[ƨtupid newbie] Tele build: any stand-out no-nos on here?
- Thread starter Schlieren
- Start date
PICKUP UPDATE: After the feedback of this thread and doing some research of my own and speaking with Lindy, I decided that Fralin pickups would be the best fit for what I am after.
I have definitely chosen a P-92 for the neck, and provisionally chosen an SP-42 in the bridge of this Telecaster clone, subject to a conversation with either Lindy or whomever picks up the phone, with regard, again, to the balance between the respective pickups. I like the idea of a neck pickup with a Gibson-y sound combined with Fender sparkle, and a bridge pickup with Tele twang but some P-90 honk as well. Together, if neither overpowers the other, I think I'll have a wholly unique range of timbres.
BUILD UPDATE: I received the neck for my Tele the other day and all I can say is: dayum son. It is easily one of the most beautiful pieces of woodworking I've ever seen, and being nautically-initiate, I've seen all sorts of brightwork and varnish jobs and carvings. The satin clear finish is. . . it feels like I'm touching unfinished wood. Fast and smooth. The frets are perfectly-sized amalgams of the re-fretting I had done on my Guild D-4.
And the wood. . . I chose a custom piece of Brazilian rosewood (I'd had my eye on it for at least two months, hoping nobody would buy it) for the fingerboard, and the artisans at Warmoth aligned it perfectly, with the most interesting figuring closer to the headstock, where the frets' wider spacing allowed for the wood's visual impact to be featured.
The mahogany neck. . . someone must have sensed this was a special piece of wood for the fingerboard, because this neck is more golden than amber. There are thick veins in it quite obviously shot through with translucent sparkling. If there is no such a thing as Tiger Mahogany, there is now. All grain perfectly aligned with the neck.
The abalone inlay. . . someone must have chosen the pieces by hand. Not a one alike, except at the 12 and 24 position, where two must sit side-by-side.
I dont have the body nor several other pieces, but I still take the thing out from time to time to look at it.
The reverse headstock looks great. I chose the "Wolfgang" neck contour, having read that the standard contour can seem a little bit thin to some hands. This feels slightly thinner than my current acoustic, as an electric should, in my opinion, for the wrist's sake. I am happy these two choices I made, on a whim and at the order form, turned out to be little special treats to make this guitar even more mine and mine alone.
Summing up, it is clear that every extra dollar I spent on this or that custom doo-dad was repaid to me with stunning craftsmanship and attention to detail. I only hope I can do the instrument some form of justice once it is completed.
NICKEL UPDATE or, "THE DUTCH GAMBIT": I spoke with the owner of Trem-King (as well as his wife a couple times) and he recommended that I avoid a bridge rout altogether, as no other routs avoid overlapping his product's required space in the guitar. So I bought the acrylic template which I highly recommend for anyone about to embark on cutting into their guitar body, as well as a router bit he said worked well in their workshop (since they offer in-house installation services for their tremolo as well). The template came vacuum-wrapped and looks like it will get the job done admirably.
They were out of chrome-plated TK-2 Tele tremolo bridges, and so I took a "satin nickel" version instead, after I had a few photos of its appearance graciously emailed to me ( http://tinyurl.com/yzq96zu , http://tinyurl.com/yjrazej ). I was afraid it would be too "satin" but my concerns were unfounded, as it looks great, and not like a drawer pull in a fancy office building (which, if you'll notice, is exactly how the control plate on that example Tele looks
).
As well, I figured this was fine with me, since the cover on the P-92 was going to be nickel as well, and not chrome, so hey, why not have everything match with a nickel finish.
Boy was I in for an odyssey.
I was browsing Schaller's website and lo-and-behold, I discovered they carried nickel-plated tuners as well as chrome-plated ones. I also found various buttons available instead of the stock trapezoidal ones, which I didn't favor overly much ( http://tinyurl.com/ydgxouo). I decided I liked the vintage-style ones ( http://tinyurl.com/ya55c47 ).
Nickel bridge, nickel pickup cover, nickel locking tuners. Even the LSR nut looks sort-of "nickel-y". Couldn't be easier, right?
Wrong. No one in the United States sells nickel-finished Schaller locking tuners. They sell the satin Fender ones with the "F" on the locking nut, but those again look like the finish on drawer pulls or the new-fangled faucet on some "modern" kitchen remodel. Not for me.
After about a week and a half of obsessing, and conversations with Warmoth and other suppliers, I learned that Schaller is one of the worst companies to do business with ever. 6 month or 12 month lead times on special orders, if they ever come at all.
After some extremely creative googling (googling for Schaller part numbers, THEN after that didn't work google image searching Schaller part numbers), I found a wholesaler in the Netherlands who carried these babies. After emailing them, I was directed to several of their retail clients, and luckily one of them does business internationally, and has a website in English as well as Dutch.
Also, since nobody sells those custom buttons (seriously, why put something up on a website if nobody bothers to sell them and you never bother to fill special orders?), I just HAPPENED to stumble upon NON-LOCKING Schaller tuners, nickel finish, sold by the same company. These non-locking tuners have the buttons I want. :cool01:
So I'm in for a penny and a pound and a stone and a hundredweight at this point so screw it. I bought both the nickel-finished locking tuners as well as the non-locking tuners that have the buttons I want; it should be easy enough to swap them out. Transferred funds, converted them to Euros (crying the entire time), the tuners are on their way next week. I got the nickel Schaller strap locks as well, and some speed buttons and bonnet buttons (not sure what I'm going to want there, that will be the final choice I make and only after I have all the pieces).
This was the company by the way, with a great sales staff who responded (albeit overnight, since they are on the opposite end of the world :laughing11: ) to all of my weird questions: http://www.guitarsupplies.nl . I cannot recommend them enough if you have some weird fetishistic desires only sold in Europe.
Another a great German company: http://www.thomann.de/ . They sell the locking tuners in nickel with the pin, as well as the screw hole (GuitarSupplies.nl only has the ones with the hole), but a salesman at Warmoth warned that installing the tuners with the pin could be a gigantic pain; I decided to cut my tech a break; I'm not planning on doing serious bending (the Trem-King isn't capable of gigantic bombs anyway) so I doubt I'll need the pin.
The one option I really wanted on the tuners was the Schaller "S" on the locking nut, but again this option seems to be as nebulous as the nickel, vintage-style buttons. I have some German friends, so perhaps some day I'll ask one to put an order in with Schaller, and a few years later I'll receive a special surprise. . .
OUTSTANDING ISSUES: The pickup blending issue. I am having a custom pickguard cut from Tor-tis (I'm going with the "Bold" color, since "50's vintage", while looking more like a real tortoise pickguard, looks overpoweringly busy to my eyes now), even though the controls will be rear-routed. I don't like a guitar without a pickguard, looks too furniture-y.
I wonder if the 720 mod, with a 24-fret neck, contoured heel, and a pickguard cut to avoid the entire area, would make reaching those extra frets a little bit easier? It's a small difference but I think it would come in handy.
Also, after looking carefully at my LSR nut, it appears part of the thin metal used to hold the bearings in the housing has been bent slightly. I'll have to exchange that with an undamaged one at some point here. I live in the Seattle area, maybe I'll just drive down to Warmoth and save the trouble of shipping. I long to smell woodshavings. . .
Wow sorry about all the words. I will take photos just as soon as I have a camera, as what I have so far is very exciting!
NOTE: Google (Bing as well) assumes a certain ethno-centricity. It is very difficult using the standard search engine to find sources outside of the U.S. for items often only available in foreign countries. Don't give up if at first you don't find for what you seek; many foreign language websites also have versions in English.
I have definitely chosen a P-92 for the neck, and provisionally chosen an SP-42 in the bridge of this Telecaster clone, subject to a conversation with either Lindy or whomever picks up the phone, with regard, again, to the balance between the respective pickups. I like the idea of a neck pickup with a Gibson-y sound combined with Fender sparkle, and a bridge pickup with Tele twang but some P-90 honk as well. Together, if neither overpowers the other, I think I'll have a wholly unique range of timbres.
BUILD UPDATE: I received the neck for my Tele the other day and all I can say is: dayum son. It is easily one of the most beautiful pieces of woodworking I've ever seen, and being nautically-initiate, I've seen all sorts of brightwork and varnish jobs and carvings. The satin clear finish is. . . it feels like I'm touching unfinished wood. Fast and smooth. The frets are perfectly-sized amalgams of the re-fretting I had done on my Guild D-4.
And the wood. . . I chose a custom piece of Brazilian rosewood (I'd had my eye on it for at least two months, hoping nobody would buy it) for the fingerboard, and the artisans at Warmoth aligned it perfectly, with the most interesting figuring closer to the headstock, where the frets' wider spacing allowed for the wood's visual impact to be featured.
The mahogany neck. . . someone must have sensed this was a special piece of wood for the fingerboard, because this neck is more golden than amber. There are thick veins in it quite obviously shot through with translucent sparkling. If there is no such a thing as Tiger Mahogany, there is now. All grain perfectly aligned with the neck.
The abalone inlay. . . someone must have chosen the pieces by hand. Not a one alike, except at the 12 and 24 position, where two must sit side-by-side.
I dont have the body nor several other pieces, but I still take the thing out from time to time to look at it.
The reverse headstock looks great. I chose the "Wolfgang" neck contour, having read that the standard contour can seem a little bit thin to some hands. This feels slightly thinner than my current acoustic, as an electric should, in my opinion, for the wrist's sake. I am happy these two choices I made, on a whim and at the order form, turned out to be little special treats to make this guitar even more mine and mine alone.
Summing up, it is clear that every extra dollar I spent on this or that custom doo-dad was repaid to me with stunning craftsmanship and attention to detail. I only hope I can do the instrument some form of justice once it is completed.
NICKEL UPDATE or, "THE DUTCH GAMBIT": I spoke with the owner of Trem-King (as well as his wife a couple times) and he recommended that I avoid a bridge rout altogether, as no other routs avoid overlapping his product's required space in the guitar. So I bought the acrylic template which I highly recommend for anyone about to embark on cutting into their guitar body, as well as a router bit he said worked well in their workshop (since they offer in-house installation services for their tremolo as well). The template came vacuum-wrapped and looks like it will get the job done admirably.
They were out of chrome-plated TK-2 Tele tremolo bridges, and so I took a "satin nickel" version instead, after I had a few photos of its appearance graciously emailed to me ( http://tinyurl.com/yzq96zu , http://tinyurl.com/yjrazej ). I was afraid it would be too "satin" but my concerns were unfounded, as it looks great, and not like a drawer pull in a fancy office building (which, if you'll notice, is exactly how the control plate on that example Tele looks
As well, I figured this was fine with me, since the cover on the P-92 was going to be nickel as well, and not chrome, so hey, why not have everything match with a nickel finish.
Boy was I in for an odyssey.
I was browsing Schaller's website and lo-and-behold, I discovered they carried nickel-plated tuners as well as chrome-plated ones. I also found various buttons available instead of the stock trapezoidal ones, which I didn't favor overly much ( http://tinyurl.com/ydgxouo). I decided I liked the vintage-style ones ( http://tinyurl.com/ya55c47 ).
Nickel bridge, nickel pickup cover, nickel locking tuners. Even the LSR nut looks sort-of "nickel-y". Couldn't be easier, right?
Wrong. No one in the United States sells nickel-finished Schaller locking tuners. They sell the satin Fender ones with the "F" on the locking nut, but those again look like the finish on drawer pulls or the new-fangled faucet on some "modern" kitchen remodel. Not for me.
After about a week and a half of obsessing, and conversations with Warmoth and other suppliers, I learned that Schaller is one of the worst companies to do business with ever. 6 month or 12 month lead times on special orders, if they ever come at all.
After some extremely creative googling (googling for Schaller part numbers, THEN after that didn't work google image searching Schaller part numbers), I found a wholesaler in the Netherlands who carried these babies. After emailing them, I was directed to several of their retail clients, and luckily one of them does business internationally, and has a website in English as well as Dutch.
Also, since nobody sells those custom buttons (seriously, why put something up on a website if nobody bothers to sell them and you never bother to fill special orders?), I just HAPPENED to stumble upon NON-LOCKING Schaller tuners, nickel finish, sold by the same company. These non-locking tuners have the buttons I want. :cool01:
So I'm in for a penny and a pound and a stone and a hundredweight at this point so screw it. I bought both the nickel-finished locking tuners as well as the non-locking tuners that have the buttons I want; it should be easy enough to swap them out. Transferred funds, converted them to Euros (crying the entire time), the tuners are on their way next week. I got the nickel Schaller strap locks as well, and some speed buttons and bonnet buttons (not sure what I'm going to want there, that will be the final choice I make and only after I have all the pieces).
