mayfly
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Cheap Thrills Tele
- Thread starter mayfly
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mayfly
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Gentlemen,
I've got the guitar together (...again... that should be a song... but I digress). With the 'new' neck the neck dive has improved! Likely because the old one was a fatback with Planet Waves lockers and the new one has a much slimmer profile along with the 'back sealing optional' GF locking tuners. Likely the whole package is lighter.
The neck is actually pretty good and the guitar has a good sound. Well, until you plug it in. Need to work on these pickups a bit. but I did fix the grounding issue with the bridge.
Now for the funny part. The neck had the mounting holes in the right place, but they were stripped! Yep. I ended up doweling and re-drilling. Now that's pretty ironic. In any case the guitar is about as done as it's going to get. Well, I might sand off the headstock decal and put one of my own on. Or maybe I should avoid doing that actually...
Now to break it in! Later!
ccasion14:
I've got the guitar together (...again... that should be a song... but I digress). With the 'new' neck the neck dive has improved! Likely because the old one was a fatback with Planet Waves lockers and the new one has a much slimmer profile along with the 'back sealing optional' GF locking tuners. Likely the whole package is lighter.
The neck is actually pretty good and the guitar has a good sound. Well, until you plug it in. Need to work on these pickups a bit. but I did fix the grounding issue with the bridge.
Now for the funny part. The neck had the mounting holes in the right place, but they were stripped! Yep. I ended up doweling and re-drilling. Now that's pretty ironic. In any case the guitar is about as done as it's going to get. Well, I might sand off the headstock decal and put one of my own on. Or maybe I should avoid doing that actually...
Now to break it in! Later!
ccasion14:
Cagey
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Mayfly said:Those are the GF locking tuners. Just unscrew the locking thumbscrew all the way and that's what you see! Try it!
Hmm. Interesting. I've never noticed that before. I don't have any of those tuners at hand at the moment, but I'll definitely remember to check on that when I get my stuff all settled in.
BigSteve22
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Mayfly said:
Interesting looking. I'm actually pretty fond of open back locking tuners, like these bad boys from Hipshot...
No crunch, very sooth and stable. I have these on my Strat, and there's another set in the parts drawer for the upcoming Tele build. My only problem with the Hipshot's, is the buttons. Try as I may, I just can't bring myself to like 'em on a 6 inline headstock. Thankfully, there's a boatload of replacement buttons available.
Cagey
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The problem with those open-geared tuners is well-known to the peace/love/dope hippie-types with hair like Rapunzel. They'll be standing there tuning, all innocent-like, trying to get that pesky G string just right, when suddenly the tuner gets ahold of their hair and starts drawing their head in to the machinery end of the guitar. Next thing you know, they've got a pointy guitar hanging from the side of their head like some kind of new-age earring and they're screaming in agony. Of course, you try to help them because nobody wants to see someone get their hair ripped out at the roots, but it's difficult because you can't stop laughing :laughing7:
BigSteve22
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Hmm....Guitar as amusing hair ornament......An added benefit I hadn't considered! :icon_jokercolor:Cagey said:
dmraco
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BigSteve22 said:Mayfly said:
Interesting looking. I'm actually pretty fond of open back locking tuners, like these bad boys from Hipshot...
No crunch, very sooth and stable. I have these on my Strat, and there's another set in the parts drawer for the upcoming Tele build. My only problem with the Hipshot's, is the buttons. Try as I may, I just can't bring myself to like 'em on a 6 inline headstock. Thankfully, there's a boatload of replacement buttons available.
I have those....work fine.
TonyFlyingSquirrel
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My Bari-Tele in my siggy pic below is a GFS clearance body, which is Paulownia. Very soft.
I too, had to re-drill my neck mounting holes, but on the body. When I purchased it, I had to route for humbucker using my Stew Mac template.
I also had to re-route for the Tele bridge when I switched it from humbucker back to single coil when I installed the EMG Tele set in it. Mine was off too, so I couldn't just mount up the bridge.
Speaking of the bridge. GFS is not consistent in the drill pattern between their Tele Humbucker bridge and the Tele Single Coil bridge.
More specifically, between their parts: C26 "Modern Style" Tele Upgrade bridge Stainless Steel Saddles chrome and C04 Chrome Humbucker Bridge for Tele Guitars.
