# Can I shredz the telecaster?



## Charles (Mar 12, 2010)

Forgive the title, I thought it was humorous. Sort of.

I ask you, my friends, are telecasters shred-ready guitars? I love the look of them, and I love that spank, but what happens when I put a tele through a Boogie and try to crank out some gain? Will the resulting buzz bring every pest control company within 100 miles calling?

I also question the upper fret access. Not only am I super anal about that, but the fact that the telecaster looks like it doubles as a canoe paddle on the weekends doesn't help either.

Aren't the necks fat as hell too? I mean I guess if you can shred a strat you can shred a tele, but still...


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 12, 2010)

While stock Tele's certainly aren't "shred guitars" by any stretch of the imagination, there have been guys like Ritchie Kotzen who have shredded the ever living hell out of them.

Though, the single coils pickups (stock) will hum and squeal with a lot of a gain. The necks are typically FAR thicker then more Shred friendly ones, and the upper fret access is about as good as the standard Strat.


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## tekkadon d (Mar 12, 2010)

john 5 shreds on a tele
and you can get his squier model from drum guitar city land or whatever its called for a pretty good price. i nearly bought one till the postage price killed it


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## RG7 (Mar 12, 2010)

yes you can shred on a telecaster. a STOCK ONE as well.

It seriously gets bashed upon, about tele's not even being able to do metal. 
But to all those people I jam with, I need to blow them away when I suddenly start
playing metal or shredding and sounding heavier then their metal guitars. With the right setup, you can make your telecaster sound like a bright humbucker-ing guitar. I think you just need to have a very tight tone on your hands, and learn to use mids and deal with treble when you need too.


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## JohnIce (Mar 12, 2010)

I have a Tele that is totally shred worthy... there are different neck profiles on different models (and in the case of Fender, there are hundreds of models ) so definately try out a bunch. I would, for the record, NEVER buy a Fender without trying it first.

Upper fret acces is no worse than on a strat, however, keep in mind that many Tele's only have 21 frets. I don't know if this is an issue with you, but it can get damn annoying, believe me. Some do have 22 though.

As for shred-friendliness:


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## maxident213 (Mar 12, 2010)

Look up The Hellecasters on Youtube and then tell me Tele's aren't shred-worthy.


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## Evil7 (Mar 12, 2010)

RG7 said:


> yes you can shred on a telecaster. a STOCK ONE as well.
> 
> It seriously gets bashed upon, about tele's not even being able to do metal.
> But to all those people I jam with, I need to blow them away when I suddenly start
> playing metal or shredding and sounding heavier then their metal guitars. With the right setup, you can make your telecaster sound like a bright humbucker-ing guitar. I think you just need to have a very tight tone on your hands, and learn to use mids and deal with treble when you need too.


 Its hard for me to picture this... A quality neck thru metal guitar with active humbuckers thru a metal highgain tube amp... would uhmm crush any single coil'd guitar's tone thru the same amp.. No offence.. just majority openion.. 
Im not sure if the OP is into metal.. 
Not sure about tele necks.. I ignore fender 
Malmsteen tore up a strat tho.


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## Charles (Mar 12, 2010)

Am I into metal? Most certainly, though the heaviest I really get is Dream Theater. I don't know how heavy that is to some of you die hard metallers out there, but that's as far as I'll go.

Mostly I'm into fusion and Brett Garsed/Shawn Lane style stuff, so it's important that I can comfortably play the upper frets, have a neck shape more conducive to legato, and have a guitar that can handle a fairly high level of gain without wussing out on me. Cleans are also VERY important.

Oh, it's also important to me that the pickups can handle the heavily staccato style of picking I tend to employ (think of JP). Some guitars I try to do that on and the tone kind of "pleks" out on me (have a hard time describing this other than saying that and the tone is very brittle and thin)


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## renzoip (Mar 12, 2010)

You can also get the Tele shaped Charvel models, they seem shred friendly. Also, check out the Carvin TL 60 models, the necks are pretty nice and since they are neck thru, the upper fret access would be good. Not to mention that you can semi customize it! 

Carvin.com - Custom Shop :: tl60


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## S-O (Mar 12, 2010)




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## Evil7 (Mar 12, 2010)

get you something versitile with coil taping humbuckers... best of both worlds.... For a great shred neck go with Ibanez hands down.


