White bound tele w. synth pickup.

[GuitaRasmus]

Hi there - new user here, but long time Warmoth fan - I've built 5 or 6 warmoth guitars before, among others a VV (Axis shape), but for the last couple of years I've been crazy about teles, and I wanted something special.

First of all, the specs:

Arctic white, black bound swamp ash body, neck pocket contour, back routed (for the larger electronics cavity - it'll still get a tele control plate) - I used to love quilted, flamed and dyed maple tops, but over the years I've come to much prefer simpler colours, especially black, white and sunburst. The other guitarist in the band uses a CS Fender Tele, black with bindings, and rosewood fretboard, so I thought it'd be cool to do an almost "inverted mirror image" guitar - we also gig in black and white clothes.

The neck was from the showcase, birdseye maple, standard thin with EVO gold frets (I'm allergic to nickel - first time I'm trying these, very positive experience so far.)

The reason for the larger cavity, is that I've become a big fan of guitar synth (Roland GR-55), and been using it heavily with my covers band for the last year. Therefore I wanted a Tele with inbuilt GK-system, so I can avoid the ugly GK-3 pickup "wart".

The other pickups will be a Bare Knuckles Flat50's for the bridge, and Suhr Fletcher Landaus for the neck and middle - been using those pickups for years, huge fan - the Flat 50's is the best bridge pickup (not just tele, BEST bridge pickup) I've ever used.

Here's the sketch:

I ordered the parts nov 6th, and they arrived yesterday, so I've been having som fun bolting it together, to let the parts settle, and adjust it a bit, before final assembly this weekend. It resonates very impressively, and has a lively, spanky sound - very happy with the acoustic sound.

Here it is, bolted together:

I've spent tonight rounding the fret ends (amazing what a difference that does), and filing the nut (it's always a bit too high for me, when Warmoth does it - although it's a good starting point), and I really enjoy it so far. Hopefully I'll get it routed for the GK pickup and input jack this weekend, and get it all assembled - more to come!


Btw, in case you're interested in what can be done with a guitar synth, you can check out my cover bands video demo here - all synths (Clavinova - Superstition, Aha - Take on me, etc.) are done with the guitar - and all guitar sounds, both me and the other guitarists, are done with a POD HD500X. I'm the guy with the semi hollow and the beard.

http://vimeo.com/114476795

 

[bagman67]

Those are some handsome parts.  I am curious  how the GK pickup will be installed since the edges of that ashtray bridge seem to be in the way.

 

[NLD09]

Those are some handsome parts.  I am curious  how the GK pickup will be installed since the edges of that ashtray bridge seem to be in the way.

Yeah, I'm curious as well.

 

[GuitaRasmus]

Hi guys, and thanks!

The bridge issue will be solved by filing off 5 mm's of each "wall". I could have solved it by using another, more modern bridge, but I really like the look and especially the sound, of this kind of bridge. I've done it before on another guitar, and it doesn't change the sound in any way, to have a few mm's missing from the wall.

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Hi Rasmus

It was about time you joined the fun here.  :icon_thumright:

Looking forward to see your build ... and try it out some time.  :sign13:

See ya.

 

[Updown]

Sounds like ya know what ya doing already here.  :icon_thumright:

But this could help a little  :dontknow:
A mate here in Oz makes that 13pin connector in a round shape.
With mounting template / bracket / rubber washer etc.
Rather than the square one ya get with the GK-3 internal kit.
Makes drilling easy, it isn't much fun drilling a square hole.  :icon_biggrin:
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=8888.0
Give him a bell, he has them with tails attached.
(Tell him Muz from Sydney told ya)
Thats a great site too / forum for all guitar synth etc.  :headbang:

I've made 2 Warmoth strats a while back, with the GK-3 internal kits.
The Cigar --- http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=16573.0

Redback --- http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=17680.0

Build for Redback .... http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=17451.0
Drilling a square hole ... http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=17452.0

Rock on  :icon_biggrin:
VG-99, GR-55, US-20

 

[croquet hoop]

Bound arctic white body, tortoise pickguard and birdseye maple neck... that's a killer combo

 

[GuitaRasmus]

Yay! I've worked hard both this friday and saturday, and gotten it all put together. A few pics of the process:

Routing out for the control plate:

I ordered the guitar with rear rout, because I wanted lots of room for the GK (Synth) electronics - I still wanted a controlplate though, I think it's an important part of the telecaster look.

