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So following Ratrod's lead from this (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=19224.0) thread I ordered a Xaviere Telemaster and today it arrived. First impressions are that for a guitar that costs $229 it's not at all bad. It's not as good as a decent Squier but it's really quite impressive for the money. The only thing I'd say is superior to a Squier is the finish which is very thin: you can really make out the grain through it. There are minor niggles: one of the through body holes for the strings is a bit mis-aligned, the frets need a serious polish, it's a heavy instrument and things like that but otherwise nothing to complain about. The neck is pretty fat which isn't to my taste though others may like it and the tuners and bridge seem to be fine. The pickups are a bit thin and weedy which brings me to the "what I'm going to do to it" part of the post as I've heard that there's a lovely company in Devon who make some great Tele pickups...
This is the plan:
1) Get a maple boarded Strat neck with vintage style tuners.
2) Piledriver in the bridge for some serious wallop.
3) Black single piece scratchplate without the mini-humbucker hole - we're going Esquire here so...
4) Rewire the innards with CTS pots, orange drop caps and so forth with Esquire style wiring.
5) Switch the control plate round and connect it up so that the volume pot is closest to the neck, then tone and the pickup switch at the back.
6) Put some strap locks on.
7) Bask in its reflected glory.
Oh and I know, "pics or it didn't happen" so here's a quick snap from my phone cam. I'll take pics of the whole process as I go and keep you posted on the finished article. I think it's going to be a fun project.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2502/4114974971_100c0db0f9_o.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_atrocity/4114974971/)
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Well done for being brave enough to invest in one of those! It might not be the greatest guitar, but it certainly looks mighty cool. 8)
I'm a bit surprised the pickups are rubbish, GFS always get good reviews for their pickups (although they are very cheap).
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I'm a bit surprised the pickups are rubbish, GFS always get good reviews for their pickups (although they are very cheap).
Oh they aren't rubbish, it's just that they don't stack up against BKP. I'd say they were about as good as the pickups that came in my Highway One Strat which is to say they're fine but not inspiring.
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I've often been tempted to try their pickups (especially the minibuckers, as it happens), but I thought it would be a false economy - I'd end up buying something expensive anyway and lose money selling the GFS.
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I've often been tempted to try their pickups (especially the minibuckers, as it happens), but I thought it would be a false economy - I'd end up buying something expensive anyway and lose money selling the GFS.
Well I'll be getting rid of a GFS mini humbucker very soon by an amazing coincidence so that might be your moment to dabble. ;)
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Thanks, but now I've got two DiMarzio minibuckers, and a Lollar, and I'm not quite sure what to do with any of 'em! :lol:
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I think that they look great. If they made them left handed I'd be all over them.
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It's taken me some time to finish off this build as I had underestimated how tough and brittle Bakelite is and as I have no power tools it took a while to cut and sand the pickguard. Today I finally finished it so this is the finished Telemaster/Jazzsquire guitar:
(http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4219346152_c9f4c9b8d0_b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_atrocity/4219346152/)
It's not a great picture, I'll do some better ones shortly. But I wanted to say thanks to Ratrod for pointing me in the direction of the Guitar Fetish instruments and to Wez for helpful advice during the build and to everyone else who's been encouraging along the way. I really like this guitar a lot - it's versatile, sustains for days, seems very "alive" acoustically and thanks to the Black Guard Flat 50s kicks like a mule too. This is exactly what I wanted and I couldn't really be any happier. Thanks all.
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thats come out really nice!
the strat neck sits at an ok height?
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thats come out really nice!
the strat neck sits at an ok height?
Thanks! I added a shim into the neck pocket, at Wez's suggestion, which seems to have sorted things. I will, at some point, get a pro to do a good set-up job on the guitar as I'm sure it can be improved but it already plays pretty well.
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im pretty tempted to follow your lead,
but id go with a hot rail, or try to get hold of a single coil sized humbucker and maybe mail it tim to see if he can work some magic on it.
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very very cool..
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do tele necks and strat necks have the same mounting holes at the rear? are they interchangeable?
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do tele necks and strat necks have the same mounting holes at the rear? are they interchangeable?
I think the holes are the same but the Strat neck pocket is more rounded at the back than the Tele. You can put a Strat neck on a Tele, though you'll have a bit of a gap around the curve of the neck end but if you want to put a Tele neck on a Strat I think you have to rout. This is what I read when I was embarking upon this project anyways. There are wiser souls here who will correct me if I'm talking nonsense.
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cool.
what was the cost in the end?
did you get better pots etc in there and everything? once i move house i might get into this.
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cool.
what was the cost in the end?
did you get better pots etc in there and everything? once i move house i might get into this.
