Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: ailean on February 13, 2008, 07:24:17 PM
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It arrived :) It's gorgeous. :) I'll post some pics when Sue has finished polishing it up :)
For those who don't know what I'm talking about:
http://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11413&start=0
Thanks Jonathan!
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You lucky, lucky man!
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Well Done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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PICS!
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PICS!
Will post tomorrow, Sue's going to do the full works on it, strings, pup height, truss rod, full clean and polish. She's off work tomorrow, so it should be looking by the time I get home.
Haven't had much time to play tonight, but it sounds and feels lovely. It's only fitted with 9's at the moment, we'll put 10's on it which is our usual string so hopefully it will sound even better!
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At least it came to someone who is part of the family! Guess Jonathan can live with that then ...
CONGRATS!
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PICS!
Will post tomorrow, Sue's going to do the full works on it, strings, pup height, truss rod, full clean and polish. She's off work tomorrow, so it should be looking by the time I get home.
Haven't had much time to play tonight, but it sounds and feels lovely. It's only fitted with 9's at the moment, we'll put 10's on it which is our usual string so hopefully it will sound even better!
be a devil and try 11's :twisted:
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PICS!
Will post tomorrow, Sue's going to do the full works on it, strings, pup height, truss rod, full clean and polish. She's off work tomorrow, so it should be looking by the time I get home.
Haven't had much time to play tonight, but it sounds and feels lovely. It's only fitted with 9's at the moment, we'll put 10's on it which is our usual string so hopefully it will sound even better!
be a devil and try 11's :twisted:
11s FTW.
I'm going to 12s soon though- woop.
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Nick is right-go to 11's. I am glad I did. Great to see that you have given her the home she deserves.
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Fenders deserve 11s. My tele came with 9s and it was horrible. I found myself doing 2 tone bends by "accident" thanks to my uber-strong manly hands.
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Glad it got to you swiftly.....
The bridge is one of those cool Wilkinson ones - you can unlock the brass saddles with an allen key and twist for better intonation between the two strings served by the one saddle.
You may find that it doesn't need changing though!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/P8253555.jpg)
It was probably set up for D'addario 9.5s which is something we did for the show as some folks want 9s and others want 10s
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/P8253554.jpg)
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Such a nice tele!
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very nice!
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Here are some pics as promised.
(http://www.padfoot.plus.com/img/feline_1.JPG)
(http://www.padfoot.plus.com/img/feline_2.JPG)
(http://www.padfoot.plus.com/img/feline_3.JPG)
(http://www.padfoot.plus.com/img/feline_4.JPG)
(http://www.padfoot.plus.com/img/feline_eyes.JPG)
The finish of this thing is amazing and seems to change with the lighting, looks best under natural light :)
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That is probably the best looking tele I've ever seen :D
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looks awesome... :)
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Hello wife of Ailean here,
I've done a full spit, polish and set up on it and it plays beautifully. I'm not used to the finish on the neck. I was wondering if Jonathan could tell me what it is (oil?) and how I should look after it?
Oh and one more stupidish question, what is each position on the 4 way switch?
Congrats for producing such an awesome guitar, defiantly a keeper, it will be well looked after :D
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I love tabby's wish I'd not missed this one...could buy a brother for the one I have
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I'd love one of those, but Jeff Beck style, i.e. 2 'buckers...
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Hello wife of Ailean here,
I've done a full spit, polish and set up on it and it plays beautifully. I'm not used to the finish on the neck. I was wondering if Jonathan could tell me what it is (oil?) and how I should look after it?
Oh and one more stupidish question, what is each position on the 4 way switch?
Congrats for producing such an awesome guitar, defiantly a keeper, it will be well looked after :D
The back of the neck is an oil finish - Gun stock oil to be accurate
A rub with a bit of cotton cloth may be all it needs
You can apply a bit of beeswax - like you would to wooden furniture and wipe it off again, but getting hold of some Tru-oil may be best.
