Gear advice.. am I being shortsighted?

[Platypus]

Hey guys, this is always the hardest part.. should I trade X for Y?

Just looking for some advice here.. I have 3 guitars with humbuckers and I've been wanting to get a single coil guitar for quite some time; now the opportunity for this has presented itself.

I've got the opportunity to get this Fender 62 American Vintage Custom Tele:
http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0106200806

You can check out the specs here.. kind of unique because its fatter doublebound body. I also typically hate Fender necks but this is one is up my alley (C shaped) because I love the Les Paul / WideFat PRS style neck that feels like a baseball bat in your hand; unfortunate side effect of having big hands. I had the chance to play it but not plugged in.. it sounded great unplugged, lots of tone and mojo to it. It's also brand new in sea foam green w/ white binding and a mint pickguard.

Now for the rub.. I have to give up my Orange Rocker 30 1x12 for it. I can't say I've really even plugged into it since I got my Stiletto Ace, in fact it's been with a friend since then because he'd never tasted the tube amp flavor before and I wasn't in dire need of it. It's one of those things where I'd feel like I'd regret it for those rare times when I wanted to just throw it in the backseat of my car and show up somewhere but I honestly think the Stiletto is a better amp and I can get 90% of the Orange tones and then a whole bunch more with the Ace. The Orange is great but compresses a bit too much for my taste at higher volumes with certain guitars.

Anyway, does that sound reasonable? I'd be making money on the trade for sure and I'd be getting a single coil axe that I wouldn't be able to get outright for at least a few months since I just moved and went through a lot of unplanned costs. It'd be great to hear from someone who has this axe as well.. is the '62 pickup combo good for 'that tele sound' ? I'm looking for the twangy twang twang of the classic telecaster.

Last question, hopefully a Mark IV user will chime in.. how does the Mark IV handle single coils as opposed to hums?

thanks guys, talk me off the ledge if you can

 

[Guitarzan]

Tele's are great single coil guits to start with. Get the guitar if it's, like you said, a better deal for you. It will handle very differently than your other HB equipped guitars. You'll have to re-adjust your tone and gain settings immediately. I've always ran my Strats "Spongy/Tube" for the best dynamics and tone. Once you get comfortable with the guitar then talk to me about pickups. You may like the stocks and keep it that way for a bit. There are just as many options, if not more, for Tele/Strat pickups than you would want to get into right now.

 

[Platypus]

The stock pickups are the 62 Custom Tele pickups, I suppose they're probably pretty good but I didn't plug in so that's one thing I'm not sure of. I know there are literally tons of pickups out there for teles.

If I wanted to drop a P90 into the 'lipstick' neck pickup slot is that doable without routing? I realize it's pretty small but I think Duncan made a drop in replacement??

 

[Guitarzan]

It is doable with minimal routing...only sacrificing your pickguard a bit. I would put in the new Virtual Vintage Solo Pro DP414. This has a P-90 voicing in a strat sized p/u.

 

[Platypus]

It is doable with minimal routing...only sacrificing your pickguard a bit. I would put in the new Virtual Vintage Solo Pro DP414. This has a P-90 voicing in a strat sized p/u.

Neat, it comes in mint green (same as pick guard). How pricey would it be to have a luthier do this?

 

[Guitarzan]

Neat, it comes in mint green (same as pick guard). How pricey would it be to have a luthier do this?

No more than 25 bucks.

 

[Brewski]

Hey Platypus. If the guitar is going to give you some extra tones that you're after go for it. You should try it plugged in, to make sure that you like it. If you want the twangy sound, play it stock for a while.

If you go the P-90 route, they can be noisy at idle. They are also thicker sounding. I have a couple of p-90 guitars. When you use the middle setting they cancel each other out. I've heard that aluminum insulation can help quiet them down, but haven't tried it myself.

For a Tele type sound, but thicker, take a look at this. It might be a cheaper route for you to go, and see if you warm up to a Tele sound. It's only about $500. If you don't like the tones, you'd probably be able to recoupe most of your money. It also has a nice wider c-shape neck for big hands. I'm just throwing it out there as a possible alternative.

http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/guitars/bolt_on_series/buckshot.html

 

[Guitarzan]

Hey Platypus. If the guitar is going to give you some extra tones that you're after go for it. You should try it plugged in, to make sure that you like it. If you want the twangy sound, play it stock for a while.

If you go the P-90 route, they can be noisy at idle. They are also thicker sounding. I have a couple of p-90 guitars. When you use the middle setting they cancel each other out. I've heard that aluminum insulation can help quiet them down, but haven't tried it myself.

For a Tele type sound, but thicker, take a look at this. It might be a cheaper route for you to go, and see if you warm up to a Tele sound. It's only about $500. If you don't like the tones, you'd probably be able to recoupe most of your money. It also has a nice wider c-shape neck for big hands. I'm just throwing it out there as a possible alternative.

http://www.reverendguitars.com/reverend/guitars/bolt_on_series/buckshot.html

I just recently played a "Buckshot" and their V. Very Cool guitars.

