Cagey's First Tele

[Cagey]

Well, I finally did it: I ordered a Telecaster body.

May God have mercy on my soul.

Some of you may have seen it - it's been in The Showcase for about 100 years now in the "Screamin' Deals" section. Unfortunately, I didn't think to grab pictures of it before it got pulled off. But, it's a hollow-body carved-top rear-routed little lovely, Maple over Swamp Ash, finished in gloss black. Not sure what it was doing in there - there's nothing weird about it as far as I could tell. Maybe somebody can enlighten me. But, it was a $600 body for $2.18 that nobody bit on all this time, so I figured I'd get it here and give it a sniff.

I've already got a brand-spankin' new jet-black Ebony over Bubinga neck w/ stainless 6100s on it that's been sitting here just rotting - I haven't even done the fretwork on it yet - and it needed to get married. Bought that originally for the Mahogany Strat, but then fell into an Ebony over Walnut neck that's gonna go on there. So, being the matchmaker that I am...

Speaking of matchmaking... I put that neck on Bagman's Tele when it was here, just to see how it would look...

Not too shabby. The Bubinga and Mahogany go together nicely. Seems like I should have better pics of that neck around here somewhere, but I'm not finding them.

Anyway, it ought to look good on a black body as well.

Gonna have a Seymour Duncan JB4 in the bridge, and quite likely a GFS Tru-Coil at the neck. Gotoh Humbucker Tele bridge - no wang bar on this one - gonna be a hardtail. Locking Schaller minis, of course. Just about everything will be black, other than the neck meat.

Should be an interesting fiddle. If not, well, there's always eBay <grin>

 

[Tipperman]

Is that what you need a floyd for? Caving in, are you?  :laughing3:  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[Corey P.]

Mmmmm, neck meat...

 

[bagman67]

Cagey, I like how Quty Pie feels in my hands so well (and you know how she feels also) that I am absolutely confident you cannot go wrong with that layout.  If I could have justified it (and believe me, I can justify the pluperfect hell out of things, so this was a tough loss for me), I would have picked up that black body myself - this makes two fantasy bodies you will have snagged from me while I tried to rationalize the purchase.  Good work, sir.

Bagman

 

[Cagey]

Is that what you need a floyd for? Caving in, are you?  :laughing3:  :icon_jokercolor:

No, I acquired another VIP body from eBay some time back that's cut for a recessed Floyd, but after much internal sturm und drang all day today, I've decided that's not going to get built here. I should probably remove that post.

That's a nice body, too - chambered Maple over Mahogany, also black and in very good shape. But, I already have a couple VIPs and don't really care for the Floyd design, so that one's gonna go bye-bye. Only reason I bought it was it was a good deal and I had this idea of building a blacker-than-black short scale shredder. Anybody wants it, make me an offer.

 

[Cagey]

Cagey, I like how Quty Pie feels in my hands so well (and you know how she feels also) that I am absolutely confident you cannot go wrong with that layout.  If I could have justified it (and believe me, I can justify the pluperfect hell out of things, so this was a tough loss for me), I would have picked up that black body myself - this makes two fantasy bodies you will have snagged from me while I tried to rationalize the purchase.  Good work, sir.

Bagman

Sorry to pull the rug out, but at every four-way stop somebody's gotta go or nobody gets anywhere <grin>

I'm really surprised that thing sat in there as long as it did. Usually, the "screamers" have something unusual about them that would keep them in The Showcase proper forever at normal pricing. But, I looked at that one long and hard numerous times, and I'm quite confident I'm going to be happy. I even called Warmoth and talked to Spike a couple times with questions/clarifications, just to be sure I didn't step on my... special purpose.

I'll say this, though - Quty Pie was an inspiration. That's not your daddy's Tele. I doubt I'd have done what I have if I hadn't had the chance to work with that one.

 

[Johnfv]

...Unfortunately, I didn't think to grab pictures of it before it got pulled off...

I have found they keep the pics around a long time so if you know the item number you can get them (they name the pics with a/b/c for each view. For example they still have my Tele that I built a back in July:

Here is the URL I used above (my body was T2515)
www.warmoth.com/Showcase/images/bodies/large/t2515c.jpg

 

[Cagey]

Cool! Ok, here we go...

The pickup routes will change, but otherwise that's it. Unfortunately, few finishes photograph as poorly as black, so not much information there. But, at least there's a record or starting point.

 

[tfarny]

Nice! I went back and forth over that body and the vintage white one I finally got - but what bridge are you using? A wilkie cut-off one?
Here's mine:

 

[Johnfv]

Is that a carved top then? Looks sweet!

 

[bagman67]

Nice! I went back and forth over that body and the vintage white one I finally got - but what bridge are you using? A wilkie cut-off one?

I think he mentioned the Gotoh HB Tele bridge - he's putting a JBsomething in the bridge pos'n.

 

[Johnfv]

Is that a carved top then? Looks sweet!

EDIT: DOH! you mentioned carved top in your first post. I like it!

Mine is chambered (not hollow) but I really like the body tone. In fact more sound comes from the back of the guitar than the front...

 

[Cagey]

Nice! I went back and forth over that body and the vintage white one I finally got - but what bridge are you using? A wilkie cut-off one?

That white body is sweet, too! I've always liked both black and white bodies. You just can't go wrong with them.

I'm not going to do the vibrato thing on this one, it'll be a hardtail using the Gotoh humbucker Tele bridge...

I'm gonna put a JB humbucker in it, and see how that goes. If it doesn't sound right, there are only about 5,391 others I can put in its place. Eventually, something will like me.

 

[bagman67]

Eventually, something will like me.

Hope springs eternal, eh?

 

[rapfohl09]

Very nice Cagey, I have been eyeing that one for a while!

It is gonna be quite a nice guitar!

 

[AutoBat]

I'm in the same "I do not like telecasters" club as Cagey, and have been tempted to build one after seeing builds here.
I haven't parted with any money though. *(or, yet)*

 

[Jusatele]

Cagey

congrats on finally getting a real guitar.
when you fire that puppy up for the first time and get your inner twang thing on
you suddenly will know why.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Congratulations.
I'm jealous. Mostly because I haven't ordered mine yet. I have never owned a Tele, and I now want to build one. 

 

[Cagey]

Eventually, something will like me.

Hope springs eternal, eh?

I've found that regardless of the number of 50 cent adjectives and the volume of hyperbole used to describe a pickup, you never know what something is going to sound like until you install it. So, hope is all you have. Sometimes you get lucky. More often, you're left wanting.

 

[Cagey]

when you fire that puppy up for the first time and get your inner twang thing on
you suddenly will know why.

I'm not sure if I have an "inner twang". I'm also not sure this guitar is going to be very "twangy", what with a humbucker bridge pickup. But, I'm kinda like a new mother when it comes to new guitars. As long as it has all its parts, we're good to go. We'll raise it right, buy it parts, send it to school, and hope it doesn't eat the teacher.