10 Tele Tones You Should Know If You Own A Telecaster

These are my personal top 10 telecaster tones that I like to use when playing a telecaster. Did I miss any?
Timecodes:
00:00 - Intro
00:14 - 1. Country Twang
01:15 - 2. Jazz Tone
03:30 - 3. 50's Rock'n'Roll
04:22 - 4. 60's Rock
05:37 - 5. Arpeggiated Chord Accompaniment
06:34 - 6. Indie / Alt Rock
08:09 - 7. Punk Rock
09:14 - 8. Vintage Blues
10:02 - 9. Funk Tone
11:08 - 10. Tele's with Humbuckers

[@Samana009]

Not only for Stairway to Haven, He used Telecaster in all Zep's first record. That Tele helped Gibson to sell more Les Pauls than any other guitar

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Good info thanks!

[@martinthompson2425]

🤣

[@_Edson__]

Awesome comment! Hahaha! True!

[@OldeDog_NewTricks]

😂 I’m a LP guy looking to finally pick up a tele.

[@Louis1996_1]

Best comment ever 😂

[@steveturner6770]

I just love my telecaster.

[@akshaydalal6987]

That makes two if us

[@stefankappel3311]

Now three😊

[@markuskreuzinger3250]

5. I have a fender champion 50 xl as well and just beginning. Can anyone recommend a pedal or will the amps effects do for now?

[@stefankappel3311]

@@markuskreuzinger3250 my proposal for the beginning: Overdrive Chorus and Compressor from Boss e.g. Or others

[@N3gativeR3FLUX]

@@markuskreuzinger3250 Get a looping pedal. Then you can set up a simple chord progression and practise soloing over it.

[@Ghost_Electricity]

The greatest electric guitar design. The simplicity and reliability (teles stay in tune so well) combined with the versatility. There's just something about teles...

[@craigusselman546]

They are very satisfying to play and diverse I originally thought Tele's were ugly but they are actually very good looking I love my Fender Tele.

[@martinthompson2425]

I agree wholeheartedly! Versatile, stable, reliable. I almost always have a Tele as primary or on standby, especially for summer outdoor gigs. I mainly play Strat style guitars with a little “float” in the bridge. But when heat and humidity changes make the Strats a little harder to tune quickly (often, a screwdriver comes into play instead of tuning each string individually) the fixed bridge of a Tele makes tuning a lot faster and easier!

[@martinthompson2425]

@@craigusselman546 . Yup. Strats are pretty sexy. But Teles are all business…and they look good doing it!

[@victorformosa228]

Recently acquired a second hand Tele and I love it.

[@cgavin1]

Agree! My favourite sound in all the world is a tele in to a tweed princeton/deluxe, in to an outboard reverb (6g15 etc) in to an echoplex (ep3). Alnico speaker and one of those wonderful Catalinbread JFET pre-amps and you can do anything.

[@tommartin7728]

I always say, every guitarist should own a tele. You'll love it for years.

[@frankrizzo5710]

Could not agree more

[@regularnimnule9715]

I read "10 Tele Tones You Should Know If You Own A Telecaster" and immediately thought "UGH, this is gonna be some generic knob twiddling nothingness." I listened and watched and could NOT have been more wrong. SUPERB. Thank you.

[@portsideguitar1981]

This is great man. Versatile playing…really shows off the wide range of possibilities on a Tele!

[@tommc49]

Very well done demonstration of the Tele's array of sounds. Thanks for posting.

[@markzuelch7452]

I just got, about 2 weeks ago, the Squire Telecaster in Butterscotch Blonde (made in China, not Indonesia) and I love this guitar. The feel, heft, playability, etc. are off the charts! Fender backing this branding has not only gives huge credence to the brand, they've given the consumer a ton of proof as to why they should. I was so amazed and pleased I went out and got a Squire Stratocaster! Both guitars have the logo in gold script and the type that they are (Strat, etc.) in large black letters, as you would see in the late '60's and early '70's models. Telecasters? A huge believer here!

[@EvilSean62]

i have the same but in the white kinda see thru , forget the name ... it looks like white chocolate but you can see some grain i tried a bunch of fender teles ..the classic vibe squier beat them into a corner ... i still use it even though i have a more focused stable because it is to me ... a classic fender tele .. all the more amazing at that price ... i used the extra money to buy ...more basses !!!