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## ivancic1al (Mar 12, 2010)

ritchie kotzen/john 5. they both have distinct shred tones on tele's. they're just a little bit different than the normal 'shred' tone. i dig it a lot. i say go for it. get a blade humbkcker/coil tap and you're good to go!


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## Goodspeed (Mar 12, 2010)

I think it depends on which Tele.

I have an old ('72) Tele Deluxe and, aside from weighing like a MILLION pounds, I love the thing.

...but it also has the Seth Lover humbuckers instead of the single coils.


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## Pirate Life (Mar 12, 2010)

John 5 is pretty nimble with his Tele !


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## Nick1 (Mar 12, 2010)

Im a big fan of Fenders! I love Strats and Teles. I totally play differently on a Tele than I do on a Strat. I really love the _Twang_ you can get from a Teles single coil bridge pickup thru a clean tube amp with the Reverb cranked! Even using some mild overdrive they sound just great. No trem means good tuning stability! Not sure I would use a Tele for grind core. But for blues or country or rock or fusion or some shreddy stuff yeah I would. 
I would love to own a _real_ Tele. Not one that resembles a Tele, and has 2 mega voltage pickups. My top few would be either a Fender Merle Haggard Signature Telecaster or a Fender Vintage Hot Rod '52 Telecaster in Butterscotch Blonde or even a Fender Classic Series '69 Telecaster Thinline in mahogany not ash.

Id probably like Teles as much or maybe even more than I like Strats if it werent for these three things.......

1. No forearm contour on the Teles. 
2. The toggle switch is sideways. 
3. No Trem of any kind on any models. (Well at least any models Id be interested in).

Here is a funny story! 
A buddy of mine was at a recent Andy Timmons clinic and when Andy asked something along the lines of if anyone had any requests for Andy to play or questions my buddy says " Play Groove or Die on the Tele!" Andy declined the request.


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## technomancer (Mar 12, 2010)

The short answer is yes. If you like the tone of a Tele, which is in fact really unique, then get one. I actually thought about selling mine then changed my mind and am keeping it just because it doesn't sound like anything else I have.

You can also drop in a set of BKP Piledrivers and go from sounding like a tele to completely ripping your face off... and have infinitely better tone than anything with actives on the market. There is a video around of Misha playing a tele with Piledrivers on high gain and it is just freaking ridiculous


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## Charles (Mar 12, 2010)

The lack of forearm cut bothers me as well. After a short period of intensive picking I develop something of a skin irritation there. I don't know why.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Mar 12, 2010)

They can do heavy shred, I actually find them *more* shredable than strats.


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## Loomer (Mar 13, 2010)

I don't know if this qualifies as shred per se, but check out a guy like Warner E. Hodges, preferably in his ol' Jason & The Scorchers glory days. That guy made a tele ROAR like an unleashed monster!


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## Enselmis (Mar 13, 2010)

Anyone ever heard of Dave Kilminster? Despite the fact that it's not a fender, I think a Suhr Classic T still counts as a tele.

This video doesn't showcase the Suhr, but it's definitely Tele shred.


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## Randy (Mar 13, 2010)

Did somebody say shredding on a tele?


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## Randy (Mar 13, 2010)

And on the topic of ballsy single coils for the telecaster:


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## s_k_mullins (Mar 13, 2010)

^^ John 5 is awesome 
John 5 and Ritchie Kotzen are the only proof you need that shredding is possible on a Tele!

EDIT: Also, that John 5 track "Black Widow of La Porte" features a guest solo from Jim Root, another Tele shredder.


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## LowBRiffer (Mar 13, 2010)

Fact: You can shred on ANY guitar. If you cant, then its certainly NOT the guitars fault.


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## WarriorOfMetal (Mar 13, 2010)

How is it that Jari Mäenpää has yet to be mentioned in this thread? Check out Wintersun and early Ensiferum for some badass tele metal!


