# Octaves, Zouks, Citterns, Tenors and Electrics > Tenor Guitars >  Fender Tenor Tele - First Impressions

## Baron Collins-Hill

I my tenor tele came in yesterday, I quickly converted it to GDAE and have had about 24 hours with it. Here are my first thoughts:




Thanks,
Baron

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Bill Foss, 

Chip Stewart, 

Dave Kirkpatrick, 

fox, 

kmmando, 

Larry S Sherman, 

MdJ, 

mojocaster, 

Scotter, 

Seonachan, 

Simon DS, 

Steve 2E, 

Verne Andru, 

wololoco

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## mandolinstew

> I my tenor tele came in yesterday, I quickly converted it to GDAE and have had about 24 hours with it. Here are my first thoughts:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Baron


Im sold.I have the same amp and string trees.Funny they left them off,they put them on the cheapest models.

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MdJ

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## Milky2390

What string gauges did you use?  Not being an electric player, I was going to try using .010, .0135, .025, .034 from a daddario exl110bt set to start.  The strings in the specs on the fender site seem awfully light.  Why would you put light strings on a shorter scale instrument?

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## Verne Andru

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts Baron. Here's a few comments I hope will be helpful.

60-cycle hum - welcome to telecasters. You can either get used to it or take some measures that will tame or eliminate it.

You can tame the hum by creating a Faraday cage with copper sheets and rewiring using a star-grounding technique. I go into it here http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...ktop-make-over. A google search should be beneficial as well.

If you want to eliminate the hum you need the pickups to be RWRP (Reverse-Wound-Reverse-Polarity) to each other. Reversing the windings is as simple as reversing 2 wire connections. Reversing the polarity is a bit more complicated, but not by much. The good news is Fender claims to be using Alnico magnets on the pickups. Unlike ceramic magnets, the polarity of Alnico can be reversed using a special machine. There is a guy in my town who does it for $5 a pickup (pickup must be removed from the instrument) and I can attest that it works great.

Assuming you do a RWRP job to your pickups you will now have a hum-cancelling configuration when both pickups are on (selector in the middle position). The neck and bridge pickups soloed will remain the same tone and hum (which you have to learn to get used to with a tele) while the tone of the middle position will change slightly.

Standard wiring will have the 2 pickups wired in parallel which will give a slight volume drop [and humbucking if you do RWRP]. Wiring them in series will provide more output but the tone will be darker and prone to distorting, which is good or bad depending on what you're going for.

Instead of hard-wiring the pickups in series, I'd change one of the pots to a push-pull and wire it so I could switch between parallel and series depending on what I'm needing. While you're at it, I'd also change the other pot to a push-pull and have that one reverse the phase of the pickups. This provides a nasally "Peter Green" type tone that can really cut through a mix when circumstances make that calling.

In short I would:

- shield the pickup cavities creating a Faraday cage
- rewire the electronics using a star-ground topology
- reverse the polarity of one of the pickups (the one your picking hand won't be hitting as that can create noise)
- rewire the pickups as RWRP so they humbuck in the middle position
- replace the volume pot with a push-pull and wire it to switch between series/parallel
- replace the tone pot with a push-pull and wire it to switch the pickup phase

Optional:

- replace the 3-way selector with a pickup blend pot so I can dial in the exact pickup mix I'm wanting
- add a string tree

On the string tree - Fender traditionally only uses one on the top 2 [of 6] strings and I guess they figure since this only has 4 strings and the top 2 strings are in positions [from the nut] where they don't normally use a tree that everything is fine. If it needs one, it's simple enough to add one. My Fender 5-string electric mandolin came with a string tree but I ended up adding another before the tuning stabilized. Roller string trees really help with short-scale instruments.

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## stevojack665

For the 60hz buzz, at minimum, ground the pickup and wire cavities. You can do it cheaper than copper with aluminum tape you can buy at any hardware store. Make sure that each cavity is connected to the ground wire. Alternately, you can use conductive paint inside the cavities, and cap them with aluminum tape on the underside of the cavity covers. 
Like this: http://sjryder.com/mandobird.html
Again, make sure they are grounded, or it does little to shield them. 
Another option is to use wire that is shielded, with the ground coiled around the lead wire. Almuse make pickups like that. You can rewire from the pickup to the pots using shielded wire.

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## Baron Collins-Hill

> I’m sold.I have the same amp and string trees.Funny they left them off,they put them on the cheapest models.


My guess is they couldn't get a string tree and the fender script all stuffed onto the tiny headstock so they went for the branding, but I could be wrong. Adding an aftermarket string tree might be the only way to go, but it'll likely go right through the middle of the logo.

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Simon DS

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## mandolinstew

I would put trees on all the strings.

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## mandolinstew

I’ve painted cavities with One Shot lettering enamel metallic silver with good results.

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## mandolinstew

Baron,where the frets okay.
Thanks
Douglas
Also,when you put fingers on the strings does the hum leave?

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## Baron Collins-Hill

> Baron,where the frets okay.
> Thanks
> Douglas
> Also,when you put fingers on the strings does the hum leave?


Yes, frets are great. The hum does stop when either hand makes contact with metal. 

Thanks,
Baron

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## kmmando

What's the case like?

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## d18daddy

Where did you find this? Looks like everybody is sold out.

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## Baron Collins-Hill

> What's the case like?


Cheapish gig bag that also comes with the mini strat. Nothing to write home about but does the job. I hope I can find a better solution down the road.

