2008 Telecaster "Project"

[arellanon]

I call it a "project" because it really isn't; just a restoration and upgrade to my trusty MIM Telecaster. Judging from the serial number it is a 2000 (can someone tell me if I'm wrong?) model. When I gutted the guitar for the pup change the date reads June 18 2001, so it is at least that old. I bought the guitar physically on 30 December 2001; I was living in Japan at the time so it was really the 31st for me. I am a huge Rage Against The Machine fan and have always admired the way Tom Morello makes his MIM Tele sound :cool2:
But back then I had been playing guitar for only six months and played mostly on my MIM Strat. Also, that following summer 2002 I ordered my Carvin TL60 in Pearl Silver; yet another Morello clone similar to another one of his Teles, a Steelcaster.
Over the years the Tele never got much playing time. I was going to restore last December but never got around to it. This year I have a month of vacations so I decided to revisit my old friend. The guitar still smells new; I almost felt like leaving it as is and just keep it as a relic. There was a small amount of rust around the metal parts, the strings were still the original ones since day one due to the fact I never changed the strings, and it was dirty.
So I finally got the guts to cut the original strings (I'm actually keeping them :friday and start an overhaul. I cleaned the guitar, got the rust out, and of course conditioned the beautiful maple neck with lemon oil.
I then left my guitar with my trusty guitar tech for installment of the Sperzels (I would probably butcher it if I did it). I got the guitar back and it sounded and played great; the stock pups actually sound quite good to my ears. Only problem was the noise :28:
But I already had my replacements ready: Hot Stack at the bridge and Vintage Stack at the neck.
So this Sunday I did the final push and am quite happy with the results! I even threw in a Graph Tech string tee for looks more than anything.

So here are the current specs:
Standard Lefty MIM Telecaster 2000/2001
Neck Pickup: Seymour Duncan Vintage Stack STK-T1n
Bridge Pickup: Seymour Duncan Hot Stack STK-T2b
Sperzel Locking Tuners in Satin Chrome
Dunlop Classic Strap Locks
Graph Tech String Saver Saddles
Graph Tech "short" String Tee

And of course, an awesome Seymour Duncan Cotton Guitar Strap!

Here are some pics of the process:

dirty stuff....

more dirty stuff....

stock stuff....

fulll shot....

clean and ready for the sperzels....

gutted already!

old neck pup....

old bridge pup....

Vintage Stack....

Hot Stack....

First time this side of the pickguard sees light in years!

getting ready!

installed Vintage Stack

installed Hot Stack and saddles

Sperzels and string Tee....

catching some sun!


What'cha guys/gals think? I love this guitar; everyone should have at least one Tele! : private:
Tele's are relatively easy and fun to work on so even beginners can take a crack at them.
BTW, I will be ordering an extra pickguard with a Strat single coil slot; I have a DiMarzio HS-3 lying around and I am dying to hear how it sounds in the Tele! The Hot Stack stays in permanently, for now....

 

[mrturtle_91]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

Nice, my MIM tele is just like that, but is an '06, and a righty. I'm currently running GFS li'l punchers in it. Awesome guitars.

 

[arellanon]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

Nice, my MIM tele is just like that, but is an '06, and a righty. I'm currently running GFS li'l punchers in it. Awesome guitars.

Yeah, Tele's are quite nice! Do you have the stock pups or have you installed aftermarket stuff?

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

Do you mind giving a review of the Hot Stack? I'm thinking about getting one of these for my Tele.

 

[arellanon]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

Do you mind giving a review of the Hot Stack? I'm thinking about getting one of these for my Tele.

Well, I've only had it in the guitar a few days but this is my evaluation so far.

It is not as hot as I thought it would be (a good thing IMHO).
The sound seems quite balanced.
Sustains well.

I know this is a rather basic review but since I haven't really played it for a considerable amount of time I really can't give more details. Maybe someone else can help us out? : private:
I will definitely update you as I play the guitar more.

 

[SlowGroove]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

BEAUTIFULL IN BLACK !!!

Did the new Graph Tech saddles change the tone at all ?
Some folks say it takes the very top treb edge away ?!?
Any thruth in that ?


I want to get a Tele very soon next year, prob. early Feb !
Either in black or butter scotch !



James

 

[arellanon]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

BEAUTIFULL IN BLACK !!!

Did the new Graph Tech saddles change the tone at all ?
Some folks say it takes the very top treb edge away ?!?
Any thruth in that ?


I want to get a Tele very soon next year, prob. early Feb !
Either in black or butter scotch !



James

Thank you James for the kind words. I played the Tele for very little time with the stock pups and the new saddles and I really didn't hear a difference. Maybe the saddles were still breaking in? I guess I should've kept the stock pups a bit longer to analyze if they really do change the tone. I will keep my ears open to sense any changes in tone to see if what others say really does come to pass. I really don't care about altering the tone with locking tuners, graphite saddles, and the whatnot; what matters most to me is a stable and consistent set-up to rely on note after note. Also, I really don't go after vintage Tele tones nor looks; I am a fan of the classic designs and sounds such as Teles and Strats but also enjoy giving them modern looks and sounds. I want my Tele to reflect what I enjoy : private:
You're gonna LOVE your Tele; great, great platforms to work with. Like I've said before, every guitar player should have at least one Tele; they're too cool!

