Teles and Single Coils

harm.on.x · July 30, 2012, 08:12:33 AM

Hi,
New member and first post.
I've switched from a humbucker guitar to a Tele in the last two years. It has become my main guitar for a great number of reasons. I have been using it with success in a number of different scenarios. I also had a strat for years but I find that the Tele sounds a bit meatier, especially the neck pickup. Nice bass response, no mud, clear chords with or without fuzz.
I would like to ask people here who also use a tele or a similar single coil pickups equipped guitar if they ever feel there is a compromise in their tone for stoner stuff. I'm not talking about teles modded with humbuckers and p90's. I'm talking about the standard U.S tele with single coils in both neck and bridge positions, the non-vintage bridge plate (some tele purists hate it but I think it works better for fuzzier sounds than the traditional one).
I've seen a post of SunnO))) showing his tele with EMG's. Unfortunately I have no first hand experience with those pickups so I don't know how they compare to the U.S std single coils in terms of tone and feel.
My set up is pretty straight forward: Tele (80% of the time on the neck pickup position), fuzz, wah, tremolo, delay, clean-ish amp.

Edit: I forgot to say...thanks in advance for any answers.

The Shocker · July 30, 2012, 11:02:36 AM

Jason Simon uses single coil teles in Dead Meadow. Sounds great to me.

edit: Welcome to the board!

VOLVO))) · July 30, 2012, 11:51:21 AM

Gimme a hot minute, and Ill post some more tele with stoner riffz.

The EMG's are more of a dynamic change than tonal. Not as much uncompressed jangle. I wanted that, so I use stainless steel strings and run my amp bright.

Welcome, glad to have ya. If you have any questions about anything, let someone know. We're all cool cats, especially RAGER, he uses all the strings on his guitar...

justinhedrick · July 30, 2012, 01:41:31 PM

chris spencer from unsane uses single coils on his tele.

That's good enough for me!

RacerX · July 30, 2012, 02:41:42 PM

QuoteI'm not talking about teles modded with humbuckers and p90's.

P90s are single coils. Plus, plenty of Teles come with stock w/ 'buckers and/or P90-type single coils these days, so you don't have to mod 'em to get there.

clockwork green · July 30, 2012, 03:55:21 PM

Quote from: RacerX on July 30, 2012, 02:41:42 PM
QuoteI'm not talking about teles modded with humbuckers and p90's.

P90s are single coils. Plus, plenty of Teles come with stock w/ 'buckers and/or P90-type single coils these days, so you don't have to mod 'em to get there.

Yeah but it's just not the same. A super Strat with a humbucker and a Flyod Rose is still a Strat but it's just different. They're all in the family but they're just no true to the original. This is from someone that wants a semi-hollow Cabronita (Filtertron pickups) Tele.

harm.on.x · July 30, 2012, 08:04:37 PM

Quote from: The Shocker on July 30, 2012, 11:02:36 AM
Jason Simon uses single coil teles in Dead Meadow. Sounds great to me.
edit: Welcome to the board!

Thanks! Glad to be here!
I've seen his guitar. I thought it was some kind of active pickups. I miht be wrong. Are his pu's just those noiseless ones?

Quote from: SunnO))) on July 30, 2012, 11:51:21 AM
The EMG's are more of a dynamic change than tonal. Not as much uncompressed jangle.

Good to know that. So, it's not a radical change in tone. It's more like a bit more compression with low impedance to accommodate long cable runs and of course no hum.

Quote from: SunnO))) on July 30, 2012, 11:51:21 AM
Welcome, glad to have ya. If you have any questions about anything, let someone know. We're all cool cats, especially RAGER, he uses all the strings on his guitar...

I figured you are cool cats within the first few seconds of browsing the forum. And you confirmed it with your replies to my first post!

Quote from: justinhedrick on July 30, 2012, 01:41:31 PM
chris spencer from unsane uses single coils on his tele.

I'm aware of him and his music. I like his sound a lot! Glad you mentioned him

Quote from: RacerX on July 30, 2012, 02:41:42 PM
P90s are single coils. Plus, plenty of Teles come with stock w/ 'buckers and/or P90-type single coils these days, so you don't have to mod 'em to get there.

Yeah, I know what p90's are. I owned my fare share of guitars and I've played way more than I can remember. I'm not a novice player/musician. But what we all consider as the standard tele is the one with the single coil pair. My guitar is a 90's std U.S tele.

The Shocker · July 30, 2012, 08:23:48 PM

This is what I found on Dead Meadow:
But what's the point of talking to such a fuzz-laden, distortion-hogging, wah-crazy band like Dead Meadow and not discussing their gear... Let's get down to business! Frontman Jason Simon has always been a Fender Telecaster kinda guy. He's owned his main guitar since he was 14 years old. "You just get used to it and it becomes your instrument," Jason admits. "I never really thought to play anything else. I've always liked the Orange and the Fender (amps); I have both. Either without the other wouldn't be as cool. The Orange is so dark. It has this dark, cool mid-range and has the power but the Fender's highs and lows and the spring reverb ... I am such a fan of good spring reverb. The combination works well and being a three-piece, having more than one amp is super cool because it widens the spectrum." With regard to his pedalboard for this tour, "I have had the same pedals for a long time. I have a Rat, Big Muff, Vox Wah, Rotovibe. Then there's a company called Catalinbread who made some cool pedals for me, the Dead Merkin and Fuzzy Meadow with a blend knob, you can dial things in."

Found a link with some pics:
http://www.musicbox-online.com/photo-journals/deadmeadow-january-16-2008/

Single in neck, hum in bridge?

Metal and Beer · July 31, 2012, 03:28:52 AM

The fellas in Mouth of the Architect used Telecasters to swell effect, but I dunno if their guitars were stock, what P/U's, etc.

harm.on.x · July 31, 2012, 05:17:02 AM

Quote from: The Shocker on July 30, 2012, 08:23:48 PM
This is what I found on Dead Meadow:...........Single in neck, hum in bridge?

Thanks for this. Yes it seems to be one of those Noiseless single/humbucker combo teles. I forget the model name right now. Cool guitar!
I also saw some footage of the Sleepy Sun. One guy was playing a tele and the other a strat. Both with single coils.
Thanks for the replies guys. You are a club of fine gentlemen!

The tele story goes like this. I played a strat for years. Nice instrument but not my instrument. Then I went through a number of humbucker equipped guitars. From cheap but nice sounding to a really great PRS I got at a great price second hand. I even owned a tele with humbuckers at some point. So, one day while rehearsing at somebody's studio I see a tele hanging on the wall. In a state that would take an hour of typing to describe! I ask the guy, "what's that mate?", he says "Oh, it's a piece of junk tele. I hate this thing"
I take it off the wall, play it for a bit, loved the sound but it needed some SERIOUS work. In the mean time he's all over my vintage Big Muff. I left the studio without the muff, my dynacomp copy compressor, and a cheap D.I box.
Took the tele apart, scraped the layers of dirt away, replaced the rusty strings with new ones, did some fret and set up work and boom! My number one guitar since then. I actually ended up selling almost everything else.
It's something about the attack that I like in the tele. The PRS had a killer sound. One of the best I've ever heard but the attack is different. It's not as fast as with the tele. I think this is what I like the most about it.
And of course the ergonomics and the whole design. I can take it on the above head compartment in airplanes, I can lay it flat without worrying about the headstock snapping, six in a row tuning pegs...the list goes on and on.