Stratocaster vs. Telecaster

Nope, it’s all solid state. No idea how it’s done. It does have an actual spring reverb tank which is pretty tiny.

My Pathfinder 10 has been holding it down for me for about a decade. The clean channel has kinda died in the past year or so. Can't seem to get much volume out of it unless I've got the overdrive engaged, which is a little disappointing.

I have a little Fender Champion with an upgraded tube and speaker, pretty good for a little low-watt amp. super simple though, just one switch and volume which may be a dealbreaker for some

The one I got recently is the Princeton Reverb 68 Custom "reissue" (it's not really a reissue because it's modded, but it's a silverface style princeton). I like it a lot, but so far more for a "dirty clean" sound -- I haven't found the best way to overdrive it yet. Part of that is because I need to keep the volume down most of the time.

I have a Plumes and a Maxon Tube OD, just need to spend more time messing with the settings.

Pathfinder 15R is great, they made a mini “stack” version that’s hard as hell to find but I want one.

Sade from LA Witch had an Instagram video playing Vox’s Mini Superbeetle (nutube + solid state) and it sounded pretty good.

Dirt is so personal and subjective.

Clean is universal and forever, though.

Lots of the time I feel like I can do anything I want by using a clean amp, but getting the dirty and weird sounds from pedals. YMMV

Getting dirt through dynamics is exciting though, like when you’re trying to light a fire and you’re not sure if it’s gonna take. I also think the top 5-10% of the clean zone is the sweet spot, everything gets a bit of hair and sounds much more alive.
btw I think Feist’s usual stage rig is two Pathfinder 15Rs.

Worth noting that Jason Pierce played a H+H solid-state amp throughout Spacemen 3 and early Spiritualized tours. It's the one with the glowing knobs.

There are some people who are really into solid-state and hybrid MusicMans. Also loads of people who like the Roland JC 120. A friend of mine keeps wanting to sell me his, but it's simply too big and heavy for me. If I see a good deal on a JC 90 I would be sorely tempted.

so, as you know, that dude with the Cabronita Squier flaked on me, but been looking around and found an even more oddball Squier Tele...always wanted to try out B and G benders (love if anyone has experience) and for this price why not?

https://reverb.com/item/40860058-squier-classic-vibe-50s-telecaster-w-b-and-g-benders

I just cleaned up my '93 Strat plus and I'm thinking I'll sell it. It's in pretty great condition other than a few dings on the neck. Advice on unloading this thing? I'd like to replace it with another electric... should I go to a shop and look for a trade in?

You’d probably do better listing it locally for cash but sometimes shops will surprise you.

I traded a Mexican strat recently and was able to negotiate a bit more, they said they were having trouble keeping stocked with standbye models during covid

if youre not in a hurry, try selling on offerup and craigslist first. local shop 2nd. reverb 3rd.

on reverb, looks like 93s are selling from 1200 to 1700, depending on condition

ums, I have also had really good luck with Mexi Fenders holding their value.

Like, if I lose my job or need a new kidney or something I know I can sell a coupla guitars

on reverb, looks like 93s are selling from 1200 to 1700, depending on condition

dang i think my parents paid like $400 for this back in the day

Yeah the American standard tele that I bought for like $350 in 1997 is now selling for four times as much. I had no idea.

I'm really conflicted the more I fix up this '93 strat plus. It's sounding really good. Still don't love the action and I haven't had much luck fixing it myself so I'm thinking I'll get someone to set it up. It has a warmth that I don't get from my Gretsch.

Two critical factors for setting action. 1: make sure the neck relief is right. Looking up the neck from the body, does it slope down from the nut ever so slightly and straighten out, without raising into a hill before it reaches the body? If not, give the truss rod a cautious quarter turn to hollow it out (anticlockwise) or straighten it up (turn clockwise). If it's angled up overall, or down overall, you may need to shim it at the heel. The nut is probably cut well being a US made Fender. 2: adjust saddle heights to match neck radius, with a very slight angle toward you as you look down from the playing position (i.e. bottom screw is a hair longer than the top screw). Meaning, the middle strings should sit a bit higher than the thickest and thinnest strings. But Strats are a pain in the ass because of the floating bridge. If you can find a good luthier it'll be a night and day difference. The Tele I posted upthread played like shit until I did this stuff and now it's great.

yeah a few of the set screws for adjusting the saddle height are stripped so I just ordered some more. i've had this guitar for for 26 years now (jesus!) and this is the first time i've touched it with a screw driver. it's fun learning this stuff

If the stripped screws are frozen in place, one way to get them out is to turn the saddle over, grip the protruding part with pliers and twist it out that way. A shot of WD40 and an hour or two to allow it to penetrate will help a lot.
Also if you need a hex/Allen key to adjust them, nearly all of the ones I've seen use 1.5mm size, but that's probably because most of my guitars are Japanese. 0.050" seems to be the size for US parts.

