Tele questions

[erogenousjones17]

Due to an unexpected windfall, I may be on the verge of finally building that Tele I've been thinking about. I'm set on a particular body from the showcase (I won't share a link, lest one of you steal it from under me :laughing7 and a roasted maple neck, but some other important details are still up in ther air. Pickups, for example. The original plan was a Tele bridge PU with a mini-HB in the neck, but I recently noticed these gold foil numbers from GFS: http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Gold-Foil-Pickups_c_525.html. Has anyone had experience with these things? They look neat, but I wonder what they sound like...

Another thing is the bridge. The body I'm looking at is routed for a Tele bridge. What kind of bridge do I want?  :icon_biggrin:

The last thing is, I suppose, a question for the folks at W. Do you think they'll rerout a regular top-routed Tele body to accomodate a Thinline pickguard? That's the best PG out there, and it's a key to my original idea....

 

[Fat Pete]

Due to an unexpected windfall, I may be on the verge of finally building that Tele I've been thinking about. I'm set on a particular body from the showcase (I won't share a link, lest one of you steal it from under me :laughing7 and a roasted maple neck, but some other important details are still up in ther air. Pickups, for example. The original plan was a Tele bridge PU with a mini-HB in the neck, but I recently noticed these gold foil numbers from GFS: http://www.guitarfetish.com/GFS-Gold-Foil-Pickups_c_525.html. Has anyone had experience with these things? They look neat, but I wonder what they sound like...

Seems to be a major bandwagon thing going on with these right now. Low output and full of mojo supposedly. They were attached to a lot of POS Woolworths/Sears/Teisco type things back when I was first looking at guitars and it wasn't mojo people thought they were full of at the time. But, I haven't tried the GFS ones and they certainly do look pretty cool.

Another thing is the bridge. The body I'm looking at is routed for a Tele bridge. What kind of bridge do I want?  :icon_biggrin:

Maybe I'm missing something but... A Tele bridge?

The last thing is, I suppose, a question for the folks at W. Do you think they'll rerout a regular top-routed Tele body to accomodate a Thinline pickguard? That's the best PG out there, and it's a key to my original idea....

Don't think this will work. I think the scratchplate lines up something like this:

 

[erogenousjones17]

Another thing is the bridge. The body I'm looking at is routed for a Tele bridge. What kind of bridge do I want?  :icon_biggrin:

Maybe I'm missing something but... A Tele bridge?

Heh, yeah, that wasn't very clear, was it? My bad. What I mean is there seem to be a few different kinds (vintage, standard, american), and I don't know which I'd choose. Then there's the question of what brand to go with.

Thanks for the diagram. That's exactly what i needed to see. Too bad my plan won't work...but I guess that's why the hybrid PG exists, innit?

 

[musicispeace]

I was contemplating doing a tele with a Klein Nocaster in the bridge and a Klein Firebird neck pickup.

 

[Fat Pete]

The showcase Tele bodies are pretty much always routed for 'Tele bridge' which is the standard 4 screw mount. All the Tele bridges Warmoth sell - and most others - will fit. It's up to you to decide whether you want vintage or modern style etc. You just need to avoid bridges made for the American Standard Tele mount, which has 3 mounting screw holes and the string-through holes positioned differently.

 

[mayfly]

Yes, stay away from the "American standard" bridge rout.  It drastically limits your options. 

Speaking of bridges, what tone are you looking for?  that will guide you towards different bridge styles.  The basic two directions are:

Country tone -> three brass saddles.  Compensated versions are available.
rock tone -> steel saddles. 

Once you know that we can narrow down the options.

Regarding the groovy thinline pickguard - why don't you just get it with a back control rout?  Then you can drill the holes for the knobs where you want...

Regarding pickups - there is so much choice out there it's kinda nutty.  I'd recommend staying with the traditional telecaster pickups though - that will allow you to swap different pickups until you find something that's to your taste.

Oh - and good to see another telecaster in the world!  ccasion14:

 

[Day-mun]

As far as the bridge question, I put this one on my last build and really like the vintage-like appearance, but the comfort of the cut-away sidewalls (-used to bang the sh*t outa my strumming hand index finger's nail on the bass-side of the bridgeplate's ashtray side-wall thingy typically found on classic Telecasters.) -Kinda pricey, though, at ~$100 with titanium saddles... -Hey Mayfly! (Just curious) What style would you say titanium bridges sound good for?

 

[mayfly]

errrr, titanium sounds best with Norwegian Grindcore



:headbang:

 

[Cagey]

No doubt. You can definitely hear the titanium influence in this piece...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kafLVzVO3gk[/youtube]

 

[unstrung]

Oh god, people actually like those turd foil pickups now?

 

[Cagey]

If I'm understanding the marketing blurb about them, they look like those old pieces of... stuff, but they actually sound good. One can only hope. I remember those pickups back in the day, and they were so bad they weren't even a joke. Well, maybe a cruel joke.

 

[erogenousjones17]

Wow, thanks for all the replies, guys.

Regarding tone, I'm definitely looking for some twang, so I'll probably go with brass (even though I'm far from a country picker). Thankfully, I already have a guitar to use in my Norwegian Grindcore band. :icon_biggrin: Regarding the rear-rout thing, the body I'm looking at is from the showcase, and it's unfortunately already been top routed. Guess you can't win 'em all.

As for pickups, I'm definitely going for Tele in the bridge. The neck PU is still up in the air somewhat. I was thinking mini-hum, then P90s (LOVE P90s!), and then those funky-looking gold dealies. There are too many options out there...

 

[Guitarsan]

Wow, thanks for all the replies, guys.

Regarding tone, I'm definitely looking for some twang, so I'll probably go with brass (even though I'm far from a country picker). Thankfully, I already have a guitar to use in my Norwegian Grindcore band. :icon_biggrin: Regarding the rear-rout thing, the body I'm looking at is from the showcase, and it's unfortunately already been top routed. Guess you can't win 'em all.

As for pickups, I'm definitely going for Tele in the bridge. The neck PU is still up in the air somewhat. I was thinking mini-hum, then P90s (LOVE P90s!), and then those funky-looking gold dealies. There are too many options out there...

Yeah, no end of options. I can't help but think all the GFS stuff is on the cheap side, more about marketing and flash. But to each his own.

I have a tele build in progress, and I want noiseless. (That's right, I said it! haha)

So I'm going Fralin Split Blade (Vintage) for the bridge

and more traditional chrome cover look for neck, going with a Dimarzio Area T.

And then there's like 10 different control wiring schemes, have you gotten that far yet? (Even with two pots and an X-way switch)

 

[Slackjaw]

Klein makes some gold foils... that aren't really made like traditional gold foils. So I'm thinking these are aesthetic... made in various flavors: Tele, Mini-P90, (Mini-Hum and standard Hum not pictured) and Firebird. I chose a Klein Firebird neck pickup (non-foil) for the tele I'm building, as the sound is closer to "Fender" (clearer tones) than a standard Mini-Hum...