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In a couple of weeks I'll be putting together a Telecaster type guitar. Questions about body wood and style. A) Would a Thinline type body be better for a jazz sound than a solid wood body? B) If one goes with a solid wood, which has the fuller tone-ash, alder, mahogany or something else? Thanks!
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12-13-2010 11:25 AM
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I had a Tele built with a chambered alder body which gave a nice mellow tone for jazz imo
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I agree with Bill. Alder or ash. Mahogany might be a little dark, and a LOT heavy!
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If you google there are a few places that talk about the tonal properties of different wood. I think Warmoth used to have an area on their site that discusses general characteristics of woods. But even then comes down to individual piece, how dried it is, gain, density. Then chambering can be done to reduce weight or open up tone. Then the collective parts, and type of finish.
A lot of factors determine the sound of a guitar.
What I have been wanting to try is a tele with mahogany neck with some light resonant body, probably chambered for tone. Then a strat hard tail bridge and one HB PUP. Not that I have put much thought in to it.
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When it comes to the Telecaster and getting a good jazz sound, just listen to Ed Bickert.
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You can always chamber mahogany. And as for it being a little dark, this is a Tele we're talking about! That's not a problem they have.
My dream Tele: chambered mahogany body; ebony on quartersawn mahogany neck.
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Ash or Pine (SERIOUSLY), try (Fender) Squier Classic Vibe Tele with pine body, it has fantastic vibe!
Squier® Guitars by Fender®: The Official Website
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That would be the CV50. My two beefs with that body is that
Originally Posted by YocoYur
(1) it can be heavy (it varies, but it is heavier than the Cv Custom (alder) or CV Thinline (mahogany)).
(2) Pine dents more easily than most other woods, although its thick polyester finish helps there.
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Some discussions about pine body Tele:
Pine - My Les Paul Forums
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Now were talking. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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That would be my special tele also. With a Lollar Charlie Christian in the neck and chambered to within an inch of its life so that it weighs under 5 pounds. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
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Teles under five pounds are neck heavy. The ideal balance of weight and well...balance, is right around 6-6.5 lbs total (that's the weight of the whole guitar, not just the body, so if you were talking just the body, that'd be cose to perfect)
As far as body wood, folks will argue that to death, but the biggest factors in tele tone are your pickups and your touch. I had a thinline that was brighter than any other tele I had, so I don't think semi-hollow tele body has much to do with getting a mellow jazz tone.
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You're right about the balance. In that case, please make mine with a 24.75" scale length and, for balance, one of those Schaller "fingers" tailpieces in nickel plate replacing the traditional strings-through tele bridge since there will only be one pickup. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
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Hmm... If there is not the tradtional Tele bridge pickup, one usually goes for a Start-like hardtail bridge, like this Schaller: Originally Posted by mongrel
If you're going to get an actual tail piece, you'll also have something like a tune-o-matic bridge which -- I think -- means you'll need to play around with having the neck angled back for a decent break angle over the bridge. On stock Teles, the necks are parallel to the body and the bridges aren't nearly as high off the body as they are on archtops or Les Pauls, for example.
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Yes, I've considered this and I think it would work with a bridge-- tunamatic or other fixed type-- but the body would have to be reconfigured with a recessed contour from the bridge back to the end where the tailpiece brackett would be installed. I may end up experimenting on the inexpensive Peavey tele type I have to see what it looks like and how the feel changes. The "tele snap" produced by the scale length and string-through bridge is not important to me. Originally Posted by BigDaddyLoveHandles
Hmm... If there is not the tradtional Tele bridge pickup, one usually goes for a Start-like hardtail bridge, like this Schaller:
If you're going to get an actual tail piece, you'll also have something like a tune-o-matic bridge which -- I think -- means you'll need to play around with having the neck angled back for a decent break angle over the bridge. On stock Teles, the necks are parallel to the body and the bridges aren't nearly as high off the body as they are on archtops or Les Pauls, for example.
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BTW, top-loading Teles seem to have just as much twang.
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Here's a thread with some funky Tele hybrids, for example:
Feasibility of a double-cut hollow body tele project? - Telecaster Guitar Forum
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Looks like small body jazz guitar.
Very interesting project.
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Thank you, folks. This is a really good place to get information.
I'm leaning toward an oil-finished alder body at this point with a Lollar (most likely) or Vintage Vibe Charlie Christian neck pickup. When I was in College I had a Fender Tele that I stripped of its finish and heavy clear undercoat (polyester?). It gave a leaner but clearer tone. I like the clarity of tone the pickups I mentioned seem to have. I like that better than the dark, no-high-end sound of humbuckers . Could be wrong but that's where I'm headed.
Good info. Thanks again.Last edited by robertm2000; 12-21-2010 at 11:52 AM. Reason: to correct grammar
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Post pics when you get there!
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