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## hide (Mar 13, 2010)

My telly has a v-shaped neck, with a pronouced radius and the fretboard isn't wide by any means, so it isn't just fat "baseball bat style": it does get some time to get used to, but after that period I was ok. It's just a matter of left hand angle. 
Fret access is bad, and it's a 21 fretter. It isn't a problem to me, in fact, it's my go-to guitar for jamming alone and composing, I feel at home playing it. It does have the mojo, and it's acoustically enormous sounding.



technomancer said:


> You can also drop in a set of BKP Piledrivers and go from sounding like a tele to completely ripping your face off... and have infinitely better tone than anything with actives on the market.



Mine came with noiseless pickups stock, I have a hard time finding a good distorted sound with my mesa I can use with it without having to change the eq completely for my other guitars. Do you think the piledrivers could help?


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## Scar Symmetry (Mar 13, 2010)

Answer: Yes.

Evidence:



4:25 for teh shredz.


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## Esp Griffyn (Mar 13, 2010)

I've never played a Tele with a neck that was anywhere near as big as say, a Schecter or a Gibson LP. The Jim Root Sig tele is supposed to have a bigger neck than normal teles, and I found it really comfortable, and I don't like fat necks at all.


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## JohnIce (Mar 13, 2010)

I wish I had my Tele at home right now so I could record some br00tz and some shredz with it, unfortunately it's away at the rehearsal space of a band I do sessions for. I'll try to get it back as soon as I can, and maybe shed some concrete light on the issue, depending on whatever questions you may have, OP


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## JohnIce (Mar 13, 2010)

Btw, this thread needs some Greg Koch:


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## telecaster90 (Mar 13, 2010)

The tele can totally be a metal guitar. I have a DiMarzio ToneZone in the bridge of my tele and the fucker screams.


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## ShadyDavey (Mar 13, 2010)

JohnIce said:


> Btw, this thread needs some Greg Koch:






Bloody hell...


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## metalvince333 (Mar 13, 2010)

my vote for you is to get one of the jim root signature tele, change the pups if you dont like emgs (I dont) and the neck heel has a little cutaway so it makes it easier to play higher without fighting with the bolt on heel all the time really comfy guitar and I love it!! if I wasnt going for a 8string, I would hit one any day! One of my all time favorites


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## kherman (Mar 13, 2010)

If you like the Tele shape but want it to be more shredder friendly, easier fret access, 14" radius, 24 jumbo frets, etc...
CARVIN TL60.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Mar 13, 2010)

I never understand why people ask if specific shapes can do specific tones or prohibit or inhibit playability.

The tones you can get from a guitar are entirely to do with the hardware... if you have pickups made to do X sound the guitar will sound that way. Then theres the *different people have different hands* thing for the playability of the neck etc. 

Even when it comes to upper fret access I need something like what rusty cooley does to his signature where some people think the little scallop on prs's is enough to have uninhibited access.

Then theres basically a tele for damn near every company which are all made completely different. 

Entirely too many variables.


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## technomancer (Mar 13, 2010)

technomancer said:


> The short answer is yes. If you like the tone of a Tele, which is in fact really unique, then get one. I actually thought about selling mine then changed my mind and am keeping it just because it doesn't sound like anything else I have.
> 
> You can also drop in a set of BKP Piledrivers and go from sounding like a tele to completely ripping your face off... and have infinitely better tone than anything with actives on the market. There is a video around of Misha playing a tele with Piledrivers on high gain and it is just freaking ridiculous





Randy said:


> And on the topic of ballsy single coils for the telecaster:




That is the exact video I was talking about 



Cheesebuiscut said:


> I never understand why people ask if specific shapes can do specific tones or prohibit or inhibit playability.



Probably because a tele isn't a shape, it's a specific guitar. There are a lot of tele shaped guitars, but they're not a Fender Telecaster which has a very distinctive tone  For example the Charvel San Dimas Style 2 I have is a tele shaped guitar, not a Telecaster. What Misha is playing in the video is a Telecaster (and is also identical to mine minus the BKPs )


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## SnowfaLL (Mar 13, 2010)

I've been researching teles' in the last few days because I have an extra neck around needing a body, and I want to eventually be a diverse player, and that "tele" twang is hard to replicate..

