Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: badgermark on August 18, 2007, 10:49:45 PM
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Howdie, I've gotten the taste for making new topics, so here be another.
Title says it all really, I have a mexi telecaster, and as much as I loves it I want it to be the best it can be. Ignoring the pickups (pretty much decided to whap a piledriver in the bridge) what else can I do to pimp this up?
Already decided to stick a 3-ply black pickguard on it (tis a black body with maple neck), anything boring that can be done to help tone? Like new pots, bridge bits etc.
I'm open to suggestions, and have experience bodging guitars with a soldering iron, so this will be done in-house as it were (on my living room floor to be specific :wink:)
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BIGSBY
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or....one of those Fishman bridges as fitted, I think, to the Nashville Tele with a blender pot to add or remove from the overall tone. And yes ok, I have to say it....a four way switch.
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Firstly replace the nut. I like bone but graphtech, tusq, delrin are all good alternatives
4-way switch. Mini-humbucker (firebird style not s/c sized) humbucker in the neck with a good proper tele pickup in the bridge.
replace the pots with good quality ones like CTS, change the caps to orange drops or better
Maybe look at getting a compensated 3-saddle bridge for the best tone and intonation. something like this:
http://www.stewmac.com/cgi-bin/hazel.cgi?action=SERVE&G=1&sku=5071&ITEM=catalog/sku.html&CURRENCY=GBP
i might change the string trees for ones with rollers as well
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Good suggestions, shall be attacking the electrics post haste. I saw the brass saddles before and was wondering if they made much impact. Shall be bought.
As for the minihumbucker, I loves the neck single coil sound, all I want to change is a slight bit of beef in the bridge, without going to h/b territory.
Why a 4 way switch? What use does it have and why is it better than a 3-way? (I personally like the 3 way configuration, you have to convince me)
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well if you like the 3-way the 4-way is the same with one extra option :P
http://www.singlecoil.com/docs/4way.pdf
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-Telecaster-4-way-mod-switch-NEW_W0QQitemZ250150994174QQcmdZViewItem
i would also maybe get an earvana nut from feline guitars as your nut upgrade
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So this bad boy is getting pimped as soon as I get paid, on the shopping list so far iiiiiis:
Black 3 ply scratchplate
Compensated brass bridge dealie
New nut
Pots + capacitor
Gettin' technical, what value of pots do I go for? What is the best material for the nut and what size do i need? And for the bridge, what size should I look for?
Also is there anywhere I can get this lot online? Been looking at axesrus but the site looks cobbled together by a blind infant.
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axesrus is a really poor website but should have most of what you need - but they also have a lot of cheap and nasty stuff.
also check out www.allparts.uk.com
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I use www.specialtyguitars.com They have some online tutorials on pots, electronics, soldering etc... Good exchange rate and nice website.
Axe's-R-us, I get the feeling thats run buy some old codger. Its one of the worst websites I've come across.
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Axe's-R-us, I get the feeling thats run buy some old codger. Its one of the worst websites I've come across.
i will stick up for them on customer service, fast delivery too so if they have what you want its worth trawling through the website
that website you suggested does have a nice selection of good quality stuff at the right price though
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Thanks dudes. Thinking bout axesrus, prices seem decent and no shipping fees.
How about capacitors though? What value should I be heading for? Thinking of 250k pots too, any one recommend anything else?
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i would get a couple of decent caps of differnt values. 0.022uf is a good place to start but personally i favour a 0.047uf - its apersonal taste thing though. i avoid the ceramic disc and go for orange drop or better. there is a little info on the website about the value to choose
http://www.axesrus.com/CAPS.htm
should be fine with some 250k CTS pots.
they have tusq fender style nuts (the curved ones) which are pretty good
the wilkinson compensated bridges are pretty good for £19, solid brass saddles. its gonna be better intonated than a normal tele but isnt as adjustable as the ones that svivel
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I think I love you Wez.
Thanks for the help guys, one last question (promise). What is involved in changing a nut? Will it just pop out and I pop in the new one? Or are they better put together than that?
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:oops:
its slightly fiddlier to change the nut on a fender and well worth getting a local tech to do..
