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Author Topic: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!  (Read 3583 times)

richardjmorgan

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Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« on: March 23, 2009, 04:13:23 PM »
Ok, a bit of background here:

I play in a chugga chugga hardcore/thrash band, and thus most of what I play is chugga chugga hardcore/thrash, using my Gibson V.

HOWEVER, I also have a 52 reissue Fender Tele, bought for me waaay back in the day as an 18th birthday present when I did not know a great deal about guitars, was mostly playing rock'n'rolly 3-chord pop-punk (think Ramones, Screeching Weasel, The Queers; none of that new-fangled Fall Out Boy nonsense) and somehow was fortunate enough to end up with a guitar that my abilities did not really at all warrant. All I knew at the time is that it felt the nicest, to my relatively untrained fingers, than anything else I tried out.

Now, in the intervening years, my tastes have taken a turn for (or, rather, returned to) the metally, and I feel like I am neglecting the Tele. Now, I don't want to just sell it, as it was a present from a close family member, so I figure that finding new stuff to play on it, more suited to a Tele than the stuff I usually play with my band, is the best way to not only do this underused guitar justice, but also to broaden my musical tastes somewhat.

So this is where I ask you, the wise and knowledgeable denizens of the BKP forum, for advice and suggestions as to things I should check out which will allow me to get more enjoyment out of my woefully underused Telecaster.

And yes, I've read enough on this forum to know that there are certain people who will probably disapprove of this thread no end… ;)

Ratrod

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2009, 04:21:08 PM »
Try some Rolling Stones, ZZ-Top, Led Zeppelin, The Clash, RATM, Status Quo.

A Tele can pretty much do anything. Just back off the distortion a little and use volume.
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Philly Q

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2009, 04:32:18 PM »
Try some Rolling Stones, ZZ-Top, Led Zeppelin, The Clash, RATM, Status Quo.

+1.  And the Georgia Satellites.  And the Black Crowes.

If you play lead, Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton.
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MrBump

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2009, 04:38:38 PM »
I'm new to telecasters too, but they really suit big open chords, with just a little dirt.

Definitely time to dig out some vintage Rolling Stones!
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Fourth Feline

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2009, 05:06:01 PM »
For still percusive / rhythmic but tasteful stuff, remember Wilko Johnson. Still touring in the same style with his own band;   but here shown with Dr.Feelgood back in 1975 :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jmIYyskDM8 ...  :)

Back when the term " R'n'B " really meant  'R'n'B' ...  8)
« Last Edit: March 23, 2009, 05:10:15 PM by Fourth Feline »

AndyR

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2009, 06:31:56 PM »
^ They've pretty much suggested everything I could :D

I'll add the Police and the Pretenders to the list - the sounds they were making in late 70s early 80s did a lot to establish my unconscious desire to master teles 30-odd years later.

With the possible exception of extreme modern metal sounds (and I have my doubts about that exception :lol:) teles can do [texas-drawl]anything you want...[/texas-drawl]

You don't need no pedals nor fancy processing to get the sounds on countless recordings, but if you want to use these, teles seem to be a really good blank canvas for that as well.

I know the look is not to everyone's taste - but if it is to yours, and if you're searching for good ole fashioned "authentic" guitar sounds that you can tame with the guitar controls and your playing technique alone, then listen to some of the recommendations above and start just bashing the thing :lol:

It took me a while, and you feel a bit "exposed" playing like that at first, but hey, once you get the "less is more" thing (and then find you got more if you want it anyway!), it improves your playing on all your other guitars as well.

Is it a Japanese or US 52 reissue? I'm guessing it's at least 10 years old now? Should be a fine guitar either way :D

Oh, and if you haven't found it already look for the tdpri forum on the web - there's millions of tele people out there :lol:

Finally, and this album was really important for my formative years, get hold of Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison - I always wanted to make that noise on the opening track. I'd recommend trying to get that sound out of your tele and amp set-up, and then, when you get close, start figuring out what else you could use that noise for and how to change it without touching the amp again (ie using just the guitar controls and your fingers & playing style).
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shobet

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #6 on: March 23, 2009, 07:41:14 PM »
Tune it to DGDGBG
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gwEm

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #7 on: March 23, 2009, 08:31:14 PM »
not traditional tele-fare but working really well are the who and the pistols
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Ted 'N' Leo

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #8 on: March 23, 2009, 08:37:56 PM »
Irish Tour Era Rory Gallagher!
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tomjackson

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Antag

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2009, 07:44:12 AM »
[roo] burn it & buy a strat instead [/roo] :)
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Johnny Mac

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2009, 08:16:44 AM »
^  :lol:

Have a go at funk!

The Stranglers Hugh Cornwall played a tele, they have some great tunes as do The Clash.
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richardjmorgan

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2009, 02:17:16 PM »
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys! Some stuff in there that hadn't occurred to me and some Tele stuff I'd overlooked, so I'll look forward to investigating all of those.

AndyR – it's a US '52 reissue, bought new in early 1998, but I haven't yet dared try taking the neck off to find out exactly when it was made!

Sollophonic

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2009, 02:55:09 PM »
+1 on the TDPRI. www.tdpri.com

Beware;-

1)They'll demand pics
2) Hours can turn into days......!

So many good and varied Tele players.

Steve Cropper, Rossi/Parfitt, Strummer/Cornwell, Buchanan, Gatton, Keef, Waylon, Coxon, Wilko, Springsteen to name but a few.

Then of course theres those that played Teles as well as other guitars or had a "Tele-period", such as Muddy Waters, Jeff Beck, BB King, Townshend, Harrison, Page, Gallagher.

Plus theres all the indie players.

Oh then theres Frank Black, Susan Tedechi, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Albert King, Alex Kapranos.

And Teles can do Metal as well. There was a NWOBHM band called Vardis, whos frontman thrashed a Tele. And doesnt one of the guys from Def Leppard use Teles too?

Finally my favorite Tele player is sadly no longer with us. Robert Quine, who put one to angular anarchic use with Richard Hell. "Blank Generation" has some gloriously outlandish Tele wrangling on it

Fourth Feline

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Re: Help broaden the musical horizons of me and my Tele!
« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2009, 06:08:54 PM »
And of course let's not forget Dave Gilmour !

Listen to the track " Run Like Hell"  from 'The Wall' - albeit heavily processed, the bite still cuts through.

Also the very inventive and cool Session guitarist for the likes of Tom Waits and Elvis Costello ( as well as his solo stuff )  Marc Ribot.

Check out his Tele tones on this little clip :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MdIT5gJEF4&feature=related

Nice intro - and tastefully fitting solo near the end .

 8)
« Last Edit: March 26, 2009, 06:13:03 PM by Fourth Feline »