Parts list for my keefcaster build

JamieWakeham

I posted (way back in September 2018!) about my desire for a Micawber-esque telecaster, and came to the conclusion that a partscaster build was the best way to achieve it.  I got as far as getting a body and neck from Guitarbuild, and sent the body to @Iamf68 for painting, and had a bit of a chat with @Alegree about pickups... and then life got in the way.  I'm now determined to get this finished!

What I have so far is this:

I have a good local luthier, Steve Kendall, waiting for me to deliver everything to him to build it up.  The point of this thread is to make sure I've got everything I need, and to make a few decisions about various parts.  I'm not making a faithful replica of Micawber; this is to be a modern take on the idea.  I want those Brown Sugar/Start Me Up tones, but it would be good if it were more flexible than that.  I think I'll go with nickel hardware across the board.  So:

Tuners: I'd like locking, and I see there's a set of Fender/Schaller lockers in the classifieds.  Any reason not to go for those?

Do I need a string tree with this set-up, or is the stagger in the Schallers enough?

Nut: I am intrigued by the idea of the earvana.  Is it specifically for regular tuning or will it help for a guitar that's going to be tuned to open G? If not the earvana, then just a bog standard bone nut?

Bridge: oh gods I've just spent I don't know how long reading about brass vs steel tele saddles and bridges!  I definitely want six-saddle (the low E saddle will be removed).  The string holes are 54mm, which I think means vintage spec rather than modern spec?  Does a Kluson contemporary bridge look like the right idea here?

Ferrules and neck plates and control plates - is there really much to pick from here, or are they all just much of a muchness?

Pickups & electronics: I am pretty set on Alegree's Chameleon in the neck and a Cirrostratus in the bridge.  Alex tells me this can be wired up with the tone control acting as a blend between the pickups, and the pickup selector actually picking the three modes of the Chameleon, with a push-pull on the vol knob for hot/regular.  So when it comes to controls, I guess I need a standard tele three-way switch, and two pots, one push-pull.  Are there 'better' and 'worse' brands for me to aim for here?  I'm assuming Steve will have all the caps, resistors and whatnot needed.

Pickguard - one ply black.  Is there any reason not to get a simple cheap plastic guard?  I see I can pay lots of money for bakelite.

Electroplate socket seems to be the best?  It's got a 22mm socket rout.

Strap lugs - I think I'll use this as the excuse to fit straplocks across my collection - Schaller S seem to be the industry standard?

What have I missed?

Funkfingers

Erm, Start Me Up is reputed to be EMGs whereas Brown Sugar predates Rob Turner’s creations.

Caffeine_Vampire

Keith used an SG through a Twin on Brown Sugar. Nailing an approximation of his tone with just a basic guitar and amp setup really requires a neck humbucker and a hot bridge single coil blended (wired for a MV and blend ). The best (IMO) bridge you can buy is the brass one from Armadillo, it’s what I have on my ‘52 and ‘72 ‘Keith’ Teles. Another huge factor in getting his tone is to hit the strings at the neck pocket and not above the pups when you strum. Keith ‘attacks’ his guitar strings in different places for light and shade, something that rarely gets mentioned when people discuss his guitar style.

JamieWakeham

Thanks, both.  Perhaps I should have said his live tone - he certainly uses Micawber (or possibly Malcolm - unless you see close up they're pretty similar) for a lot of songs that were probably recorded with other guitars!

I'll definitely have the blend control.  Alegree reckoned that the Chamaleon in its low output PAF mode would be the closest approximation for the neck pickup.

The bridge is the thing that's causing me the most headache!  Reading around it, it looks like there are three critical elements - the weight and material of the bridge plate, and the saddle material - which should be really thick, and brass, and brass.

Callaham seem to make a fuss about their plates being particularly thick - 0.075" or about 2mm.  The Kluson claims to be 3.2mm, and it's also cheaper than Callaham and Armadillo and comes in nickel-plated brass - I actually don't really like the look of bare brass alongside the rest of the nickel hardware - so I thought it might be a good call.  But if there's a good reason to go for the Armadillo then I will.  I'm not skimping on this.

I'd love to see pics of your teles, C_V.

Caffeine_Vampire

Only got the ‘52 with me here but...

JamieWakeham

That is a very nice thing!  So are your two controls vol and blend? How do you get on without access to a tone control?

And how thick is the metal of the armadillo bridge plate? Looks >2mm to me.

Caffeine_Vampire

3mm and tone control? Only thing I miss is the ‘wah’ effect you can get with it but the sacrifice is worth it.

Johnnyseven

JamieWakeham said:

Thanks, both.  Perhaps I should have said his live tone - he certainly uses Micawber (or possibly Malcolm - unless you see close up they're pretty similar) for a lot of songs that were probably recorded with other guitars!

I'll definitely have the blend control.  Alegree reckoned that the Chamaleon in its low output PAF mode would be the closest approximation for the neck pickup.

The bridge is the thing that's causing me the most headache!  Reading around it, it looks like there are three critical elements - the weight and material of the bridge plate, and the saddle material - which should be really thick, and brass, and brass.

Callaham seem to make a fuss about their plates being particularly thick - 0.075" or about 2mm.  The Kluson claims to be 3.2mm, and it's also cheaper than Callaham and Armadillo and comes in nickel-plated brass - I actually don't really like the look of bare brass alongside the rest of the nickel hardware - so I thought it might be a good call.  But if there's a good reason to go for the Armadillo then I will.  I'm not skimping on this.

I'd love to see pics of your teles, C_V.

Have you looked at the Gotoh 6 saddle bridges? I think they do a brass saddle one and I think the plate is plated brass.

pearlwhite67

Gonna make it a 5 string? I seem to recall that micawber is pretty much a 5 string open g guitar.

JamieWakeham

I had indeed looked at Gotoh - Micawber's is a Schecter and I believe they're pretty similar.  But Gotoh don't do a nickel finish, and I was hoping to keep it all in nickel.

Yes - it'll be five string, and I will remove the low E saddle (possibly the low E tuner as well, not sure about the aesthetics of that).

JamieWakeham

Caffeine_Vampire said:

tone control? Only thing I miss is the ‘wah’ effect you can get with it but the sacrifice is worth it.

Fair enough.  I hardly ever use mine, which is why I reckon I can probably live without it - but also why I'm thinking that the bridge and sadles should be brass, as I'm told this rolls off a little high end by itself.

Kluson say that their contemporary tele bridge is plated brass, so I think I'm tempted to try that (in its nickel plated guise).  If I feel there's still something missing, switching it to Armadillo will be relatively straightforward...