Well the mods are further along than I expected, partly due to the impossibility of intonating a 60 gauge string on the Squier bridge and partly because the bridge install will need to be done in two steps, with drilling new string holes and installing a ferrule block needing to be done separately by a luthier with a sufficiently large drill press to fit a Telecaster body in it.
So the old string holes were dowelled because the four-screw mounting goes in so close to those holes and the Babicz bridge is on and set up as a top-loader. I also had some wiring issues with the 5-way CRL switch so that has been replacing with a 3-way Oaks-Grigsby switch that I had laying around, and there are no coil splits etc on the neck pickup for now.
So basically all mods except the ferrule block are completed. Now I just need to adjust the pickups, which I seem to have set a bit high. The Cobra-T has a 470K resistor on the bridge pickup lug on the selector switch and grounded to the back of the 550K master volume pot. It has a treble bleed and there is a greasebucket tone circuit.
The cavities were not shielded:
I had to take great care when drilling the roasted maple headstock to fit the screws for the Gotoh SG381-MGTB tuners:
Here they are installed:
The cavities were shielded with nickel conductive paint, and copper slug tape was fixed to the top pf the body under the bridge and control plate. A new bridge ground wire was made and soldered to the copper tape:
Later the wire and tape were painted over when the conductive paint was extended under the bridge plate, so as to prevent the white top and copper tape showing through the adjustment holes in the Babicz bridge:
The wiring harness under the new Gotoh control plate:
The Babicz bridge installed. String from the top with D'Addario EXL148 12-60 string set, with the 20P third swapped out for a 22W.
The Gotoh control plate and (VK-18) knobs, with a white Fender switch tip:
The truss rod recess has been painted black. Note also that a Graph Tech Black TUSQ XL nut and string tree have been fitted:
The back of the guitar. Note that the ferrules have been removed. Note also the contoured neck heel:
The jack has been replaced with a Switchcraft, and a black washer and nut have been fitted (the jack plate is stock):
If you look closely you can see the dowels:
Here's the guitar in its SKB case:
