In fairness, Teles are indifferent to just about everything.
Mine took a dive off a 3-4 foot stage last month, stand and all (it was my backup at the moment), and landed directly on the point of the headstock. The audience ooohed, but when I retrieved the instrument, not only was it none the worse for wear save for a scuff at the point of impact, it was still in tune. Zero shits given. 
I’m sure my Les Paul would have suffered a headstock break from the same fall.
I can understand. I watched a comparison between SS/Tube/Modeling amps recently. Even in YouTube audio quality, I was able to tell which was which. To be honest, they all had their appeal - I’d have been able to live with any of them in a mix where I wasn’t the centerpiece, but it was easy to tell which was which.
I’m actually within a hair’s breadth of spending my gift cards on a used VHT Special 6 Ultra head. It’s too simple and sweet to pass up. Plus, at 6W, they decided that an integrated hotplate (down to a 1/2 watt) was cheap and do-able. Scorching tones until you don’t have the watts to move the speakers. 
Well, to be fair to Gibson: any heavy, set-neck guitar with an angled headstock would be in danger from that kind of fall. They’re the only mass producer to make a lot of them. Gretsch makes set neck guitars, but most are not nearly as heavy as a Les Paul. I’ve got a Goya bolt-on LP jr copy that’s from the 70’s. It’s taken many dives and chops from cymbals falling on it, but the bolt-on neck seems to have enough give, even with it’s angled headstock. The finish on the back of the heastock join has actually cracked from it’s abuse, and I worried about finding a replacement neck for it (it’s a goddamn good guitar). But 15 years after the finish crack appearing, it’s still going strong.
Glue-in and through necks are stable and sexy when done right, but that bolt on design is very rugged, even in non-teles.
Yes, but most copy Fender’s approach both at bolt-on end, but also at the headstock. Fender’s design was brilliant up there, too (and I love Gibsons).
Those features, plus using rock hard maple vs. mahogany for the wood are more important vs. the bolt-on. A set-neck’s dovetail joint rarely fails (unless, say, you’re a '59 Gibson LP Special. They routed the hole for the neck pick up right into the neck joint, with a double cutaway design providing no wing support. They break if you drop your case wrong*. You can see the versions made with the neck pickup dropped down 3/4" after that).
*also true of first-gen Firebirds. The in-case support for the neck was not padded well, narrow and wedge-shaped and sitting at a key spot under the joint. A minor case drop effectively guillotined the guitar. :eek:
Well, I’d generally agree, but:
Granted, breaking a bolt-on neck would be less of a tragedy than a glue-in. However, when some fool smashes a bolt-on, where does it usually break? In my experience, it’s been at the weak point, the neck/body join. When you see the same fools smash a glue in, that super-strong body join doesn’t usually break, instead it breaks up the neck. That weaker, bolt-on join may provide the flexibility to save some necks when heavy guitars fall.
And of course, if you don’t look something up, expect to be wrong. Poplar is a hardwood, but with a hardness of 1 out of 5. It’s nearly as strong as mahogany, though - 2/3rds the strength of hard maple.
But while looking at wood (not as dirty as it might sound), I decided to look up the tree that nobody around here really wants to use their chainsaw on, the bois d’arc.
White oak is about the same hardness and strength as maple…hmm, a bois d’arc neck and a black mesquite body…
Yeah, scabpicker, I chose not to comment because I knew I was right ;)* The combo of design features at either end and the wood choice all going into Fender’s reliability. Other bolt-on designs subtract reliability if they vary more towards traditional build features.
And yeah, those Japanese replica Gibsons with bolt-on necks are nicely rugged and often great-sounding and playing guitars. They can stand up to a lot more than a Gibson.
*Hmm, I am trying for that to come off as funny, not arrogant.
Or perhaps Pacific madrone. . .
A quick question on picking 16th notes. I know with eighth notes they sound more even and cleaner if picked down/up. even if the notes are on different strings that down/up motion just feels right.
