The Tele Fender Wishes They Made

[Cagey]

I'll flesh this out later, but I finally got some outdoor pictures of my latest Tele and thought I'd share them...

It's a hollow Mahogany body with a brass Scartozi bridge, Roadhouse humbucker, GFS True-Coil single, and Dangerous pickup rings and neckplate. The neck is a burnished Afra/Afra "Pro" with gold 6100s, Schaller mini-lockers and a Graphtech nut. Of course, the woodwork and finish is by Warmoth.

While it's not the prettiest or most complex or most expensive fiddle I have, I swear to the Flying Spaghetti Monster that this is the most badass guitar I've ever owned or put together. It's like a "Dumble", if there was such a thing as a Dumble guitar. Rare, unusual and sweet. One of my brothers was just over and all he could say was "God damn!". It's bright, articulate, loud and slinky, and that's without even plugging it in. Plug it in and play it for a bit, and you need to be excused for a bit while you go somewhere private...

Just badass. If this could be reproduced repeatedly, I think you could sell a jillion of them. But, I'm afraid it's one of those "one-in-a-million" guitars you hear about where the gods smile down upon you and bless you with a magical instrument.

 

[leo12.]

I think that turned out real slick, you say its not the prettiest, it sure ain't ugly. I often
wonder what Leo would do with the Tele where it would go look wise, i think he would
approve. NICE.

 

[thebutcher85]

WOW!! Just... WOW FREAKING WOW!!!! That is gorgeous!! I'm having an eyegasm just from looking at it! I bet it sounds ridiculous, that tele is just pure effing magic!

You better submit that for a GOTM, it's got my vote nailed down already haha!
ccasion14:

 

[Tonar8352]

That is a good looking guitar!

 

[swarfrat]

Dude! You're only supposed to inflate Tele's to 15psi!!!

 

[DangerousR6]

That is truly spectacular Kevin, I think you made the right choice going with all brass. That maybe the MOJO, a lot of the old time strat users swear by it... :dontknow:

BTW, where's the knob.. :icon_scratch:

 

[Cagey]

I think that turned out real slick, you say its not the prettiest, it sure ain't ugly. I often
wonder what Leo would do with the Tele where it would go look wise, i think he would
approve. NICE.

Thanks! I sometimes wonder what Leo would think of what's been done to his designs as well.

 

[Cagey]

WOW!! Just... WOW FREAKING WOW!!!! That is gorgeous!! I'm having an eyegasm just from looking at it! I bet it sounds ridiculous, that tele is just pure effing magic!

You better submit that for a GOTM, it's got my vote nailed down already haha!  ccasion14:

Thanks! I wasn't paying attention - I could have entered it this month. But, what's already in the queue are some spectacular pieces, so maybe next go-round.

 

[Cagey]

That is a good looking guitar!

Thanks! It's my second black body, and while it's attractive I'm sorta having a love/hate relationship with it already. Thing shows every fingerprint as if it's proud of them <grin>

 

[Cagey]

Dude! You're only supposed to inflate Tele's to 15psi!!!

ROFLMAO! Too funny! Hadn't looked at it that way, but that's how it looks, isn't it?

 

[Cagey]

That is truly spectacular Kevin, I think you made the right choice going with all brass. That maybe the MOJO, a lot of the old time strat users swear by it... :dontknow:

BTW, where's the knob.. :icon_scratch:

I'm crediting the brass, too. The other Tele is also hollow, but next to this it sounds dead. I mean, it's really in your face the way it rings, and the sustain is forever. Hit a chord and you've got time to go make a sandwich, eat it, smoke a cigarette, take a piss and when you come back the thing is still going. We may have discovered an alternative energy source here.

As for the knob, it was just too far off, color-wise. Almost looks like copper relative to the other parts. It's not obvious in the pictures, but the rings don't match the bridge, either. Then, the switch is actually gold. By the time I had everything on there, I had 4 different shades of brass/gold, with the knob being the most outrageous. So, I put the black knob on there to eliminate the most egregious mismatch and still blend. Of course, now I have a knob left over, so I'll have to build another guitar. A fanatic's work is never done.

