the die has been cast

[Orpheo]

Uhm, is that right? marko?! (english version of ' hek is van de dam' and don't tell me the fence is of the dam! )

I want a tele. I really, really do want a tele. I love the neckpickup. its fat, yet clear. its juicy yet articulate. I love the bridge pickup (on a good tele). its punchy yet crunchy. it's got loads of attack, and with the right one, it won't be an earpiercing experience.

please educate me! I am thinking of a tele with a twist, a tele in a les paul shape.

what about: flattop korina LP, non-angled pau ferro neck with the biggest headstock warmoth will make so I can cut out my own 3x3 headstock, ebony board, and the tele bridge and neck pickups, tele bridge, but all rear-routed (so I use a 3 way toggle on top and 2 volume 2 tone; I really want that cause I find the master volume master tone-thing quite a downer on a regular tele).

How far, or close, will that bring me (or take me away) from the tele-tone?

 

[Patrick from Davis]

The die has been cast.  Referring to what has already been done.  The die is cast refers to the present.  But your meaning was clear.  

So you are making a Lescaster?  Sounds fun.  What do you think you are going to do for pickups?  I have too many current projects, but I am dying, err, to try out a set of Ken's Specials for one of my Teles.  Sounds like a fun project.
Patrick

 

[Orpheo]

@patrick: thanks, I typed too fast happens to me sometimes. I have no idea what kind of pickups I want. yeah the standard tele pickups, but there are so many versions. I don't know what magnet type I want, don't know the wind... I know I don't want it overly hot, nor super-modern, nor super-weak. just a medium pickupset, so to speak. I think I'll have zhangbucker wind me a tele pickupset. i also want this to be the first of a quintet of les pauls. a stratty version (korina with bloodwood neck, ebony board), a junior (korina with goncalo alves neck, ebony board), and one with (mini?)humbuckers (cocobolo neck) and one with filtertrons ala cabronita (bocote neck). I'll be ordering the necks with a CBS headstock, no tunerholes drilled, so I can saw out a small 3x3 headstock, like the new fender/evh wolfies. it is a tight fit, but it will work

 

[drewfx]

Don't take this wrong, but it doesn't really sound like you want a tele.

But if you want it to be somewhat tele-like, I'd recommend vintage spec wound PU's. I think overwound tele PU's lose much of what makes a tele unique and special (which is different from saying overwounds are "bad").

 

[pabloman]

I think its a great idea. I have a build similar to this planned out. Butterscotch blonde with a black Jr. guard. Half Tele bridge, black top hat knobs.  :headbang1:

 

[Orpheo]

Don't take this wrong, but it doesn't really sound like you want a tele.

But if you want it to be somewhat tele-like, I'd recommend vintage spec wound PU's. I think overwound tele PU's lose much of what makes a tele unique and special (which is different from saying overwounds are "bad").

actually, I want both. but I also like exotic woods. IMHO ash sounds nice, great at times, but a: it looks boring. b: I find ash + maple to be most of the time too harsh and too shrill. with korina/limba I hope to eliminate some of the harshness, and the pau ferro (which sounds like maple but feels nicer ) will make it a bit more 'tele' like. I've tried the redwood-tele and from what I gather, redwood has a tone somewhat like korina., though korina has more mids.

vintage spec pickups. nice idea! I'll check it out. I think that I want something between overwound and vintage

oh, and ofcourse: brass barrel saddles!

 

[AprioriMark]

Pau Ferro decidedly does not sound like maple.

-Mark

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Well, I would suggest Ken for one set of pickups.  They were surprising to me, and I am a convert now.  I am sure you could find a use for them.  I think that you can have him send them to Warmoth and they will add them to the package going across the pond to minimize that headache.  But, on the other hand, you always seem to have a pretty firm idea of what sound you are looking for in your pickups.
Patrick

 

[Orpheo]

Pau Ferro decidedly does not sound like maple.

-Mark

not exactly, perhaps. but its got the bite and trebleresponse of maple,b ut with more girth, more power.

 

[m4rk0]

pau ferro + tele neck pickup can be ice pick in the ear... trust me.

 

[bbl4ck]

Well, I would suggest Ken for one set of pickups.  They were surprising to me, and I am a convert now. 

I just put Ken's specials in my Black Dog Tele and I really love them.  It quickly became one of my favorite guitars. 
I would certainly give them a try  :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright:

 

[mayfly]

please educate me! I am thinking of a tele with a twist, a tele in a les paul shape.

I read this far and burst out laughing  :icon_biggrin:

You can certainly get a tele tone in any shape you like.  IMHO the main ingredients for that tone are the classic bridge with the classic bridge pickup.  it's that combination that does it.  Slap that on the body of your choice and you're 90% there.

Now to read the rest of the posts!  :headbang:

 

[Doughboy]

I went through the same thing with Strats. Being a die hard Strat guy, I was hell bend on making a Strat that sounded like a Les Paul. I went with a mahogany body, mahogany neck, PAFs etc but in the end, only a Les Paul sounds like a Les Paul, in the same way only a Tele with sound like a true Tele.

If you really want a Tele, break down like I did & make a Tele. Les Pauls are awesome, but to be ultra authentic, you gots to go for the real deal.

 

[Orpheo]

@doughboy the thing that makes a les Paul a les Paul, is the combination of maple and mahogany,not just mahogany. The thick cap does the magic. What you made is,essentially, an sg on stratshape.

 

[dmraco]

orpheo..to your point about ash..it CAN be exciting if you get the right piece.  I have an Ibanez acoustic with what they call FIGURED ash...it is amazing!  With all the guitars you buy, you need to petition WARMOTH to GET THIS WOOD.  The only options I have seen are some mildly aggressive grains.

 

[mayfly]

Thinking about this a bit more, here's what I think you should do:

body wood - select the groovy sexy wood of your choice, but don't make it too dense.  I would avoid maple caps etc.

neck wood - go with raw canary.  I would normally say maple with a rosewood finger board, but I know you're bent in the groovy wood direction, so I would get canary.  I have two canary necked telecasters and they are both wonderful with all the twang and snap you need.

body shape - do what you want, but make it a flat top.  I think that's important if only to get the bridge to fit flat on the body.

Bridge / pickup - for the bridge I would use a Joe Barton or equivalent.  Compensated saddles and screws at the front to hold the front down.  I would also use lollar pickups, but that's just me.

wiring - don't do anything fancy here - just a volume, a tone, and a three way switch.  You'll likely want to dial the tone back a bit while playing.  THIS IS NORMAL. 

and finally,



and this is very important...





are you ready?














Put a Bender in it!  :headbang:

 

[Corey P.]

Put a Bender in it!  :headbang:

Now there's a hell of an idea!  :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright: