Trem for Telecaster?

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
User avatar
shinealight
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 319
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2013 12:24 am
Location: Fucking, Austria

Trem for Telecaster?

Post by shinealight » Sun Nov 08, 2015 5:38 pm

My Telecaster (a 2010 American Special) is perfect for me other than the obvious lack of whammy. So I'm toying with the idea of adding one. I kind of already know the answer to this....a Bigsby would be the easiest thing, and I could do it with a Vibramate so I wouldn't have to put any screw holes in the body. I'd go for the Chet Atkins arm assembly because it swivels the whole way around so I could strum with it in my hand.

But what about a Jag/Jazzmaster trem? I've seen a few modded Teles on this site with them. I mostly play ambient/shoegazy stuff so it seems like a logical option to me even if it involves some irreversible routing and would no doubt cost significantly more to get done. Plus I'd be hacking up what is a ~$1500 guitar here in Aus.

I've got a few other purchases planned out for the next little while (a couple of pedals + recording gear) so getting another decent guitar isn't really an option right now, and I'm too attached to the Tele to let it go.

I guess I'd like to hear some opinions

User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Nov 08, 2015 7:19 pm

Well, first of all, are you all that familiar with the Bigsby tremolo unit? That is to say, are you sure you would like it?

What kind of tremolo use do you plan on doing? Because the Bigsby does its thing, the Jazzmaster tremolo does what it does. Both are pretty different.

And I don't even know if a Jazzmaster tremolo can be put in a Telecaster or what.

There is another alternative to the Bigsby, it's a Stetsbar:

https://www.stetsbar.com/t.style.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

User avatar
autodoner
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 120
Joined: Mon Jul 25, 2011 8:07 pm

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by autodoner » Sun Nov 08, 2015 8:21 pm

Don't do something that isn't completely reversible unless you are sure you will like the end result. Because a JM trem will change the sound of your guitar to some degree, and if you don't like that change and decide to sell the guitar, you've already made it harder to sell once it's been routed. So unless you can play someone's JM trem-equipped tele, I vote for the vibramate or stetsbar as your best option. Or trading it for a JM.

User avatar
cincinnatiharry
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 444
Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 1:53 pm
Location: Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by cincinnatiharry » Sun Nov 08, 2015 8:31 pm

You know, if I had to have a trem, I would go for a Mosrite style trem. Those things always return to pitch.

Image

Hallmark sell a dead on replica.

http://www.hallmarkguitars.com/parts/parts.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"some misguided Marin county hot-tubber"

User avatar
noisepunk
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 16807
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 5:55 pm
Location: glasgow, scotland
Contact:

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by noisepunk » Sun Nov 08, 2015 10:51 pm

If you like the telecaster as is, don't mess with it- save for a second guitar, maybe a telecaster you feel okay modifying.

User avatar
andy_tchp
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 8010
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2010 1:36 am
Location: Brisbane

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by andy_tchp » Mon Nov 09, 2015 2:01 am

noisepunk wrote:If you like the telecaster as is, don't mess with it- save for a second guitar, maybe a telecaster you feel okay modifying.
Totally agree.

If I had a dollar for every online discussion I'd read over the past two decades about guys who'd put a Bigsby on their Tele and been disappointed with the resultant changes in tonal character/playability, I'd have... several dozen dollars I suppose.

There's a reason they sound great stock, the simple but functional bridge is a huge part of that.
"I don't know why we asked him to join the band 'cause the rest of us don't like country music all that much; we just like Graham Lee."
David McComb, 1987.

User avatar
sookwinder
Mods
Mods
Posts: 11179
Joined: Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:47 pm
Location: Melbourne Australia

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by sookwinder » Mon Nov 09, 2015 4:38 am

Image
relaxing alternative to doing actual work ...

User avatar
MKR
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1702
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 9:06 am

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by MKR » Mon Nov 09, 2015 5:19 am

i put a bigsby on my tele and i have to say it was the single best mod i could have done to that guitar. I play a lot of surf and even my other stuff is kind of surf inspired so being able to put a little vibrato down with my tele has been great.

I have nothing but good reviews on how it came out for me. Tone wise it still sounds like a tele and tuning has been A-OK.

User avatar
øøøøøøø
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 5984
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:26 pm
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by øøøøøøø » Mon Nov 09, 2015 1:15 pm

If you want a whammy on your Telecaster, I suggest asking whether you really want a Telecaster at all.

Changing the bridge configuration in any way so radically changes the sound of any Tele, in my experience, that it might not be the worst idea in the world to just get a guitar that already does what you want it to do.

User avatar
Telliot
Mods
Mods
Posts: 12202
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:38 pm
Location: CA

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by Telliot » Mon Nov 09, 2015 1:23 pm

I suppose this parrots much of what Brad mentioned above, but thought I'd chime in:

Learning certain string bends, vibrato styles, and neck wiggling goes a long way to simulating a lot of what you can do with a vibrato system. If you're looking for more than that, I suppose you could do it, but a large part of the beauty of the Tele is the 3-barrel bridge (IMO), so putting a Mastery or some other floating type of bridge would change the sound, and subsequently, the character of the guitar quite a bit. Some people have modified the ashtray bridge by notching the lip behind the barrel saddles to allow for strings to pass through from a Bigsby, but I've never tried one myself to speak on its results.
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by Larry Mal » Mon Nov 09, 2015 1:58 pm

øøøøøøø wrote:
Telecasters don't generally have vibrato bridges. Neither do pianos. Both tend to be most useful if you embrace them for what they already are, instead of trying to make them into something they're not (IMO, of course)
That's quite possibly one of the best things that I've ever read on this site. The image of somebody hammering a vibrato unit on the side of a Steinway filled my head and just cracked my shit up over here.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

User avatar
Dan.
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 673
Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 3:03 pm
Location: Paisley

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by Dan. » Mon Nov 09, 2015 6:58 pm

THIS might be the answer to your problems, if you're ok with a bigsby.
s_mcsleazy: i'll stop following you on tumblr.

User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by Larry Mal » Mon Nov 09, 2015 7:02 pm

Dan. wrote:THIS might be the answer to your problems, if you're ok with a bigsby.
The original poster talked about that in literally the first paragraph of the thread.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

User avatar
DesmondWafers
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1746
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 11:15 pm

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by DesmondWafers » Mon Nov 09, 2015 7:10 pm

I, for one, would love to hear a piano with a tremolo system.

User avatar
Danley
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 2103
Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2012 11:46 am
Location: California Republic

Re: Trem for Telecaster?

Post by Danley » Mon Nov 09, 2015 7:49 pm

Agreeing with the sentiment not to mess with it, buy another guitar.

But.

Image
King Buzzo: I love when people come up to me and say “Your guitar sound was better on Stoner Witch, when you used a Les Paul. “...I used a Fender Mustang reissue on that, dumbass!

Post Reply