My technique is to saw the nut in half along its length with a small saw. then i score the finish around the nut, then simply squeeze it together and it all comes out.
Its easier on guitars that dont have the nut in a slot because a gentle tap normally releases them.
well worth doing though - usually gives an instant tonal improvement
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I was hoping to bodge this at home. Ah well, the scratchplate and controls are going to be done first, when the strings are off I'll have a poke around the nut.
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Ordered me some CTS pots, an orange drop capacitor(0.047mF) and a new scratchplate.
Just need to decide if I want to replace the pickups, if I do I don't know what BK set to go for. Decisions...
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That's my order arrived, soldered on the pots and capacitor, sounds so much bigger now. Scratchplate is strange though, no screw holes for the pickup. And I don't have any drills. c--k.
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teles dont normal have pickup screw holes for the neck pickup, its screwed to the body wood. The mexi's are different though
either find a couple of wood screws to screw the pickup directly to the body or find a small drill and drill the scratchplate.
If you go for a traditional tele neck pickup from BKP you probably want to mount it the normal tele way, screwed to the body - so you may be best off doing that for the mexi neck pickup for now
You may need to add something underneath the pickup to get it to the right height. You can buy pickup sponges but really anything thats a bit squashy that you can find will work just as well
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We'll want some pics once this is all done...
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Yeah I can't wait to show it off. I love my tele, and as soon as I get my student loan in it's getting some piledrivers ;)
Thanks for the advice Wez, the pickup screws have little bits of tubing to hold it in position, and I never knew about the pickups being attached to the body, is it an easy job to retrofit? The plan was to get some drilling done at the weekend.
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they will just need a small pilot hole and possibly different screws that will go in the wood better - but that depends on whats there already, how pointy the end of the screw is. Some people would screw them straight into the wood but you do risk damaging the screws doing that
i would imagine tims tele neck pickups come with the appropriate screws for mounting to the body which is why i would hold off drilling holes in the scratchplate that you might not want when you change to BKP's
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Though when the BK's come I will still have the original screws, and I assume that the pickup's mounting will fit anyway. Shall get researching and pondering today.
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never assume something will fit - there are lots of different sizes and threads on pickup screws and the best way to be sure is to use the ones that come with the pickups.
worth mentioning to tim how you will mount it so he can supply strat style mounting screws and make sure they fit in the tele pickup screw holes
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Good idea, though my dad is coming round tomorrow with his drill, just decided to drill the scratchplate.
Oh and the nut looks like a bitch to replace. Properly glued in and not wanting to budge. Want to upgrade it but seems like hassle, and my 'local' guitar shop (run by Bill and Ted. That's their real names...) is miles away now.
While I'm here, and while Wez is watching this thread :wink: I could do with some soldering advice.
Is there an easy way to undo a factory solder easily? Like the back of pots have the earthed wires, is there an easy way to whip that big blob off easily without cooking the pots? And how is that best reversed? Putting the wires back on the pot is a bitch to do as well. Is it easier to strip them back and solder individually?
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A soldering gun will melt it quicker so is less likely to damage the pot. The problem is that you need to get the pot casing hot for a good solder connection. Other than that i would probably cut the wires quite close to the pot - especially if you are dscarding the old pots. trim the wirs back and tin them (apply a good amount of solder)
With your new pots it helps if you scr@pe the back up a bit, especially if they are quite shiny. then tin it with a bit of solder.
It should all connect nicely when the tinned pot meets the tinned wire with a nice amount of heat.
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Cool. I took melted the solder a bit then yanked the three wires off. Getting it to stick was a pain, but I know for next time about scr@ping the shine and tinning everything. I'm pretty good with a soldering iron, just undoing Fender's work (and Gibson's on my SG) was a bitch.
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Well someone wanted a photo, so booya, as the kids say these days.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/unsubtle57/30082007.jpg)
Waiting on the funds for a piledriver set and a new bridge piece. Soon my baby will be complete.
Oh and I drilled the pickguard instead of screwing onto the body, seemed an easier job at the time.
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seemed an easier job at the time.
always the best way to go!!
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seemed an easier job at the time.
always the best way to go!!
Yep, even though a drill bit snapped and the broken, still attached to the drill, end went through my dad's finger. Rather him than me.