Anyways, I think the main thing people in this thread are discrediting, its not about the shape that makes the Tele how it is.. Its the construction/configuration. That bridge with the metal mass really makes a difference.. So even if you had a nice twangy single coil pup on a Strat or any other guitar, it will be decent but still wont get you that "twang" that a Tele does because of the bridge and string-thru construction..

So, With that said, the Carvin TL60 or Ibanez FR's CANT get you that Tele twang.. And believe me, Im a Carvin freak. If you want that classic Tele tone, you need the bridge.

Now if you just want the Tele shape and a easier-shred option, the Carvin TL60 is perfect. You can shred on a normal tele too, if the action and everything suits your needs, but know that you wont have 24 frets, and the neck may be abit thicker.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Mar 13, 2010)

technomancer said:


> That is the exact video I was talking about
> 
> 
> 
> Probably because a tele isn't a shape, it's a specific guitar. There are a lot of tele shaped guitars, but they're not a Fender Telecaster which has a very distinctive tone  For example the Charvel San Dimas Style 2 I have is a tele shaped guitar, not a Telecaster.



The telecaster is a shape. A fender originated shape, but still a shape.

and as seen by a few videos in this thread the tone can be COMPLETELY DIFFERENT with something as simple as a pup swap. Not to mention fender makes different teles with different pickup combos like bridge / neck humbuckers etc etc that are still... you guessed it! Teles!

A jim root telecasters going to sound nothing like a semi hollow humbucker equipped telecasters going to sound nothing like a P-90 equipped telecasters going to sound nothing like your standard single coil bridge / lipstick neck telecaster.

All still telecasters.


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## technomancer (Mar 13, 2010)

^ But as evidenced by most of the comments in this thread, when you say Telecaster 99.9% of people think of what Misha is holding in that video, so roll your eyes all you want


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## Cheesebuiscut (Mar 13, 2010)

Which had pickups voiced for rock / metal type stuff which sounds nothing like single coil / lipstick telecaster. 

Basically everyone on this forum knows better than to think a body shape determines what the guitar can sound like / do which is why I said 



> I never understand why people ask if specific shapes can do specific tones or prohibit or inhibit playability.



It takes all of 5 minutes of research to determine that for the people who aren't trollin forums for info.



P.s. I  you.


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## Murmel (Mar 13, 2010)

The main problem I have with shredding on the teles I've played is the radius of the neck. All of the ones I've played hasn't been anywhere near flat. Must've been like a 8-9'' radius or something...

My buddy who has a telecaster is just like that, and for some reason he just refuses to lower his action on his guitars, they are fucking sky-high. I can't shred for shit on his guitars.

But I have borrowed his Les Paul over the week now that we have a week off from school. I secretly lowered the action with like 3mm, we'll see if he notices


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## Charles (Mar 13, 2010)

Everyone I've seen shred on a telecaster has taken a real legato approach though. I guess my primary question would be if the body wood of the telecaster at all inhibits that "chuck chuck chuck chuck" sound I'm going for with my picking. I've found certain guitars aren't conducive (for whatever reason, body wood, neck wood..) to the heavily tremolo alternate picking I do (think Petrucci).


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## MaxOfMetal (Mar 13, 2010)

Charles said:


> Everyone I've seen shred on a telecaster has taken a real legato approach though. I guess my primary question would be if the body wood of the telecaster at all inhibits that "chuck chuck chuck chuck" sound I'm going for with my picking. I've found certain guitars aren't conducive (for whatever reason, body wood, neck wood..) to the heavily tremolo alternate picking I do (think Petrucci).



Well most Teles are made of either Ash or Alder, so play some guitars made out of either of those very common woods to be sure. 

As for the neck woods, most guitars out there use maple for the neck wood.


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## MrMcSick (Mar 13, 2010)

Damnit, I wanted to bring up Wintersun. haha. First time I saw this I was like, wait, thats on a freaking telecaster.woooowwww


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## Zugster (Mar 14, 2010)

As long as we're doing a bit of tele appreciation, I can't resist showing my tele...







My tele started off as a Fender MIA standard.











I upgraded the bridge with Callaham compensated saddles. Vintage style 3 barrel bridge with 2 strings per saddle, the way Leo intended it. Bevelled saddles = spot on intonation. 











