Guitarists: what gives the Telecaster it "twang"?

[Sonic dB]

Wolf that is good info... I wonder about my Tele though cause its is a 92, Teledeluxe Plus and it has this Hipshot Tremsetter Tremelo on it instead of the typical Tele bridge...the strings pass through the body and down a long metal plate which is attached to the Tremsetter.

I never was completely happy with this as the Tremesetter gave the guitar a loose feel, so I tightened down the back springs as far as possible and blocked it off allowing only 1/2 step downforce on the tremelo bar only to be used as an effect.... this gave it the necessary feel..

So, without the typical standard Tele bridge setup, and also EMG humbucker and neck pickups in place...the thing still sounds way more Tele than the Strat... even unplugged.

Perhaps the restricter plate is in there somewhere... i donno

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by Sonic dB

Wolf that is good info... I wonder about my Tele though cause its is a 92, Teledeluxe Plus and it has this Hipshot Tremsetter Tremelo

EMG? A trem? On a Tele? You sacreligeous...

I'm familliar with Hipshot stuff, but only somewhat. They make great stuff.
Honestly, I'd lose the Trem and go with am old style stamped steel bridge instead of the modern brass bridges. The old steel bridges are another key ingredient to the classic Tele sound as well. They "clang" and give you a bit of microphonic wildness that brass birdges just don't do. I've been dying to change out the bridge on my Tele, but I'm lazy about it...too busy making pickups to screw with my own guitars.

[Sonic dB]

EMG? A trem? On a Tele? You sacreligeous

I know... it was my first pro-level expensive guitar... it originally had the Tremsetter and the Lace Sensors on it as standard equipment....

and as I got better on guitar I realised that the Lace Sensors were garbage toned, so a friend of mine had EMGs on his Strat and I liked the output it had very much (albeit slightly more sterile than non active pickups) so I put a set of 3 single coil EMGs in there....and then later I took the back 2 single coils out and stuck an EMG humbucker in there.

anyway, gonna keep the tremelo since I use it for effects and cut the tremelo bar in half and bent it down so I can hold it in the palm of my picking hand at the same time as picking...works pretty darned good that way.

The guy who did my refret was a former tech at Fender and he liked the setup so did his cute daughter... anyway I think a Tele is a Tele, just can be in different clothes sometimes....

[rouxroux]

One of my "pickin' buddies" down the street has a Tele that you would SWEAR sounds just like a Strat when he flips his switch....Oh wait, he's using a flat pick AND a thumb pick on his middle finger.....damn it, that's a funky looking guitar....Oh, sorry JB.


p.s. HE says it's the pick up plate. (but what does HE know anyway)?