Fender Telecaster question

[muscmp]

i've never had a problem with the jack on any teles i've had, but i am very careful with all of my guitars.

try all the teles you can find and play them thru one amp so you can tell the difference.

the blues jr. amp uses el84 tubes that fender used in only one or two amps so it is not considered the fender sound. that would be with the amps using 6v6 and 6l6 tubes.

play music!

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by muscmp

i've never had a problem with the jack on any teles i've had, but i am very careful with all of my guitars.

try all the teles you can find and play them thru one amp so you can tell the difference.

the blues jr. amp uses el84 tubes that fender used in only one or two amps so it is not considered the fender sound. that would be with the amps using 6v6 and 6l6 tubes.

play music!

Right. There’s a guy who posted on the favourite electric thread who bonded with a Blues Jr Tweed with Jensen speaker & Baja Tele who said he had spent a lot more in the past but found his niche combo/ I can relate. Fenders pre-Blackface were voiced differently. There is something to be said in favour of a big fat midrange vs scooped.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

There's an argument that the "Leo got it right the first time" statement about the Telecaster overlooks the traditional jack cup. For those not in the know, here's the scoop:

The jack itself, the thing your chord plugs into and make the electrical contracts, is the same design and (long) lifetime as any other guitar jack. But the metal cup that surrounds it has a friction/prong fitting that is supposed to hold it into the body. That sometimes comes loose, and it's not super easy to fix a loose one. Of course it doesn't always come loose. I've got 20 to 40 year old Telecasters with the original design jack cup without a problem. I've probably had a dozen Teles over the years, and one where I had the issue--YMMV.

Yes the Electrosocket eliminates that particular issue. So does a "Les Paul style" jack plate fitted onto a Tele. Of course conventional mounting (where a nut screwed on the jack barrel itself, screws down onto the pickguard or a jack plate) can come loose too. And it's not super easy to fix a loose nut there either, although there are tools that make tightening one much easier.

Nice discussion Frank, thanks. Interesting examination of the Achilles heel of a now classic design.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by DukeX

The reissues are very popular for good reason. Great quality/price ratio.

Another option is to go boutique hand wired from a respected builder like Jim at Lil Dawg or Rick at Vintage Sound Amps. There are a lot of other great builders as well. I'm only mentioning these two because I have a Tweed Deluxe from Jim and a Princeton Reverb from Rick.

Jim will build anything from just a bare head chassis model, to a head lunchbox, to a combo with a Mather cab. For example, Jim will build a hand wired bare chassis 5e3 Tweed Deluxe (complete with tubes) ready to plug into a cab for about $580 US. He will custom build to your tastes and needs--and his reputation is stellar, both as a builder and person.

Rick builds a completely finished head cab or combo with lots of covering options--very cool (I went with the standard Fender Blackface look). He also has a stellar reputation.

No matter what direction you go, take your time and enjoy the hunt!

Great stuff. I had a friend online who went 5e3 build but I think finding a space/ soundproof studio to really put it through its paces was a challenge. I’ll keep in mind your advice to take time/ savour the possibilities.

[beninma]

You're talking about both amps and guitars in this thread...

The choice of guitar and amp should be considered together.

If you get a low headroom amp that breaks up early you might not be happy with a Telecaster that has hot pickups. The Ceramic ones that come on Mexican Teles are quite hot compared to many traditional Telecaster pickups. The problem will be not being able to get a really clean tone. This is pretty hard to fix AFAICT. (I got in this situation when I bought my Tele.)

If you get an amp that stays really clean you won't have as much of an issue with ceramic pickups.

Likewise if you got an amp with tons of headroom and paired it to a set of really low output vintage style pickups you might be disappointed if you're looking for breakup. That can be solved with a drive/distortion pedal but might be hard if you're trying to keep volume reasonable.

I haven't had any trouble with the pressed in part of the jack on my Telecaster but I did replace the electrical contact/spring portion of the jack with a switchcraft replacement.. the feel/firmness of pushing the cable in is much better. It's a lot more solid. I was able to use the original cup.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by beninma

You're talking about both amps and guitars in this thread...

The choice of guitar and amp should be considered together.

If you get a low headroom amp that breaks up early you might not be happy with a Telecaster that has hot pickups. The Ceramic ones that come on Mexican Teles are quite hot compared to many traditional Telecaster pickups. The problem will be not being able to get a really clean tone. This is pretty hard to fix AFAICT. (I got in this situation when I bought my Tele.)

If you get an amp that stays really clean you won't have as much of an issue with ceramic pickups.

Likewise if you got an amp with tons of headroom and paired it to a set of really low output vintage style pickups you might be disappointed if you're looking for breakup. That can be solved with a drive/distortion pedal but might be hard if you're trying to keep volume reasonable.

I haven't had any trouble with the pressed in part of the jack on my Telecaster but I did replace the electrical contact/spring portion of the jack with a switchcraft replacement.. the feel/firmness of pushing the cable in is much better. It's a lot more solid. I was able to use the original cup.

Lots of info, thanks. Yes, reasonable volume levels is most important, outside of being a pro musician in a live situation I think a Telecaster with a good amp at home can provide superb touch sensitivity and tone. I know the vintage inspired (and clean) tonerider-made pickups I worked with blew a couple of jumbo rosewood b&s instruments so far out of the water for touch sensitivity and power it wasn’t even funny. I love Fender Clean (dry w/ little or no reverb).

[posternutbag]

Originally Posted by Jaden

Right. There’s a guy who posted on the favourite electric thread who bonded with a Blues Jr Tweed with Jensen speaker & Baja Tele who said he had spent a lot more in the past but found his niche combo/ I can relate. Fenders pre-Blackface were voiced differently. There is something to be said in favour of a big fat midrange vs scooped.