This was the company by the way, with a great sales staff who responded (albeit overnight, since they are on the opposite end of the world :laughing11: ) to all of my weird questions: http://www.guitarsupplies.nl . I cannot recommend them enough if you have some weird fetishistic desires only sold in Europe.
Another a great German company: http://www.thomann.de/ . They sell the locking tuners in nickel with the pin, as well as the screw hole (GuitarSupplies.nl only has the ones with the hole), but a salesman at Warmoth warned that installing the tuners with the pin could be a gigantic pain; I decided to cut my tech a break; I'm not planning on doing serious bending (the Trem-King isn't capable of gigantic bombs anyway) so I doubt I'll need the pin.
The one option I really wanted on the tuners was the Schaller "S" on the locking nut, but again this option seems to be as nebulous as the nickel, vintage-style buttons. I have some German friends, so perhaps some day I'll ask one to put an order in with Schaller, and a few years later I'll receive a special surprise. . .
OUTSTANDING ISSUES: The pickup blending issue. I am having a custom pickguard cut from Tor-tis (I'm going with the "Bold" color, since "50's vintage", while looking more like a real tortoise pickguard, looks overpoweringly busy to my eyes now), even though the controls will be rear-routed. I don't like a guitar without a pickguard, looks too furniture-y.
I wonder if the 720 mod, with a 24-fret neck, contoured heel, and a pickguard cut to avoid the entire area, would make reaching those extra frets a little bit easier? It's a small difference but I think it would come in handy.
Also, after looking carefully at my LSR nut, it appears part of the thin metal used to hold the bearings in the housing has been bent slightly. I'll have to exchange that with an undamaged one at some point here. I live in the Seattle area, maybe I'll just drive down to Warmoth and save the trouble of shipping. I long to smell woodshavings. . .
Wow sorry about all the words. I will take photos just as soon as I have a camera, as what I have so far is very exciting!
NOTE: Google (Bing as well) assumes a certain ethno-centricity. It is very difficult using the standard search engine to find sources outside of the U.S. for items often only available in foreign countries. Don't give up if at first you don't find for what you seek; many foreign language websites also have versions in English.
Thanks; I need to hear some samples I think. People's written descriptions, while certainly helpful, are even more variable and relative than hearing a particular pickup in a particular guitar played by a particular person out of a particular amp, recorded on a particular microphone and then reproduced at a particular .mp3 compression ratio, out of a particular amp through a particular set of speakers / cans.=CB= said:
I must admit. . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wrho3ld2pc . . . they sound beautiful.
Cold. Blooded.Max said:
I need to borrow a friend's camera; mine's completely on the fritz. :icon_tongue:
vtpcnk said:
The guitar I had stolen from me and whose spirit I am channeling for this build, upon reading this post and thinking about it, definitely had rear-routed controls for a Thinline, but a solid body, the 3 pickups of a Nashville Tele, a through-body, aftermarket bridge, and a standard Tele pickguard. I'd always thought it had Strat controls but upon reflection and looking at pictures I now know its (weird) setup.
That's a great-looking pickguard shape, I agree, and I'm not entirely sure how I'll set the thing up. I'm buying two pieces of Tor-tis, maybe I'll have enough to figure it out when I have all the pieces together. If it looks like the "bold" pattern is just too overpowering - much like I think the "50s vintage" Tor-tis, mimicking a regular cellulose tortoise pickguard, overpowers naturally-finished Telecaster bodies - I'll choose some shape more understated.
Max said:
I spoke with Mr. Fralin today and he said he thought that an SP-42 in the bridge made perfect sense with a P-92 in the neck, since they are essentially the same pickup, one being the single-coil version, the other being the split-coil version.
I told him that what was most important to me was how the guitar sounded with both pickups being played, which he thought was "interesting"; I clarified in that I didn't want one pickup to overwhelm the other if played together, and he didn't think it would be a problem, and that the end result would likely be something somewhere between Gibson and Fender, and somewhere between a P-90 sound and a Tele sound, which "sounds" to me exactly like what I want.
Also, Lindy recommended a "raw nickel" pickup cover instead of their polished nickel variety, after I told him about my "satin nickel" Trem-King. Yet another option not listed on a website. . . fortuitous!
I'll try to borrow a camera or something so that this thread interests ANYONE but me, who so far is the only one reading this who can see the parts as they come in. Also I'll try to put up some sound clips of my (artless) playing, to give an idea of pickup sounds...