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## Baron Collins-Hill

> Where did you find this? Looks like everybody is sold out.


I pre-ordered early and was even bumped off a list and scrambled to find one of the last ones in stock. It definitely required acting fast. I hope you can find one!

Thanks,
Baron

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d18daddy

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## spufman

Nice job, thanks! Sounds great and they really got the look right. Bummer about the ninth fret marker, but otherwise that thing is pretty sweet.

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## mandolinstew

I bought a Douglas 3/4 size hard shell case at reverb and my Squier mini strat fit well.($50)

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Baron Collins-Hill, 

kmmando

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## Verne Andru

Eastwood might have some cases that fit as well.

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## Grommet

Nice job Baron. Thing has some grunt on the low end at some settings. I Like it.

Scott

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## MdJ

Cheers MS - was this the case you bought ? DOUGLAS EGC-200 3/4 ST BK SHORT SCALE GUITAR CASE

https://www.rondomusic.com/egc200st34.html

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kmmando

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## mandolinstew

> Cheers MS - was this the case you bought ? DOUGLAS EGC-200 3/4 ST BK SHORT SCALE GUITAR CASE
> 
> https://www.rondomusic.com/egc200st34.html


Thats the one.No longer have it,I sold it with the guitar.A good case.

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MdJ

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## dan in va

Baron - Thanks so much for your helpful demo, as i've been waiting years for Fender to make this model.  And now I'm looking forward to their production getting up to speed to meet the demand so I can have one also.  A few questions about yours, please sir:
* how much does it weigh?
* how's the neck straightness?
* is the lack of a string tree still an issue?
* and what are the tenor guitars hanging on the wall behind you?
Thanks in advance...dan

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## Baron Collins-Hill

> * how much does it weigh?
> * how's the neck straightness?
> * is the lack of a string tree still an issue?
> * and what are the tenor guitars hanging on the wall behind you?
> Thanks in advance...dan


Weight: Not sure and my scale just broke this morning  :Frown: 

String Tree: Still toying with the idea of adding one, but haven't yet, it is certainly playable as is.

Other Tenors: A Gretsch archtop in need of repairs and my trusty '66 Martin 0-18T. I also have a Kalamazoo KTG-21 archtop, a Gibson/Earnest Frankentenor made from a 125T 3/4, and a 30s National Triolian tenor.

Thanks,
Baron

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## Baron Collins-Hill

Update: 5 pounds 7 ounces.

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## kurth83

Curious about it in CGDA.

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## dan in va

Baron - i greatly appreciate your making the effort to weigh it and answer my questions.  IMHO this is a really great weight for this instrument.  All interesting pieces in the herd for sure, especially the 3/4 125T.  You've been extremely helpful and with this info i've decided to wait for one like yours.  The butterscotch is wonderful.  Thanks again and a meaningful Christmas to you and yours.

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kmmando

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## Seonachan

> Update: 5 pounds 7 ounces.


That's 3 pounds shy of the legal definition of "Telecaster"  :Smile: 

Thanks for the review, great demo. Looking forward to getting one when the next batch comes in.

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## dan in va

Hmmm.  Maybe my taste is in my mouth, as my favorite ash tele's have all been at or under 7 pounds, with one 8 pound exception.  And swamp ash's popping tone tickles my ears much more than the hard sound of heavy ash.  I doubt that Fender would be able to produce light weight ash guitars for a reasonable price, so maybe that's part of why they went with alder, whose medium weight seems to sound quite good in the demo in this smaller 4 string.  So 5 lbs 7 ounces is thrilling!!

I need some help understanding the legal tele definition idea.  Whatcha got?

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## Seonachan

It was just a joke. The 2 Teles I've owned were both just under 9 lbs, but admittedly they were Squiers (Classic Vibes). It was the only thing I didn't like about them. 5 1/2 pounds seems amazing, though they're obviously smaller.

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## dan in va

Okay, i was wondering what i was missing out on.  There was once a MIJ Squier tele in the house; not as good a guitar as its Strat counterpart and with the weight on the heavier side of medium with basswood body was uninspiring.  You might like a lighter weight Tele or G&L ASAT.

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## creebobby

Hello Baron,
I agree about the break angle problem on the first string.  On mine the high E has a changy chorus kind of tone when open because of the lack of a string tree.

I think staggered tuners like the ones that come on the E. Johnson strats might be the solution.  I put a set of staggered post Sperzel locking tuners on my wish list, which I'm hoping will improve the problem and will be a direct fit replacement - no drilling.
https://reverb.com/item/38807-sperze...-locking-tuner 

About the grounding and buzz - I had great success on a project guitar by replacing the pickup wire with shielded wire, covering the bottom and sides of the pickups with copper tape and building a shielding box out of copper tape around the jack plug.

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## wololoco

A full year later (after the limited release), and a friend of mine found a brand new butterscotch Tenor Tele sitting on the floor of the Sam Ash store in Houston yesterday. I just got off the phone, and they're shipping it to me in Colorado for free. Score! (And I didn't have to pay an eBay premium AND pay to have it shipped from Japan.)

I also ordered a set of Fender locking tuners (which are shorter than the standard ones), and that should resolve the break angle on the head stock for the top 2 strings (without having to install a string tree).

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Verne Andru

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## Lychgate

> Cheapish gig bag that also comes with the mini strat. Nothing to write home about but does the job. I hope I can find a better solution down the road.


Did you end up upgrading the case? What did you go with?

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