Question for the Valentine owners/players...

[skhan007]

How close does it get to the traditional tele tone? I am curious especially when the neck humbucker is split, does it give a pretty convincing tele tone in the middle position? If you're aware of any online clips of this type of tone, please post!

Also, I'm currently an Albert Lee SSS owner and absolutely love that neck. Is the Valentine neck comparable in terms if specs and feel? Thanks in advance.

 

[racerx]

I loved my Valentine tone - I'm not one to split hairs over pickup tones beyond "(standard) single coil, humbucker, and p90" and "hot, standard, underwound". The neck is warm, full and creamy. The bridge has the bite and twang. The middle position is good, but it is exceptional when you tap the boost on. I think its the best in the business for that tone (IMO).

 

[jones4tone]

My son has an American Std Tele with Fralin Blues Specials in it. I don’t ever find myself wanting to use his for a tone I can’t get with my Valentine. That‘s completely subjective, but it’s all the tele I need.

 

[msquared]

It's close to "normal" Tele tone (whatever that means 71 years down the road) but not exact. The ash body, maple neck, and pickups specifically tuned in that direction mean you can get sufficiently close that most people wouldn't know the difference in the same way that they wouldn't know the difference between blackguard and whiteguard Tele sounds.

If I had to describe it I'd say it's a bit more beefy and less brittle. It's every bit as versatile.

 

[PeterVV]

For what its worth, I found issues with the bridge pup being too hot for a single coil and noisy with drive. I swapped it for a lower rated P90 nearer to the neck bucker for a better balance in sound. Sounds pretty close to the original bridge, but without the noise problems. As for the neck, pretty close to the Al`s, might be slight difference at the nut.

 

[QuietSpike]

5 years in, and I always grab my Vale and never my tele… if that helps. Super versatile, buttery smooth to play.

 

[msquared]

I've never had issues with the bridge pickup being noisy on either of mine. Too hot is just a gain staging issue - that's why we have volume knobs.

My tele has been in a case in the closet for a long time now. I could see myself picking another one up but it would have to have something I couldn't get out of EBMM (like an all rosewood neck).

 

[scottcentilli]

If you really like a Tele, like I do, I don't think a Valentine will replace it. To me it's not close enough. That said, I've sold off my Strats and kept a Cutlass; I've sold off Les Pauls and SGs and kept an Armada.

As for the neck, it's thin -- at least mine was too thin for my liking. My AL fits like a glove. Unfortunately, I didn't take measurements, but I did use a contour tool. I'm far from an engineer and do not know how to use engineering software, so please forgive my very rudimentary graphic.