Robben Ford Discussion

frank0936 · Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2003 8:27 am Post subject: tele circuitry

Hello,
I am a new guy at posting but I have been following this forum for a while. I have a question about the pickup switching. On older tele's the selector switch forward was a special circuit that Leo Fender called "deep rhythm". I have heard that most guitar players deactivated this because the tone sounded muffled. Has Robben's tele still got this circuit?
Thanks,
Frank

Aeolian · Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2003 10:11 am Post subject: Re: tele circuitry

frank0936 · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2003 7:17 am Post subject: tele circuitry

I have a Squire Tele coming today(I hope). It has been modded with a humbucker in the neck and has a rosewood fingerboard. It will hopefully make a nice addition to my Clapton Strat on gigs. I had thought of restoring the circuitry to the early 60's, but I think I'll just play it first.
Frank

iamthewalrus · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2003 10:37 am Post subject: Tele Detail?

Hi there,

Does anyone know of any detailed, close-up pics of Robben's Tele? I'm thinking of building myself a slavishly 'accurate' copy of this guitar. IF there are pics out there please point me to them.

Also, fret size? 6105? 6100? Other?

This is my first post. Nice to be able to join all of you here!

Cheers,
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midc74 · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2003 2:28 pm Post subject:

iamthewalrus,

Have you checked out the photo's of Robben on Kirk95's site?

Robben Photos

There are a few of his tele there.

As far as the fret size.. Daved could probably answer that.

Patrick

kirk95 · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2003 3:11 pm Post subject:

6105 on the Baker.

Not sure on the Tele??
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iamthewalrus · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2003 3:15 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the suggestion. There's one pretty good pic of the guitar but I still cannot make out whether the bridge has the threaded steel saddles that came on most '60 Teles or the later plain but grooved steel saddles. I'd also be interested to know if Daved or Robben have intonation issues requiring a different tuning technique for this guitar.
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Aeolian · Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2003 7:53 pm Post subject:

The one time I got up close to this axe I was stunned at how high the action was compared to Robben's humbucking guitars. I guess it's necessary with old Fender's to keep the bends from choking off but it always amazes me when Robben rips on this thing.
It seems to me that the bridge was pretty vintage and I think it was the old style "threaded" saddles. I imagine that between the 3 saddle bridge and the high action, this monster must be a bear to intonate. Especially given those incredible voicings Robben uses. He's probably doing that little mini-bend thing to pull notes in tune on some chords.
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Backy · New Member Joined: 18 Nov 2003 Posts: 4

I have a Fender Tele which – believe it or not – sounds very nearly like Robben’s. It is a Fender Custom Shop model. The neck PU is a Custom Wound Seymour Duncan. And a the bridge PU is a Fender Custom Shop Custom Wound. This guitar is one of 20 were made worldwide. It sounds exellent, fat, bright but with bite. The PUs combine well giving a warm mid-tone. For my ears it sounds like in Track ‚Homework‘ on ‚Keep on Running‘. I use a Fender Hot rod deville.

abergdahl · Member Joined: 18 Jul 2003 Posts: 39 Location: Sweden

Bill Chapin might do a Robben "Tribute" Tele style guitar in the future. He talked about a Keef and Robben Tele style and he has already made a Jeff Beck TeleGib guitar. Again if ANYONE in the world can make a guitar that nails a sound but BETTERS on it at the same time it's Bill.
My Hawk is an amzing guitar, from fat nec tones to strat neck tones, four KILLER two pickuptones and an amazing bridge PU tone that can do country, Buchanan, Albert Collins and Robben overdrive sounds. The best Tele style I haver tried. Cool

12bar · Member Joined: 07 Sep 2003 Posts: 12

Daved,

When you're not on the road with Robben, do you (or would you) do any Tele set-up work for other (non-pro) clients? If no, do you have any recommendations for a good Tele guitar tech in California?

Thanks,

12bar

Daved · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2003 9:13 am Post subject:

Aeolian & Walrus,

Robben's Tele bridge has the original threaded bars which does lead to inherent intonation problems, but he and I both feel it is a major part of the distictively classic sound of the Tele, so we choose not to alter it's stockness (This word is OK to use, Liz. You'll find it listed in the Official Funk & Daved's Reference Library Standard Dictionary/Thesaurus... LOL) with some of the available modern bridge variations.

I doubt if Robben, at least consciously, pulls any strings to alter string tunings when chording. I, alone, set his action & intonations (which I check regularly), so he is totally unaware of how they sit, as he actually knows very little about the mechanics of intonation. He DOES hear it if they're seriously out for some reason, but leaves it up to me to "fix the problem".

I have dealt with many Tele's and their threaded bridges thru the last 20+ years. There are a variety of fixes, none of them perfect, but I have always favored (having had the best overall results with) starting with "splitting the difference".

There are usually 3 threaded saddles, so I always try to find the balance between each pair of strings where the lower string in the saddle is slightly flat and the higher string is slightly sharp. This will leave you with NONE of the strings actually correctly intonated but, they will all be minimally out. And this will, of course, now create the problem of the the upper string in each saddle and the lower string of the saddle next to it being unbalaced towards each other, but what cha gonna do? You'll never get all six strings equally tempered and for some reason this seems to generically create the least amount of sonic discomfort.

A variation of "balance" (with its own set of problems) that has occasionally worked for me, is to set one (the same in each saddle) string spot on and let the other string in the saddle's intonation lie where it may. Now, every other string will be correct, but the alternating strings can be wayyyy out. Again, this all depends upon the arisit's ear and their style of playing the instrument. Generally, I prefer the first method. It seems to create the least amount of problem, requiring only minor tweaks.

All of this will, of course, vary from guitar to guitar, from string gauge to string gauge, from neck action to neck action, and from player to player with their individual styles of playing the instrument or the way the sound hits the artists ears. (Soloists have the least problem with intonation, rhythym chordists have more problems, and 2-string "country" scalers have the most problems, because of the noticable sonic relationship between strings and the individual notes. You just have to adjust & fine-tune for the predominant style that the instrument is used for.)

Depending upon whom I am working for, I tweak till I find a balanced intonation that works for them, but I always find that a good starting point is by "splitting the difference".

You can install individual saddle bridges and completely alleviate the problem, but then I ( and I find most dedicated Tele users I've worked with) feel that you lose part of the subtle "charm" of the Telecaster sound.

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Daved

Aeolian