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Contributing to the different tone of the Broadcaster vs. the early Telecasters was a change in pickup wire gauge, from 43 AWG enamel-coated wire to 42 AWG formvar wire. The 43 is slightly thinner which enabled more wire to fit on the pickup. Of course, the changeover did not occur exactly when the Broadcaster/Nocaster transitioned to the Telecaster, and also of course variations occur from guitar-to-guitar pickups even with the same wire being used. but generally speaking, the thinner wire is what helps the B'caster have a bit of a different sound.
Guys, thanks for the demo. Great to see that truly exceptional Broadcaster. Yet, I would have appreciated a more time spent on the early wiring. I've watched other demos of the earliest Tele's and no one takes the time to talk about the circuit. Firstly, there's no tone control. So immediately you have more punch and highs. The back control is a BLEND control that adds the neck pickup to the bridge in the #1 switch position. *Very* useful! Adding a touch of the neck keeps the snarl of the bridge and adds some body and quack = "The Broadcaster Sound". Rolling the blend pot completely counter-clockwise gives the player what is now the #2 position on the "modern" Tele: full neck/bridge combined. But, again, no tone control sucking gain and highs. The #2 position is the neck pickup, still with no tone control. Nice, fat neck sound. And you did spend a little time on position #3, which was good to see and hear, which incorporates a resistor/capacitor network to remove the highs and lower the gain. All the best to you. Be well and play lots of guitar!
Guys don't seem to be aware that the Broadcaster and Nocaster had a blend switch instead of a tone control. They really need to understand that better.
They really are 3 distinct sounding guitars. All 3 different, but I can’t pick one that’s better than the others. The Nocaster appealed the most to me, personally. But that’s no knock on the others. Not by a long shot..
I played a lot of different guitars, strats, paulas, ES models but always came back to Tellies after a short period. What's the magic with this guitars? It was my first e-git and will be my last.
That's cool. But I'd go sell it to a cork-sniffer for $40K and then go buy a Custom Shop replica for $2,500 and have pretty much the same guitar...Minus the bragging rights. Ha ha. Fender has gotten so good at cloning these early vintage Stratocasters and Telecasters that I honestly can't tell the difference and I've played a lot of real 50's fenders. If you think about it, a player can get a near-identical copy of a early 50's Fender for under $4K. That's pretty reasonable when you consider a period-correct one is over $20K now.
They're more than that. That Broadcaster would be in the range of $70-80k or more. I agree...their value is in their collectibility. That's a lot of Custom Sop guitars for that money and you can get modern wiring, better frets, quartersawn necks, belly cuts, heel cuts etc as well as your choice of neck profile and radius. You could get CS replicas of Tele, Strat, LP, 335 as well as a slew of acoustics for that. And a Tesla. I know where I'd spend my money.
The Broadcaster has a ridiculously thicker body! The chunky baseball bat and that thick body must make it weigh more than the sun, but thanks Leo used Pine wood.
Imagine there are people actually interested in what they’re talking about and others (like you) can just skip through it, if they don’t care. Christ, if someone would be giving out free burgers and beer at the mall, you’d complain that you only wanted the beer.
I recently got a Baja Telecaster. (Second hand) and just wanted to comment on the sound of the Broadcaster, it has that "chirpy' sound that mine has, with the Broadcaster reproduced pickup in it. I thought it was quite modern take on the sound, but hearing an original Broadcaster it makes sense. No dark circuit on mine tho. Awesome guitars!
Nikoo0033 You have your own opinion but a lot of great players have made wonderful sounds with a Tele. Not everybody can though. Teles tend to reveal flaws and weaknesses in players.
Bonga donga bingle bungle twangle dangle dong. The tough and industrial telly will be a-lying gentlywithesunand wotnot loooong after we bite de doos, our dessicated corpses picked clean by ‘roach and rat… oh dear Here Come The End - buthay nevermind cape diem and twangle the dangle and not worry ‘bout The Future oh yes!