I’m working on Jingle Bells. I can play it pretty well by ear because I know the melody so well. But I need more practice anyhow playing 8th and 16th notes. This makes a good song to study and practice.
its written in 2/4
jin-gle bells | jin-gle bells 2 eighth notes and a quarter note
It’s easy picking down/up down 1 & 2 1 & 2 for each measure
the nasty hard bit is Jin-gle All the | Way 2 8th notes, a dotted 8th and 16th (way is a half note)
Oh What Fun It has exactly the same rhythm I get it close by ear but I know I’m guessing on that dotted 8th. I just have to count that measure or it throws me off.
is to ride in a 2 8ths 1 8th and 2 16ths 1 & 2 & a 1
I find that pretty easy a double 16th is no problem. I can hear “in a” and can easily pick that quickly.
its that darn dotted 8th that is a major PITA
I count 1 & 2 & a 1 2 but I don’t play on the second & beat. thats where the dotted beat fits in
so does dn/up dn/up dn (don’t touch string on the 2nd up) and then dn for the half note
seem right?? or should I play dn/up dn/up and wait until the 2 & a beat to come up with the pick? it feels wrong pausing my pick for that 16th beat. but it also feels awkward flicking the pick up and missing the string.
my instinct is to follow the 8th note rule. keep my pick swinging at all times. Seems wrong to ever pause on a dotted note but I need advice from more experienced players.
I want to get comfortable with syncopated rhythms. dotted notes and 16ths are something I have to get used too.
Part of that ruggedness may be from the famous Japanese Scarf Joint, which is said to add strength to the neck in the critical area of the peghead.
Might be enough to account for the lack of broken head stocks that you’re seeing, Scab. Maybe there’s enough Pete Townsend footage out there to do an epidemiological study?
Hmm, sounds strong (and is very pretty), but wiki says large pieces prone to unpredictable and severe warping. But using one of many techniques (such as the one below), you could make a stable one out of smaller pieces.
Hmm, I’ve got more than one guitar with that headstock join. Changing the angle of the grain appropriately there should make them a lot stronger than most single piece necks. None of my ancient bolt-ons have one (one has a three piece sandwich neck), but lots of the later ones do. Construction techniques such as those almost surely limited the snapped necks with the cheap bolt on models.
Heh, and it was originally a thrift measure, allowing you to use smaller pieces of wood to make necks and have less scrap.
Dude, no clue. I just play. You are trying to work out single-note picking patterns? I am moving between pick, hybrid and fingerstyle I play things different every time.
I prefer playing by ear too. We had a family get together right after Christmas. I taught several of the younger kids to sing Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and Jingle Bells. First playing the songs from youtube and then I picked the basic melodies to teach them the words and pitch. Just like I was taught when I was 4 or 5. I sang Christmas songs throughout my childhood. Caroling with friends and in church choirs. I always sang them by ear and followed along with the group for my pitch and timing. I love passing on these songs to relative’s kids. They learn music so quickly and it was so much fun later strumming the guitar and singing them (later that evening) for the family. I persuaded most of the adults to join in on Jingle Bells together just like when we were kids.
btw, John Denver’s versions of Silent Night and Away in a Manger are great for teaching kids these songs. Denver used simple arrangements and he’s in a comfortable key for most of us.
I am trying to relearn enough music theory to play from sheet music. Like I did decades ago in my junior high and high school’s orchestra. Counting all the notes just like its written. Sheet music does help when learning the melodies of pop and country songs. I can learn to sing a new song if I can pick the melody on the guitar. It seems to work for me and I taught myself to sing several country songs last year. Good enough for family anyway. 
I don’t plan on singing in a band or anything. There’s too many trained singers waiting for that opportunity.
Guess I shouldn’t make myself too crazy over 8th notes and dotted ones. I can count a syncopated rhythm close enough to learn and play the song. Maybe a little ragged, but then I begin practice singing with the artist’s recording too. That helps me smooth out any timing or pitch issues. Really, playing with the recording is the best way to finish learning any song.
