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Post subject: A Couple of Questions About My First Tele
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 6:42 am
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I recently bought a used Fender American Special Telecaster and LOVE it! Perfect neck, really dig the jumbo frets and it sounds fantastic. I've been on the lookout for a tele for a while and was very fortunate to find this one for a good price. But as it's my first telecaster, I have a couple of questions:

1) Is it normal for the neck pickup volume to be quite a bit lower than the bridge pickup?
2) Do 3 compensated saddles intonate as well as a 6 saddle bridge?

Regarding the first question, the tone of the neck pickup is great, but it seems to be about 3/4 of the volume of the bridge pickup. Both pickup heights are set to Fender specs; from what I've read you really don't want to go any closer with Texas Specials and the bridge pickup sounds so ballsy and fat that I'm hesitant to lower it so it balances better with the neck. I can live with the difference but was curious if this is common with teles (or this particular pickup set).

Regarding the second question, I have the stock Fender straight saddles on there now. Intonation is not horrible but is definitely worse than my other guitars. I notice it mostly when playing above the 12th fret. I play lead guitar in my band and am up there quite a bit and some notes definitely sound a bit out of tune. I am either going to replace the saddles with compensated saddles or install a modern 6 saddle bridge (a GOTOH or Fender Standard).

I want the intonation to be as good as any of my other guitars (Strat, LP, SG); if compensated saddles will get me there I'd prefer to keep 3 saddles but if intonation would still be compromised, I'll go with a 6 saddle bridge. This is more of a rock tele than anything else; my band plays mostly rock and hard rock with a small amount of country and pop thrown in so it won't be the end of the world if I lose a little twang if it intonates correctly.

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can give me.


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Post subject: Re: A Couple of Questions About My First Tele
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 7:06 am
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Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:37 pm
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Location: Natural Bridge, Virginia
Yes, the neck pickup is usually a bit quieter than the bridge. You can lower the bridge a bit to balance them out if you like. That's what I do.

The slightly off intonation is part of the Tele's sound. People have lived with it for over 60 years. Mine intonated quite well with straight saddles, slightly better with compensated saddles, but not perfect. Doesn't bother me in the least. Your call.

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Post subject: Re: A Couple of Questions About My First Tele
Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 8:26 am
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Thanks for the response. I'll leave the pickups as they are and I guess I have some more thinking to do about the bridge...


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