Esquire'ing a MIM Std Tele...

Johnnyseven

HAL9000 said:

Johnnyseven said:

My control plate has a hole for the selector switch but for no other reason than that I couldn't find one without the hole. I'll investigate Rockrabbit, so thanks for mentioning it.

Also, check out Faction Guitars for non-standard control plates. A bit pricey though.

The Rockrabbit ones seem pricey too. Axecaster sell a plate with no holes, just wondering if any Fretboarders have the gear needed to drill 2 holes in one?

Funkfingers

HAL9000 said:

Pickup would definitely be replaced with something better. Not quite sure what at the moment.

Seymour Duncan Custom Shop is your friend.

• '53 Tapped Tele Lead model does two levels of the vintage Tele/Esquire sound.
• BG-1400 is powerful, twangy and noise-cancelling
• Pearly Gates For Telecaster sounds even more Gibbons-esque than the BG-1400. Very LP up until the twelfth fret. It runs out of sustain a bit in the high positions due to the screwed-on neck joint.

I dare say that the UK pickup builders on this board could supply something in similar vein.

HAL9000

Funkfingers said:

HAL9000 said:

Pickup would definitely be replaced with something better. Not quite sure what at the moment.

Seymour Duncan Custom Shop is your friend.

• '53 Tapped Tele Lead model does two levels of the vintage Tele/Esquire sound.
• BG-1400 is powerful, twangy and noise-cancelling
• Pearly Gates For Telecaster sounds even more Gibbons-esque than the BG-1400. Very LP up until the twelfth fret. It runs out of sustain a bit in the high positions due to the screwed-on neck joint.

I dare say that the UK pickup builders on this board could supply something in similar vein.

Thanks for this. However, I’ve now ordered an Alligator 90 from Oil City.

Jimbro66

I'm personally not keen on the Eldred mod so my Esquire (shown in avatar) uses a four way blade switch to select options of a tapped Wapping Wharf pickup.

For a Tele I'd love to be able to replace the blade switch with a Jag-style thumbwheel to act as a pickup blend control. So far I've not found a way to do that and don't like the look of three standard controls on the plate a la Brent Mason. Leo created a great guitar but that control plate is a PITA.

ICBM

thegummy said:

Does empty slot mod just mean taking the switch out but using a normal control plate so there's a blade hole where the switch used to be?

Yes. To me it looks much less odd than a blank plate or one with the knobs re-spaced.

thegummy

ICBM said:

thegummy said:

Does empty slot mod just mean taking the switch out but using a normal control plate so there's a blade hole where the switch used to be?

Yes. To me it looks much less odd than a blank plate or one with the knobs re-spaced.

What about leaving the blade in there but not wired?

If it was me I'd try to think up something for it to do just so it wasn't redundant - ocd style lol

It's something I might have to decide as I've always really fancied an Esquire.

ICBM

thegummy said:

What about leaving the blade in there but not wired?

Because it gets in the way. The position of the switch is one of the worst things about the Tele - right where my (admittedly hamfisted flailing ) playing hand goes.

thegummy said:

If it was me I'd try to think up something for it to do just so it wasn't redundant - ocd style lol

Me too, but after coming to the conclusion that it's in the way, and that I can't be bothered with any preset sounds - the volume and tone controls can do all the ones I want, with less hassle - I decided I just preferred it gone.

HAL9000

ICBM said:

I don't really like no-load tone controls personally, but if you want that...

Just personal preference @ICBM or are there practical reasons? The only practical reason I can think of is that when the tone control is in the no-load detent then it can sometimes be difficult to ‘pinky roll’ out of it. Other than that it appears to be a practical way of achieving the ‘blower’ option. 

thegummy

HAL9000 said:

ICBM said:

I don't really like no-load tone controls personally, but if you want that...

Just personal preference @ICBM or are there practical reasons? The only practical reason I can think of is that when the tone control is in the no-load detent then it can sometimes be difficult to ‘pinky roll’ out of it. Other than that it appears to be a practical way of achieving the ‘blower’ option. 

I found the detent problem you mention really annoying but CTS do make no-load pots without the detent.

The reason I still didn't like them is because I preferred the sound of a normal tone pot and it's not as easy to set it to 9 as it is to 10

HAL9000

Some further thoughts...

1. Will stick a normal (rather than a no-load) tone pot. Since part of the appeal of an Esquire is its basic simplicity it feels right not to go for the no-load pot. Pots will be swapped out for CTS items though.

