can a telecaster rock?

I just bought a Jay Turser Telecaster copy. The quality of this instrument is mind blowing for the price. Problem is it seems like teles are sort of.. unforgiving. I'm more used to the sound and playability of humbuckers. My question is can i get pickups for it that sound more like buckers? Is the difference higher output? I'd like to avoid altering the body. It has the classic setup. Single coil bridge and a small shiny neck pickup (don't know what it's called). I'd like to get sort of a MUSE sound out of it if possible; metallic, if you will.

Your advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,

You can get Humbuckers that fit the given slots, but I used Duncan Quarter Pounders back when I was playing out. I was quite pleased with them!

See ya,

Duncan make some nice pickups check out their Hot Rails and Cool Rails. I used them in a strat style, two cool rails and a hot rail in the bridge. They are high output, lot of balls

I'm wondering why you would even buy a Tele if you don't like the single coil sound????????? As far as your question, they WILL 'rock' out of the box without changing anything. zul

Andrew,

I live near radio/TV towers that seriously mess with single coils, but I wanted a Tele. I got one with the EMG active T setup. I highly recommend it! Not only is there no hum with Tele tone, but you get lots of output. And if you add an active tone, you will get a humbucker sound out of it.

If all you want is standard single coil or thick humbucker tone, lose the passive tone control and add a SPC active tone. If you want a real versatile setup, use a VMC, like I did. A VMC is an active variable mids boost/cut. It has a concentric pot (two controls on one shaft), and you get to adjust center frequency from 300 to 3,000 Hz, then cut or boost, +/- 12 db.

'Andrew Behm' <commandrew(at)bendcable.com> wrote in

Of course they can - listen to any Raven album Personally, I think the personality of any guitar can be changed with a pickup. Granted, you probably can't make a hollow jazz box sound like a shred guitar, but, just get a replacement humbucker for your Tele - get a spittable one if you want to have both.... I had a Tele and put some Dimarzio thing in it. Sounded great.. The only issue you'll run into is that Teles take weird- shaped pickups, so, you'll be slightly limited - but, if you can squeeze a Hot Rails or something in it... go for it.

Some people like the shape, and the vibe. Hell, even Ted Nugent used a Tele for a spell. As for changing things, it depends on if he wants to sound like Roy Buchanan, or KK Downing...

Andrew Please check your email or write me direct... I may be able to help you

danny

What about these SFX-01 Pickup Booster Pedals?

There's nothing wrong with a guitar being unforgiving. It just means is that you need to be on your game when you're playing it. As for the question 'can a Telecaster rock?' the answer is an obvious 'YES'. Jimmy Page used a Tele on many rocking Zep tunes, and Tom Morello from Audioslave is playing some very heavy music on a Tele.

I'm using a Tele in a fairly heavy band myself, and it's killer. It's simple, effective, and a very versatile guitar...I'm actually playing in two bands, one is rock/metal and the other is blues/rock. I used the Tele for both practices last weekend. Two different amp rigs, but just one guitar.

~Rich See my gear at the link!

I've been playing rock/metal on my epi telecaster. No mods made.