LEFT: Twang Brothers: A blonde Fender
Road Worn ’50s Telecaster
and a Fender Joe Strummer
Telecaster show a vintage treatment
on contemporary guitars. RIGHT: Analog pedals wired with Spectraflex Original Series cables mounted on
a Pedaltrain Jr. (Top row) Mesa/Boogie Royal Atlantic footswitch, MXR
Carbon Copy Delay, MXR EVH Phase 90, Dunlop DC Brick power supply.
(Bottom row) Aqua-Puss delay, Green Rhino MkII overdrive, and Pork
Loin overdrive, all made by Way Huge Electronics.
After 60 years of countless
alterations, both outrageous
and conservative, the
electric guitar is still basically
wood and metal held together
by glue and some more metal,
just like its vintage ancestors.
The emergence of the reissue
and the "relic" in the marketplace
has put a cost-effective
twist on a buyer’s ability to
obtain retro looks and tones
without a vintage price tag.
I like vintage instruments and
appreciate their history, but I
have found modern instruments
to be far more consistent and
reliable, which is more important
on tour. The biggest problem
I encounter with vintage
instruments are worn-out parts.
Noisy electronics, and worn frets
and bone nuts are just a couple
of the issues that often need to
be addressed on vintage pieces.
The second you start tampering
with a vintage guitar—refretting
it or breaking a solder joint to
swap out a pot—you begin to
jeopardize its value to a collector.
An easy and cheap way around
this is to buy a new guitar that
has been relic’d.
Many people buy modern
relic’d instruments for their
feel and appearance, but I like
them because they don’t have
too much finish. I’ve found
that less finish almost always
equates to a richer sound, and
this especially applies to single-coil
guitars. The guitar seems to
vibrate more freely when its not
bathed in a bunch of polyurethane.
I bought my Fender Joe
Strummer Telecaster because it
has a minimal amount of finish.
I use this guitar for darker
sounds and for big, loud overdriven
chords. I swapped out
the factory saddles with thicker
ones to beef up the sound, and
the guitar is strung with a .011
set of SIT Power Groove Pure
Nickel strings. As you’ll notice
in the photo, I also removed
the pickguard. Taking off a
Tele pickguard really seems
to change how the strings feel
when they vibrate and the tone
takes on a more raw sound.
The Strummer also has a set of
Lollar pickups.
My Fender Road Worn ’50s
Telecaster is completely stock,
and it too has very little finish
on the body and neck. The only
thing I’ve changed since buying
this Tele are the strings. I
like this guitar to be as bright
and springy sounding as possible,
so I have it strung with
.0095 gauge SIT Power Wound
strings. Lighter strings produce
more snap and bite, which is
great for country lead playing.
Continuing with the retro
theme, I recently put together
a pedalboard with all-analog
effects. The entire board is powered
by a Dunlop DC Brick I’ve
had since I was a teenager. The
Brick is dead quiet and never
generates odd buzzes or hums.
The Way Huge Pork Loin is one
of the best Tube Screamer-style
pedals I’ve used. It has a clean
mix control that allows some
really interesting blends between
clean and overdriven tones.
The Green Rhino works well
for rock rhythm guitar, but one
of my favorite things is to use
it for soaring leads. I roll the
Rhino’s tone knob completely
off and play with my Tele’s
bridge pickup. The pickup
allows the attack and clarity to
stay intact and the pedal takes
care of adding low end and
smooth body.
I set the Aqua-Puss delay
mainly for ’50s-style slap-back
echo and use my MXR Carbon
Copy for longer delays and
ethereal sounds. To create a
broad soundscape, I’ll set up
an EVH Phase 90
between two
delay pedals. The phaser is constantly
moving through its stages
of different tones, so putting
a delay pedal before the phaser
makes each generation of delay
process through a slightly different
tone. Those generations
are then hitting a second delay
pedal, so every note gets several
stacks of different tones.
Using two different delays
and your guitar’s volume knob
is also a great way to create
spacey textures. Try swelling
your volume knob up
after the
initial attack of the chord or
note to remove the “clicking”
sounds created by the pick. This
way, all you’ll hear is the swell
and swirling regenerations from
the two delay pedals.
The next time you’re in the
market for a guitar or pedal
with a vintage vibe, give the
modern reissues and relics a try.
Many of them sound fantastic
and have a great feel. The best
part about relics is they don’t
come with a price tag that will
put you in debt, and they don’t
have 60 years of wear and tear
on the frets and electronics.
Paul “TFO” Allen
is a multi-instrumentalist
who has worked with
Big & Rich, Sebastian
Bach, 112, Jake Owen,
Montgomery Gentry,
Larry the Cable Guy,
and many others. He also has his
own project called Ten Finger
Orchestra, and can be reached at
tenfingerorchestra@yahoo.com.