The 4th position (nearest the neck) on the switch is both pickups connected in series as a Humbucker
Glad you are having fun with the guitar
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http://www.thegunshop.co.uk/stock_care.htm
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sue - let us know how you like the gun stock oil finish because its one of the options i was considering for the neck on your guitar and there is still the chance to go down that route if you like the feel.. it will also bring out the flamed maple really nicely
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a couple more suppliers
http://www.blackleyandson.com/acatalog/Compounds_and_Solutions_for_Wood.html
http://www.theoben.co.uk/customer/home.php?cat=21 (also have spray form).
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http://www.thegunshop.co.uk/stock_care.htm
Yes - thats the stuff we use - the Birchwood Casey stuff
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Thanks for the info guys.
Guess I'll be buying myself some of that there gun oil :snipe:
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Woah!That Tele Feline is awesome...I hadn't see the prior thread about it :( ,that's really a bargain...What a beauty!And i'm looking for a Tele....
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sue - let us know how you like the gun stock oil finish because its one of the options i was considering for the neck on your guitar and there is still the chance to go down that route if you like the feel.. it will also bring out the flamed maple really nicely
How will a gun oil finish age?
The neck feels so different from anything else I have I haven’t decided how I feel about it yet :?
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sue - let us know how you like the gun stock oil finish because its one of the options i was considering for the neck on your guitar and there is still the chance to go down that route if you like the feel.. it will also bring out the flamed maple really nicely
I put gun stock oil on the back of my old strat neck after sanding off the sticky lacquer finish. I really liked it, felt like a nice satin neck, it stank for ages after applying the oil though :lol:
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sue - let us know how you like the gun stock oil finish because its one of the options i was considering for the neck on your guitar and there is still the chance to go down that route if you like the feel.. it will also bring out the flamed maple really nicely
How will a gun oil finish age?
The neck feels so different from anything else I have I haven’t decided how I feel about it yet :?
I find it works well and lasts well - over time it can feel a bit furry and detailed below is what I use for that:
One other thing that I like is 0000 grade wire wool - preferably Liberon brand
This ultra fine wire wool is great to give a light rub-down to the back of the neck to leave it silky smooth- may be the thing that makes all the difference
If I re-coat neck with gunstock oil , once it has dried for a day or more I always cut it back with this wire wool till the neck feels really smooth.
Here is a seller on ebay selling it by the 100g:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Liberon-Steel-Wool-Wire-Wool-100grams-0000-extra-fine_W0QQitemZ320174073306QQihZ011QQcategoryZ20594QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQ_trksidZp1638.m118.l1247QQcmdZViewItem
Tru oil for sale here too :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TRU-OIL-GUN-STOCK-FINISH-BERETTA-SHOOTING-TRUOIL_W0QQitemZ120220591876QQihZ002QQcategoryZ52509QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
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the tru-oil ages better than the other oil finishes i offer. some people like oil finishes and some dont so its largely personal preference
personally i like a danish oil and wax finish that likes a lot of maintenence.
the tru-oil finish is a little more like lacquer in that it can be built up to quite a shine... so basically... as far as i can tell the feline tru-oil finish will be like my oil and wax but need less care - it really depends on the number of coats. if i do a tru-oil finish i will want to build it up so it looks almost like lacquer but it may need a bit of care occasionally like the feline one will
i think at the moment we were at 'wez's special polish' - which translated into english means a lacquer finish polished in a way which makes it non-sticky - - - the other end of the specturm is oil and wax, tru-oil falls in the middle - somewhere between oil &wax and a proper lacquer... all epending how many coats it gets
if it was for me i would make the decision based on the use of the guitar - i wouldnt want to tour with an oil and wax neck - but for home use and recording it certainly performs nicely.. at the end of the day it also comes down to personal biology... personally i find i start sticking to lacquered necks after five minutes because i have moderately sweaty hands. some people need never need to worry about anything other than lacquer
i only asked the question because for me the finish on that feline would be perfect... if you like it too its definately an option worth considering on your WV build. if you would prefer more like lacquer thats also an option as well as if you would like it more like raw wood.... as always the world is your lobster :wink:
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I gave the neck a good bit of elbow grease and it feels much better, certainly sounds like a viable option for my Wez guitar.