I made a custom controlplate out of aluminum for two reasons

1) I wanted a 3 way toggle switch instead of the standard blade switch

2) I wanted it to be 2 cm longer, to have better room for the controls*

* The controls are as follows: Volume, tone. The small "round" miniswitch switches between the neck and middle singlecoils. The output from this goes to the 3 way toggle, so I can toggle between the bridge pickup and whatever is selected on the miniswitch. I like this setup because I mainly use either the bridge or the neck+middle combo, so I can easily switch between these two - as an added bonus, with this setup, every pickup combination is possible. The flat miniswitch is bank up/down (S1/S2) for the Roland GR-55 synth.

Soldering it:

I also cut out room for the output plugs, unfortunately no pictures. I made an aluminum plate for both plugs:

Then I cut a hole for the synth pickup wires, ground off a bit of the walls on the tele bridge, and soldered the GK-kit. This is not a job for the faint of heart! Man, it's very fiddly, and when I was finally done (or so I thought), I had to struggle for two more hours to get rid of a nasty ground loop. Anyway, it's all put together now, and it sounds gorgeous. It has a really clear, defined tone, and is very punchy as well - I'm very satisfied.  :glasses9:  It tracks great as well (for the synth), and I suspect it has something to do with those great EVO gold frets - I can heartily recommend them - they feel great, and are very easy to bend on.

Very much looking forward to firing it up with the band this tuesday.

Please feel free to comment and critique.

 

[stratamania]

That looks neat and some thought that has gone into it. I like the overall colour, and the pickup switching system and aluminium plate idea.

Just curious, why not use a Tele bridge without the sides to begin with ?

Also do you have a method of selecting between, synth, guitar or both ?

 

[GuitaRasmus]

That looks neat and some thought that has gone into it. I like the overall colour, and the pickup switching system and aluminium plate idea.

Just curious, why not use a Tele bridge without the sides to begin with ?

Also do you have a method of selecting between, synth, guitar or both ?

Thanks!

I used the traditional tele bridge because I think they sound a lot better than more modern types. I haven't noted any difference in sound from cutting away the wall, neither on this or my other tele.

I run the synth at full volume all the time (hence no volume control or switch on the guitar), and control the volume of the synth via the GR-55 expression pedal. After a couple of years of guitar synth use live, I've found that I much prefer this setup, and I like that the guitar signal and synth signal are two completely independent signals - it gives me a bit more of security live.

 

[stratamania]

Thanks now I see how you are controlling the synth, that makes a lot of sense.

On the bridge, have you ever checked out a Callaham bridge, with a compensated set of three saddles ?    That doesn't have walls, has a vintage type look and intonates better than a standard three saddle. It needs the three hole mounting though. The four hole version is back to walls. Anyway it might be something to check out if you havent seen them before.


http://www.callahamguitars.com/brdge_T.htm

 

[Great Ape]

That is COOL!! Really PRETTY!

 

[Cagey]

I know I'm impressed. Nice job!

 

[bagman67]

Now that's a keeper.  Beautiful work.

 

[mayfly]

That's really cool!  That's some ninja level guitar work there.

 

[Vallhagen]

The small "round" miniswitch switches between the neck and middle singlecoils. The output from this goes to the 3 way toggle, so I can toggle between the bridge pickup and whatever is selected on the miniswitch. I like this setup because I mainly use either the bridge or the neck+middle combo, so I can easily switch between these two - as an added bonus, with this setup, every pickup combination is possible.

So simple, so brilliant. Thanx for that! I borrow the idea for the future!

Overall tasty build!

Cheers
/Bengt