[@YaoEspirito]

​@@EvilSean62 kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4a6YYqapblgY5Ysi=Vp4LQBLYzecDnDZ1

[@Corn3liu]

Incredible content, very clear style, I like your tone. Please continue this series with Strats, LPs, but also with less commonly featured guitars

[@Fouxdufafafafafa]

Wow...very impressive tone and style demonstration. The video was actually artful in itself. Very nice work indeed,tx.

[@mcentertain]

You´re the man - I love you get in so much detail which pedals to use - big help for a musician here, thank and awesome playing skills!

[@mordechaiharris1478]

Hey Michael. I really enjoyed this tone video. As a young guitarist I always found it hard to work out how to get the sounds I wanted to play. This makes it much easier. Also, I loved how you played 'misty'.

[@audiindrayahya111]

man, I love your channel very much. I have a Squier Telecaster Classic Vibe 60s made in China, 3 tone sunburst with beautiful white binding. thru this episode, I can maximalize the use of my telecaster and find various tones. thanx mate, greeting from Indonesia 😀

[@lynguist]

Finally a comprehensive overview with all components in the chain. Thanks!

[@silverwings1843]

I have many guitars and have had many over the years. The go-to has always been a Telecaster. Fits everything. My best is a Nashville B Bender. Truly magical!!!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Never tried a B bender, must get hold of one some time. Thanks for sharing.

[@rnarizona9686]

Terrific Video! Your playing is superb, but I especially liked the helpful tone tips, i.e. pickup selection, amp settings, etc. Excellent Instruction. Thank You so much.

[@officialWWM]

You nailed every one of those tones. Nice job!

[@jleatherland]

Great job with tje video. I could never get on with my tele but you really showed how versatile they can be. The tele deluxe on the other hand, best thing I've had with humbuckers in.

[@jasonh880]

Great reviews! That strumming with your thumb at 2:20 just gave me chills.

[@scottburton4236]

I love my ‘99 American Standard Tele. Your “Misty” version was amazing. Thanks for sharing.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!

[@tupelokid11]

Great video! A real eye opener and everything explained nicely, Many thanks 👍🎸

[@ipuya]

Being relatively new to guitar, this is an invaluable video showing me the potential of my tele. I have a baja so i have 3 more tones (series + 2 out of phase tones) and this guitar is my holy grail! I can't imagine it getting any better than this! Thanks for the education, i just subscribed 🙏

[@grantandrews4826]

A good telecaster will never let you down! That's a great choice.

[@danfango1333]

Great video Michael. I have 2 Teles and I love em. I didn't realise you were such a versatile and skilled guy. The Jazz playing was beautiful. Top man ⭐🌴

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

That is mighty kind of you to say sir. Enjoy those teles, what are they if you don't mind me asking?

[@danfango1333]

@@MichaelBanfieldGuitar 2013 Mexican Standard Lake Placid Blue (Vintage Noiseless Pup upgrade), and 2012 American Standard Tobacco Sunburst (stock).

[@Claytoonzcom]

I'm a 90s kinda guy with my telecaster. I get most of that tone on the bridge pup through a Rat into a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb. You are right on point with this.

[@aleclikespie19]

Fantastic vid. Been looking for a vid this thorough for a while.

[@seanbierman]

Dude this video was awesome! Great playing too man! I play a tele myself, such versatile guitars.

[@christiannebailey6857]

Fabulous! Thank you sooooooo much for sharing this; really shows the versitility of the Telecaster and just what I needed to get going .

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Glad to help. Thanks for commenting!

[@MrReedmonkey]

Thanks mate. Always loved a tele. This is a great description of why. As a sax player this is a great primer in how to get the tones I am after. Subbed

[@SaxJockey]

Enjoyed that...superb demonstration of how to get a wide variety of tones and styles from a Tele.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Glad you liked it!

[@christopherdunn974]

Another underrated Tele feature that I always have on mine is the tophat for the pickup selector. I don't know why but it just looks and feels right!

[@ManicMaximus]

You're on fire man! 🔥 Really enjoying your videos and am excited to see this channel grow.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Hey thanks Max! I feel like I've still got a long way to go, your encouragement is very much appreciated!