The link to the wire wool stockist is from a shop about 2 miles from where I live so I'll be picking some up to go with the gun oil.
I don’t mind a finish with a little extra maintenance, I find looking after my guitars strangely therapeutic and relaxing. Is that normal?
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I gave the neck a good bit of elbow grease and it feels much better, certainly sounds like a viable option for my Wez guitar.
The link to the wire wool stockist is from a shop about 2 miles from where I live so I'll be picking some up to go with the gun oil.
I don’t mind a finish with a little extra maintenance, I find looking after my guitars strangely therapeutic and relaxing. Is that normal?
Certainly!
I love setting up my guitars - Very therapeutic, almost like rebuilding a gun....
But seriously, its very relaxing indeed.
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Beautiful guitar - I've been coverting it since the other thread...
http://www.thegunshop.co.uk/stock_care.htm
Is this anything like Tung oil? Do they do sorta the same thing?
(cool guitar thread being hijacked by dumb-ass amateur carpentry questions...)
Mark.
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Certainly!
I love setting up my guitars - Very therapeutic, almost like rebuilding a gun....
But seriously, its very relaxing indeed.
i normally end up swearing a lot and stabbing myself in the face with some strings... :evil:
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Thats a really beatifull tele!
I probably missed something, but is it the one in Johnathans picture? Would be funny if is.....
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It is the one in Jonathans pic. Check the thread on my first post.
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Hello again
I was just musing about the pups in this guitar (Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 pro tele set) how do people rate them, and would it be worth considering putting Bare Knuckles in?
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I have similar or same in my feline tabby....my first thought was to change them....but at the mo am loving them..they are a great tele pickup(even though they are SD's...never thought I'd say that in here)
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I would have thought that Jonathan was a bit choosy and that he'd have not installed bad pickups and therefore, whilst I have not used them, I would expect them to be pretty good. If it were me I would give the guitar a chance to show it's stuff for a while.
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Is this anything like Tung oil? Do they do sorta the same thing?
oil finishes come in a few different types
first you have raw oils (tung oil can come raw) that give wood a nice sheen but dont offer any real long term protection and can take a long time to dry properly - if they do. they also offer very little protection from moisture
then you have the polymerized/boiled oils (tung oil can also come like this) that have been heat and chemically treated so that they set in the wood a bit better and can build up to a proper shine. danish oil is an example of this type, works great for guitar necks with a little bit of extra wax as a final coat
tru-oil is a bit more special, basically its just another polymerized oil finish based on linseed oil.. it will soak into the wood and dry like a good oil finish but it will also let you build up the coats for more of a shine. for a simple oil finish you just need a few coats rubbed into the bare wood and polished up a bit.. but the good thing is you can keep applying it and eventually it looks as good as a french polish. a nice thin finish with a shine like lacquer but still the non-sticky finish of oil
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ok
Seymour Duncan have always made damn good pickups
Tim would be the first to agree with this
There will be certain pickups in the SD range that Tim would say are spot on , but point out that that some of his handwound ones have the edge.
THe SDs in these guitars do sound good, but try a BKP of your choice and you may find you prefer them - until then : rock on
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ok
Seymour Duncan have always made damn good pickups
Tim would be the first to agree with this
There will be certain pickups in the SD range that Tim would say are spot on , but point out that that some of his handwound ones have the edge.
THe SDs in these guitars do sound good, but try a BKP of your choice and you may find you prefer them - until then : rock on
Thanks for that, the guitar DOES sound great, we didn't want to imply anything less than that, but so far we've always found that BK's give that bit extra, but the SD's are the best pups we've had that are non BK, and wondered what people think of them.