2. In the spirit of keeping things basic, the scratchplate will be a five-hole single-ply affair.

3. The bridge. Originally the intention was to keep the stock six-saddle bridge. Then I decided (for cosmetic reasons) it was definitely going to be vintage-style three barrel. Then I read a few horror stories of bridge upgrades not going as well as hoped, so it was back to keeping it stock. Then I decided that the stock saddles look somewhat cheap’n’nasty so my current thinking is to keep the original plate but to fit (six) better quality saddles. No doubt I will change my mind again tomorrow.

Are all projects like this? This is my first one, and what I am finding exciting and frustrating in equal measure is the hunt and the struggle to pin down what it is I really want, and then to finalise the detail.

4. My original idea was to buy a second-hand guitar as my starting point, but Mrs9000 (who is surprisingly okay with me spending money on guitar-y items) reckons I should buy new. Since I’ll be ditching the stock pickups and electrickery (and possibly the bridge) it doesn’t feel that important. However I guess it does mean I’ll know the frets won’t be worn, the tuners should be good, and I can choose what colour I like.

Jez6345789

Reading number 4
why not do a full partscaster Tele parts are generally pretty cheap, plus you get probably a better body than a Mexican 5 piece sandwich body. The nice thing is you can finish it  to your taste you will get a whole lot more satisfaction from a partscaster and it’s pretty easy to do.

HAL9000

The idea did, very briefly, cross my mind. However, since I’m probably the least practical person you’re ever likely to come across I’d almost certainly have to pay someone else to put it all altogether.

I’m comfortable with the MIM Std neck and range of colours so the simplest solution would seem to be to butcher a used Tele. Plus, if it all goes wrong it wouldn’t be a big deal to put things back to how they were.

Johnnyseven

@HAL9000 - i'm not practical at all and i've put together 3 or 4 partscaster teles, it's really not hard at all.

stimpsonslostson

Johnnyseven said:

@HAL9000 - i'm not practical at all and i've put together 3 or 4 partscaster teles, it's really not hard at all.

Me too. I'm currently building a Cabronita & Tele Deluxe. Before the "mod a Harley Benton" challenge I'd not even set my own guitar up before. 
I've now happily soldered, refinished, modified or setup all the guitars I've had since. 

CasperCaster

@HAL9000 I'm not sure what bridge horror stories you've read, but changing a bridge on a Mexican Std Tele is a piece of cake and a good upgrade. Don't bother changing the saddles, it isn't cost effective. There are effectively no readily available saddles for the six saddle Tele bridge given their length and width (54mm string spacing, so saddles approx 10.8mm wide, and saddles longer than Strat ones). If you like the six saddle bridge get the Gotoh equivalent from @gavin_axecaster . The Gotoh GTC201 has brass saddles (warmer) and the GTC202 has steel saddles (brighter), where the Fender bridge has nasty cast zinc saddles. The quality of the Gotoh bridge is definitely superior to the Fender one. Of course a Mexican Std has a modern looking bridge, but the through body string holes and the four mounting holes are vintage standard, so any vintage 4-hole mount bridge will also fit easily, so you can go the vintage route easily. Just be aware that the Fender and Gotoh six saddle bridges are longer and wider than a vintage bridge. This doesn't affect how they fit, how they intonate or any of that stuff, but they may leave a slight indentation in the poly finish, which will not be hidden by the smaller vintage bridge. Also, to add confusion, why not try a Filtertron in the bridge - they rock in Tele's! With the bridge below it is also possible to go back to stock and the additional rout for the Filtertron will be hidden under a vintage or modern 4-hole mount bridge.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-style-Bridge-for-Telecaster-TV-Jones-Pickuprouting-Chrome-plated/142632182843?hash=item21358a643b:g:XHoAAOSwcLxYLaPq

HAL9000

Thanks @CasperCaster the stories generally seem to involve Gotoh bridges where the holes almost but don’t quite line up, thus creating some extra work. ‘Horror stories’ probably makes it sound worse than it really is. I guess the majority of people don’t have an issue so I’m probably worrying unnecessarily.

Re the (longer) Fender bridge leaving indentations in the finish - I assume this is something that only happens sometimes, and even then it may not always be particularly noticeable? Or can it sometimes be quite bad?

Johnnyseven

+1 on the Gotoh bridges, I have 2 teles with the GTC202 and I think they are great. I prefer the steel saddles to brass, brass seemed dull sounding.

markblack

I have a rock rabbit titanium plate on my single p90 tele.

HAL9000

markblack said:

Oooh! I like the numbered knobs. Are they the luminous ones that some Japanese company makes?

markblack

@HAL9000 yep... bit pricey BUT when you are doing a stripped back guitar it's less painful

http://www.luminlay.com/shopen_knobs.html

Like the RR plate, really well made.