Why A Telecaster Is The Ultimate Guitar 

Great video Paul. When I was young (a long time ago) I didn’t like tele’s, it was all Strats and Les Paul’s for me. Only in the last 12 months have I owned and now become obsessed with telecasters. I’m on my second one already and it is always the first guitar I pick up from the stand.

I agree with you, your comparison has convinced me that the Telecaster is the standout among the three guitars. Thanks!

I love my Nashville Deluxe Tele because it has three unique single coils and a tremolo, so you get all the features of the Strat, but with the sound of the Tele. And it also gives you the option of bypassing the tremolo and string it through the body like a traditional Tele if you prefer. Best of both worlds.

Yes. I've been saying this for years!! LOVE this guys playing. His phrasing is magic.

If you mod a Telecaster with an ObsidianWire 4 way switch you basically combine the pickups to create a humbucker, making the Tele an absolute versatile jack of all trades.

Yes sir you nailed it. I owned a Tele Thinline in the 80s, mated through a Peavey Bandit and rookie me couldn't get the sounds I wanted and blamed the guitar. In time I went through a Strat, a Les Paul and a PRS EGII, all now long gone. I'm left with a PRS SE Singlecut, which just got a neck P-Rail, cause I miss the 'single coil' sound. But a Tele with those pickups and that sound simply aren't matched by any other guitar and TBH I prefer a 'Tele sound' now to a 'Strat sound'. So I shall have to get a Tele again, won't I.

Keep up the great content! I just made this very decision, and ended up with a hardtailed strat. I love teles, but for my first non-entry-level guitar I went with strat.

Another great video Paul. Great topic. I never wanted a telecaster, not liked the look of them. And then suddenly, earlier this year, I had the desire to try one. I ended up buying a MIJ Fender telecaster with a P90 in the neck. Wow. What a lovely guitar. It is now my favourite and today I love the look of telecasters.

I have a cioks DC7 with the Crux unit. Certainly does the job.

Never played a Tele, but now i want one.

Your channel is really awesome and informative. I hope you guys get some good exposure and your likes and subscriptions get up to the millions like you deserve.

The part imlike teles more is the volume knob and pickup selector positions...i always hit the volume knob...like in always!!!😢

Interesting comparison, but I think it's flawed. I think it's fair to argue for the Tele's versatility, but I think your approach to the comparison is not. It's easy to say "I've set up my amp for a great sound for my Tele, but that setup doesn't sound good with my Les Paul", but it's just as easy to say that opposite. I think it'd be an interesting exercise if you spent some time dialing in your 'perfect' LP tone on a given amp, and then compare to the tele and strat using the same setup. I'm not anti-Tele or pro-LP. I've seen videos hailing the Tele, the Strat, the LP, and the ES-335 all as "the only guitar you'll ever need", and I think most of the videos I've seen have had fair points. Preference and playing style seem to be the deciding factors in the end.

The Paul’s neck pup is smooth. I would recommend an Ibanez AS200 also for versatility.

I watched til the end. First ..Thank you for the comparison..I love all 3 of these iconic guitars ...I've just recently fallen in love with the simple beauty of Teles. And I feel ashamed that I had been denying myself this instruments character and tones..I bought a tele and it cut thru the mix like I had heard . having been playing a 96 Am standard strat for years alongside a 1980 custom les paul..I wanted a different guitar ..and this Tele did just that .I could never choose between the 3 .I have always loved the thickness of the les paul sound ..but the fenders have a mojo to them that cannot be denied..I adore the teles cut and snap and the strats tones in pos 4 &5....oh the agony of having to choose ..

My favourite guitar is a Les Paul, if you set your amp up you can get great clean sounds as well as great overdriven tones. I also love Tele's and Strats

You sit on the wonder land ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

That's a great tone my friend. Do you mind sharing what you use? And how you deal with the 60 hz hum and noise on single coils?

What kind of tele is that? I’m looking to buy one and I love that sound, cheers!

Thanks Paul! Great video as per usual. What pickups are in the pink tele? It sounds killer!!

I Love my Talman (Nice Tele) and my Stanford Marquee (LP Style) but not with traditional HB. The Stanford has got Tv Jones in it :-)

Hi, I just stumbled upon your demo, thanks. I've just put together a Tele with pickups from the Custom shop: Fat 50 Al5 in the bridge, Nocaster Al3 in the neck, all put together in a very light and resonating MJT alder body. The result is just stunning: I've mounted a one-piece maple neck with a '59 profile that fits my hand like a glove. Can't put her down. Now, regarding the Les Paul, I somewhat disagree with you. Although it is quite a different ball game, there are many instances where there is a common ground: 2 pickups that you can blend to get the utmost of its legendary sound. I don't know what pickups are mounted on yours (BurstBuckers? Classic 57?), but the definitely sound muddy. Mine has Low Output CustomBuckers, unpotted Al3 that sound just great. The balance between the 2 pickups is just perfect afetr tweaking the height a little, and the low output makes it sound like a Tele on steroïds. I do like both guitars and I think they quite complement each other: ideal for a multi-track recording. BTW: I also play on a '64 reissue SG that, IMO combines the qualities of both guitars. It's light, bity, with very nice cleans and screaming growl when pushed a bit by putting the amp on the verge of breakup. Plus the '64 neck is one of the fastest I've played... Cheers !