That was my post. My first guitar was a 1996 Fender American; since then, I have owned two Fender American Deluxe Telecasters, a Fender Am. std. Strat, and two Fender Am. Elite Teles, along with two Reissue Fender Deluxe Reverbs and a Fender Reissue Princeton. I absolutely love the Baja Telecaster. I don't want to say it is unequivocally "better" than the other guitars I have had, but rather, when combined with the Blues Junior with the Jensen speaker it gets the blues tone that I want, which is specifically the tone from the guitar solo on Walkin' Blues by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band on East West.

[jomaynor]

FYI, the new MIM Player Telecaster (the replacement for the MIM Standard) has alnico 5 pickups, not the ceramics that were on the Standard.

I've had a Standard Tele for several years now, and one of the first things I did after I bought it was to replace the somewhat harsh and noisy pickups with some good aftermarket pickups - Bill Lawrence Wilde Keystones. I don't know if they are still being made since he died a few years ago, but they were an incredible improvement in the tone of the guitar for under $100.

The jack is a non-issue, unless it becomes one, and then it's an inexpensive fix.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by posternutbag

That was my post. My first guitar was a 1996 Fender American; since then, I have owned two Fender American Deluxe Telecasters, a Fender Am. std. Strat, and two Fender Am. Elite Teles, along with two Reissue Fender Deluxe Reverbs and a Fender Reissue Princeton. I absolutely love the Baja Telecaster. I don't want to say it is unequivocally "better" than the other guitars I have had, but rather, when combined with the Blues Junior with the Jensen speaker it gets the blues tone that I want, which is specifically the tone from the guitar solo on Walkin' Blues by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band on East West.

Nice. I have yet to try a Baja up here in my neck of the woods. There doesn’t seem to be any listings at Long & McQuade. I’ve been intrigued also with the special runs of Princeton RI with 12” speaker, if it has the punch of a BJr due to large speaker in small cabinet. I know there was a couple of guys on TDPRI who were so caught up with their PTP Twins there was no talking any sense to them. I don’t need big iron at home.

[MIGAS79]

I adore my Baja Tele. The pickups (Broadcaster bridge and Twisted Tele neck) are famtastic. The 4th position gives you a more humbucker-ish tone that is killer. I play through a Bassbreaker 15 and it is a great combo. The Tele was around $500 used in excellent condition and is a ton of guitar for the money. I also love the butterscotch blond with maple board look.

Ok now I need to go play!

Oh and I did have to tighten my output jack but the guitar is several years old. Otherwise all is great.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by muscmp

i've never had a problem with the jack on any teles i've had, but i am very careful with all of my guitars.

try all the teles you can find and play them thru one amp so you can tell the difference.

the blues jr. amp uses el84 tubes that fender used in only one or two amps so it is not considered the fender sound. that would be with the amps using 6v6 and 6l6 tubes.

play music!

I know the Pro Junior (I think now in its 4th incarnation) also uses 2 el84’s and that’s a quintessential early Fender throwback, super touch sensitive but can start out unstable/ may need tweaking, at least from reports of the earlier III model line.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by Mich Novice

I adore my Baja Tele. The pickups (Broadcaster bridge and Twisted Tele neck) are famtastic. The 4th position gives you a more humbucker-ish tone that is killer. I play through a Bassbreaker 15 and it is a great combo. The Tele was around $500 used in excellent condition and is a ton of guitar for the money. I also love the butterscotch blond with maple board look.

Ok now I need to go play!

Oh and I did have to tighten my output jack but the guitar is several years old. Otherwise all is great.

Very nice. These days it doesn’t need to cost a lot to find a good match of guitar and amp. It seems if something clicks for someone with equipment, a person can develop as a musician by exploring the nuances available with said tools, and avoid rabbit holes of more purchases.

[davidd]

I've been through a bunch of Tele's over the years and you don't need to pay much to get a good one. They were designed to be relatively inexpensive straight ahead guitars for working musicians. The CV's are fantastic values IMO. The only negative if there is one is that the necks are somewhat slim compared to some of the Fender offerings. I agree that the Classic series are great bang for the buck with very nice neck profiles and vintage appointments. Whether it is made in the USA, Mexico, Japan or China makes no difference for me. A tele is a tele is a tele. I own 3 right now and non of them cost more than $350 used. I've owned Esquires, MIM Classics, USA Std and Squier CV's. My favorite is a beat up old MIM that I have maybe $250 max into with tuners, pickups and bridge swapped out. It's as good as any I've played or owned. Yes, I'd love a Nocaster, but I doubt it would sound any better than my $250 old dog. My buddy just bought a Squier CV Custom used for $150, put some Fender CS pickups and a new wiring harness and it sounds like a million bucks, although the stock pickups (Tonerider) are fabulous any way. He's got $300 into it.

P.S a nice Fender amp is the key to getting the most out of a Tele. A Fender guitar into a Fender is amp is it for me. Get yourself a PR or DR and a decent Tele and that's all you'll ever need.

[Otterhound]

You do not need to spend $2,000.00 , but it sure is convenient to have the option . Try every possible guitar that you can and then decide . Just imagine what you can do with modding a less expensive platform by using some of the left over funds . Happy hunting .

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by Otterhound

You do not need to spend $2,000.00 , but it sure is convenient to have the option . Try every possible guitar that you can and then decide . Just imagine what you can do with modding a less expensive platform by using some of the left over funds . Happy hunting .

I read of one guy with decades of experience who can pick up a Tele without plugging in who can tell the good ones from the dogs, only considering body & neck resonance. He joked that he should hire himself out for that skill. What do you folks look for? Is it a subtle thing?