What gives a telecaster "twang"

[dNA]

I mean, in terms of construction it's not that far of a stretch from other fenders. The only major difference I can think of (that would might directly affect sound) might be the bridge and pickup design.
The reason I ask is because I'm considering building a hollow tele instead of a VIP to save money, and i'm not actually looking to go the twangy route (this time around.)

 

[CouchSpud]

You'd save more money getting the guitar you truly want the first time around.

And I'm pretty sure the twang is caused by a build up of happiness located in the control cavity.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

IMO, the twang of the Tele is the playing style that goes along with playing the Tele.  The pickups no doubt contribute to it, but not everyone that plays a Tele could be called twangy.  Bruce Springstein, Tom Petty, Joe Strummer, Jimmy Page, George Harrison-that one time and Prince, to name a few, don't necessarily exude twang from their Teles.  Even Keef's twanginess is debateable.  Vince Gill, Clarence White, Jerry Donahue, they sound twangy on Teles, but they sound twangy on anything.  Mark Knopler can sound twangy on anything.  So the rumor goes, Jimi recorded "Little Wing" with Noel Redding's Tele.  That's probably just a rumor, but could Jimi ever be twangy?   

 

[tfarny]

Twang is a playing style that people like to use teles for. The brightness and strength of the tele bridge pickup helps contribute to the overall effect, but the twang is in your fingers. I'm sure you could get loads of twang out of an SG if you had the right rig and picked it just right. Does Zep strike you as a twangy band? They used teles early on.
If you want a tele, get one, they're great, but if you really want a VIP, I'd say just save your pennies and watch the showcase.

 

[dNA]

... damn people w/ their good reasoning. I confess, I'm deathly impatient. I first got the idea of doing a Warmoth build like a week or two ago and i've been kind of obsessed since. Last night i was having dreams about it. My brain won't shut it off. The thing is that I kinda do want a tele - just not as much as the VIP. But in the end, it's still an experimental build. I've gone through enough guitars to know that I don't really know exactly what i want until i'm playing it.

 

[-CB-]

The tele bridge pickup - aka "the tele pickup" - has a fairly large coil in relation to the magnets used.  It also has a copper plated steel plate under those magnets.  It alters the shape of the magnetic field that the strings must pass through (and change).

Tele's also have through the body stringing, and a large saddle radius.

Tele's have been described as having "quack" - that sharp initial attack on the bridge pickup. 

I think if you found a 52reissue pickup, you'd see that its not all twang, but has a lot of quack and also warmth.  I'd shy away from Fralin on that, as his pickups tend to be bright in comparison to others - unless you go for a +10 or more winding from him.  The +5 winding is a good modern tele sound, but really, the older ones are less bright, and more quacky.  I've been told that you can add a second plate under the pickup... but I dunno if that works or not.

 

[Tonar8352]

I had a major Tele Player/Lover in last week to discussing a new build and getting ready to order a few necks for him.  For the fun of it I had him play 3 different Strats to get his opinion on the pickups.  He kept saying that he wished he could get a Strat bridge pickup to sound like a Tele.

He also had his Tele and we did an A/B of his against mine. I have to agree with tfarny that much of the classic Tele twang is in the hands of the player.  I have never heard my Tele sound so good as when he played it and he sounded much better as a player using the Teles. But I also agree with CB that a Tele’s unique classic tone is the sum of its parts. That includes, swamp ash body, maple neck, string through design, bridge assembly with brass barrels, pickups and their placement, IMO.   And lastly I think the bridge and bridge pickups contribute the most to the twang.

 

[Mor Paul]

Any reason why he doesn't shove a tele bridge pickup in the strat, and wire it so that there's a bridge/neck pup option?

 

[-CB-]

If you take a Fender especiales de Tejas pickup for the bridge, and stick two Fralin "bass plates" to the bottom, yer darn near close to a honkin' quackin' digg'n' chick'n tone.  Real close... almost a sonic cartoon of the tone... a tonal caricature of sorts.

I once had the Maplecaster, hard maple body, maple neck with pau ferro board, and 57/57+ Classic pickups in it with a Strat hardtail.  It was a sonic caricature of a Lester.  You'd whip it out, and play and it had this classic mid scooped, yet thick tone, with brilliant top end.  I should have never sold that guitar.

