Tele or PRS SE?

[GrandDadgad]

Getting back into electric to play with a small back up band. Years ago I played a 70's Tele, blonde with rosewood fingerboard that is the one I wish I had. Since then of course there have been lot's of other guitars (Gibsons, Godins).

I am looking to keep it simple and am thinking about PRS SE's with 2 pick ups & 1 volume, 1 tone control. (not the 245 SE) Either the 22 or 24 custom or standard.

Concerns: small room and single coil buzz.

Only Tele I am interested in is the MIM Nashville Deluxe with Strat p/u. That should cancel buzz in 2nd and 4th switch position.

Thoughts please?

[muscmp]

two completely different animals. all i can suggest is to play them both thru the same amp and one will speak to you. i don't know the tele offhand, but, it sounds like you are adding a 3rd pickup as well as changing the wiring and control plate to give you more than the normal 3 positions that a tele has.

even tho i'm not a fan, a lot of people like the newer generation of noiseless pickups on the teles.

i have an am. vintage 58 tele and it is very quiet. more so than my 89 strat.

play music!

[guitararmy]

They're both good guitars, but do different things. Here's one that's a mix of both:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...e%20HH&index=1

[Scotso]

Strats can buzz.
And humbuckers can buzz if 60 cycle interference is present....but not as much as singles in my experience. Both guitars are great. I have no real advice. It just sorta depends on what you can live with.

[mikealpine]

If you want something closer to single-coil and don't want buzz, you can get a PRS and put in Reverend Hum-Cutter pickups, or as already suggested, some noiseless Tele pickups like the Areas. I have a Neuvo 90 in the neck of a Carvin/Keisel guitar and it's terrific! It is basically a noiseless P90-ish pickup that fits in a humbucker route. By the way, if you get the PRS, those are usually humbucker pickups, and if you like those, you're all set. I believe in most cases they'll coil-split, but you will lose some volume and pick up some hum. I really like those Reverend hum-cutters, and they are not ridiculously expensive.

[stratokatsu]

The Players Tele with the bridge humbucker is a really versatile guitar, IMHO more capable than the Nashville Tele I used to own.

Since you seem to be comparing two very different guitars, maybe you should think of it based on the kind of music you need to play on it.

[maxtheaxe]

First off, I've never played the PRS SE guitars, so can't comment on whether one or the other is 'better'. I've heard very good things about the SEs and I love my PRS Studio and can't imagine Smith allowing his name to be associated with anything that's a dud.

That being said, I can say that my Nashville Tele is probably the best bang-for-the-buck guitar I've ever had. You are right in that you will have some noise cancellation in positions 2 and 4... it isn't perfect, but neither are humbuckers. I think this is a small sacrifice to have that single-coil snap and sizzle. To be honest, I play some pretty loud gigs and it has never been much of a problem with this guitar or any other single-coil guitar I use. BTW, I bought the honey-blond color, as this is the only one that has an ash body...the other colors are made with alder.

One thing about the Nashville is that tone-wise, it skews a bit more toward Rock than Country, to my ears at least. I attribute this to the Fender Tex-Mex Tele pickups having just a bit hotter winding. They sound great in tangent with the Texas Special Strat pickup in the middle, which is reverse wind/reverse polarity and actually pretty effective at quieting things down.

Another thing is that they've equipped this with the vintage style six-saddle ashtray bridge and split-post tuners, neither of which are my preference. They're easy enough to change, although you may need to ream out the tuner holes to modern-spec 10mm if you decided to do it. Other than that, the stock tuners work fine...they're just a hassle to change strings with, compared to modern tuners.

Good Luck to you! What a fun dilemma to be faced with.

[GrandDadgad]

Thanks to all responders. I am following advice and going to play some this weekend thru the same amp. I appreciate the wisdom, common sense and civility too.

Maxtheaxe, I have been leaning toward the honey blond version and was unaware of the difference in woods.

I'll update after the weekend.

[JimW2]

I am a tele fan. I only have 2 PUP teles and strats, my uses a Nashville tele we have never hand issues with noise from the single coil PUPs

[Steely Glen]

I own several PRS guitars: SC58 Artist, McCarty, a Mira 245 25th Anniversary, and an SE Zack Myers. I had an SE singlecut as well. I also have a 52 AVRI Tele and used to have a MIM Tele.

Very different feel in a PRS and Tele, but both are exceptional for what they do. I use the word "feel" there intentionally because for me, that's what it comes down to. I can achieve relatively similar tones from the guitars above. There's very little absolutely "unique" areas tonally for each one. However, the neck on my 52 AVRI is radically different from any of the PRSi above, which are either Wide/Fat or Pattern Regular. The Tele feels much more like an acoustic and needs to be wrestled with more. The PRSi are smooth and fast.

Think of it like the difference between a BMW M5 and a classic American muscle car.

[mikealpine]

As an aside, I had a Nashville Tele, a very well made guitar by Ron Kirn. I had a set of pickups in it much like Brent Mason's Tele, a noiseless hot bridge, noiseless Strat center and a mini HB in the neck. found the pickups had a lot of string pull from the magnets, and I could only move them just so far from the strings. No matter what I did, the sound was really not as good as I think it could have been. I know others love their Nashville T's, and I admit I love the idea of one, but in the end, I just wasn't loving the guitar. I changed the configuration, putting a Lollar J-Street (think Tele bridge meets P90) in the bridge, keeping the mini HB in the neck. The guitar is now a beast. The change is simply awesome, and in no way do I miss the middle pickup. I can go country, rock, jazz, and blues. I think if you bought a Tele with a body that you like in terms of weight, comfort, resonance and such, you can make a pickup change down the road that will elevate the guitar many notches. Lollar Special T and J-Street pickups are absolutely amazing.

Just wanted to put this out there for something to think about.

[62&climbing]

From SteelyGlen:"I own several PRS guitars: SC58 Artist, McCarty, a Mira 245 25th Anniversary, and an SE Zack Myers. I had an SE singlecut as well. I also have a 52 AVRI Tele and used to have a MIM Tele".

Glen, or anybody. I have been thinking about the SE Zach Myers. I like the partial hollow body idea and the PRS have always fascinated me. But!

I am a 98% chord guy/strummer. Me and picking don't get along much. And most of what I see on electrics is picking/shredding/soloing styles. Sometimes I think I would be wasting a great guitar on just strumming.

Can you give me any sort of opinion on this PRS for chording/strumming? It would be used for my man cave, a few small local jams and some visits with relatives. I do zero gigging.

[guitararmy]

You might like a tele or strat for strumming. The longer scale length and single coil pu's are good for some nice chimey chords. Or a Gretsch...

[stratokatsu]

Personally, I like to play the same thing on different guitars sometimes. We all know there's a so called iconic tone to whatever riff, but sometimes hearing it in a different tone gives you ideas and helps make a song your own.

I have Strats, Teles, a Les Paul, a 335, a couple Danelectros and a PRS semihollow SE model. There's nothing I wouldn't try on every single one of them. That's just simple fun.

[62&climbing]

Thanks guys. I mostly play acoustics and I didn't want to break no sacred brotherhood rules by chording on an electric. I'm a nice boy, not a rule breaker. Maybe that's my problem?!