We are unlikely to change them any time soon, but we are tone junkies and as such you always wonder 'What if...'
I suspect at some stage a get of Brown Sugar's or Blackguards will find their way into it :)
By the way, this is the 3rd Tele Sue has owned and so far it's the nicest to hold and play, the other 2 were Fender's.
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ok
Seymour Duncan have always made damn good pickups
Tim would be the first to agree with this
There will be certain pickups in the SD range that Tim would say are spot on , but point out that that some of his handwound ones have the edge.
THe SDs in these guitars do sound good, but try a BKP of your choice and you may find you prefer them - until then : rock on
I'm sorry I wasn’t criticizing your pup choice the guitar is awesome. I just have a slightly obsessive personality when it comes to getting the best out of something. I have no intention to change the pup's at the moment, but can’t help pondering.
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Oops - sorry guys _ i wasn't meaning to sound defensive there
I think that all i was trying to say was that the guitars sounded great.
We built the Tabbies before BKP were on the market and they all had Duncans in them.
The year after we became involved with BKP , we shared a stand with Tim and his crew at the London Guitar Show and swapped out the Duncans for BKPs in the guitars we were going to have on the stand so that all the stock would reflect the BKP range and thereby make the BKP/Feline stand more unified at the show.
I never got to change the Duncans out of the two guitars that have been discussed here , but felt that they sounded so good it wasn't a matter of any urgency.
Sometimes I do see a bit too much Duncan bashing on here, and much of it is regurgitated and not accurate or warranted
I would often prefer to see
Duncans are great pickups but I prefer the sound that the BKPs make
or
Duncans are really good but BKPs sound better
to the usual
Duncans are cr@p - get them out of the guitar before anyone sees it
To be fair I would love to try that guitar with either some Yardbirds or a pair of Boss pickups - would sound great
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Yeah, we aren't trying to knock the SD's, they do sound good, but I can't help but feel that hand wound is always going to give you an edge, the question is how much of an edge is it going to give you. We've got several sets of BK's now so can't help but wonder what they'd do in the tele :)
Yardbirds or Boss eh? Hmmm....
Damnit, now I have PAS... :D Trouble is you don't know until you try, and you can't try for free.
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Yeah - BKPs will sound awesome in it
I thought the Yardbirds or Bss would smooth out the edginess that the ash has, whilst the Brown Sugars may emphasize it..
So much experimentation to do :P
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my take on duncans (the ones i've tried anyway) is that some are good ('59, ssl1 etc.), some are decent, some are average/mediocre, and some are not very good at all (e.g. invader/dimebucker, in my opinion of course). I certainly wouldn't say all suck, as that's just not true; but more often than not, there's a BKP (or other boutique pickup) which i'd prefer for the same tone. I certainly don't agree with blanket slagging, and there are doubtless people who don't like duncans because they chose a model that didn't suit them. But I'm still going to say my opinion, if i prefer something else. :)
my edwards, for example, does sound good with the duncans. Though i'd wager it'd sound even better with mules, for example (though granted some of that is that a JB just isn't a great pickup for a vintage LP sound, it's too hot).
My main beef, much like most US stuff, is that the prices are way too dear here. I don't mind getting them stock, but i wouldn't buy them (new) as aftermarket retrofits. That's my prerogative, of course, and everyone else can do as they please. :)
regarding those alnico II pro tele pickups, wouldn't they smooth out the sound of that tele already? i think i prefer a slightly edgier sound (i felt the same about the strat alnico II pros i tried). but they certainly aren't bad. :)
as always i'm willing to stand corrected. :lol:
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ahh stop I wasn't thinkin of changing mine.....now you got me thinking
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Very nice score, that is a fine looking Feline. Best of luck with her.
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As an experiment I put in a Piledriver set (which was sitting gathering dust in the cupboard). I would say the tone has not changed much but the quality of the tone has gone up about 10%.