I added Kinman pickups. Zero hum, dead silent single coils, but with tons of real tele charactor. 4 way switching with an angled switch. The 4th position is with both coils in series, which gives a thicker, louder, almost P90 tone.





There she is. A bone nut, Schaller locking tuners and straplocks. With the right amp she can do almost anything.


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## Sang-Drax (Mar 14, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Well most Teles are made of either Ash or Alder, so play some guitars made out of either of those very common woods to be sure.
> 
> As for the neck woods, most guitars out there use maple for the neck wood.



But there's also the bridge, which delivers that peculiar twang unlike other alder or ash guitars.

FWIT, I've played a jazzmaster through my Dual Recto clone the other day. I really liked the tone I got out of it... meaty yet with that single coil quality (though I'm not even sure if the jazzmaster's pickups are exactly single coils). It was a lot noisier than my LP though, but the noise gate I'm using is crap.


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## 74n4LL0 (Mar 15, 2010)

MaxOfMetal said:


> Though, the single coils pickups (stock) will hum and squeal with a lot of a gain.



True to a certain degree.
If you buy a '52RI tele it's certain that it will squeal with lot of gain.
Some tellies pups aren't waxed because in this way they are a little microfonic and that's something the typical tele player wants!
However that's not true with all tele pups expecially the ones with the 4 way switch that IMO are the best to shred


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## Zugster (Mar 15, 2010)

The Kinman single coils don't squeal or hum at all under high gain.


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## youheardme (Mar 15, 2010)

wintersun.... jari = win


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## Fred the Shred (Mar 15, 2010)

You can shred on every sonceivable guitar, and the Tele is no exception. It is actually quite shred friendly, as its tone helps you keep a lot of definition when ripping hard and, like a strat, it's a doddle to mod it to one's taste, really.


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## JohnIce (Apr 16, 2010)

Hey OP, I recorded a quick clip to answer your specific question, focusing on Petrucci style alt-picking shred, I even dialed in a nice TriAxis tone on the Axe-Fx which sounds like crap anyway since I can't get my recording setup to sync with my cam  I hope teh shredz come across through my built-in laptop mic, at least 

Here you go:


For the record, I'm using an all-stock Fender Mexico Tele. It's a Limited Edition of some sort because of the top, but that's it. Got it for around $800 new.


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## Esp Griffyn (Apr 16, 2010)

Nice


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## vhmetalx (Apr 16, 2010)

teles are SUPER shred worthy. its just the player that limits it i say.
example:
i couldnt shred that thing if it was made out of toilet paper and spit.
but theres this amazing guy, i forgot his name, but he goes to my "local" (20 min away but the best shop around haha) shop and picks up the fenders (lots of teles included. i was surprised when i saw him shreddding a tele) and just sits in the corner of the store and does some neo classical shredding/arpegios and scale runs and who knows what else. and fast too. and they sound AMAZING. everytime im there and he is playing i just sit and watch him because he is that good.
so yes, teles can shred.


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## Desi (Apr 16, 2010)

Teles and Les Pauls have always been my guitars of choice. You can shred on anything, like it's been said many times in this thread. I have long alien fingers, so baseball bat necks and compound radii are not an issue for me. But then again, I started out on these guitars, so their construction is second nature to me. I do, however, have beef with small frets...I cannot play comfortably on those. They do not accommodate my rabid bends and vibrato.


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## chucknorrishred (Apr 16, 2010)

WarriorOfMetal said:


> How is it that Jari Mäenpää has yet to be mentioned in this thread? Check out Wintersun and early Ensiferum for some badass tele metal!


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## JohnIce (Apr 16, 2010)

Esp Griffyn said:


> Nice


 
Cheers mate! 

I think that, if you really want to get good shred and metal out of a Tele, a compressor is very good to have. Basically, high output pickups and loads of distortion both add compression that makes it easier to play fast, so since the Tele has pretty weak pickups a compressor can do wonders. Ask any country/bluegrass player  In a high-gain setting, the compressor will add noise to the signal which is even more appearent with singlecoils, so a noise gate is also very handy. In my video I had plenty of compression and gate.

Compressor + Noise Gate = Happy Tele shredding!


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## eaeolian (Apr 16, 2010)

I don't know if you can, but *he* can:


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