Recommendations for Telecaster strings

[Jim Williams]

Weird thread.... Some stuff is missing like the anti-satan Humbucker guy I responded too. Sort of makes me look like I'm replying to my own imagination...

Which isn't necessarly a bad thing as long as everyone else is in on the joke.

He did say something about set neck Gibsons having more string sustain than the 'devil's preference' of a bolt on neck???

I have set neck Tele's too, guess what? The bolt on's ring longer. That rosewood telecaster rings like there's a built in compressor. It ought too, it weighs more than a Les Paul.

[litepipe]

The sustain conversation lacks any real world use. It's a bullshit marketing guitarist mumbo jumbo. I can't even count the records I've recorded on or the tours/gigs I've done at this point... Not once has someone asked me to switch guitars for more sustain!! They've asked for less twang, more twang, softer, trashy, etc... All kinds of adjectives.

I also find most people that are obsessed with sustain play with a lot of distortion and compression and don't hold a note long enough to get the full benefits of added sustain.

There is a lot of sustain in your fingers. I never even consider that when I'm picking a guitar for a session. It's more about the tone. Put me in front of a great amp. I'll push it and get all the sustain you'll ever need. Also whenever I've talked to other pro guitarists this never comes up. Never.

[krusty]

litepipe, I agree completely. As well, many guitarists who talk about 'sustain' (the metal crowd) have their actions so low that fret buzz diminishes any possible sustain, and what they perceive to be sustain is actually just feedback induced.

As for strings, the most important thing for me is the tonal balance between the wound and unwound strings. For me, only the TI Blues Sliders accomplish that to my satisfaction.

[Johnny Favorite]

D'addarios are always fresh. I tried them all, been playing Teles for a long time and D'addarios never let me down. Tone is there and you can rely on them.

I use 11s

[TL in TX]

Originally Posted by RasCricket

Ehh, not really true at all. Sorry to demystify things but the truth is, Joe Walsh was talking out of his ass. Theres a thing called "pickup height adjustment" thats far more indicative of overall tone. Its when you take into consideration the pickup height along with the string height ~ thats where its at.

When I was young and inexperienced, I maybe used to think "Oh, its a TELE...that means things are like so because I heard it from some guy..."

Pffft....a guitar is a guitar ~ people overthink things and ascribe 'magical' properties to a certian brand or type of guitar and its just stupid. Ill play you some of the best Jazz ya ever heard.....on a Telecaster. Yes....Jazz.

Dont overthink things ~ if youre still worried about what strings to put on, youve got a LONG way to go and should probably just get any strings on there for now and get to practicing.

The truth.


If you're payin' attention through years of playing, you'll find all this true. And, no matter how much you try to help some, they still won't believe you until they experience it all themselves.

If they have a clue, they'll figure it out.

[rumbletone]

Originally Posted by lane thaw

On a tele or strat - I'll second the D'Addario XL 11's. Best of both worlds, you can still bend, but fat enough for a rich sound.

me too. maple board 1975 tele with kinman noiseless pups. amazing tone . . .