That is a simple 2 dollar upgrade , its a capacitor swap ....stock broadcaster and teles came that way . Just save the old one......put it back if u dont like it or sell it
@@imannonymous7707: Exactly, and that's why a lot of owners do modify them. The point made at 3:27 seemed to suggest that this is a mistake, however: Because the guitar was originally designed to have a fixed tone (with the capacitor) when the PU selector is all the way forward, it should be left that way. From my perspective, I simply don't find it '...a more creative system' to have such disparity between the PU sounds. He even had to have the amp turned up to demonstrate just how 'useable' the tone is which I found amusing.
late to the party but that third position wasn’t really for guitar playing it was supposedly so you get & play bass tones without carrying around a upright bass in the 50s
I must disagree with you. Although the hosts didn't demo it (I don't think), the unaltered original B'caster and Nocaster circuit had one very unique feature. It's a "blend" control that can get more tones than just the lead pickup only, the neck pickup only and the neck pickup with the bassy capacitor. What we think of as the tone pot is actually the blend control, going from full lead sound, full neck pickup sound, and an infinite number of blended sounds between the two. I had it on my early Custom shop Nocaster and it is very cool, although many players rewired the originals over the years to the more standard Tele configuration. A commenter a few posts below gives a more detailed description.
I prefer the 52, more even across the eq range. That Nocaster RI ain't far off! Gotta love a Tele! (even more one with a Bigsby!) Looking forward to the Strat video mentioned
I am the blessed owner of a Nocaster reissue (that’s why I came here). Bought it in 2009, at a moment when I was so down, so I name her Beatrice. It’s natural ash and so versatile and easy to play with that massive baseball bat-like neck (prefer to play it without pick). She has given me such beautiful music. And, well, she needs to be retuned when she smells new strings... :)
in a very nice way they call the neck position to be jazzy but for me it sound like sh!t, no wonder the 2020 reissue has different circuitry by default
Actually during 52 the year started with the blend control and ended with the tone control on the pickups ( the jack plate also changed around the same time). Both sound great!!
Are there later affordable versions of the telecaster (below the 2000,- range) that are an exact copy? Why is it not possible to make exact copies? We are technologically way, way ahead now, so it must be possible to make an exact copy. I mean, its wood, a certain weight, shape, electrical parts (nothing really futuristic, just wires and pickups), what's the difficulty here? I don't want to troll here, just curious can someone explain to me why the oldest are so special that they are so valuable? If its a painting ok, its too much going on. But a wiring on a plank of wood, why is it so 'fantastique'...I will accept any explanation as long as its logical.
Not the easiest guitars to play compared to strats or Gibson`s.... but Tele`s do have rewards if you can tame the beast. Look out if your technique is not up to speed as the Tele will make this evident..! Definitely one of the more versatile guitar models on the market. As stated in this video, some Jazz players have utilized the Tele and they can also crunch in rock music and do R&B perfectly. The mighty Telecaster..!
Of course, the amp that any electric guitar is played through, the settings on that amp, the room in which it is played, the mic and rest of the gear used to transmit the sound to, not forgetting, the player him or herself make great differences in how guitars sound. Also, no two guitars are exactly or even sometime closely alike. Another Broadcaster might very likely sound quite different..
Have built many Teles and never once did I think of my playing any of them as a demo, I guess demoing a guitar is strumming it when you really can't play it yet. You guys need to practice your demoing skills some more. Does not matter how old the thing is if you can't play it what does it matter how old it is. Wall hanger is what it becomes.
Telecasters really sound like the archetype metaphore of a broom to which 2-3 metal strings have been attached to. Thin and dry. Although I sometimes like their neck pickup sound, but that’s about it. You have to put 13s or 16s and tons of pedals to get a good sound out of them 😅
Glicksman1 you are right, I have to admit, none of the videos I have seen (including this one) in HD (audio and video) has ever convinced me to grab and try one in a music store. And yet I am a fan of Josh Smith. 😅
AJLGUITFIDDLE That’s fine with me, I just don’t like their thin and dry sound. Just watched your video with your Laney amp. Really don’t like the sound, sorry.
