Goldtop PT!

Rich_S

HomeGrownToneBrewologist
It's finished! My sorta-clone of Pete Townsend's goldtop Schecter:

goldtop_pt_1.JPG


goldtop_pt_2.JPG


Here's Pete playing the original at Live Aid in 1985.
1985_pt-goldschecter-liveaid-1.jpg


Specs for mine:
  • Body from a Korean Schecter I bought on eBay.
  • Fender MIM neck from Xssive (who also supplied a bogus Schecter decal that I haven't put on yet).
  • Pickups: 59 set purchased used from two forum brothers (J Moose and 9finger, IIRC). Bridge pickup is F-spaced and has a pull tap switch. Neck pickup is wired out-of-phase to the bridge.
  • Chrome bridge and gold knobs (replacing original black) from GuitarFetish.

The maple neck is just what this guitar needed. It was very dull and muffled sounding with the original Schecter neck, which was almost Ibanez-thin with a rosewood fingerboard. The maple neck brightens up its unplugged sound just right. The 59s are a first guess at pickups: the neck is probably a keeper, but I might go to something hotter in the bridge after I get an idea of how the guitar itself sounds.

I finally gave up on assembling it myself, and instead had it put together at Danny D's Guitar Hacienda in League City, TX. Danny routed the Schecter's strat-shaped neck pocket out to square-end Tele specs so the neck would fit, then mounted the neck & bridge and set it up. I installed the pickups and wired it.

This may actually have killed my GAS for good - I can't imagine needing more than these two guitars.:banana: :banana: :banana:

Before I go, here's one last shot of my new baby, posing with its older brother.

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Re: Goldtop PT!

hey man...i've been meaning to send you those pups from my PT...you still want them or are you digging those?
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

hi rich
nice to see you around
hope all is well for you and the family
nice looking guitars
i hope they kick butt and take names for ya
cheers
t4d
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

Hoss said:
hey man...i've been meaning to send you those pups from my PT...you still want them or are you digging those?

Don't know yet - I have to find and fix a suspected cold solder joint in my amp before I'll really get a good idea of how this baby sounds. (Ah, the joys of DIY amps.) :smack:

What are your thoughts on how the Schecter pups compare to Petey's 59/CC setup? I've been thinking that if the bridge 59 doesn't cut it, one of the Customs would be where I'd go. But trying the Schecters to see if my memory serves (20 years since my last PT) might be a good idea, too.
 
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well...they were a lower output set to my ears...i'm trying to remember specific differences...bridge pup didn't have as much bite to it, i remember that?!
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

Rich_S said:
In my bedroom, but that was in 1979...

big_rig.jpg

:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:


nice! I bought a Dr103 for $550 about two years ago, and i sold it for about just as much in profit, but now i'm seeing these Hiwatt prices keep going up and up and i'm thinking: :smack:
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

I've said on more than one occasion that Teles need pickguards in order to look right. Rich (and Pete) have proven me wrong. That is a sweet looking telecaster!
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

That's sweet, man. I love Goldtops. :D It came out great.

P.S. You can NEVER have enough guitars. :D
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

Do you still have the original neck? I used to own one and I actually prefer the schecter necks.
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

SFW said:
Looks good Rich. What you at in Houston?
Near Scarsdale & Blackhawk, off I-45 ~5 miles south of Hobby Airport.

Xeromus said:
Do you still have the original neck? I used to own one and I actually prefer the schecter necks.
Sorry, I sold it on eBay to partially offset the cost of Xssive's Tele neck.
 
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purty, purty guitar, Rich! I've been reading too many posts lately about tele's and am beginning to have serious g.a.s. attacks for one.

great job!!

....Bob
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

Ha! I found the brand-spankin'-new, August issue of Guitar Player in my mailbox when I got home from work. The very first article (page 38, all ads up 'til there... sigh) is entitled, Schecter Turns 30. The very first sentence credits Pete Townsend with "helping to transform one of the foremost replacement-part companies into a maker of world-class instruments."
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

Cool guitfiddle Rich. I think you ought to market it as the "Rough Boy" model and go into business.
 
Re: Goldtop PT!

Hey Rich.... of course i love what you have done with that Tele... Great to see she is home.... Now you will have to learn how to windmill and jump like Pete did in 1982.... :)

Both Rich and me have a love for Pete's Shecter teles and have been PM'ing each other on and off about getting Shecter style teles together for almost a year now i guess.... I too have been wanting to build a guitar pretty much just like Rich's.... I want to use Warmoth parts myself but the cost is an issue. I may settle for a modded MIM Tele... The MIM tele i already own is staying stock as i LOVE IT! Sad part is a really like Bound Tele bodies..
 
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