Fender Telecaster Special Edition FMT

Djabthrash

Djabthrash

Member
Aug 26, 2007
4,138
3
38
Paris / Montpellier, FRANCE
Image3220.jpg


Got the Fender Telecaster Special Edition FMT today, which is like a mix of a Les Paul (mahogany body, P90-like pup in humbucker mode) and a Telecaster (Tele shape, twangy tone in the single coil mode).

Been G.A.Sing like crazy for this one in the past few weeks, and finally bought one second-hand (in very good condition) today, been playing for 5 hours on it and loving it already !

Some samples :

humbucker mode (bridge pup) :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15008135/Te...InChains_Capcity(Cover)_20120414v1_Double.mp3

single coil mode (bridge pup) :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15008135/Te...InChains_Capcity(Cover)_20120414v1_Single.mp3

single coil mode, volume halfway, split (bridge+neck), no post-fx (besides HP/LP/slight EQ) :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15008135/Te...undGlory_ComingHome(Cover)_20120414v1_raw.mp3

single coil mode, volume halfway, split (bridge+neck), post-fx (flanger+delay) :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15008135/Te...ewFoundGlory_ComingHome(Cover)_20120414v1.mp3

Signal chain : Guitar -> Engl SE 6L6 -> Two Notes Torpedo VB-101 (Engl 412V30 cab, close-miked (and pretty centered) with a Blue Dragonfly Condenser, slight post-EQ/LP/HP.)

Bought one mostly to play some regular old-school metal/hardcore/punk-rock/hard-rock/rock and even funk/pop/blues stuff.

I love it but the only thing that bugs is that the humbucker mode in the bridge position sounds fat but not tight enough (quite muddy actually), which sucks for thrash/death metal. Anyone else experiencing the same thing with Les Paul/P90 style guitars ? The "fat but not tight/not defined enough" thing i mean.

I tried my best to fix that with EQ but it seems it's the guitar+pickup that sounds like that, period.
Otherwise i love the guitar.
 
Dude both fender and squire have put out various versions of this over the years. Avg price about 400usd. Not with the photo flame crap but carved top and dual humbuckers. Also look into the squier master series teles. I believe these are all mik and basically the same model. Fender Celtic and scorpion esquires are similar but with one hum.
 
amarshism said:
Or guitar selection. Keep it for rock/blues, use something else for metal.
Click to expand...

Yeah maybe i'm asking too much, thinking a guitar can do everything great...

Gonna see if adjusting amp settings as much as possible, right hand positioning and putting new strings makes a difference.

Just a question about string gauge/tension : i assume under heavy picking (especially for palm-mutes), a light string gauge/tension would sound a bit weird (if you can't help digging hard in those strings i mean) and out of tune, a "medium" string gauge/tension would sound fine, and then above a certain point of hard/heavy string gauge/tension, the guitar stays in tune BUT the size of the strings could make it sound rounder/muddier/non articulate, right ?

I mean, it's easier to produce a sharp razor-like tight sound while palm muting using a regular-sized string than using a big-ass bass string, right ?

Maybe i should try putting a tad lighter string gauge or something. Right now it feels great to my fingers in terms of tension, and it seems to stay in tune pretty well.

I'm gonna ask the dude i bought it from what string gauge he put exactly, but IIRR he told me 11-52 (Medium), considering it's in E standard. I might scale back to 10-46 (regular) to see if it makes a positive effect.
 
Sloan said:
Dude both fender and squire have put out various versions of this over the years. Avg price about 400usd. Not with the photo flame crap but carved top and dual humbuckers. Also look into the squier master series teles. I believe these are all mik and basically the same model. Fender Celtic and scorpion esquires are similar but with one hum.
Click to expand...

Gonna check this out.
 
Actually the guy just told me he put this gauge (skinny top heavy bottom / light top heavy bottom) in there : 10-13-17-30-42-52

No wonder why it didn't feel that hard in the higher strings. I guess i can try out a regular tuning (.010 .013 .017 .026 .036 .046) and see if i get a sharper/more articulate tone without sacrificing too much tuning stability and feel under my fingers.

EDIT : found a couple of interesting posts in the string gauge/tension threads :

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...oblems-heavy-gauge-strings-2.html#post8302714

"when you go too thick you definitely loose clarity and bite (and you will probably get arthritis) . At least if your going for that tight mechanical sound and not the sludgy, muddy sound."

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...oblems-heavy-gauge-strings-2.html#post8302828

"Yeah, bigger strings sound better up to a point. But then it starts going backwards on you I think. I like a 46 for standard tuning, a 52 for D or perhaps C (which I never play in). I've used a 56 before for tuning to B, and it was acceptable, but far from ideal. I think a lighter string sounded better, but felt much worse and wasn't as stable"

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...oblems-heavy-gauge-strings-2.html#post8303075

"I personally like the feel of thicker strings, but not the tone, so I just stick to these, not-so-thick, not-so-thin strings in the tuning that I use."

