds.

I then plugged it into a rectoverb, flipped on the bridge position and turned up the gain and the crunch was outstanding. Never muddied out at all. Then you have the whole single coil vs humbucker thing....
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

Now the *real* fun is learning how much versatility you can get out of an Esquire! :)
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

gripweed said:
Well just think of all of the players who have used a Tele and the variety of music they played as well.

There is a reason that in the 50's and 60's session guys like Tommy Tedesco and other jazz studio *cats* always made sure they had a Tele along for the pop tunes. I'm not sure I would ever use a Tele for a traditional jazz or metal , but I could use it for anything else. Coincidentally enough, Marlyn Manson's John5 uses a Tele.
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You make a good point, and Lew does as well with pointing out the large differences between country, rock, jazz, etc. I'll definitely give over to the notion that a tele is more than just a "country guitar." I'd also be willing to bet that a Soloist can be a lot more than just a "metal guitar" in the right hands as well.

So... like some smart folks here have already said, it depends largely on who's playing the d*mn thing. :)

I would like to point out that John 5 isn't using a stock tele - if I'm not terribly mistaken he has a humbucker in there, and that pretty much means he doesn't count! You can stick splittable humbuckers, 5-way switching, and a varitone on just about anything and make it versatile. I think the general sentiment on teles (among tele players) is that they are versatile even in their simple, stock form.

Either way, it's a classic guitar that we as the guitar playing community owe just about everything to.
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

uhh the j5 tele that he uses has a hot rail, buddy. The other one is a budget version.

And teles are used for a lot more than country & bluegrass & all that. John 5 was already mentioned, so lets go with teppei from thrice, the maroon 5 guy, prince, muddy waters, johnny lang, tom petty, the poison the well guy, lead for bad religion used them A LOT on their last cd, the new lead for dashboard confessional, the guy in fuel, kenny bridges from moneen, the guy from stimulator, christian stone, the fighting jacks guy, vertical horizon uses em, bruce springsteen, the calling, paul burlison, i mean, seriously, a lot of people use them.

and yes its astonishing how useful the tone controls are
 
Re: why do people say telecasters are so versatile?

Zhangliqun said:
If you can find a really woody-sounding LP or 335 (and it ain't real hard), that's about as versatile as it gets. It will twang/chime/woof/scream/wail whatever you want -- if you've got the touch.
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I couldn't agree more, I've realised this after owning my 57 RI for a couple months now, it is SO different than the regular ones in the sense you mentioned.

I agree with lew when he said its in the player.
I don't find teles especially 'versatile', they do what only a tele can do and thats why I love them so much. I really don't need a guitar that is that versatile because I'M not that versatile! :laugh2: I think once someone is at the point where they can span across that many genres and are really good at each of them, they can do it on just about any guitar!
 
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