The Chetboard

I have a telecaster and I know it sounds crazy but i was wondering if any one had any info on setting it up for playing merle travis songs. usually play on my acoustic that has 12 to 54 but when i play my tele which has 10 gauge stings both have real low action I can't get a good tone I see some people on youtube josh woods is one of hem and they can get that nice tone i was just wondering if i need to get a different set up thanks for any tips

Firstly, outside of his brief flirtation with that Bigsby guitar Merle seldom (if ever) used a solid body. He liked those big bodied instruments and P-90 pickups which combined to give him That Tone

Secondly thin strings give you thin tone.

Action and what is "good" or "bad" action is subjective. You have to play what you like but personally I think obsessing for a real low aciton isn't such a good idea. Chet,Paul,Merle, all thode guys liked a fairly robust action so they could dig in and make the guitar earn its keep. I think Merle used a relatively heavy or medium string for the same reason. Really thin strings on one of those big bodied guitars is spitting into the wind.

You can't get Super 400 /w/ P-90's tone out of any Fender guitar no matter what you do but you can play Merle's songs on them.

Jerry Reed and Lenny Breau both liked low actions and they were pretty good but they were no Merle Travis...

That's how it looks to me

FWIW, when I did fingerstyle on my Tele I usually went with the neck pickup, no tone cut. It gave a clear sound without excessive brightness.

Thanks guys for your input .

Another way of looking at it: Most of what I play is "Chet tunes". I have a couple of Gretsches, an L5, a strat, and a couple of Les Pauls. I play the Les Pauls more than the others. Sure, my tone may be closer to Chet's on the Gretsches. But I ain't no Chet. Never will be. So I am cultivating my own sound; and I like the sound of a Les Paul. After all, you don't hear a lot of fingerpickers workin' on a Les Paul!

He's right, y'know...

Paul once remarked about borrowing Chet's original '59 for a session or two. "I sounded like Paul Yandell" he said.

these are all great points thanks agin

I usually put a Humbucker in the neck position on a Tele. Gives you some options for other tones.

Scotty Anderson uses a humbucker in the neck position of his Tele and can get a pretty interesting tone. Of course, as has been mentioned, the hands do make a difference. But still, humbuckers work with Telecasters. On some of the earlier videos of Scotty, he has a mini-humbucker (like Brent Mason uses), but I read that his more recent Tele setup has the full size one. Also of note, Scotty's old Tele has a middle pickup like a Strat, but it is positioned further back towards the bridge. According to some, that positioning may be more to keep from interfering with Scotty's thumbpick.

Happy Easter!

Bill B.

Travis favored P-90's but in all the tele mods I've read about I don't think anyone tried those. Most go for some form of anti-hum pickups.

I still think for "Travis" tone you need to look to a hollowbody and P-90's

Travis "style" can be played on any guitar. Knowing how helps immensely....