I’m so glad I’m going to Thomann for two days…
I think, the plan of attack is just to try all the different Tele’s models (single coil, Humbucker) inexpensive to expensive and just see which one resonates and sound great to me…
@AJSki2fly (Adrian) Will look at PRS Doghair (lovely looking) - Only issue I have PRS is the neck radius’s are quite thick, I had a PRS McCarthy 594, absolutely lovely guitar, except the the neck radius was too thick for me.
G&L unfortunately, cannot try before buy…online only which is a shame…
@Prof_Thunder (Ian) did also make a good point, the cut out belly which brings the weight down and is most comfortable
Anyway…It’s going to be fun and I will let everyone know the outcome…the tension and suspense
Good point - I’d forgotten about this. My G&L has a belly cut and I found it way more comfortable than the Squier Classic Vibe it replaced. It was also a few tonnes lighter!
The Telecaster has a famous and distinct single coil bridge pickup. Since that’s a big part of the Tele’s identity, I’d lean towards that. The neck pickup is arguably less part of the classic Tele identity, so going with a different pickup in that position opens up more options. In fact, I’d say a classic Tele single coil in the bridge combined with a humbucker in the neck position is a nice combination.
PRS do different neck profiles. The NF53 profile is unique to this guitar
“ The neck on the NF53 is unlike any other neck made by PRS until now. This is because of two main characteristics.
On one hand, the scale length of this guitar departs from PRS’s quintessential 25” scale and goes into Fender territory with a 25 ½” scale. This makes the guitar feel and sound more Fender-esque. The higher tension makes it more percussive.
On the other hand, the neck profile comes from a mixture of PRS neck profiles: the pattern vintage and the pattern regular. So, this new profile called “pattern 53” is unique to this model.
As a result, the neck feels very comfortable, perhaps a little on the thin side; especially at the nut. That said, the feeling you get is that you can play this guitar all day long tirelessly. Furthermore, since the radius is set at 10”, you can play chords, arpeggios, fast scales, and bend your G string to the stratosphere easily as well.”
To add to Adrian’s info, I tried out a few PRS guitars before buying mine. The McCarty ones had thick necks. Ted McCarty was ex Gibson. The PRS guitars bearing his name have a strong Gibson influence, including the necks. I didn’t like them because of the necks. The neck on my PRS is thin (PRS call it “Wide thin”).
My advice… try before you buy. It took me a number of tries before I found a pickup (well, a set of pickups) that suited the sound I was looking for. Definitely not something I would trust to mail order.
A last moment thought there are two guitars IMO you really should try out if you are going to try some more expensive ones.
Ibanez LB1-VL Lari Basilio
I have not played one but if you listen to hear perform and the reviews it has great versatility and is a very good guitar. I owned an Ibanez SM-100 over 20 years ago, I should have kept it, Ibanez guitars are generally very high quality and very good value for money, often overlooked.
Deusenberg Paloma Custom Black
I have played one of these, and if was not for the fact there was a lovely used PRS Studio 10 for slightly more I would have purchased it. It is a fantastic guitar, a lovely neck not thick and a comfortable width, the build quality is superb, tonally it’s highly versatile due to its multiple pickup settings and tone tap. You can go from rock to country twang, quite an achievement. Maybe a little removed from a Tele style body but well worth considering.
I will be very interested to see what you end up buying.
The control knobs look like a similar arrangement to the custom control plate I did on my G&L. Volume first, but set back, out of the way. Then pickup selector (I used an LP switch), then tone.
Interesting that they came up with the same arrangement as me. Should I send them a cease-and-desist letter?
I recently got a used Fender Tele American Special, quite affordable and love everthing about it. It comes with the Texas Special pickups, very twangy (if the pre owner didn’t swap them out)…
My Thoughts’: The pickups’ and the setup are 90% of the guitars sound and playability. Everything else is secondary. I build my own guitars and wind my own pickups now and that forced to do my own setups. My favorite blues/jazz guitar is my Les Paul look alike with humbuckers. I also have two T-style and one S-style guitars, all with single coils. Just keep this in mind, a expensive guitar with a bad setup will not make you happy.
@AJSki2fly
There is a luthier from England called Paul, he’s very good, funny and worth a watch. He said, a guitar is just a piece of wood and it’s the setup that counts the more than anything. If you get that right, you can make most guitars sound good, just like what you were saying. https://www.youtube.com/@Milehousestudios
The JT is a no brainer for me, I play my Jet tele at least 90% of the time despite having 6 other guitars that cost a great deal more, The necks are fantastic.
I have one of these and it is an excellent guitar, and well within budget. Though you will not I think, find it in Thomann. Gear4music do carry them.
Enjoy the guitar shop experience, I too wish to visit at some point.
Les (@LadyOfTheCastle) is right 900€ is my max, to me 900€ is expensive for a guitar
I appreciate the hep with those, but they are way out my price range
