PRS model most like a Tele?

[EEGMan]

I have a friend who loves his tele and wants to buy a second telecaster just to set up in open g for slide. My feeling is always that you should buy what moves you, but to not try a PRS before you buy something else is a mistake. Since I am not experienced with the telecaster, can this august body suggest (maybe at lower and higher price points) a model or two from the PRS like that would give him that tele twang? His musical tastes are eclectic but for sure he is a fan of classic rock.
I'll take your answers and suggest he visit Chuck Levins. Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.

 

[Augustaky1]

I am new to the forum, but just fyi there is a video on youtube where a guy does a comparison of a Vela to a Telecaster.

I just searched Vela, can it do a Telecaster.

 

[bodia]

I am new to the forum, but just fyi there is a video on youtube where a guy does a comparison of a Vela to a Telecaster.

I just searched Vela, can it do a Telecaster.

I'd say the Vela can do Tele-ish. The 594 with LTs can get close if you split and twiddle the knobs. But, nothing does a Tele like a Tele.

 

[Casi1]

I have a friend who loves his tele and wants to buy a second telecaster just to set up in open g for slide. My feeling is always that you should buy what moves you, but to not try a PRS before you buy something else is a mistake. Since I am not experienced with the telecaster, can this august body suggest (maybe at lower and higher price points) a model or two from the PRS like that would give him that tele twang? His musical tastes are eclectic but for sure he is a fan of classic rock.
I'll take your answers and suggest he visit Chuck Levins. Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge.

I just posted a similar question about which model can get close to that tele single coil sound. Off the top of my head, I'd think Vela, SAS NF (in the position between middle and bridge NF) and maybe the 408 in the bridge position.

Another option might be a 509 with maple neck. I hear that it gets close to both strat and tele but I havent played one myself yet so I cant confirm that.

 

[bodia]

Another option might be a 509 with maple neck. I hear that it gets close to both strat and tele but I havent played one myself yet so I cant confirm that.

This is a good option as well. I have a Swamp Ash 513 with a maple neck, and it does the closest Strat I have heard from a PRS. Full disclosure, the DC3 may also be a good option.

 

[Boogie]

I am new to the forum, but just fyi there is a video on youtube where a guy does a comparison of a Vela to a Telecaster.

I just searched Vela, can it do a Telecaster.

I’m in huge agreement with Bodia. In addition, I’ll add, the Vela is its own animal, but with a nod toward the Tele. With the bridge split or not, the Vela does something unique that I’ve exploited a lot recently, and I play in a rocked-up country band. I have a Tele and a Vela and wouldn’t trade one for the other. Excellent partners in crime and love them both.

 

[Casi1]

This is a good option as well. I have a Swamp Ash 513 with a maple neck, and it does the closest Strat I have heard from a PRS. Full disclosure, the DC3 may also be a good option.

So true... I had a 513 with a maple neck and it sounded very stratty and tele-ish. I can only imagine how much closer to those models it would have gotten if it were made of swamp ash. My 513 sure was heavy though... I sold the 513 and kept the DC3.

Theres a used swamp ash 513 that keeps popping up online but the color scheme aint too cute. Otherwise this model is extremely hard to find, however, a few dealers have NOS DC3s this year.

I'm starting to believe that if a person loves the strat and/or the tele, then they cant go wrong with a PRS made of alder or swamp ash with a maple neck.

 

[Screamingdaisy]

FWIW.... my McCarty (coils tapped) does a better job of mimicking a Tele than my Vela.

The Vela is pretty unique. Might be worth trying anyway... he may dig it as an alternative to the Telecaster.

 

[László]

I had a 2015 McCarty with a maple neck that did Tele-ish pretty well. But was it exactly a Tele? Of course not.

How could a 25” scale, set neck, guitar whose pickups aren’t attached to a plastic pickguard sound like a 25.5” scale, bolt-on, single coil guitar with a completely different type of bridge?

They’re different beasts. Thankfully, since I dislike playing Teles.

 

[Mr_You]

For slide maybe a used DGT Standard (all mahogany).

 

[drdoom8793]

The closest "Tele-ish" tones I've ever gotten from something other than a Telecaster was a CE-24 with Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz pickups. When splitting the bridge pickup, it was as close to a tele twang as I've ever heard.

That being said, I think a Vela would make for a really sweet slide guitar.

 

[tip]

I sold my 513 (Dumb, I know) and I sold my DC3 because it wasn't as good as the one I fell in love with at GC. But the DC3 can be nicely bright and rich. Really good with an OD pedal and volume.
But in reality nothing sounds like a tele except a tele. Features:
The 25.5" scale, bolt on, 3 barrel bridge ( with extra string length (more tension) with the string thru body design).
6 inline straight through headstock with lightweight Fender Kluson vintage tuners (less mass).
the angled bridge PU design.

I got my favorite PRS bright tone from the two Quatro's I once owned in split mode (Dumber, I know...selling the blueburst still haunts me).
I used half of that 53/10 bridge PU a lot. It made this suburban kid a country boy playing tele type country licks. The great PRS frets and 10" radius works well for bending away.

 

[shallbe]

I love PRS and have 4 I gig with regularly. I also LOVE a great T-type (all Suhrs for me). The DGT split is the closest thing, but nothing does a Tele but the same build.

I have gigged Telecasters more than anything else over the course of 40 or so years. The 3 barrel bridge and metal around the pickup, the scale, the pickup angle---its what makes it happen. No PRS has that.

If you want him to try something else, get him out of Fender land and try a Suhr Classic T.

 

[Rider1260]

A Brett Mason Sig will get you all the tele you would ever want

 

[Dancing Frog]

PRS Johnny Hiland will get you there as well.

 

[Jimi D]

My 305 has a maple neck, alder body and single coil pickups... I've got a 513 Standard too but an all mahogany guitar isn't gonna "tele" too much even in single-coil mode, imho... My Vela's cool, but again we're talking a mahogany axe... the fact is, one of the things in my sig is not like the others, and there's a reason for that; nothing twangs like a tele...