Especially for Roo.... (T*le content)

[Philly Q]

Before I start, I should really direct you to this thread by someone who has actually built his own Tele from scratch, something I could never manage  :oops::

http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=13468.0

Anyway, I have finally put together the two "new" Teles I've been going on about for months.  They may look like ordinary Fenders, but in fact they're both Frankensteins built from assorted (mainly Fender) parts.  The sunburst has been partially salvaged from the corpse of my American Ash Tele, the black one started out as an intention to make a "vintage style" Tele... but went off on a tangent.



Both bodies are alder American Deluxe Tele bodies, with front binding, contoured neck heel and Strat-style gutaway.  The sunburst's neck is from the American Ash, the black one's neck is from an American Deluxe Ash - they're both U-shaped, a bit deeper than the normal Fender C-shape, with biggish frets and 9.5" radius.  The neck on the sunburst is attached with threaded steel inserts and machine screws, rather than the usual wood screws.

Both have Fender bridges, neck plates and control plates, Fender/Schaller locking tuners and Glendale jack cups.  The parchment scratchplate is from a Highway One, the black one is from Allparts, modified for the mini-HB.  Blackie has Q-Parts abalone-top knobs to match the fretboard inlays.

No BKPs (yet), I'm afraid.  Sunburst has a Kinman AVn-48b and Fender/Lawrence SCN neck with the electronics from the American Ash.  Blackie has an old Joe Barden and a Jason Lollar Firebird, with 250K CTS pots and a 0.047 Orange Drop cap.





And finally, just in case Roobubba is reading, because I know he loves a Tele, here's another shot also featuring my '90s Thinline:

[horsehead]

Now I love that thinline!

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Now playing: Quireboys - Hey You
via FoxyTunes

[_tom_]

That black one looks so good! I love all black teles with maple necks :) Binding works really well, I think more teles should have it as standard. Looks like I've got tele gas again  :roll:

[Roobubba]

Props for actually *making* them, even if they are "just" frankenguitars - I certainly haven't the patience (or time, or most probably skill, but I guess the latter will never be tested...) to do that!

But, as you can probably gather, I still don't like them. They just look horrible. I mean, that big metal bit under the bridge pickup - ugh!!
And the straight line metal bit for the volume controls? Horrid!
And the body shape? Ughhhh!!!
And the headstock? Too small and bulbous!!

Also, you appear to have forgotten the bottom half of the pickguard :)


But, otherwise, well done :)

And to all you thinking they look nice... Dudes!! Really!!

:D

Roo

[gwEm]

word! telecaster, worst looking and sounding guitar ever... brootals metal axxez FTW!

anyway - that sunburst one is really cool, the style of it suggests i'd fit piledrivers to that in fact, if it was me. very nice looking guitar anyhow. cool player too, i imagine.

[_tom_]

I think its pretty much a unanimous (sp?) vote that Steinbergers are, infact, the worst looking guitars ever :P

[gwEm]

I think its pretty much a unanimous (sp?) vote that Steinbergers are, infact, the worst looking guitars ever :P

:lol:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KJBOqSjC0

[TomW]

I'm loving the sunburst one, it looks gorgeous :D I'm thinking about putting together another strat but don't know if I can be bothered with the hassle, so may just end up saving up for an already put together one :P

I must admit Steinbergers are pretty damn cool aswell 8)

[Philly Q]

I think its pretty much a unanimous (sp?) vote that Steinbergers are, infact, the worst looking guitars ever :P

:lol:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3KJBOqSjC0

I don't think Steinbergers look good really, but I do admire the design - at least the original cricket bat ones, not the ones with regular "guitar-shaped" bodies.

I'm going to sell my Spirit by Steinberger copy, but I'd like to own a proper US Steinberger one day.

But, as you can probably gather, I still don't like them. They just look horrible. I mean, that big metal bit under the bridge pickup - ugh!!
And the straight line metal bit for the volume controls? Horrid!
And the body shape? Ughhhh!!!
And the headstock? Too small and bulbous!!

Also, you appear to have forgotten the bottom half of the pickguard :)

I knew you'd love 'em!  :lol:

[38thBeatle]

I think they look great Philly.Tele's are honest tone machines.

[Ted 'N' Leo]

That black one looks excellent Philly, loving the mini humbucker!

[Philly Q]

That mini-humbucker is a really great sounding pickup, I'm loving it already! :D

The Barden is another matter, I can never decide if I like them or hate them.  It sounds great with distortion, but it can also be very piercing and harsh.  I can't argue with Danny Gatton (RIP), but to my uneducated ears it sounds nothing like a "real" Tele pickup.  :?

Those pickups turned out to be out of phase with each other, which wasn't intentional but I quite like it.  It's a useful thin, wiry tone compared with the powerful individual pickups.

[dave_mc]

very nice, the mini-hb looks great in particular. i think it's the fact that it has the chrome cover, which you expect, but then you do a double take when you realise it's not just a stock tele.

i tried an MIJ thinline tele in a shop about a week ago, looked exactly like that one (might have had a different bridge though). was very nice, but i wasn't too fussed on the pickups. everything else about it was great though. :)

[kevincurtis]

Very nice - personal favourite would be the sunburst. Great job :)

[PhilKing]

I like mini-hb's on tele's.  I have a Silvertone, that Tim fixed.  They are wound by Gibson, and were on the Chris Issack model, but the best thing is that they have a 3&3 screw set (like the Fender HB).  Yours look very nice, not sure about blade pickups though.  I have a Brown Sugar bridge with my mini-HB.