 

[arellanon]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

So I've been playing my Tele for a few days now and so far so good.
The saddles and the locking tuners are doing their job.
The pups sound solid and full of useful sonics.
The Vintage Stack at the neck compliments quite well the Hot Stack at the bridge. I enjoy having a "soft" neck pup with a hotter bridge. Tonally, both are indeed different.
So far, I've been playing nothing but classical music on the Tele; I'm almost done in learning Bach's Bourree from Suite No. 1. I really dig the Telecaster's 9.5 radius since it makes playing such music much more comfortable.
I also have been playing some Rage Against The Machine tunes on the Tele to test the pups with distortion and so far so good; the neck sounds nice and tight while the bridge is not too hot nor too trebly.
Also, today I ordered a spare pickguard from Warmoth with a Strat single coil slot; this way I can opt to use the Vintage Stack or a DiMarzio HS-3, which is the best sounding clean channel single coil I've crossed paths with. Hopefully, the Tele will not need routing; it seems ok for the pup.

FWIW, I do not use an amp; I simply run my guitars through a Kork PX4 guitar effects processor and listen via headphones. I will say this: the Vintage Stack needs no amp; it sounds lovely by itself with no effects whatsoever!

 

[arellanon]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

Well, I received my Warmoth Tele pickguard with a Strat single-coil slot on Tuesday and so far so good. I finally got around working on it yesterday. The holes were lined up fine but the neck slot was a little tight, so I decided to tediously sand it down enough for the pickguard to fit. I did a good enough job I guess :fing2::bigthumb:
Like I mentioned earlier I installed a DiMarzio HS-3 and love it; I roll the tone control to least treble and wow; the clean sounds are just so nice!
The Hot Stack will remain in there for the time being; I basically use the Tele for playing classical music as well as for RATM songs, where the Hot Stack comes in. In the future I plan on ordering a Quarter-Pounder bridge model but stack for hum-canceling operation from the custom shop; the Quarter-Pounders just look too good for me not to have one! :bowdown:
Here are some pics of the Tele:

The HS-3 getting ready.

Bad job of dating the pickguard!

Ready for installation.

Close shot of the HS-3.

Hot Stack still holding the fort.

Full body shot.



Well, the fun will not stop here! I have fallen in love with the Seymour Duncan custom shop and like stated before am drooling for a Quarter-Pounder Tele lead stack for hum-cancellation. The HS-3 will stay for some time since I love that pup; good thing I have two pickguards ready to go. I think I need another Tele now! :smack::arms:

 

[Fender_Punk]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

Very nice. I'm not a fan of white guards except pearloid, but that tele with those pickups it fits just fine!! Rock on man!! Teles are for everyone!

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

That black neck pickup looks way better than the chrome one. I'm sure it sounds a lot better too. I'm planning on doing the same thing with my Tele (in terms of installing a strat neck pickup).

 

[arellanon]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

That black neck pickup looks way better than the chrome one. I'm sure it sounds a lot better too. I'm planning on doing the same thing with my Tele (in terms of installing a strat neck pickup).

Well, it does look different per say, but the different size and shape of the neck and bridge pups are what makes a Tele, IMHO, unique and good looking. Nevertheless, it is a welcoming sight whenever one of us actually inserts a mini-bucker or a Strat single-coil. About the HS-3 sounding better; with distortion I have yet to get good tone in my ears out of this sucker; it feels too transparent. It excels mostly on clean for me. The Vintage Stack sounded more solid and sustained somewhat better than the HS-3 with distortion, sounded almost as good clean as well. I'm just playing around with my Tele since it's been neglected for so much time; it pretty much has been in its case for seven years so it actually still smells new! Now, I can't put it down! Get a pickguard from Warmoth! :bowdown::reporter:
I plan on getting a Cool Rails for the Tele now!

 

[arellanon]

Re: 2008 Telecaster "Project"

Well, looks like my Tele project is complete. I ordered the correct saddles for it along with another Hot Stack. The guitar looks and sounds gooood!
I decided to keep this Tele strictly Seymour Duncan. I plan on buying at least one more Tele; maybe a Fender Custom Shop one day? If not, just another MIM Tele to install some Quarter Pounders.
Sonic-wise, I think I'm done with this bad boy. The bridge Hot Stack is just killer while the neck Hot Stack sounds, to me, almost DiMarzio-esque! It definitely sounds somewhat transperent in my ears but with an "ooomph" that was missing with the Vintage Stack and the HS-3. It sounds really, really good and it seems like I've built a winner.

Here are some updated pics:

The Tele saddles come to the rescue

My neck Hot Stack

The Hot Stack was built on my mom's birthday!

Pickguard ready to go!

Full body shot

Close-up of the pups

More pups and saddles

My two Fenders doing a "fly-by"

So what you guys/gals think? I have to admit that working on my Tele has been by far the most fun out of all my six guitars. Really simple platform, but rock solid!
For those wondering about my Strat, the Tele is actually a carbon copy of it. Both have the very exact mods:

Sperzels
Graphite Saddles and String Tee
Seymour Duncan pups (Strat has a neck DiMarzio HS-3)

The only difference between the two is that the Tele has Dunlop Strap Locks while the Strat has DiMarzio Clip-Locks.