Nice video Paul I've got a Tele, and i wasn´t convinced by his sound, it was too treble por me, so i missed the sound of the humbuckers, but then i've downloaded a preset for Kata Mk II and i fell in love with the sound of my Tele, it was crunchy, warm, and pretty clear

Using any pedals for the tones? Love the clarity, punch and crunch. You just convinced me to get the Revv D20. ❤️

Many years ago, I played a Les Paul for about 12 years. Then a Strat, then a bunch of other things like some Ibanez models, then a Strat, finally landing on the Tele. It’s been my go to for a number of years now although I often use Nashville models to be able to get those Stratty 2 and 4 sounds. Question, Paul - what pickups in your ‘burst? All your tones were great but that one sounded a bit sweeter to my ears. Great content as always, brother! 👌🏻👍🏻

That Shell pink Tele is brilliant! Which model is that? Custom shop? Those pickups are insane.

Telecaster player and Les paul epiphone 60 2020 for me

Which amp are you playing through? Sounds awesome!

1. Tele 2. Strat 3. SG 4. Almost every other guitar in the history of guitars 5. LP

I've got a bunch of guitars (GAS at it's finest). My favorite is a PRS McCarty but my gigging guitar was always my Les Paul Studio with 57s that had a push/pull pot to split the coil (the PRS I have with humbuckers does the split thing too, but I was often reluctant to take such an expensive guitar on gigs). Humbuckers (or P-90s really) don't do "edge of breakup" or "Hendrix" style well regardless, doesn't matter Strat, Tele or Les Paul. A Les Paul with split coil pickups doesn't sound like a Strat or a Tele, but it does sound like a guitar that can get great tones at that "edge of breakup" place for those songs. The ability to switch back to humbuckers meant I could drive the amp harder when needed too.

Interesting comparison, Paul. What about a Les Paul with P 90s. It seems to me that Gibson LPs and ES 335s are very mid range type guitars on the bridge pups, designed to sound better and to cut through in a band, while the bridge pup is for a nice clean, although there are many examples from legendary guitarists that make great use of the LP neck pup with a lot of distortion.

I loved them all, I gig a Les Paul now due to problems with my wrists caused by multiple fractures, I really struggle with the fender scale when playing standing up, but I do hate the sharp body edge of the Les Paul it digs into my forearm and sometimes gives me pins and needles in my hand, the best sound??? That amp you're using!!

Hi Paul, great demo; very revealing. Love your playing too. Would you mind telling me what string gauges you have on your Telecasters? I always feel that I need a heavier gauge on my Telecaster compared to the Stratocaster. Is it the spring tension on the Strat? Kind regards, Barry

Do you use noiseless pickups in your telecasters? If so or even if not which one would you recommend for a tele bridge pickup thanks

I was a little confused with the very last Les Paul demo. You had it in the middle position. I thought you were comparing neck position sounds.

Got a cs nocaster and a LP R7, im covered by any means. The nocaster will always be my number one though.

What amp and settings do you play here?

What string guage do you prefer on your Tele? Also, how high do you setup your strings and pickups?

???? I love Telecasters but I'm not a fan of the body, what do you think of Telemasters?

Agree, the Strat is more comfortable to play and sounds better!

Telecaster always

It depends on what style of music style you play. Play country, B-52s, Pretenders? Tele. Play Rainbow, Hendrix? Strat. Play Budgie, Ozzy, Led Zep? Les Paul.

no way man. You demo'd a studio silver Jube and the first two guitars you picked up were a Suhr Alt T and a DGT, and they sounded far better through that amp than did the tele. Its about BALANCE with HH guitars. Gibson just throws whatever fuckin pickups are their "burst bucker of the week" in their QC hindered Les Paul offerings. Suhr and PRS spent time with the pickups in those guitars and they sounded fantastic because they aren't compressed, they offer a midrange that sings and split into, no offense, far better sounding single coil sounds than any tele pickup Ive ever heard, at least with any gain. Tele bridge pickups are nice for cleans, but they're too close to the bridge side of the string, and the brass barrels make pronounce the trebles even more. I like a good tele, but ya cant shit on an HH guitar with meh pickups for needing a different EQ profile. If you are struggling with the EQ settings on your amp between songs, well thats what those 4 knobs on the guitar are for. Stick that bitch in the middle position and use the volumes to dial in/out either the bridge or neck to get where you want. If youre smart and using an axe like a McCarty 594, you can split one of these as well to maintain some transience in your pick attack. TLDR: terrible anecdotal blanket statement

You have a dull sounding Les Paul. Either find a brighter one or change the pickups. 🤷‍♂️