AprioriMark
Hero Member
- Messages
- 1,710
First of all, thanks to Ken at Roadhouse for helping me bring my trusted Tele back to life.
So, I played one particular Tele (a 60s Fender neck on a Sonic blue Warmoth alder body, locking Sperzels, wbw guard, 6 saddle bridge) for a lot of shows and recording sessions. I've had it refretted twice, if that tells you anything. I've gone through several sets of pickups, and I killed the last bridge pickup with sweat, lol. Ewwwww.
I've had in this guitar:
Fender actual 60s vintage pickups
Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials
Lollar (don't remember the set; I gave them ot a buddy after I didn't care for how "strat-like" they sounded)
Duncan Quarter Pound neck, stacked humbucker bridge (the last set)
I have gigged the guitar 5 times (if you count 2 Christmas Eve services at church haha... Greensleeves, er, What Child is This capo'd at the 7th fret and played fingerpicked with the melody was soooooooo sweeeeet on this guitar), and it has absolutely nailed the sound in my head every single time. I played it through a Vibro Champ, a Twin, a Marshall JCM 800, and a Line 6 spider III 1x12 combo. I also played it through a Super, and a bunch of other amps, but I gigged with those four, and the true test of a sound is how it fits in the sonic landscape of live music, imo.
So, this was the Roadhouse Tele Special set, with the D and G pole pieces raised slightly on the bridge pickup. Ken is great about custom winds and features. Here are my impressions.
The neck pickup:
I have never heard a Tele neck pickup that was so fat and had such great overtones while still keeping the sparkle. It sounds so *natural* that it's unbelievable. To me, it sounds like a Tele looks: simple, clear, to the point; no BS. It's woody and wonderful. Single lines speak clearly and chordal work is defined but full. It always seems to gravitate towards a "sweet" sound while remaining very clear.
The bridge pickup:
Um... just wow. I've always been disappointed with Tele bridge pickups, and this one knocks my socks off. It literally makes me want to dedicate my life to chicken pickin'. I love having the two polepieces raised, and it's amazing how it has a lot of quack without becoming annoying or overly "loud" sounding.
Overall, the pickups sound great from sparkly clean on a solid state to clean on tube amps to dirty on tube amps, and even into some fairly heavy Marshall distortion. This guitar has all the attitude I've ever wanted it to have now. I don't find myself reaching for another guitar because this one isn't holding its own weight in some way. Obviously, it's always a Tele, but now it's a PERFECT Tele.
-Mark
p.s. Some pics, just because.
So, I played one particular Tele (a 60s Fender neck on a Sonic blue Warmoth alder body, locking Sperzels, wbw guard, 6 saddle bridge) for a lot of shows and recording sessions. I've had it refretted twice, if that tells you anything. I've gone through several sets of pickups, and I killed the last bridge pickup with sweat, lol. Ewwwww.
I've had in this guitar:
Fender actual 60s vintage pickups
Fender Custom Shop Texas Specials
Lollar (don't remember the set; I gave them ot a buddy after I didn't care for how "strat-like" they sounded)
Duncan Quarter Pound neck, stacked humbucker bridge (the last set)
I have gigged the guitar 5 times (if you count 2 Christmas Eve services at church haha... Greensleeves, er, What Child is This capo'd at the 7th fret and played fingerpicked with the melody was soooooooo sweeeeet on this guitar), and it has absolutely nailed the sound in my head every single time. I played it through a Vibro Champ, a Twin, a Marshall JCM 800, and a Line 6 spider III 1x12 combo. I also played it through a Super, and a bunch of other amps, but I gigged with those four, and the true test of a sound is how it fits in the sonic landscape of live music, imo.
So, this was the Roadhouse Tele Special set, with the D and G pole pieces raised slightly on the bridge pickup. Ken is great about custom winds and features. Here are my impressions.
The neck pickup:
I have never heard a Tele neck pickup that was so fat and had such great overtones while still keeping the sparkle. It sounds so *natural* that it's unbelievable. To me, it sounds like a Tele looks: simple, clear, to the point; no BS. It's woody and wonderful. Single lines speak clearly and chordal work is defined but full. It always seems to gravitate towards a "sweet" sound while remaining very clear.
The bridge pickup:
Um... just wow. I've always been disappointed with Tele bridge pickups, and this one knocks my socks off. It literally makes me want to dedicate my life to chicken pickin'. I love having the two polepieces raised, and it's amazing how it has a lot of quack without becoming annoying or overly "loud" sounding.
Overall, the pickups sound great from sparkly clean on a solid state to clean on tube amps to dirty on tube amps, and even into some fairly heavy Marshall distortion. This guitar has all the attitude I've ever wanted it to have now. I don't find myself reaching for another guitar because this one isn't holding its own weight in some way. Obviously, it's always a Tele, but now it's a PERFECT Tele.
-Mark
p.s. Some pics, just because.