 

[Charlie]

Fyi I'm not sure if they do the same thing with Telecasters but both of the Strats I have owned were already routed for humbuckers in the neck and bridge position even though they had single coil pickups.

I recently swapped out a single coil for a humbucker in my strat and all I had to do was buy a new pickguard.

 

[Russ]

I guess the biggest part of the equation is do you like Surf Green?

The Mark IV does handle single coils fine. I wouldn't even worry about that part if I was you. There is some minor adjustment that you will want to make going from humbuckers to single coils obviously. As far as the amp sounding ok with single goes, I like my Strat and my G&L sounded great too. Just take some time to dial your guitar's natural tone in on your amp. This is the part that you will be looking for most if you want to really get that Tele sound. I never got into the really spanky twanginess of a Tele but I did like the clean clean when running my G&L ASAT Classic if you know what I mean. The pickups were a little hotter than a Tele but I am sure that you should be able to still make your Tele shine. If nothing else it gives you some of that thinner single coil sound that you can't get from hums.

As far as the 62 goes, I too like a neck with more girth to it. Somehow it seems more comfortable and at the same time I feel it sustains better having more wood to resonate with thus giving better tone. The fact that it sounded good not even plugged in is a good sign. That wood is then certainly working for you with that guitar. A Tele is always a good choice to have in your stable. Like a Strat, Les Paul, or SG, it is a classic sound that nothing else really makes.

Would I make the trade? If you are covering the sounds of the Orange with the Ace then you might consider offing the Orange anyway. However, there is a reason you got the Orange. Be sure that reason is satisfied by your other amps or you may regret it if it is that important. You might also try plugging the Tele into the Orange. You might like that combination enough to consider holding off until you can afford to get a Tele outright. Personally, I would get the Black or the Burst. Actually I would get the Black because all my guitars are black.

As you know, I recently sacrificed my JCM800. I had some difficulty at first but I realized that if I want another one I know what I like already. Now I am ok with it. Sure, the Mark IV covers most of what I used the JCM800 for anyway and my JMP does better classic Marshall. I now have an expanded palette of amp tones to choose from with the addition of the DR. Was that a good change? I am thinking it was.

From a different angle, what is the worst that could happen? You have to sell the Tele? You already said you weren't playing the Orange anyway and that you didn't care for the compression at higher volumes with your guitars.

 

[Guitarzan]

I had a 95 Strat surf green w/ matching headstock!

 

[Brewski]

I just recently played a "Buckshot" and their V. Very Cool guitars.

Yeah, as you can tell, I'm a fan of their guitars, but also like Fenders. Rev's are relatively inexpensive, very well made, and the 3 that I own all look and sound great. I mentioned it, because it'd help save a lot of money, Platypus would get to keep his Orange, and it might fit the bill without having to do pickguard and pickup mods and possible headaches that go along with it. They are also holding their value extremely well. I could sell my Rev's at a much better ratio to purchase price than my Fenders. So, that's the reasoning for my advice.

I'd love to hear what your thoughts were on the V, but I won't ask and hijack Platy's thread! 8)

 

[Guitarzan]

I'll make it quick... the V was different... It had a raised center ala firebird and a funky headstock. Sounded OK very old school as far as the vibe.

 

[Russ]

Fyi I'm not sure if they do the same thing with Telecasters but both of the Strats I have owned were already routed for humbuckers in the neck and bridge position even though they had single coil pickups.

I recently swapped out a single coil for a humbucker in my strat and all I had to do was buy a new pickguard.

They went to hum routing in the Strat because they changed from the bath tub routing that they were doing. This gave the Strat back some tone yet still made it so they could just pickup a blank and make anything as far as pickup configuration that they want. I am not so sure about the Tele routing though. It would make sense though because they offer hums in either/both neck and/or bridge depending upon the model.

 

[Platypus]

I actually am ordering it in Surf Green on purpose so yes I like the color

It's got a lot of mojo for me for some reason, totally dig the white binding and mint guard too.

As far as the routing I'd have to check because the pickguard is covering everything but the tiny slit the lipstick pickup is in.

I'm feeling better about the Orange trade now that I've read some of your comments... I bought the amp because I was a poor college kid at the time and wanted a british fix but couldn't afford anything bigger. Now that I'm done with all of that and making some real money I invested in the Stiletto Ace and it kind of put the Orange on the backburner so to speak. It has a bit more of a darker tone than the Ace does and clips into that nice VH style sound with an OD so for that I will miss it but it wasn't a very expensive piece and to be honest I wanted to get an Orange head anyway at some point (but couldn't afford it at the time) so I might just wait it out. I'm certainly not giving up my grail tone or anything for the trade.

I see this as an opportunity to get a single coil axe without actually losing anything and I can always sell it later, they seem to hold their value well at least from what I've seen on the used market. I'm going to play with it for a bit before I decide to do the p90 thing, it'd be tits if there was routing already done on it so I could just swap back and forth.

And Brewksi, I don't mind the hijack