I remember reading a story about Andres Segovia, wherein he gave one of his students a kick in the ass for figuring out an easier way to play a difficult passage. You won’t get that treatment here, I think.
If you were an advanced student perfecting your technique, then I’d say that you should learn to play it both ways. But what we’re really trying to do here above all else is to make music, so maybe you should play it whichever way you find more comfortable, at least until you master the song.
For me, I’d play it whichever way puts me in better position to play the following passage, but would usually prefer to play it the first way. Bringing the pick back up without contacting the string is a skill that you’re going to be using a lot anyway (I think of it as a Reset), and if it seems odd right now, it’ll feel natural later.
Reset. That’s a good term for it. I’ll keep that in mind. Like I mentioned a pair of 8th notes or pair of 16th notes are very easy for me. dn/up no big deal 1 e & a 2 if it’s 16th’s. *Jingle Bells *has pairs of 8ths throughout the song and pairs of 16th’s in three places. (that’s if you’re playing in 2/4 as written).
I’ll just have to set aside daily practice time for the reset to master those dotted 8th’s/16th’s combinations. Jingle Bells is actually a fantastic practice song for guitar players. It builds picking accuracy because you move string to string quickly. open D, open B, G-string A, and open G is the first bar. Open D and two 16th note D’s is the second bar. 3rd bar - Repeat the first bar, end on E is the fourth bar. I found my picking accuracy improving a lot as I steadily built up speed on this song.
It’ll be a practice drill song for many many months to come.
Another great picking accuracy song is Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. The first 6 bars are picked from strings directly inside a C chord. There’s a E note where you drop your third finger down to play. But otherwise you hold that C chord until a quick run on the E, B and G strings. Then go back to the C chord and repeat. That’s a very good 5 string workout with a pick to build accuracy.
Yes, I know, picking accuracy is second nature for you old timers. It’s like explaining how to tie your shoes. 
I foolishly didn’t play for over 10 years and it’s taking some very hard work to regain the skills I had in college. Picking accuracy is something I insist on mastering again. I won’t cheat and look down either. It’s important to keep your head up, smile and sing even harder when a note is a bit flat. 
Act like you meant to hit that note.
I hate missing a string when I’m playing in front of anyone. That stumble is so obvious, even to a non-musician. Daily practice will soon remedy that. But of course an occasional stumble happens to everybody when they are playing a fast piece.
thanks Enter the Flagon I’m glad to hear my instincts were on track.
The difference between “jazz” and “wrong notes” is conviction. 
Amen
Look cool and confidant even when you don’t know WTH you’re doing. Don’t ever let them see you sweat.
I am so very happy - can I talk about a new acquisition?
Shoot, I will anyway - My new telecaster. I’ve been wanting a tele for some time (specifically, that fender fretboard radius just does something with my hands that feels magical. Don’t laugh!). My hands have been hurting lately, so I finally talked myself into trying out some guitars to see if a more comfortable neck would work.
I love teles, I love playing on their necks, I was sold…except for the price of the Made in America styles. They had the sound I wanted (I played a few MIM guitars on my amp to make sure) but man, that price tag.
I went shopping at the nearby house of guitars (seriously - this guy has about 1500 sq. ft. and there’s maybe 20 or so feet that you can comfortably walk in) and lo and behold, he had one of these in stock - still boxed up, just came yesterday, and he hadn’t even played it yet.
That guitar SINGS. Oh my god, I’ve not yet loved a sound out of a guitar like I loved this. I played it side by side with a lower end tele of the same maker, and a Fender deluxe, and it was the best of those 3. I slept on it that night and bought it the next day.
Then, I cut my thumb cleaning dishes.
Congrats Koldanar
You bought one from your link? I haven’t played a Michael Kelly guitar but have heard good things about them. The price is certainly right and you say it plays really well?
Sweet deal. Get your hand healed ASAP and start breaking it in.
My dealer finagled them into sending him one - apparently they make these in limited batches, and sell through them on their site - this one was one of 10 (The butterscotch finish). I just happened to be guitar hunting at the right time for this one.