[@Blinkerd00d]

Currently building my first telecaster now. I'm adding body contours to it now and waiting for pickups to arrive. Going with a lil'59 in the bridge on a push/pull. I can't wait till it's finally done

[@SandalwoodBros]

Awesome stuff, a versatile guitar every guitarist should have. I appreciate other makers that improve upon the basic design with tummy and arm cuts, etc., but the original model is awesome as well. Loved your Radiohead tone as well, great playing. Tasteful use of the Mega Distortion which often doesn't sound great. Another possible omission of styles in this video is math rock, which makes great use of Teles in the middle pickup position running into a slightly overdriven amp (usually Vox or Fenders), often with a TS or other type of boost in front. Great stuff!

[@al271987]

You made my day when you started into Toejam and Earl for your funk demo, well done sir! I have a classic vibe Esquire that I initially modded to have no switch and 50s wiring, but eventually I put the switch back in when I installed a DiMarzio Chopper T in the bridge and wired it up for series/split/parallel options off the 3 way switch. It’s become such a fun guitar now that I basically get 3 great bridge pickup options off of one pickup. Series is like a mini humbucker sound, parallel is like a p90 and split take you back to classic tele bridge land. Anyways, great video. Loved it!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Great! Yeah I played a lot of 90s computer games as a kid before I started playing guitar. A lot of the music stayed with me. Sounds like a cool wiring setup you've got on your Esquire.

[@kengouthro]

Nicely done! Tons of useful sounds. Very nice playing on Misty. Teles are great.

[@newsongok]

GREAT VIDEO!! Thank you for showing all the possibilities of the "Time-Less" TELE! Well Done Good Sir..

[@noecuesta5954]

I love telecasters too. Interesant video. Excellent playing. Beautiful Mary Kay tele.

[@conscript643]

you make me love telecaster now, nice video, great tone!

[@mastermollica2669]

Great playing. Nice tone tips. Thank you.

[@jaskiniamestwa]

I never thought I'll see Boss MD-2 highlight ever again, sounds good with that last one.

[@guilherme.delgado]

Kudos for that ToeJam & Earl snippet. Also, I love your emphasis on Boss pedals. Keep it up!

[@VicentePradoJunior]

I played this game too much... The soundtrack is awesome!

[@kwgm8578]

Nice video. I really enjoyed hearing your solo playing on Misty. That second funk sound had the flavor of Sly Stone's I Wanna Thank You, and just mentioning that 1960's Maceo Parker, James Brown band earned major points with me. Your knowledge of the repertoire is impressive! (For a young cat. 😉) I'm also trying to learn about pedals, and your video was the most helpful I've seen. Believe it or not, most pedal demos I find useless. Thank you and I'll be subscribing.

[@alejandroo_52]

Dude! Never loved a tone/genre breakdown video more. The diversity in playing styles was appreciated!! Subscribed!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

That's very kind, thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@jameshicks6990]

Well said! I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said!!

[@JsnHgl]

Just got a tele, great video showing the tone possibilities and how to get them. Cheers!

[@dereksorensen8019]

Proud Nashville Tele owner here, but I love all Telecasters. Great video!

[@Frank-in-NY]

Love this Video...Love your take on Misty, I gotta try that. I've been without a Tele for a while now. I just picked up a Squier Paranormal Offset Tele, I'm a big Jazzmaster fan, so this works out perfectly for me. Incredible sounds you can get form those pickups. Thanks for tips!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Hey thanks! Enjoy that paranormal tele, I’m a fan of the jazz master body shape myself

[@jaseyn]

Amazing video! Very complex and very simple at the same time. Very useful too. You know how to use tele very well. Big thanks! May be you could do part 2? 10 strat or lespol tones played on telecaster or something like that. Keep going! Good luck!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Thanks! Yeah maybe using an EQ pedal and other tricks to make standard tele pickups more versatile... I'll add some ideas to the list. Thanks for the suggestion, keep them coming!

[@Renav21]

@@MichaelBanfieldGuitar I like to use the "tone" dial on the compressor to get a 'strat' sound

[@JarickL]

You have the absolute cleanest pedals I've ever seen!

