When I read the story of how Bloomfield's Tele was carved up by John Nuese, I was pained, but I guess we shouldn't be too precious about these things--they aren't 16th century Italian violins. One of the cool things about a Telecaster is that buying a great-sounding one is within reach of just about any person who isn't destitute (even if you have to modify it, it's still peanuts, financially speaking, compared to something like a cello). The playing field is very level, and it's up to you as a player to make music as good as Mike Bloomfield or Ed Bickert or Jimmy Page or Roy Buchannan or any of dozens of other legendary Tele players.

The album with Paul Desmond, Pure Desmond, is one of favorites.

@@marcmandel7195 And that album is exhibit "A" in the "it's the player more than the equipment" argument. Ed recorded it with the original neck pickup (which as Grant says in this video, he wasn't completely happy with) in a New York studio with a borrowed guitar amp. The Telecaster was a key part of Ed's sound (mainly because of the sustain the guitar gave him, and the low action he used), but it's a "necessary but not sufficient" situation. Ed could have gotten the magic happening with a Les Paul, and he sounds great on 1960s recordings playing a hollow body Gibson 175, though I prefer his solid body sound.

Imo and its just my opinion- is his left hand was the most reproducible. It was the brain, heart and-,right hand which was where magic was produced.

Send us an email to sales@12fret.com Thanks!

10-46 Ernie Ball

Grant mentions that he decided to switch to lighter strings around the time he started patronizing Grant's shop. A Guitar Player feature story published in 1978 said Ed was playing on .011s (high E) at the time, but Grant, in this video and in an essay on the 12fth Fret website that says most of what he says in this video, says Ed settled on .010s eventually.

The The Canadian Museum of History might have something to say about that :)

"There are so many variables on the records"... very true. Compare Ed's sound on the duo album he recorded at Maybeck Recital Hall with the sound on the "I Wished on the Moon" album, and you can keep going. Sometimes he really (or the recording engineers) rolled off the treble, while other times there's a lot more high end. To me, the humbucker-era recordings made after 1978 have a significant amount of variation in tone, and some of the 1974-1978 recordings don't sound much different than his sound with the humbucker. Or to put it succinctly, the pickup really doesn't seem to matter that much--Ed dialed in his sound and compensated for whatever he was playing.

@@jimdixon3470 thanks for the thoughtful response. I feel the same way. My hunch is the most “ authentic “ tone that would be heard in a live setting is the beautiful live recording on KZfaq by Ed of “‘Embraceable You”. Unfortunately- now i have to play that tune with that opening triplet: just permanently stuck in my head.