Telecaster build

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TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7350
edited December 2013 in Making & Modding
OK, a proper thread on this (picking up from the 'scratchplate' thread) 

I decided to do a Tele, although I've never been a Tele person I fancied giving one a go for a while.
All leg-pulling aside, having never been that in to them I haven't got strong attachments to having many aspects 'correct' so it was never going to be a classic Blackguard project ;-)

In particular I want body contours :-) And to that end I am having a body made - so far it looks like this:

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It's getting a 2-tone burst finish which is taking a while so in the meantime I picked this up off ebay to be going on with:

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The neck is a Warmoth that I think I bought via here (well, MR forum anyway) - fairly standard Warmoth spec so it may or may not last as I usually prefer something with a meatier profile or big frets (or both) 

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Pickups are Oil City (thank you Mr Weasel :-) ) and are an unusual set (I think) - it's the Honkey-Tonk Angel neck pickup, and then the bridge is based on the Honky-Tonk Angel but wound like the Diesel Tap with push/pull for 9k/6k outputs (I think that's right from memory)

Such dabbles as I have had with Teles left me with the impression (literally) that the bridge is a bit uncomfy, so I decided to go with a nice modern 6-saddle Gotoh.

Jack is an Electrosocket.

I keep forgetting to buy bits so had to steal screws and strap buttons from other guitars in the house :D 

So far it looks like this:

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I'd do more tonight but I don't have any string ferrules (doh)
Red ones are better. 
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Comments

  • jd0272jd0272 Frets: 3867
    Split single coil, nice, been thinking about that meself. I have ferrules. But I need them. So there. Looking good.
    "You do all the 'widdly widdly' bits, and just leave the hard stuff to me."
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  • The wudtone one looks beautiful mate.
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  • TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7350
    Electrics in and working

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    Red ones are better. 
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  • TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7350
    edited December 2013
    It's as good as done now (need to replace the 2nd string tree with one that matches the other one - interestingly I wasn't getting much if any break angle on the centre strings without a 2nd one and I have left the scrathplate off while I faff with the pickup heights.)

    Initial thoughts - by golly it's bright sounding! But that's from a habitual humbuckerer. I've only played it through the THR10C so far so will reseve final judgement until I get it through the Dr Z but even if I do say so myself it plays really well :-) 
    Red ones are better. 
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  • Good lord it's pretty.
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    Very nice.
    Do you really need the second string tree?
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9986
    tFB Trader

    TimmyO said:
    It's as good as done now (need to replace the 2nd string tree with one that matches the other one - interestingly I wasn't getting much if any break angle on the centre strings without a 2nd one and I have left the scrathplate off while I faff with the pickup heights.)

    Initial thoughts - by golly it's bright sounding! But that's from a habitual humbuckerer. I've only played it through the THR10C so far so will reseve final judgement until I get it through the Dr Z but even if I do say so myself it plays really well :-) 
    Your protorype pickup was the original that finally morphed into the Oil City 'Wapping Wharf' Tele bridge ... that will be available shortly on my site. What pots have you got? You definitely need 250ks rather than 500s for that beastie :)
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7350
    octatonic;100259" said:
    Very nice.Do you really need the second string tree?
    It surprised me, I'll try and get more turns on the post next re-string and see if I can get away with that, but before I fitted it today the G was jumping the nutslot
    Red ones are better. 
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  • TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7350
    TheGuitarWeasel;100276" said:
    TimmyO said:

    It's as good as done now (need to replace the 2nd string tree with one that matches the other one - interestingly I wasn't getting much if any break angle on the centre strings without a 2nd one and I have left the scrathplate off while I faff with the pickup heights.)

    Initial thoughts - by golly it's bright sounding! But that's from a habitual humbuckerer. I've only played it through the THR10C so far so will reseve final judgement until I get it through the Dr Z but even if I do say so myself it plays really well :-) 





    Your protorype pickup was the original that finally morphed into the Oil City 'Wapping Wharf' Tele bridge ... that will be available shortly on my site. What pots have you got? You definitely need 250ks rather than 500s for that beastie :)
    Pots are whatever you sent me on the plate? :-) I'll check em

    When it's all sorted and set up right I'll record a demo of the pickups for you
    Red ones are better. 
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  • imaloneimalone Frets: 748
    I think your sig is pretty accurate.
    Curious exactly which gotoh bridge you used as I had trouble finding a six saddle tele bridge to fit a guitar-build body.
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  • TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7350
    Red ones are better. 
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  • JetfireJetfire Frets: 1687
    NNnrrrgghhh.. So much win!
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9986
    tFB Trader
    TimmyO said:
    TheGuitarWeasel;100276" said:
    TimmyO said:

    It's as good as done now (need to replace the 2nd string tree with one that matches the other one - interestingly I wasn't getting much if any break angle on the centre strings without a 2nd one and I have left the scrathplate off while I faff with the pickup heights.)

    Initial thoughts - by golly it's bright sounding! But that's from a habitual humbuckerer. I've only played it through the THR10C so far so will reseve final judgement until I get it through the Dr Z but even if I do say so myself it plays really well :-) 





    Your protorype pickup was the original that finally morphed into the Oil City 'Wapping Wharf' Tele bridge ... that will be available shortly on my site. What pots have you got? You definitely need 250ks rather than 500s for that beastie :)
    Pots are whatever you sent me on the plate? :-) I'll check em

    When it's all sorted and set up right I'll record a demo of the pickups for you
    Ahhhh yes I remember now ... 250ks fitted :)
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7350
    Pickup heights are getting there now I think - the neck one was a bt indistinct until I brought it up - and brought the bass side up even more - sounding lovely now :-) 
    Red ones are better. 
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  • imaloneimalone Frets: 748
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  • TimmyOTimmyO Frets: 7350
    Daylight pic finally (sans guard while I faff with the pickup) 

    image
    Red ones are better. 
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  • Ooo, I like that.  At first, I thought it needed a maple board, but the more I look at it, the more 'right' it looks.  

    How does it sound? :D
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  • GruGru Frets: 339
    That looks fantastic. The only problem being, the more I see these builds, the more I want to try one myself.
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