 

[dNA]

And lastly I think the bridge and bridge pickups contribute the most to the twang.

that's what i had figured. I'm probably gonna do a humbucker in the bridge and not sure what kind of fixed bridge. I wouldn't expect it to sound anything like the classic tele sound.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Any reason why he doesn't shove a tele bridge pickup in the strat, and wire it so that there's a bridge/neck pup option?

Jerry Donahue had a signature Strat (and Tele).  The sig Strat had the metal plate under the bridge pickup that could supposedly mimic a Tele.

 

[DangerousR6]

Tele's have special twang worms, the are most notably found in the ash trees of twangville... :guitarplayer2:

 

[NLD09]

Scale length and the bridge IMO are the two biggest factors regarding the tele sound in general. Tele deluxes have the fender scale length but a stop tailpiece. They sound more like a fat stratocaster than a tele. A mahogany superstrat with two humbuckers still ends up sounding like a stratocaster, just fatter/meaner. Yet, a les paul with two humbuckers sounds like a les paul.

Twang is a combination of the above while picking hard, close to the bridge. My dad naturally plays with his hand on the bridge and can't stand how twangy fenders are, but loves les pauls. I play near the neck and can't stand how muddy most les pauls get, but love stratocasters.

so in conclusion it's a combination of scale, bridge, and twang worms.

 

[dNA]

anyone ever see a tele bridge on a guitar that wasn't very tele-like? or the whole electronics setup but on say a set neck mahogany kind of guitar?
i have found that i get a pretty twangy sound out of my Ibanez Artist (pretty much a LP), but the humbuckers seem to take most of that away. I also tend to pick close to the neck pickup or higher (occasionally i pick above the fretboard for some sounds) and I really don't like the lack of articulation.

 

[JaySwear]

i've heard a few things. first, that the big solid baseplate was the source. second, that the bridge pickups were specially made for the "twang", and of course teles are fairly  solid guitars with few contours and generally heavier than strats, and heavy = bright. i wonder too, though!

 

[dNA]

i've heard a few things. first, that the big solid baseplate was the source. second, that the bridge pickups were specially made for the "twang", and of course teles are fairly  solid guitars with few contours and generally heavier than strats, and heavy = bright. i wonder too, though!

i've always thought that the whole body wouldn't really affect tone much at all in an electric. I mean the body resonates and it's what you hear acoustically, but that's essentially an amplification of the sound source at the strings. I figure the major influence of body wood would come just from the central part that's actually under direct tension.

 

[-CB-]

Tele deluxes have the fender scale length but a stop tailpiece. They sound more like a fat stratocaster than a tele.

Tele Deluxe's have a Strat hardtail bridge, and wide range humbuckers... not really a valid comparison.

I mean the body resonates and it's what you hear acoustically,

Just think of how the neck resonates then... on a solid body that is.

 

[dNA]

I mean the body resonates and it's what you hear acoustically,

Just think of how the neck resonates then... on a solid body that is.

I don't follow

 

[NLD09]

Tele deluxes have the fender scale length but a stop tailpiece. They sound more like a fat stratocaster than a tele.

Tele Deluxe's have a Strat hardtail bridge, and wide range humbuckers... not really a valid comparison.

That's what I'm saying. Though a tele, they don't sound twangy as a result of the strat bridge. Thus the bridge is definately a deciding factor in the tone. Have you ever noticed that a tele with a PAF style humbucker in the neck, w/ a standard tele bridge, sounds fat AND twangy in the neck position?

 

[-CB-]

I mean the body resonates and it's what you hear acoustically,

Just think of how the neck resonates then... on a solid body that is.

I don't follow

I know you don't.  The question was designed as a possible provocation to to encourage your exploration to see what's really resonating, and how it effects tone. 

My postulation is simply - the most resonant part, is the part that resonates most.  On an acoustic guitar - the top.  On a solid body, the neck.  On a thinline, the neck and body.  On a chambered guitar, mostly neck with some body.  Its proportional of course, where the acoustic is all about top, and the solid body is very very much about neck (2nd only to pickups)