Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

[BlueRocco]

I am building a new tele from a custom tele body. I wanted to mount the neck pickup without a pick guard because the wood is so beautiful I don't want to cover it up. I have seen a metal ring around the single sized tele neck pick up and can't find out how they hook on or even where to find them. Does any one know where to find them? I thought a little 59 might sound good there. What are some suggestions for a nice smooth jazz tele configuration? The body already has the standard pickup routs in it with a back rout for the control cavity.

Micheal

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

Nobody is going to answer you until you put up pics!!!

Welcome to the forum!

I'm sure somebody will be along shortly with an answer...

 

[super rad stuff]

Re: Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

allparts.com or stewmac.com might have the mounting rings you're talking about.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

Wait.

A Tele neck pickup is supposed to go right into the wood anyway.

No need for rings.

 

[BlueRocco]

Re: Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

Wait.

A Tele neck pickup is supposed to go right into the wood anyway.

No need for rings.

Yea, but the pickup mounts to the pick guard for adjusting height. I looked at mity mite, StewMac, Warmoth and a bunch of other websites. I've seen it on a guitar on ebay, So I thought I would ask here.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

No, a "proper" Tele pickguard doesn't have screw holes. Trust me.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

Guitar Parts Resource has them http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/guitar_index.htm

Vintage spec telecasters mount the neck pickup directly to the body, and you have to remove the pickguard to adjust the height. That's a mild PITA with a 5-screw guard. I imagine the inconvenience (especially with the 8 screw guards) lead to the pickguard mounted. That said, if you are interested in a little 59 neck, know that the little 59 for strat won't fit a tele neck pickup rout without modification. There is no little 59 neck for tele.

 

[BlueRocco]

Re: Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

Guitar Parts Resource has them http://www.guitarpartsresource.com/guitar_index.htm

Vintage spec telecasters mount the neck pickup directly to the body, and you have to remove the pickguard to adjust the height. That's a mild PITA with a 5-screw guard. I imagine the inconvenience (especially with the 8 screw guards) lead to the pickguard mounted. That said, if you are interested in a little 59 neck, know that the little 59 for strat won't fit a tele neck pickup rout without modification. There is no little 59 neck for tele.

Thanks for the info. The American Tele I bought two years ago has the pickups mounted to the pick guard. I hadn't looked at any vintage tele's, assuming most American teles were similar. Looks like I need a little more research. Any recommendations for pick ups other than a '59?

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

Even if you go the route of mounting directly to the body then you have the issue of new pickups if the original was a vintage pickup as normally what is recommended is drilling out the holes in the mounting tabs to screw directly in the body. I have always had a zero tolerance to doing irreversable mods. That said you can buy #2 wood screws from McMaster-Carr and continue to use the pickup in a direct mount setup and if you ever want to sell guitar or pickup at a later date, it isn't mangled, thereby giving you a much higher buyer audience and probably a higher resale value.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Jazz Tele w/ no pickguard

I'd rather drill out the pickup than drilling pickup ring screw holes into the body that I want to preserve.

BTW, Warmoth also sells Tele pickguards with no screw holes.

The single coil screws are big enough. If you get some that have a sharp tip things will be fine without messing up the pickup.