Cheap Thrills Tele

[mayfly]

Hey folks,

As some of you know, I recently bought a super-cheap telecaster body from Guitar Fetish just because it looked cool and there was a thread about such finishes.

The body itself is kinda crappy:  The dimensions are wrong, and the general quality is far below average.  But it is super light and I actually quite like the finish.  Having received it I was inspired to do something that I never attempted before:  Make a nice playable guitar out of the cheapest bits possible. 

The rules I set for myself were: spend the least money possible, it's ok to use bits I already have, and the final result has to be something I could use on stage.

With that in mind I began!  Here's the bits that I've got:

One super cheap tele body, one chrome neck pickup thing, one neck plate, a couple of knobs, a pair of strap locks, a set of compensated brass tele bridge saddles, and a set of threaded neck inserts.  Let's have at it!

 

[Cagey]

Be careful about the bridge. When they say "vintage", they're talking dimensions, not cosmetics. So, you need the right plate.

 

[mayfly]

yea I figured.  I'm planning on a GF bridge

 

[DangerousR6]

Might as well get some cheap ass GFS pups to go with it... :icon_biggrin:

 

[T89Rex]

Without wanting to hijack your thread too much (because I'm keen to follow this one, especially if you go with that cream guard mentioned in the other thread), I've been thinking about picking up some cheap GFS parts to teach myself how to assemble a guitar with a view to eventually moving up to a Warmoth when I'm vaguely competent.

Two questions:
1. Is it possible to put together a guitar for bargain basement prices that's actually worth playing or will it always ultimately be a training exercise more than making a functional instrument?
2. Are the parts of such low quality that they introduce complications that might make them harder for a beginner to work with than better quality parts?

 

[rgand]

Now this is a cool challenge. I think it can be done quite successfully. It'll be fun to see what you end up with.

 

[mayfly]

Without wanting to hijack your thread too much (because I'm keen to follow this one, especially if you go with that cream guard mentioned in the other thread), I've been thinking about picking up some cheap GFS parts to teach myself how to assemble a guitar with a view to eventually moving up to a Warmoth when I'm vaguely competent.

Two questions:
1. Is it possible to put together a guitar for bargain basement prices that's actually worth playing or will it always ultimately be a training exercise more than making a functional instrument?
2. Are the parts of such low quality that they introduce complications that might make them harder for a beginner to work with than better quality parts?

1 - I dunno!  we're gonna find out!
2 - I'm actually expecting this.  I'll let you know what transpires.

 

[mayfly]

Folks!

I just spent way too much time looking at prices for all my required hardware all over the place.  I've learned that!

1 - stu mac is expensive (Shockface!)
2 - allparts is not much cheaper
3 - sporthitech is not very cheap either!
4 - direct from the Canadian Gotoh dealer is not that cheap either!
5 - eBay is a pain in the ass 

and

6 - GF is the cheapest by far.  Looks like I'm buying it all from GF!!  Well, except for the neck.  Jury out on that at the moment.

 

[DangerousR6]

Try this place...
http://www.guitarheads.net/index.html

 

[Tipperman]

You should slap a bright blue Tortoise-shell-style pickguard over it for some powerclashing.  :laughing7: Looking forward to the results from this! One of your previous posts had me laughing super hard. "General quality is sub-par!" I read that with the most upbeat voice and nearly died of laughter.

 

[Cagey]

If you're not trying to set records for low price, Bill Lawrence's pickups are pretty inexpensive and still come in at boutique quality. A set of Tele Microcoils will make you very happy. But, don't be concerned about the GFS pickups. They're surprisingly high-quality parts. Also, their Schaller locking tuner look-alikes are difficult to tell from the real thing.

 

[rgand]

If you're not trying to set records for low price, Bill Lawrence's pickups are pretty inexpensive and still come in at boutique quality. A set of Tele Microcoils will make you very happy. But, don't be concerned about the GFS pickups. They're surprisingly high-quality parts. Also, their Schaller locking tuner look-alikes are difficult to tell from the real thing.

How do they feel? If they don't feel like you've dragged your guitar along the beach before stringing up, they could be one of the best kept secrets.

 

[BigSteve22]

Folks!

I just spent way too much time looking at prices for all my required hardware all over the place.  I've learned that!

1 - stu mac is expensive (Shockface!)
2 - allparts is not much cheaper
3 - sporthitech is not very cheap either!
4 - direct from the Canadian Gotoh dealer is not that cheap either!
5 - eBay is a pain in the ass 

and

6 - GF is the cheapest by far.  Looks like I'm buying it all from GF!!  Well, except for the neck.  Jury out on that at the moment.