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...problems-heavy-gauge-strings.html#post8301103

"the tracks recorded with the schecter sounds so muddy and scooped (bassy and fizzy) than the tracks done by Marcus with his Ibanez.
I know also that he uses 12-54 instead of 12-59 (like me)... I found these strings very comfortable to play but at this point I think they produce a deeper sound, less clear....
Sincerelly I don't know. I noticed the same thing playing with a Les Paul/Eclipse...it sounds very big, but bassy and scooped, than my Schecter."

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...ing-tension-tighter-playing.html#post10138279

"I've found that heavier gauge strings have a tendency to sound more "round," if that makes any sense."

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/568331-muddy-guitar-wood-strings.html#post8903859

"Lighter gauge strings are going to have a sharper attack for sure. I don't know what exactly you mean by "tighter" sounding, but that might have something to do with it.
Most would not consider it tighter because the strings are obviously going to feel much looser in the same tuning.
I would ask what sort of bridge each guitar has."

EDIT 2 : i hope putting tad lighter and new strings will do the job, because if not then i'd have to think about changing the bridge pickup... (i wanna be able to play some tight thrash on this guitar really, and still do the rest : punk/rock/blues/funk/pop)

EDIT 3 : maybe raising the pups a bit can help too... gonna try that also
 
As others have said the biggest problem here is the pickup. The Pearly Gates is an underpowered and warm sounding pickup on purpose, hence your 'fat but tight' sound. If you want an all-round guitar I'd go JB in the bridge. With a boost pedal you can use that pickup for just about anything.
 
Headof75 said:
As others have said the biggest problem here is the pickup. The Pearly Gates is an underpowered and warm sounding pickup on purpose, hence your 'fat but tight' sound. If you want an all-round guitar I'd go JB in the bridge. With a boost pedal you can use that pickup for just about anything.
Click to expand...

OK thanks a lot ! What would be awesome is a pickup that sounds like the JB (or any tight/articulate humbucker pup thatw orks well for metal) in humbucker mode, but that can be put in single coil mode with push-pull and sound like the Pearly Gates in single coil mode. That would be effin' perfect.

Still gonna try to reach the best results possible with strings and pickup height before i try changing pickups tho'.
And also try to see if i can't get the rythm tone i like with the single coil mode instead.

Thanks a lot to you guys for all the info, you've been very helpful.
Gonna come back here and post the results of my experimentations (might help other people with the same issue too).
 
Sloan said:
Agh on my dads iPad. So I'm not reading thoroughly. I thought you were asking about the guitar. Ha.

I agree on everything about the pickup. Pearly gates were modeled after pups in billy gibbons guitar of the same name as far as I know.
Click to expand...

'ight ! Gonna check those other models you were mentioning, just out of curiosity.
 
Fender is putting the Pearly Gates in a few guitars these days - it can also be found in the new Fender Road Worn Player series Stratocaster HSS which has been one I've looked into but since I'm not looking for necessarily a metal guitar I liked it quite a bit, it had a nice quality to it when I played one a few weeks ago. And yes, it's Billy Gibbons signature pickup so you know what it was designed for - blues based rockin and a rollin. I've since settled on most likely getting the Road Worn Players Telecaster with a Tex Mex single coil in the bridge and the Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck position, but once again, not really for my metal side - I'll leave that to my Ibanez guitars.
 
Jind said:
Fender is putting the Pearly Gates in a few guitars these days - it can also be found in the new Fender Road Worn Player series Stratocaster HSS which has been one I've looked into but since I'm not looking for necessarily a metal guitar I liked it quite a bit, it had a nice quality to it when I played one a few weeks ago. And yes, it's Billy Gibbons signature pickup so you know what it was designed for - blues based rockin and a rollin. I've since settled on most likely getting the Road Worn Players Telecaster with a Tex Mex single coil in the bridge and the Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck position, but once again, not really for my metal side - I'll leave that to my Ibanez guitars.
Click to expand...

Now that i know what this pup is about in humbucker mode, i guess i'm gonna enjoy it and play with it for what it's supposed to do and nothing else. Gonna try the single coil mode for tightness.

Also, i checked out the pup's clips on the Seymour Duncan website, and the JB definitely sounds like something i would like : crisp, articulate, tight...

A friend of mine with the same guitar replaced the Pearly Gates with a D-Activator, i guess i have to check this one and all the DiMarzio pups that could fit my needs too.
 
There is nothing wrong with Strats or Teles for metal. Change the pickups. Done.
 