This has encouraged me to get some dedicated BKP's for it I emailed Tim and he suggested a flat 50 Blackguard set. So I'm going for it, I put in the order for them last night, now I just have to wait.
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Cool
Looking forward to hearing what you think of the Blackguards in there.
I am in a real "tele" mood of late - so simple and direct as a guitar
Get Tim to attach a separate earth wire to the cover of the neck pickup rather than having attached to the Earth wire from the pickup coil - this is required for the 4 way switching ( to stop the silver cover becoming "live" in position 4 and causing hum if you touch it)
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Get Tim to attach a separate earth wire to the cover of the neck pickup rather than having attached to the Earth wire from the pickup coil - this is required for the 4 way switching ( to stop the silver cover becoming "live" in position 4 and causing hum if you touch it)
Thanks for the info, Tim's on the case :D
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I am in a real "tele" mood of late - so simple and direct as a guitar
Me too. I decided at the weekend I was going to sell my Thinline, so I took out the 4-way switch (apologies to Mr 38th) and put back in the original pickups.
Then I realised it sounds beautiful. So that's another keeper.
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Are you going to put the 4-way back in though Philly, that is the question. Tele's have always been in the past, to me, "also rans" to the Strat at least until I acquired one. It all changed from that point and I would now put them on equal footing.Teles are good honest no nonsense tough and dependable. They also have a wider range of usable tones than a Strat in my view ( and I am courting controversy here I know) but I have reluctantly arrived at that conclusion after for years being a Strat fan. My "No 1" is my old Strat but the Tele has usurped my much loved Sonic Blue Strat.
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Are you going to put the 4-way back in though Philly, that is the question.
Sorry Steve, no I won't :oops: :wink: . I agree it adds versatility, but I can't get over the fact that, to me, it sounds like a bad impression of a humbucker. Just as single-coil guys must lament what a poor substitute for a single-coil a split humbucker is (or maybe they don't, I could be totally off the mark there...). Basically I just don't like that 4th-position sound.
In any case, I now want my Thinline to be my "pretty" sounding Tele. I have no need at all for it to be able to rock out. The clean tones to be had from a Tele are just wonderful, especially in the neck and middle positions - a Strat doesn't even get close (IMO).
Another pickup change might be on the cards though.
And I have to confess - despite often defending stacked humbuckers on this forum - the bog-standard Fender single-coils trounce the DiMarzio Virtual T's I had in there before. Mind you, I found the same thing when I sold an American Standard a few years ago and put the stock pickups back, in place of some Joe Bardens. Still, I have a couple of other Teles to put together so there's plenty of room for different types of pickups.
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We (well Sue actually) had 2 tele's and a strat, all fender, and frankly all disappointing.
The custom shop strat we just aquired came with BK IT's and it's sound makes the standard strat (US) sound like a cardboard box with elastic strapped across it. Ok I know comparing a standard with a custom shop is not an equal match, but I'm sure in my own (possibly delusional) mind that the pups are more then half of the difference.
Neither of the Tele's sounded as good as the Tabby with SD's in it, and the SD's don't sound as good as the BK's.
If I ever buy a Fender I'm taking the pups straight out and putting BK's in.
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in Fender's defence, I bought a lovely black USA std tele last year, and the standard pickups in that were fantastic.
(http://www.box.net/shared/static/efmqgyjok0.jpg)
Having said that, I tried a lot of teles, and Fender certainly puts a number of different pups in it's different models. For example, I didn't like the Highway one's pups at all - just a bit dead and not sparkly at all.
The std USA tele was the pick of the bunch (sticking with Fender) for me.
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I'm a big fan of Mexican teles. Just whap some BKPs in them and they are fine guitars. I actually refuse to spend all that much on a stock fender. They are planks of wood bolted together with strings, not crafted like a Gibson style guitar or a custom build. Why pay loads for a marginally better product?
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in Fender's defence, I bought a lovely black USA std tele last year, and the standard pickups in that were fantastic.