Rough estimate:
Guitar plus shipping: £185
New neck : £100
New tuners: £20
Pickup : £65
Various electrics (CTS pots etc.) £20
New bridge: £20
Sheet of bakelite: £20
Screws and sundries : £10
Total = £420 and I reckon I'll get about £40-50 back from selling unused parts of the original guitar so about £380. The original electrics are your standard far eastern type and are fine but I wanted to do it from scratch. The same applies to the bridge - the original is fine I just fancied the lighter Fender version. The biggest expense is the neck and as I don't like rosewood necks much this was always going to get replaced. The original neck is quite chunky but if the frets had been given a good polish I think it would really suit some people. The original tuners were also fine, I just wanted period Kluson types. So if you aren't so picky about visuals and all maple necks you could get a guitar of almost as good quality for about £260-290 or so.
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You've got me inspired.
I think i'd keep the bridge, like you say. as long as i can get decent tuners it'll be cool. I like the look you have going on with yours. I'm actually into dark necks, ebony, rosewood. But i'm feeling the maple vibe on this one.
I much prefer humbuckers to single coils though. so i might have to do like i said in my other post. maybe stray from BKP! ouch!
I'm gonna have to get involved with this. (unless a squire supersonic pops up for sale! haha)
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If you wanted a humbucker you could get the bridge pickup hole routed out a bit more and get a humbucker sized Tele replacement bridge. Last time I looked, AxesRUs had some inexpensive ones. That way you get your pick of the humbuckers.
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If you wanted a humbucker you could get the bridge pickup hole routed out a bit more and get a humbucker sized Tele replacement bridge. Last time I looked, AxesRUs had some inexpensive ones. That way you get your pick of the humbuckers.
Ahem a bit like Excalibur?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/unsubtle57/18032008002.jpg)
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If you wanted a humbucker you could get the bridge pickup hole routed out a bit more and get a humbucker sized Tele replacement bridge. Last time I looked, AxesRUs had some inexpensive ones. That way you get your pick of the humbuckers.
Ahem a bit like Excalibur?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/unsubtle57/18032008002.jpg)
Exactly like Excalibur. An offset Excalibur. :)
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gWem has an offset Excalibur in the same colour scheme, only with a black VHII in the bridge. He never routed the humbucker hole out with a hand drill though...
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gWem has an offset Excalibur in the same colour scheme, only with a black VHII in the bridge. He never routed the humbucker hole out with a hand drill though...
Ah, I didn't know that gWem already had such a thing. Perhaps it's the longing to do some redneck routing that's driving him on this new project and he just hasn't realised his destiny yet? ;)
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Awesome guitar!!!! :D
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It's taken me some time to finish off this build as I had underestimated how tough and brittle Bakelite is and as I have no power tools it took a while to cut and sand the pickguard. Today I finally finished it so this is the finished Telemaster/Jazzsquire guitar:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4219346152_c9f4c9b8d0_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_atrocity/4219346152/)
It's not a great picture, I'll do some better ones shortly. But I wanted to say thanks to Ratrod for pointing me in the direction of the Guitar Fetish instruments and to Wez for helpful advice during the build and to everyone else who's been encouraging along the way. I really like this guitar a lot - it's versatile, sustains for days, seems very "alive" acoustically and thanks to the Black Guard Flat 50s kicks like a mule too. This is exactly what I wanted and I couldn't really be any happier. Thanks all.
That thing looks amazing.
A while back I saw a Fender custom shop telemaster thing, and thought it was one of the coolest things I'd seen. I'm surprised Fender hasn't tried to do a "production" version. It'd actually be pretty cool to see a Squier version of it (like how every so often they put out something odd like the '51). I'd buy one.
Seeing this thread is tempting me to get one of those guitars from Guitarfetish and do something similar. But not until I'm back in work (only a couple of weeks away) and have a bit more money behind me. The "butterscotch" one looks cool to me. I'll stick with my Classic Vibe tele for now though,
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Looks awesome, perfect colour scheme for any Fender!
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Awesome guitar!!!! :D
Thanks Fernando.
That thing looks amazing.
A while back I saw a Fender custom shop telemaster thing, and thought it was one of the coolest things I'd seen. I'm surprised Fender hasn't tried to do a "production" version. It'd actually be pretty cool to see a Squier version of it (like how every so often they put out something odd like the '51). I'd buy one.
Seeing this thread is tempting me to get one of those guitars from Guitarfetish and do something similar. But not until I'm back in work (only a couple of weeks away) and have a bit more money behind me. The "butterscotch" one looks cool to me. I'll stick with my Classic Vibe tele for now though,
Thanks for the kind comments. The Custom Shop guitar was completely my inspiration for this; I claim no originality whatsoever. There were some things I didn't like about their instrument though, not least the $6000 price-tag. For me the Strat headstock looks better with the offset body shape and I didn't want a relic. I'm not opposed to relics per se but I really thought the Custom Shop instrument was excessively done. The final thing I wanted different to theirs was a real Esquire style guitar, no hidden pickups. So, although mine's an unashamed rip-off, I do think I made a few tweaks to make it my own.
Looks awesome, perfect colour scheme for any Fender!
Thought you'd appreciate the black and maple. ;)