I agree exactly with this assessment. I would only add that the Canadian Gotoh distributor, Japarts, is also the only place in North America to easily get custom Gotoh configurations. It ain't cheap, but it's available if you want. And, that SportHiTech will get you custom configured Hipshot items with no hassles.

Watching this thread with excitement!  :headbang:

 

[Cagey]

...Also, their Schaller locking tuner look-alikes are difficult to tell from the real thing.

How do they feel? If they don't feel like you've dragged your guitar along the beach before stringing up, they could be one of the best kept secrets.

They feel fantastic. Really, to look at and use them, you wouldn't know the difference. The only thing I've been able to discern as a difference is the small diameter compression post that runs up inside the main post that the string wraps on. It's forced against the string by the threaded/knurled knob on the back of the tuner. On the Schallers, that post is a separate piece from the knurled nut and the rest of the tuner, while on the copies it's welded to the knurled nut. So, in the case of the Schaller part, if you unscrew that knurled nut all the way, the compression post will fall out and you may never find it again. That can't happen on the copies unless you break the post off the nut, which probably isn't hard to do, but unless you dropped it you'd still be able to use it because it's an internal part.

Just as a side note - either way, losing the compression post isn't the end of the world. It just means the tuner won't lock any more. You can still wind the string on the main post and tune it up the same we did before locking tuners existed.

edit: I should mention those compression posts can be purchased separately. I had a neck here not too long ago that had 2 or 3 of the tuners with those posts missing, so I looked them up. I don't remember where I found them, but they're out there.

 

[DangerousR6]

If you're not trying to set records for low price, Bill Lawrence's pickups are pretty inexpensive and still come in at boutique quality. A set of Tele Microcoils will make you very happy. But, don't be concerned about the GFS pickups. They're surprisingly high-quality parts. Also, their Schaller locking tuner look-alikes are difficult to tell from the real thing.

True they are surprisingly good sounding. I have a set of Loud Mouths I bought a while back, and for the price they do sound pretty damn good..

 

[mayfly]

Gentlemen,

I've ended up ordering these:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/KP--Hard-Vintage-Neovin-Noiseless-Tele-Pair--Kwikplug-Ready_p_426.html

and these:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Now-STAGGERED-Gotoh-style-Locking-Tuners-Sperzel-Style-String-Lock-_p_514.html

staggered, locking, and don't have the previously mentioned pin fallout problem.  oh - and cheap!!  What's not to love?

 

[mayfly]

Try this place...
http://www.guitarheads.net/index.html

Hmmm - yea $10 for a bridge is pretty cheap!  Unfortunately too late - already ponied up at GF

 

[Cagey]

I don't know why they advertise those tuners as Sperzel-style. They look, mount and operate like Schaller minis. Sperzels have a thinner knurled nut on the back, a satin finish, and they have anti-rotation pins instead of screws.

 

[rgand]

and these:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Now-STAGGERED-Gotoh-style-Locking-Tuners-Sperzel-Style-String-Lock-_p_514.html

I looked at those after Kevin mentioned them. I will definitely try a set next time I need tuners.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Without wanting to hijack your thread too much (because I'm keen to follow this one, especially if you go with that cream guard mentioned in the other thread), I've been thinking about picking up some cheap GFS parts to teach myself how to assemble a guitar with a view to eventually moving up to a Warmoth when I'm vaguely competent.

Two questions:
1. Is it possible to put together a guitar for bargain basement prices that's actually worth playing or will it always ultimately be a training exercise more than making a functional instrument?
2. Are the parts of such low quality that they introduce complications that might make them harder for a beginner to work with than better quality parts?

Having done expensive builds, as well as cheap builds, I would say the answer to question 1 is "yes", with a qualification.  Over the years, I've bought lots of "beater" guitars, just because I liked the way they looked and thought they'd be fun to play on stage, but they still have to be playable.  If you are competent with complete setups, have the proper tools, and know how to do some fret work, you can make most of them playable and enjoyable.  Pickups are a personal choice, and not worth getting into, but a lot of the savings on cheap guitars is because they do almost no setup (labor) before shipping them.  They slap them together, adjust them so they make noise when plugged in and then ship them off.  Tear it down, check the neck, address any fret issues, and go through it from top to bottom, adjusting and fixing as needed, and chances are you'll have a fun guitar that actually plays fairly well.  All your out is your time and whatever parts you need/elect to replace.  And if it gets banged up at gig, you won't cry all the way home.