[@rhysarthur3378]

That jazz part you played was beautiful

[@erivers71]

Nice work Mike! Man this is one cool video! Cheers from the US!

[@rudeboyfood1755Holmes]

I've had plenty of guitars over my 50 years of trying to play 😊 from Gibson Jazz boxes to Strats, Reverends and lots in between. But my Tele is the goat. It's just such a basic design, but so versatile,, good on you Leo, you sussed it out that's for sure 👍♌

[@riff_radar]

You’ve got one of the best channels on KZbin Michael 🙌🏻

[@cgavin1]

Amazing video. Goodness me so much time and effort must have gone in to this. Legitimately proper content sir. Thanks!

[@snakeplissken6273]

Great video mate. Your playing is awesome

[@alexhahn2034]

great video, well played and recorded!

[@levantinian]

Thank you, I found this video very helpful, as someone with a Tele Custom (Squier Classic Vibe) that I’m still getting to know, as my main guitar. All 3 pickup options sound great but I want to have a better sense of their respective uses and potential.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

That's great! I didn't get chance to get into neck humbucker sounds on this video but I love the one on my deluxe. I bet it goes great with a tele bridge pickup too. Thanks for commenting!

[@pmfont]

Fantastic video, fantastic tones. Love my olympic white tele, too!

[@user-nu7yb1gm3m]

this is so nice!!!! The stuff at 3 mins is awesome

[@lorenvguitar614]

A well-versed guitarist. Playing so many styles so well. Spot on!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Very kind. Thanks

[@Petrolpelican]

Beautiful playing!

[@potatoman999]

Those tones are incredible!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Glad you like them and thanks for commenting!

[@BobsToneReview]

Very compelling video, thank you!

[@nickf9392]

I have Les Paul's, SG's, Strats and Teles. So many people overlook the Telecaster, and that is a shame. They are very versatile, unique and easily moded to your individual performance tastes. If you want to get in cheap to test the waters, a classic vibe with some pickups of your choice will get you there. I own and have made my share. My go to is a Tele with a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck and a Dimarzio Pre B-1 in the bridge, (reverse the leads on the bridge PU), this will give a sweet out of phase sound in the middle position. Balance out the pickup heights and you are good to go.

[@jameshicks6990]

Thanks for the great video! I just found you and subscribed. I'm a Tele lover and just ordered the Player Plus Nashville Telecaster! I hope it turns out to be a good Tele. I just thought for the price I had to have it!!! You're really talented!

[@christoscholevas]

Hello! I own a custom tele, with rosewood fretboard, P-90 in the neck and single coil in the bridge position. Great playability and versatility, just love it!

[@Zsolto66]

How cool is this? I mean the Tele is great but your playing is from another planet, Michael. 🙃 Thank you so much! Zs

[@martystudioone]

Perfect video, perfect instrument, perfect player 👍🎵🎸

[@kadetabelisma474]

Brilliant review mate.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Your playing in video is so tasteful, love those tele tones 🎸

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Thank you kindly!

[@stephenchadwick1305]

What agreat insight into teles they are probably the best all rounder cheers matey Steve Manchester UK

[@MrNeurotix]

It's been ages since I heard Elastica :) Brings back memories. thanks!

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

I know me too. I was trying to think of 90s indie bands that used telecasters and Elastic just popped into my head. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@paulyC]

Great video. I like how you described how you achieved the tones, rather than just showing them.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Glad you liked it!

[@iamanovercomer3253]

I have an 🇺🇲 strat , I was in a music store looking at Mex telecaster and asked if they had an 🇺🇲 professional 2 telecaster. Well, as soon I held it, I knew that this 🎸 is mine ❗️

[@jacobhoward-taylor]

Can we get a full version of your rendition of "Misty"? Great as always, love your stuff!

[@RamirezFlores]

Yeah I was hoping the rest of the video was him playing all of Misty

[@bonibonij]

Yes. Full version please

[@morais99]

Well done, man. Thanks

[@fozman1959]

Just bought a Tele, so this is really helpful🙂What would be useful is some sort of indication of amp settings (& tone/volume on guitar)

[@anwaypradhan6591]

Nice pick up, good clarity and good tone control, good monitoring system, reverbing is good❤️✌️🤘🔥

[@spiegelkind2387]

As much as I enjoy experimenting on both a Strat and a Jazzmaster, the Tele ends up going everywhere with me. Reliable and plays nicely with everything else in live jam or studio sessions.

