Tele control plates.

[jeremy]

counter sink the plate and get flush mount screws man, geez dont ya have a fastenal near by?

something that i always thought was weird... muddy waters old red tele had amp knobs and the knobs didnt touch the switch screw. when they made a reissue of the guitar, the knobs did touch the screw. or would have if the knob was pushed down all the way. were the old knobs different or was the plate?

[ArtieToo]

I'm not sure, but I think some Tele plates are counter-sunk, and some aren't. Neither mine, nor my customers were.

And my customer was a cheapskate. Spent all his money on the Fralin.

My plate from 920D is.

[idsnowdog]

That's the old Squier '51 plate!

It goes back to the original Telecaster bass.

[ArtieToo]

It goes back to the original Telecaster bass.

Yup. I was looking them up, and they all are listed as Tele bass plates.

[St_Genesius]

You have shamed me. I am ashamed.

I should have known that. I've seen plenty of Tele basses. But I owned a '51, so that's where my head went.

It goes back to the original Telecaster bass.

[idsnowdog]

You have shamed me. I am ashamed.I should have known that. I've seen plenty of Tele basses. But I owned a '51, so that's where my head went.

Fender has done a pretty good job of re-purposing their parts.

[idsnowdog]

I find it perverse that a $2,000 guitar has pickups which traditionally were used on poor quality $100 mail order catalog guitars.

[ArtieToo]

You have shamed me. I am ashamed.

I should have known that. I've seen plenty of Tele basses. But I owned a '51, so that's where my head went.

You should feel no shame. I'm pretty sure that's the plate that was then used for the Squier 51. So you were on the mark.

[ArtieToo]

I find it perverse that a $2,000 guitar has pickups which traditionally were used on poor quality $100 mail order catalog guitars.

And they look exactly the GFS's that sell for $40 ea. https://www.guitarfetish.com/KP--GFS-Gold-Foil-Single-Coil-Alnico-Humbucker-Shell-Chrome--Kwikplug™-Ready_p_21930.html

[eclecticsynergy]

Rutters sells alt Tele control plates: one has the volume knob a bit further from the blade switch, another has the blade switch angled, and a third is drilled for a toggle switch.

[ArtieToo]

Linky? "Rutters" by itself brings up a million sites that aren't guitar related.

Edit: Found it.

[St_Genesius]

A bit off topic to the thread, but I have a Curtis Novak Gold Foil in the neck of a Tele and it's just about the FURTHEST thing from any of those old things.

Maybe all the ones I tried in 90s were just various degrees of busted. Maybe new ones aren't made the same? Maybe there was one good model in 1967 and the modern ones are all based on that one? I have no idea. But the Novak I have sounds kinda like a flubbier P-90.

I find it perverse that a $2,000 guitar has pickups which traditionally were used on poor quality $100 mail order catalog guitars.

[ArtieToo]

Furthest in a good way?

And it isn't off-topic. Anything to do with Tele controls or that guitar is ON topic.

[ArtieToo]

Rutters sells alt Tele control plates: one has the volume knob a bit further from the blade switch, another has the blade switch angled, and a third is drilled for a toggle switch.

That "angled", with the 3/8" Volume set back, is just about a perfect Tele control plate. A little pricey, but not bad for plug-'n-play. Thanks for the heads up.

Edit: As I look around that page, I realize I've been their before. Just forgot.

[St_Genesius]

Hmmmmmm.

It is, objectively, a better pickup than the old ones I remember.

The sound I think of with old GFs (not to be confused with the GFS mentioned earlier) is a honky, almost band-limited, low-output squawk. Often with a side of microphonics.

The Novak is much hotter, very full-range (without becoming sterile) and just a hint of honk.

So it's a better pickup (or an ideally executed rendition of a design that was often executed poorly) unless what you want is for it to be a worse pickup... Which I kinda did.

Furthest in a good way?

And it isn't off-topic. Anything to do with Tele controls or that guitar is ON topic.