Having said that, I tried a lot of teles, and Fender certainly puts a number of different pups in it's different models. For example, I didn't like the Highway one's pups at all - just a bit dead and not sparkly at all.
The std USA tele was the pick of the bunch (sticking with Fender) for me.
I do sometimes wonder how much variation there is between the stock pickups even when comparing like with like.
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That finish is stunning, credit to them Felines.
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The BlackGuards turned up yesterday (well Thursday actually but we weren't in). Sue got them fitted and they are great :)
Firstly, yes they are better then the Seymore Duncan's in my opinion, worth the upgrade, there is more to the sounds they give, it's a more resonant, complex sound then the SD's. The differnce is between very good and excellent, I'm not knocking the SD's but I'd never buy any unless it was for a particular sound that I couldn't get from Tim (I'd rather pay for a custom wind).
The BG's are brighter then the PileDrivers's. and surprisingly have quite a lot of grunt. Definately a classic Tele sound, and I am very surprised to find that the BG's sustain noticably more than then SD's or PD's, I didn't think a pup could make that much difference.
Although the body of the guitar is Ash i don't think the BG's are too bright in it, ok you need to back of the high end a little on your amp or EQ but it's very managable.
Overall, very impressed, need to play with it more, but Jonathan you can be sure that the Tabby is sounding truely awsome :)
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That's good to know. I tried a Tele with SD Alnico Pro II pickups wich sounded surprisingly good.
I really need a Tele with Blackguards now. Cursed GAS.
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Wow what a cracking thread!! The pics of your new guitar are great and the finish is amazing. It really is a beauty. I've been gassing for a tele for a while. The natural Ash one on Felines website had me gazing wantonly. So does yours! So you went for a BF set. I tried those out at the LGS last year with Phil King explaining all the finer points to me and I was stunned by the sound and would have also chosen them. You must have a grin from ear to ear!! Great stuff. :D
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which ones the natural ash one?
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(http://felineguitars.com/workshop/images/feline-hayward-52-tele.jpg)
This one perhaps?
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(http://felineguitars.com/workshop/images/feline-hayward-52-tele.jpg)
This one perhaps?
Oh me wantee. How much would you be expecting for that bad boy?
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nice piece of birdseye on that
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i'll tell you what, if the one ailean had got second-hand had been that natural ash colour with the maple board, i'd have had it long before he did. :lol:
I expect it's way over my budget though. For all I'd use a tele, I could only justify going to around the £500 mark (and preferably a lot less, lol). That means second-hand (and kick-ass deal) with custom builds, generally...
But that one does look particularly badass.
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she's pretty whats the spec on that
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Was made for someone last year
Spec was kinda like a 52 T but with an all access neck , 4 way switch, BKP Brown sugars Dunlop 6155 frets, radius was 10-14" compound, a 60s contour back of neck Wilkinson 3 saddle tele bridge, Gotoh 510 machineheads
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/felineguitars/CUSTOM%20BUILT/PICT2309web.jpg)
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mmmm want another tabby *S*
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Very pretty tele.
How are the Wolftones? Never played one...
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Phroarwww! More tasty guitars! PDT_009
I want my custom Feline soooooooo bad I'm in need of a counselor!! :lol:
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Very pretty tele.
How are the Wolftones? Never played one...
one i played was nice. very vintage warm tone.
and ah, i guess that tele's not for sale, then. :lol:
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and ah, i guess that tele's not for sale, then. :lol:
I'm sure Jonathan will make you another one if you ask nicely (and wave some cash at him).
I actually prefer the finish on our Tele, but that's probably just as well all things considered.
Feline certainly get my endorsment.
Next up, a WezV.... :D
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^ haha, that's true (about the finish). worked out well- if i had decided i liked the finish etc. more, i might have gone for it more quickly.
i have no money for a custom feline at the moment, unfortunately. i could just about afford a second-hand one (at a good price)...
:lol:
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yeah like wezv's as well but just don't have the cash at mo....but love my tabby