[@wongnaichungrd]

I play in a couple of Big Bands and now pretty much leave my Gibson 175 at home and use my 52RI Tele. Gets a super sound and can put it in a gig bag and throw it in the back of my car. Sometimes use a Jazzmaster too but I've fallen back in love with the Tele for its versatility, usability and simplicity. Use 11 flat wounds on it and it's great for jazz.

[@MrTimdriver]

Sublime playing Michael.

[@tomwoodburyMRICS]

Super vid! And amazing playing. Thanks

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@dimiaraujo90]

The best thing about a Tele Deluxe for me, is not even the Wide Range Humbuckers (which, TBH, are kinda my favorite pickups, way above regular PAFs), but just having 2 separate volume knobs, and 2 tone knobs, which makes a HUGE difference, and much easier to esculpt and find the tones that I like, and I'm looking for.

[@vitodoria7894]

I loved how you included "Connection" by Elastica. I want to play it in that way.

[@jcakov]

Great video :) I started my guitar journey with a tele, but it kind of got forgotten, I recently got back into it, and I could not get the tone(after spending huge amount of time with Strat and PRS) to sound decent in my ears. This video helped me to figure out how to set things up :P Great content :)

[@goodbyepolarbears172]

My journey was the opposite direction: started at Les Pauls, went through Strats and ended up at Teles - which is, I imagine, where I'll stay...

[@AlexTapisevic]

Good video very informative with the gear used too.

[@antoni5934]

Very well played Misty

[@SoloSlater]

I think one of my favorite guitar tones is that of Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead, specifically songs like Sail To The Moon and Knives Out are really good demonstrations of that. If I could, I would pick up a Squier and get Blue/Red Lace Sensor pickups for it.

[@surfgreen5548]

bro you are so accurate doing these two examples, the Sail to the moon tone is one of the bests of jonny greenwood. i love how he can go from super twangy and bright sounds like in the bends and super soft and warm in other records

[@indisguiseFUCK]

Man, my go-to guitar at the moment is my Japanese Fender Custom 70s Telecaster... the humbucker (yes, it is not a true Wide Range) at the neck isn't half as bad as many will say (do yourself a favor and lower the pickup while raising the polepieces!), and it's just so well made and comfortable. Love it!

[@christianlacheze3323]

Julian Lage plays a Nacho télé with a P90 neck pick-up. Nuff said.

[@lorenvguitar614]

You are a truly great player, thank you. Appreciate the information.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

That’s very kind. Glad to help

[@michaeldoucette943]

Valuable info.Many thanks.

[@marvinthemartian6788]

I’ve been all about Ibanez since 1991. In 2018 I bought an affinity tele, then a modern player plus( china made w humbucker in bridge), and just recently a player plus with noiseless pickups. A telecaster does everything other guitars do( minus whammy bar) but also offers stable tuning, a mod platform, two pickups that offer a plethora of tones, and is so genre versatile. Steve vai has two teles, satch has played one on every record since he got that particular one. I even have a Schecter T style super tele with Floyd rose

[@jacktolentino697]

My Telecaster has P90 on the neck and traditional bridge pickup, and it sounds awesome 🔥🔥🔥

[@marksystemed4678]

Mine has a humbucker neck and a normal bridge pickup, it's also as light as a feather. My favourite guitar out of my four electrics.

[@moosey62]

Woah! Top production there, mate.I grab my very old Tele and twnag all day thanks to its Bigsby B5.

[@MichaelBanfieldGuitar]

Bigsby's look brilliant on a tele!

[@ngronlund]

It might be obvious to some people, but I wish that that I could see your switch position for each tone. Thanks for doing this!

[@Zootallures100]

This was brilliant 👏👏

[@kennyh5083]

The Stones tele tone Keith used a Gibson 57 Classic in the neck, and that still nails that Brown Sugar tele rhythm tone!

[@jgd65]

Very nice playing!

[@el0blaino]

Beautiful playing on Misty.

[@michaeleaster1815]

sounds awesome man! subscribed

[@frankrizzo5710]

Fantastic video!!