 

[DangerousR6]

That is truly spectacular Kevin, I think you made the right choice going with all brass. That maybe the MOJO, a lot of the old time strat users swear by it... :dontknow:

BTW, where's the knob.. :icon_scratch:

I'm crediting the brass, too. The other Tele is also hollow, but next to this it sounds dead. I mean, it's really in your face the way it rings, and the sustain is forever. Hit a chord and you've got time to go make a sandwich, eat it, smoke a cigarette, take a piss and when you come back the thing is still going. We may have discovered an alternative energy source here.

As for the knob, it was just too far off, color-wise. Almost looks like copper relative to the other parts. It's not obvious in the pictures, but the rings don't match the bridge, either. Then, the switch is actually gold. By the time I had everything on there, I had 4 different shades of brass/gold, with the knob being the most outrageous. So, I put the black knob on there to eliminate the most egregious mismatch and still blend. Of course, now I have a knob left over, so I'll have to build another guitar. A fanatic's work is never done.

Hmmm, that interesting. When I had the knob and the rings together, they looked the same to me. Albeit, I'm a bit color blind, but not that color blind. And while there are different types of brass, they are usually pretty close in color... :dontknow: 

 

[Cagey]

When I first got the parts, I thought they all looked close enough for rock 'n' roll, too. But after polishing everything up and putting it on the guitar, it was all cats and dogs. I think the black background made the differences more obvious. Plus, lighting has a lot to do with it. Indoors, the brass/gold seems to match that vintage tint masked binding pretty good, but out in the sun, the binding looks almost orange relative to the hardware.

 

[DangerousR6]

Lighting does have a lot to do with it, the masked binding does look very orange. But to me all the brass looks to match in the sunlight... :dontknow:

 

[Cagey]

Right. Where the brass seems to match in the sunlight and the binding doesn't, the opposite occurs indoors. I have mostly florescent lighting indoors, but they're those "Reveal" lamps from GE that are supposed to produce a more natural light. Of course, that's marketing hype so they can triple the cost of the things, but it does look pretty good to the eye. Cameras aren't as easily fooled. I'm sure you've seen the "brownish" pictures people have taken indoors - that's from incandescent lighting which is heavy on the infrared side. Your eyes don't see it, but the camera does.

I'll put the brass knob on the Tele and take an indoor shot, and it'll probably be more obvious what the differences are in the various metals and alloys.

 

[DangerousR6]

So true, indoor lighting most of the time sucks, whether it be florescent or incandescent. I've taken a bunch of pics inside of chrome neck plates and they look gold, and I've got florescent light all over the house..  But I'm not much of a photographer either, so it could be 50/50 lighting and me..

 

[Cagey]

Here we go...

That's shot indoors, and you can clearly see 4 different shades of metal there.

It's ok; I only see it because I'm the thing's mommy so I'm hyper-critical. I doubt anyone else would notice it in real life unless it was pointed out.

 

[DangerousR6]

I think it's just you, I see more of a contrast in color between the gold toggle switch and the brass, than any of the brass parts.. :dontknow:

Also the way the brass parts are polished will make a difference. A mirror finish polish is going to give off a different look, than a polish that still has scratches in it. The scratches will reflect light differently... It happens with aluminum too..

 

[AutoBat]

I like the saddles.

 

[Cagey]

I think it's just you, I see more of a contrast in color between the gold toggle switch and the brass, than any of the brass parts.. :dontknow:

Also the way the brass parts are polished will make a difference. A mirror finish polish is going to give off a different look, than a polish that still has scratches in it. The scratches will reflect light differently... It happens with aluminum too..

You're right. But, we're also comparing photographs, none of which are quite reality due to lighting and shot angle. I took 6 shots to get that one because reflections make a difference due to surface texture, as you rightly point out. In real life, it's more obvious, at least to my eye. In any event, replacing the brass knob with the black one removes the outlier and allows the rest of the stuff to more or less equalize. Nothing is so far off as to draw the eye.