Any other LP guys who can't get on with Teles? + swap deal

[Badmotorfinger]

So obviously being on here LPs are my main guitars, basically are bread and butter and they are what I feel most comfortable on. SGs being somewhat similar are a close second. From there I also quite like Strats and can make them work for me. But Teles? I've owned three now and I just can't make them work tonally. They always sound honky or too bright or too 'metallic' for lack of a better word. I can get some decent keef kind of tones out with a tweed but that's not really my style of guitar playing. Whereas I can pretty much get what I want out of a LP since I've been playing them for so long.

I feel like I could spent a lot more time trying to make them work but that would be me forcing it than just playing what comes naturally to me. Truthfully I only really ever reach for my Tele because it's there, not really because I want to play it, if that makes sense. Does anyone else feel like this? I can't be the only one!

I've got an American Original 60s Tele in sunburst that I have an offer to swap for a LP traditional 2016 (both guitars mint) + bit of cash my way, which seems like a pretty good deal, right? I will probably flip the trad and possibly my standard LP to get a custom shop.

 

[Deftone]

I'd probably do it. I think if you're going to flip it the LP will be easier to sell. Depends on how much cash.

 

[pondcaster]

 

[Badmotorfinger]

I'd probably do it. I think if you're going to flip it the LP will be easier to sell. Depends on how much cash.

100-200

I mean I might even end up keeping it. Who knows. But as it stands this is the 3rd Tele I've had that's mostly been sitting around while I play my Gibson/Heritage guitars

 

[rogue3]

So obviously being on here LPs are my main guitars, basically are bread and butter and they are what I feel most comfortable on. SGs being somewhat similar are a close second. From there I also quite like Strats and can make them work for me. But Teles? I've owned three now and I just can't make them work tonally. They always sound honky or too bright or too 'metallic' for lack of a better word. I can get some decent keef kind of tones out with a tweed but that's not really my style of guitar playing. Whereas I can pretty much get what I want out of a LP since I've been playing them for so long.

I feel like I could spent a lot more time trying to make them work but that would be me forcing it than just playing what comes naturally to me. Truthfully I only really ever reach for my Tele because it's there, not really because I want to play it, if that makes sense. Does anyone else feel like this? I can't be the only one!

I've got an American Original 60s Tele in sunburst that I have an offer to swap for a LP traditional 2016 (both guitars mint) + bit of cash my way, which seems like a pretty good deal, right? I will probably flip the trad and possibly my standard LP to get a custom shop.

A lot of different Tele's out there. If the op is referring to classic 50's style tele pups, then i get it.

My tele's pickups are hotter, and i having more power in the than the classic 50's pickups. Then it's just a matter of adjusting the gain on the amp, to bring more frequencies into play( a boost can help here, where a lester might need none...and the type of amp....alternatively, turn that amp up!

I have Les Paul's too. But years ago i moved to paf's. The sound is weaker and brighter. Closer to tele-land. different strokes. The raw power of a cranked Les Paul is unique, but i can get that too from my tele's, though the voicing is different in the higher frequencies.

This guy knows how. it's all in the fingers(and the amp, lol!):

 

[Badmotorfinger]

A lot of different Tele's out there. If the op is referring to classic 50's style tele pups, then i get it.

My tele's i have more power in the pups. Then it's just a matter of adjusting the gain on the amp, to bring more frequencies into play( a boost can help here, where a lester might need none) the amp. A tele cannot reproduce the power alone, unless you have a humbucker on your tele (and/or a boost)....alternatively, turn that amp up!

I have Les Paul's too. But years ago i moved to paf's. The sound is weaker and brighter. Closer to tele-land. different strokes. The raw power of a cranked Les Paul is unique, but i can get that too from my tele's, though the voicing is different in the higher frequencies.

This guy knows how. it's all in the fingers(and the amp, lol!):

Sounds like a Les Paul

 

[rogue3]

Sounds like a Les Paul

Its does indeed! But then Mr Moore could probably turn any guitar into a Les Paul type sound, he knows his way around amps and their settings! And those fingers!

 

[dc007]

I love Telecasters. You gotta work a little harder.

 

[cybermgk]

It's not that I JUST like LPs.. Sure I have 4, and another single cut. But, I have a Revstar, an SG, another lp scale double cut and 5 variations on a Strat .

I have tried 4 or 5 Telecasters, and none have ever gel'ed with me. Vintage, hot, belly cut, never worked for me.

So yea, I do that trade.

 

[guycalleddave]

I can't do stock teles. I did however put tele sized p90s into one, and i finally have a tele I can play. something to think about, i think it was 150 for the set on reverb, so not bad.

 

[chocopopz]

I am moving out of LP to Telecasters. They weight so much less on the shoulder !
Telecasters are all different. I own 3. Pickups make a huge difference: I love Vintage 58 and Texas Special for blues, rock and country. Nocasters are cool too. They all must be well adjusted with regards to the strings. Lastly, Telecasters, like all guitars, are not made to be always played at Volume 10 and EQ 10.

 

[Badmotorfinger]

I am moving out of LP to Telecasters. They weight so much less on the shoulder !
Telecasters are all different. I own 3. Pickups make a huge difference: I love Vintage 58 and Texas Special for blues, rock and country. Nocasters are cool too. They all must be well adjusted in regards to the strings. Lastly, Telecasters, like all guitars, are not made to be always played at Volume 10 and EQ 10.

I notice with strats you can roll the bridge tone to 4-5 and get a pretty thick rhythm sound that isn't totally off a humbucker or p90. So far in my experience, teles no matter what just sound completely different and always that have huge honk to them.

 

[ARandall]

^practically everybody else would reverse the content of this post. Tele bridge pickups typically have way more beef. Strats are almost universally clangy.

 

[dc007]

If I went the fender route it would be a Strat. Lots more tones you can't get from a Lester

 

[Badmotorfinger]

^practically everybody else would reverse the content of this post. Tele bridge pickups typically have way more beef. Strats are almost universally clangy.

I totally disagree, depending on the strat but my 62 hot rod strat sounds more chunky on the bridge with the tone down than the tele. But the key is putting the the tone down to 4-5, it makes a massive difference. Sounds like a different guitar

 

[Brian Krashpad]

I like Teles. It's Strats I don't really get on with. But even so, I keep hold of a Strat in the stable, because there are things that they are better at, that LPs and Teles can't do.

 

[geezbill]

the pickup switch on a tele is one of the hardest to use especially for a quick switch during a song. LP has better switch placement

 

[kisschicken]

You need a tele in your arsenal. Nothing sounds like a tele bridge pickup.

 

[tele_player]

I love Les Pauls, I love Telecasters. I don’t love Stratocasters.

Try some Custom Shop Nocasters. Learn how to beat it into submission.

 

[mbm1972]

I'd been wanting a tele for a long time - was just me and my LP most of my adult life. I finally got one a few months ago, though not a typical variety, and I f'ing love it! But I wanted one because it is completely different from my LP - and that was the whole point for me. They both feel and sound completely different, but in a really good way. And as is the case with many guitars, I notice that I play differently, stylistically speaking, but also genre-wise, when I switch between the two. I like that aspect as well, because I feel like it expands my horizons, including technique-wise.

But all that being said, this is all completely subjective and personal. Playing an instrument is such an intimate thing - it just comes down to the player and the instrument - so if you're not feeling it, nothing wrong with that! Gotta go with what feels right to you and hang the rest of it!