006 said:
There is nothing wrong with Strats or Teles for metal. Change the pickups. Done.
Click to expand...

I agree, a pickup change is an easy solution, but for me a Tele is about that default twang of the single coil in the bridge and for me I don't use it for modern metal.

As always individual mileage may vary.
 
Quick update on my "sound is too fat/greasy/boomy/muddy and not tight enough for thrash metal" situation :

after putting some new strings, getting adjusted to the guitar and playing guitars in E standard in general (lol) lately, i did some tests comparing different bridge pickup heights, and it didn't end up in a drastic change toward my initial issue. Among others, it's hard to compare different pickup heights since it always results in different ouputs hence different amounts of gain in the end... So i tried my best to readjust my amp gain to compensate for the pickup output difference to due different height, and my conclusions were the following :

-no matter what the pickup height is, this Pearly Gates pickup is still some fat/not super tight mo'fo
-lowering the pickup a bit resulted in less output, which is cool since it allows me to dial my amp gain more precisely (and since i'm gonna use this guitar for metal but also for some "nice" stuff including crunch and funky and clean tones, less output is a good thing)
-it seems lowering the pickup a bit also cut some boominess and forces me to dig in harder which is good for tight thrash metal IMO
-i didn't go too far in terms of lowering the pickup since it might result in something overkill in the end (a tone that would lack fullness, too much dynamics, maybe a lack of harmonics, etc...)
-this pickup has a cool tone, just not exactly suited for tight thrash metal

Also, new strings helped a bit for clarity of course.

I don't feel like putting a lighter string gauge (i have 10-52 for now) since i like how it feels that way, but maybe i'm gonna give it a shot but as very last resort.

Here's what i ended up with (had to adjust my amp (which is an ENGL so a tight by default) settings to fit that guitar/pickup as opposed to my regular schecter hellraiser w. EMG81 in C# : added a bit more gain, cut a lot of bass, added some treble, switched the "mid edge" voicing off :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15008135/Fe...erTelecasterFMTTightThrashTest_20120508v1.mp3

Besides the sloppy playing and non-stop fuckups, what do you think ? Does this sound tight enough (sound not performance :) ) ? Does this sound like too much bass was dialed out and gain is way too low ?

For now i think it's not that untight but still sounds a bit too fat and greasy and loose, and i feel i have to cut too much bass and keep the gain a tad too low to keep it tight, so the next step for me is to try tons of other guitars in E in guitar shops to be sure you can get a tighter/thrash-friendlier tone with a standard E guitar, and then try putting another pup that has a good reputation for tightness/clarity/metulz.

I intend to do a locking tuners/nut (graphtech)/bridge (graphtech) update also (i think the guitar could be way better in terms of tuning stability, among other things).

I'll keep you guys posted.

EDIT : i also tried to get a good tight thrash metal tone with the single coil mode, bit it doesn't fit IMO. I love that single coil tone though, but just not for that music style.
 
Quick update :

A couple of months ago i was asking for some advice to make my Fender Telecaster FMT (some kind of Telecaster meets Les Paul thingie, tuned in E standard, mainly for playing rock/funk/blues, but also wanted for some metal) more thrash metal/tight-ready, and i finally decided to put a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge among other things.

Here is the result :

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15008135/Fe...erTelecasterFMTTightThrashTest_20130122v1.mp3

(Old sample to compare with : http://dl.dropbox.com/u/15008135/Fe...erTelecasterFMTTightThrashTest_20120508v1.mp3)

Back then (see this old clip : http://tonefinder.com/index.php?section=id&value=13049) i had trouble with the original bridge pup (Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Plus) which sounded a bit woofy in the lows and not tight enough in humbucker mode. I had to drop the gain a lot to have something tight enough for my liking. But then it was too dry-sounding :)

Now i've put a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge, a Graphtech String Savers saddle and Sperzel Auto-Lock tuners and a fresh set of strings. I feel the lows are a little bit tighter which allows me to dial some more gain and i dig it now. The tone has not changed drastically though.

Let me know what you think (besides the sloppy playing :) ).

NB : Two Notes Torpedo VB-101 used for the miking (cab/mic/miking/post-EQ) part.

EDIT : i'm quite satisfied with the result, so thanks a lot for all the advice you guys have offered me in the past months !
Now this axe is good for metal, in addition to being awesome for rock/blues/funk !
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Clark Kent
Single Coil Shootout: Fender Baja Telecaster VS PRS Custom 24
Replies
2
Views
2K
Backline
Clark Kent
C
Djabthrash
Electric guitar break-in ? Getting 2 guitars to sound the same.
Replies
8
Views
3K
Backline
Djabthrash
D
Top Bottom
Back