Finally got my long lost ‘93 American Standard strat back. It’s in the shop right now getting checked out / set up and then I’ll probably sell it and buy a tele. Never liked the thing.

Incidentally, why is Fender's naming scheme so damned confusing? Player series, Modern Player Series, Deluxe Series, Classic Series, American Professional Series, American Elite Series, American Original Series, American Performer Series. Yeesh.

The amps are bad too - for years they made the "princeton chorus" which was a solid state amp having nothing apparently to do with the "princeton reverb." Then of course there's deluxe reverb, pro reverb, twin reverb. There's the Fender Champ (5w tube amp) and the Fender Champion (40w solid state) and many variations on each (vibro champ, super champ is actually 15w, etc.). Then there are the "reissues" except that while the 65 series is literal reissues and the 64 series is handwired reissues, the 68 Custom series is not actually reissues but "modified" reissues.

Trying to sell solid states by copying tube amp names is nothing new - CBS did it across the line around 1970 (run away if you find one). And even the Custom Telecaster and Telecaster Custom are a source of perpetual confusion.

big reason is they already have the naming rights to those and its a lot easier to rehash something you already have/own

we were all confused when they chose to name the new amp line 'mustang' cos well... they already had a fender mustang. but thats how it was explained (still dumb to me)

If I wanted a very classically nashville-sounding telecaster, what would be the reach option, the midrange option and the budget option? Or should I be looking for older? MIJ? Some other brand?

- 52 american vintage (used) or the now titled american original (50s or 60s)
- classic series baja 60s tele
- squier classic vibe tele

haha of course the clasically nashville tele is called baja.

I like the look of the body on this one a lot
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/lKoAAOSw1PdgonmY/s-l1600.jpg

perhaps also subliminal because my music room has the exact same crappy grey faux-wood flooring.

If it wasn’t a particularly relic the metal flake Brad Paisley signature would be cool.

Particularly ugly*

2 thoughts about a Nashville sounding Tele - "Nashville" often refers to the practice of installing a Strat middle pickup (below). and of course Nashville tuning replaces the low wound strings with plain strings tuned an octave higher. Never tried it myself but now that I think about it ...
https://www.fmicassets.com/Damroot/LgJpg/10002/0147502301_gtr_frt_001_rr.jpg

yah they do have a 'nashville tele' but who wants to look at three pickups in a tele!?

amen

Def don’t mean that, just want something bright, spanky and twangy

I would like a Syd Barrett Esquire - ‘60s style with rosewood instead of butterscotch or blonde with maple.

And a toploader bridge IIRC

got my Squier Classic Vibe 50s with B and G-benders....guitar itself is gorgeous, neck feels great, overall fit and finish is really impressive for a low/midline guitar

never seen a bender mechanism quite like this....so you basically put the crook of your elbow between the two bars, if you push down on the lower one that bends the B and if you push up on the higher one it bends the G

definitely going to be a lot fucking harder to learn how to play with this than I thought...watched too many videos of Nashville hotshot guys like Brad Paisley using benders they make it look so easy

https://i.postimg.cc/bv2v9v8n/PXL-20210611-123825953-MP.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/q7g1m9Zy/PXL-20210611-123832494-MP.jpg

take it to the other thread! i wanna see your other guitars too :)

whoa - I assume that's not stock/you had it done custom? I'd love to have benders on my eventual extremely nashville tele. The strap hook ones look fun.

haha I will Spottie didn't know what the protocol was for actual Teles

ma - it was already installed, bought it off Reverb, was only $450 and I never see b bender guitars for cheap

the mechanism itself is a mystery, it's probably closest to what Hipshot does for benders but I haven't been able to find another guitar with this particular bridge

it's definitely not stock

yeah I mean that was semi-rhetorical, clearly that is some homebrew stuff there

it could be a one-off someone made, my one worry is if it breaks or gets way out of wack who's going to be able to service it?

but at the end of the day, it's still a nice Tele so I could always go back to a regular bridge

does anyone have opinions on replacement pickups for a Squier? worth it? any particular brands/models?

Yeah I've seen the smaller ones that are on the bridge and I guess you operate with the palm of your hand or something, but I've never seen one like that.

does anyone have opinions on replacement pickups for a Squier? worth it? any particular brands/models?

The bender design I am familiar with is an internal mechanism linked to the strap button, so you just press down on the neck.

That crook-of-the-elbow design is intriguing but I know I would never be able to use it accurately

I don't think I'll be a hot shit nashville guy but my hope is that it could be cool in a non country context, like using looper/delay soundscape shoegaze type stuff? Maybe?