Can top-routed teles with bridge routes be redeemed?

[swarfrat]

Been browsing the showcase. All the hardtail basswood bodies I found were top routed teles. I like basswood as a tonewood. (although I'm not sure about it's potential for DIY finish - the ones which are easy to make nice looking are all transparent)

At any rate, the bigger issue is the bridge and bridge pickup hole. The easy answer is of course, to route for a humbucker and use a Gotoh Tele-HB bridge. Tele pickup is not really an option for me. The American Standard Strat string holes appear to line up pretty well, but the tele bridge pickup route is rather cavernous. I spent way too much of my batchelor saturday when I could be doing other fun stuff throwing this together... I had hoped for a hardtail strat or other hardtail bridge arrangement that didn't show up on air defense radars, but it's not looking good because of the area in red.

If this ever gets built, it's likely to be my concert pitch baritone (possibly arguing against my bridge pickup selection. Long scale high tension sounds like a single coil crisp airy belltone machine.  I'll have to revisit that. But it won't be the right hand slanted icepick.)  Contemplating tru-oil on maple for the neck as well.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Just have one made like you want.  Seeing as this an unfinished showcase piece, the price difference between that and a scratch build is less great.  Any price savings wouldn't be worth the headache of always seeing the gap that a flatmount bridge and pickup ring won't cover.  Or just do the Gotoh like you were thinking that will cover the whole thing up and get the re-route for free.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

The American Standard stuff doesn't match well with the way the Vintage Tele bridge works.

I know this because I have an American Standard bridge and want to use it.  It has offset intonation screws, which I need for the current project.  However, other than the Cabronitas bodies, it is not really done much.
Patrick

 

[swarfrat]

Good point - it's easy to get funneled into a really narrow goal once you get an idea. Custom body would actually have a functional upper horn. Blocking the trem as discussed in that other thread is probably more functional than trying to work around Bingham Canyon

These are probably better deals in terms of what I'd have to work around for what I'm trying to achieve.

Although they'd require:

instead of

And I guess that answers the question about tele bodies...

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Glendale makes a chopped off bridge only portion of a Tele bridge that will fit that.  But it's Glendale, so you're savings on a Showcase price is eaten up.