First project: Tele or Esquire?

[Hunter]

I'm embarking on my first attempt at building my own guitar. I'm going for a Tele neck (Gonçalo Alves/Ebony) and Tele body. However, I can't choose between 2 different directions I want to take my Tele in.

1) Standard Tele, but with a 4 way switch mod.

2) Esquire with a humbucker wired to the 3 way switch (series/split/parallel).

The idea with both options is to give me that fatter, thicker sound that is sometimes missing in single coil guitars (the 4th position on the Tele, or the humbucker on the Esquire). The difference is that with option 1, it'll still sound like a Tele, but with option 2 it'll be a different kind of animal. Probably more Les Paul, since I'm looking at th SD Little 59. That's appealing because I already have a Strat (SSS) but I don't have any humbucking guitars. On the other hand, I've never had a Tele, and I've always wanted one, so that draws me to the first option.

The humbucking Esquire is a bit more different than the standard Tele with the 4 way switch. I'm thinking because it's a custom guitar, different/unusual is better. After all, I can buy a Tele with a 4 way switch (like the Baja) from Fender. My only concern with the Esquire is that it'll be a one trick pony. Even with the 3 way switch, I think it might end up being good for high gain but naught much else.

Any thoughts?

 

[Cagey]

One-trick ponies are not necessarily a Bad Thing. Also, trying to create the all-in-one holy grail of guitars rarely works out well. So, what many do is put together lotsa guitars  :icon_biggrin:

Just be patient. Get used parts here and there to keep costs down. Learn to do some work yourself. Before you know it, you'll have a whole stable of the things. Then, you can start selling/trading off the ones that don't get a lotta use, or mix/match/trade parts to create better units. Chance favors the prepared.

 

[zebra]

No need to be worried that the single HB idea would only be good for high gain work, as long as you find a humbucker that sounds good clean.  Here's a whole thread about that:

http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=24168.0

I love the sound neck pickups, but keep winding up with guitars without them.  I've come to appreciate the simplicity of the layout, and not having the option to switch between bridge and neck pickups compromising EQ settings.

Having said that, I'm putting a Tele together as well, and will definitely be using a neck pickup, and may be going with a 4-way switch as well....

Either way, both ideas sound like good concepts - enjoy your build!

 

[DangerousR6]

One-trick ponies are not necessarily a Bad Thing. Also, trying to create the all-in-one holy grail of guitars rarely works out well. So, what many do is put together lotsa guitars  :icon_biggrin:

That's the whole key to having many guitars. :icon_thumright:

 

[Hunter]

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'm keen on the Esquire idea for my first custom guitar. I will do both eventually, let's be honest. Just doing the planning and browsing around the Warmoth site, I think I've caught the custom guitar bug. So it'll be humbucking esquire, then traditional Tele, then... who knows. Since I've got this thread anyway, I'll use it to post updates on how the project is going, if anyone is interested. Another choice I have to make, if anyone has any insight for me - Little 59 or Hot Rails for the bridge pickup?

 

[Cagey]

I like Hot Rails pickups, but then I like to raise hell with my guitars. It's up to you. If you have any experience with either, let that be your guide. If not, perhaps wandering around some of the local music stores might give you the opportunity to try some out.

As long as you're following the road less travelled, you should seriously consider springing the extra $20 for stainless frets. Regardless of what you might read from the clueless teenagers out there, they don't change your guitar's sound/tone/character, but they last damn near forever and make the thing dramatically easier to play. The only reason manufacturers don't install them as standard is they require better tools than cavemen had to work them into shape.

 

[Hunter]

I've heard SS frets tear up your strings a lot faster. They go dead quicker. Is that true in your experiemce?

 

[Cagey]

No. Not at all. In fact, while SS frets are a LOT harder than nickel-silver frets, they're also a LOT smoother. That's what makes them so much fun to play. If anything, the strings last longer due to the decreased abrasion. The frets themselves certainly last longer - they're almost impossible to wear out.

I'll tell ya - SS frets are the best thing to happen to guitars since locking tuners. Most of the bad-mouthing you'll read/hear is from techs who don't want to spend the money for proper tools or the extra time it takes to shape the little rascals. Luthier's files are already expensive due to their specialized nature, and getting ones that will deal with the hardness of SS raises the price pretty good. Many techs will add a good $100 to a SS fret job because they know the wire is going to eat their tools and their time. Guitar work doesn't pay very well, so you don't want to work on parts that are gonna eat your life (or your tools).

All the stories you hear about "brittle" sound, string wear, excessive cost, etc. are bullshit. I work almost exclusively with SS and "gold" frets because I don't charge a premium for the work - the things don't bother me because I have good tools. Seriously - try a set. You'll be glad you did.

 

[KDC1956]

I say go with the Telecaster and the  SD Little 59 that's what I think I am going with on my build this spring.I don't worry about the money I don't have much of it anyway lol.We only live once might as well get what we can and enjoy it.The  SD Little 59 has a great sound to my ears but then again I have big ears lol.  :evil4:

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

SS Frets vs. Nickel steel is like playing a glass slide on teflon coated flatwound strings versus a brass slide finished with a course wire brush played on heavy gauge roundwound strings.

Even nickel steel frets that have been burnished don't feel as smooth as ss frets right out of the box.

 

[Day-mun]

The l'il '59 is a great pickup. -Better than ANY of the other HB-for-SC-direct replacements that Duncan makes. The Tele version is better sounding than the Strat version, -you're gonna love the way your guitar sounds... I guarantee it.  :laughing7:

I love your idea of building the Esquire. -I've done the very same mod on the three-way that you're planning to do. Like it's been said before, don't underestimate the one-pickup wonders; the tone (& volume) control gets a lot more important, but then when pressed to get more out of it, these buggers prove to be much more than one-trick-ponies... you'll be surprised at just how versatile it'll be!  :icon_thumright:

@ SS frets: Yes! Yes!! YES!!!  :headbang1:

-Crap. Now I've got GAS.  :help:

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

Another good word on the lil 59. I put that in a Tele I did for my brother and that's just one of the reasons it's his favorite guitar.

 

[musicispeace]

If you don't have anything with humbuckers already I'd say go for that on this project. I keep flirting with the idea of having a tele but the best advice I got was to keep picking up a tele whenever I am in a brick and mortar shop and work toward a decision. As Cagey says, you can always sell a project if you end up not really being happy with it. Teles have a huge following but I think it is the sort of tool where you need to get there in your own time if you think it has something that you need or just even want as variety. 

 

[zebra]

To summarize the gist of what a lot of other people have posted....a Tele is a GREAT blank canvas - decide what you like, and stick coherent components on it on like it's a Mr. Potato head, and you'll probably like it.  I'm about 3/4 through assembling parts for my Tele - I spent WAY too much time thinking about parts, but honestly once a couple of parts arrived (this BEAUTIFUL pickguard from Greasy Groove, in particular) everything else sort of fell into place.  I still have a little bit of decision making to do on the neck, but you just need to decide what's most important to you, and then everything else should fall into place...

Or if you're  a REALLY indecisive type, just rebuild a classic with your own tweaked specs...I know I'm considering as a next build something inspired by that maple-topped-Tele green-burst like Johnny Marr's Pete Townshend hand-me-down!

Enjoy the process!

 

[musicispeace]

Right on Zebra, have to agree with you on Greasy Groove. They have some stellar stuff. I got a pickguard for my next guitar that is antique white paisley. Really cool.