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tjon901 « Mellow sounding Telecaster »
Published on 06/30/11 at 10:52Jim Adkins got together with Fender guitars to make his ideal Telecaster. This Telecaster features an unusual but great comination of features that help make this guitar sound very unique for a Telecaster. The guitar is based on the classic Thinline Telecaster design. The Thinline Telecaster was introduced in the late 60s to help lower the weight of the guitar when Fenders supply of lightweight wood ran low. They gave the guitar a hollow compartment on the upper part of the body and gave it an F-hole for resonance. The Telecaster is a thinline semi-hollow body with a two piece swamp ash body. The neck is a maple set in neck with a rosewood fretboard. There are 22 medium jumbo frets on the rosewood fretboard. There is a Gibson style tune-o-matic and stop tail bridge on the guitar. There are dual Seymour Duncan p-90 pickups in the guitar and a 3 way Gibson style pickup selector. Each pickup has its own volume and tone control.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays better than most Telecasters because of the neck construction. The set in neck means there is less of a heel to get in your way when playing the upper frets of the guitar. The fretboard is a little flatter than what you would normally find on a Telecaster and is closer to that of a Les Paul. I find the Gibson style bridge setup more comfortable than a normal Telecaster ashtray bridge setup but this is subjective.
SOUNDS
This guitar does not really sound like a Telecaster to me which is good for me since I am not a big fan of the Telecaster sound. The semi-hollow thinline body matched with the swamp ash and p-90 pickups combine to provide a very mellow sound. The lack of a big ashtray bridge also helps tame the twang a little bit too. The Gibson style neck construction helps it get the mellow Gibson tones too. I wonder why Jim Adkins doesnt just play a Les Paul he has pretty much turned his Telecaster into one. With the p-90 pickups this guitar is great for mellow stuff. You can get really jazz sound with some tone knob tweaking. The guitar is also great for blues. In the bridge position some of the tele twang comes out but it compliments the smooth sounds nicely. You can really feel the resonance of the thinline body whatever you play.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is really nice but some Tele enthusiasts might be surprised when they plug it in. This guitar is like a Les Paul in a Tele costume. This is also a proper signature guitar. There are no silly logos anywhere. It is just a guitar with a little different setup than you could get a on a normal Telecaster. This is how signature guitars should be. If you are a Tele player and are looking for a mellower sound or you like mellow sounds and want a Tele this guitar is on of the few that can do it.
UTILIZATION
This guitar plays better than most Telecasters because of the neck construction. The set in neck means there is less of a heel to get in your way when playing the upper frets of the guitar. The fretboard is a little flatter than what you would normally find on a Telecaster and is closer to that of a Les Paul. I find the Gibson style bridge setup more comfortable than a normal Telecaster ashtray bridge setup but this is subjective.
SOUNDS
This guitar does not really sound like a Telecaster to me which is good for me since I am not a big fan of the Telecaster sound. The semi-hollow thinline body matched with the swamp ash and p-90 pickups combine to provide a very mellow sound. The lack of a big ashtray bridge also helps tame the twang a little bit too. The Gibson style neck construction helps it get the mellow Gibson tones too. I wonder why Jim Adkins doesnt just play a Les Paul he has pretty much turned his Telecaster into one. With the p-90 pickups this guitar is great for mellow stuff. You can get really jazz sound with some tone knob tweaking. The guitar is also great for blues. In the bridge position some of the tele twang comes out but it compliments the smooth sounds nicely. You can really feel the resonance of the thinline body whatever you play.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is really nice but some Tele enthusiasts might be surprised when they plug it in. This guitar is like a Les Paul in a Tele costume. This is also a proper signature guitar. There are no silly logos anywhere. It is just a guitar with a little different setup than you could get a on a normal Telecaster. This is how signature guitars should be. If you are a Tele player and are looking for a mellower sound or you like mellow sounds and want a Tele this guitar is on of the few that can do it.