The outer 4 perimeter mounting screw holes don't align, nor do the 3 mounting screws under the saddles. Only the center mounting hole under the saddles does. Not necessarily relevant unless you're switching from one coil to 2 or vise versa as I did, but I thought it was worthy of mention.
I treated all of my holes with crazy glue after drilling them out one size smaller in order to get a good bite on the threads. The entire outer dimension is smaller, as you can likely see in this pic. I compensated by using a small brass plate that I got from Michael's to cover up any reveal from the sides. The Humbucker bridge rode right up to the edge where the buckskin is, maybe 1/16" of reveal. The SC bridge increases that gap significantly. I also added some chrome bobbin toppers to the EMG's just to keep the chrome flowing as well as the vintage motif aesthetically.
Most of the GFS pickups are quite nice, but you need to give special care to measurement details when using their bodies/necks.
I too, had to re-drill my neck mounting holes, but on the body. When I purchased it, I had to route for humbucker using my Stew Mac template.
I also had to re-route for the Tele bridge when I switched it from humbucker back to single coil when I installed the EMG Tele set in it. Mine was off too, so I couldn't just mount up the bridge.
Speaking of the bridge. GFS is not consistent in the drill pattern between their Tele Humbucker bridge and the Tele Single Coil bridge.
More specifically, between their parts: C26 "Modern Style" Tele Upgrade bridge Stainless Steel Saddles chrome and C04 Chrome Humbucker Bridge for Tele Guitars.
The outer 4 perimeter mounting screw holes don't align, nor do the 3 mounting screws under the saddles. Only the center mounting hole under the saddles does. Not necessarily relevant unless you're switching from one coil to 2 or vise versa as I did, but I thought it was worthy of mention.
I treated all of my holes with crazy glue after drilling them out one size smaller in order to get a good bite on the threads. The entire outer dimension is smaller, as you can likely see in this pic. I compensated by using a small brass plate that I got from Michael's to cover up any reveal from the sides. The Humbucker bridge rode right up to the edge where the buckskin is, maybe 1/16" of reveal. The SC bridge increases that gap significantly. I also added some chrome bobbin toppers to the EMG's just to keep the chrome flowing as well as the vintage motif aesthetically.
Most of the GFS pickups are quite nice, but you need to give special care to measurement details when using their bodies/necks.
mayfly
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Gentlemen,
I used the guitar at rehearsal last night. It acquitted itself very well and the (somewhat) characterless pickups cut through with no problem. Might be on to something with that.
We came up with an idea for it: we will be playing a benefit for cancer patients in the fall, so we figured we could do a silent auction where people could "Win Trevor's Guitar!!". The new owner would get to take it right off the stage - maybe after a song or two. Could be fun! To that end, Dosh (the artistic bass player) will paint a cool design on the headstock. Once I get the original decals off of it that is ...
Stay tuned!
I used the guitar at rehearsal last night. It acquitted itself very well and the (somewhat) characterless pickups cut through with no problem. Might be on to something with that.
We came up with an idea for it: we will be playing a benefit for cancer patients in the fall, so we figured we could do a silent auction where people could "Win Trevor's Guitar!!". The new owner would get to take it right off the stage - maybe after a song or two. Could be fun! To that end, Dosh (the artistic bass player) will paint a cool design on the headstock. Once I get the original decals off of it that is ...
Stay tuned!
mayfly
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Gentlemen,
with our new plan in hand, I took the neck off and sanded the finish off the face of the headstock.
It was definitely a poly finish, but interestingly the final coats were quite a bit softer than the sanding sealer that they used. The logo was, interestingly, not a waterslide. Instead it was some kind of rub-on transfer thing applied right on top of the sealer. It had no real thickness or edges and as a result it probably didn't take much finish to bury. Not that that stopped them mind you!!
with our new plan in hand, I took the neck off and sanded the finish off the face of the headstock.
It was definitely a poly finish, but interestingly the final coats were quite a bit softer than the sanding sealer that they used. The logo was, interestingly, not a waterslide. Instead it was some kind of rub-on transfer thing applied right on top of the sealer. It had no real thickness or edges and as a result it probably didn't take much finish to bury. Not that that stopped them mind you!!
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