Hey Guys,
This is my first ever post here at the SD Forums, so I'm happy to finally be posting. I've been a bit of a lurker until now; many of you have been helping me out by answering questions I've had while sifting through posts to find information I need so thanks for that! Largely, this guitar's current form is because I was able to get the information I need.
I call it the Cornchopper.
It used to be a bone stock Affinity Series Squier Telecaster.
I bought it dirt cheap, pokey frets and all for 100$. I've always loved the look of a telecaster and figuring there wasn't much to lose, I bought it and brought it home. I found for a Squier it played pretty nice. I did some fret work and it was actually pretty fun to play. I like cheap guitars because you can play them and like them for what they are without any preconceived ideas of how good something should be.
Then the mods started happening. It wasn't on purpose really, they just came. My dad had a 30+ year-old Warmoth neck with actual rosewood and beautiful maple figuring in it that he was replacing from his Strat. (He was going from the EVH style- floyd rose- super Strat to a more blues rock guitar- it's pretty nice!) The neck had been sanded down to be quite thin (gotta love the 80's..) but having smaller hands I found it still played comfortably. He asked if I wanted it and we have this rule in the family that we don't sell guitars...and this was a part of a guitar with all of its ownership based in my dad's hands. I wasn't about to let that disappear.
Once I received the neck, I had to figure out how I was going to deal with the Floyd Rose "Scarring" left on the neck. I went and bough a Tusq nut and carefully adjusted where it would sit. It doesn't sit the way a regular nut would (with it being "sunk" into the neck) but I didn't have a lot of choice. I had to do some sanding and slot height adjustment but I find it looks, tunes and plays just fine.
Then I sanded the old grimy finish that was on it back to wood (being careful not to remove any more of the neck size.) I think it was just lacquer. It sanded pretty hard. I refinished it in 8 coats of buffed Tung oil and then sanded the head stock before painting it black (Clear coat and buffed to shine).
On the backside of the neck, I fitted some carefully sanded dowels into the holes and glued where the locking nut went and sanded them flush. I could have left it but I figured it would bug me. Now its smooth even though it's not very pleasing to the eyes.
I then found some black Grover tuning pegs and things began to get interesting. The fitment isn't perfect going from a strat to a tele. I knew this going into it. There is a space but I feel I haven't lost too much in the way of sustain. Maybe someday down the road I'll buckle down and get the wood working gear out to fill the pocket carefully with a fitted piece of wood. Naturally, the pickups on these things are pretty cheap so I was keen on looking into other options. I was, however surprised to find Alpha volume/tone pots inside. Cool find, but I had already bought my upgraded Seymour Duncan Lil 59' bridge pickup with a push-pull volume pot by CTC. From there, I ended up getting a TBX tone pot (Alpha) and wiring that in.
From there, I was really left uninspired by the neck pup. I wanted something with broad clarity to smooth out the raw sound of the Lil 59' giving myself a pretty versatile tone. In the end, I decided to go with SD's Jazz Neck pup. I love the beveled clarity and it suits my effects gear really well. I wired both pups in so they can be tapped, and both can be selected independently tapped or as a humbucker or have a 'virtual humbucker' in the middle. It sounds pretty neat.
As far as perceivable volume goes, I found them to be relatively well matched. The Lil 59' is pretty hot but really manageable. The TBX pot brings in a whole host of interesting sounds too, creating an overall versatile tone. I also replaced the 3-way plastic switch with genuine fender (Alpha?) 3 way switch and a Switchcraft 1/4" jack input.
At this point I'm very happy with the sound, but why stop now? A new pick guard is on the way (black & silver tortoiseshell)and should be here in two weeks! I've been reading about different Tele bridges and all the voodoo that people swear by for tone and to this point I realize that personal preference is the biggest key, but I was wondering about that Babicz bridge some people are digging these days. They look neat, and yes the logo is kind of massive but I do like the interesting-looking design. Input would be appreciated!
The tone plate and the bridge are the only pieces of hardware left from Squier so, I suspect a swap out on those later on.
And in reality, the only thing left Squier is the body, which from what I can see is two-piece basswood. Its fine for all intents and purposes. It's very light, resonant and plucky sounding... But high chance I will want to find a Nitro-finished body in the future. I dig the color.
So there you have it. The Cornchopper doesn't have a lot of it's original parts, but I think it's pretty unique and I love how it plays. If it wasn't for the cheap 100$ guitar that it was before, I would never have thought to piece this thing together over the last bunch of months.
I welcome comments and constructive criticism!
This is my first ever post here at the SD Forums, so I'm happy to finally be posting. I've been a bit of a lurker until now; many of you have been helping me out by answering questions I've had while sifting through posts to find information I need so thanks for that! Largely, this guitar's current form is because I was able to get the information I need.
I call it the Cornchopper.
It used to be a bone stock Affinity Series Squier Telecaster.
I bought it dirt cheap, pokey frets and all for 100$. I've always loved the look of a telecaster and figuring there wasn't much to lose, I bought it and brought it home. I found for a Squier it played pretty nice. I did some fret work and it was actually pretty fun to play. I like cheap guitars because you can play them and like them for what they are without any preconceived ideas of how good something should be.
Then the mods started happening. It wasn't on purpose really, they just came. My dad had a 30+ year-old Warmoth neck with actual rosewood and beautiful maple figuring in it that he was replacing from his Strat. (He was going from the EVH style- floyd rose- super Strat to a more blues rock guitar- it's pretty nice!) The neck had been sanded down to be quite thin (gotta love the 80's..) but having smaller hands I found it still played comfortably. He asked if I wanted it and we have this rule in the family that we don't sell guitars...and this was a part of a guitar with all of its ownership based in my dad's hands. I wasn't about to let that disappear.
Once I received the neck, I had to figure out how I was going to deal with the Floyd Rose "Scarring" left on the neck. I went and bough a Tusq nut and carefully adjusted where it would sit. It doesn't sit the way a regular nut would (with it being "sunk" into the neck) but I didn't have a lot of choice. I had to do some sanding and slot height adjustment but I find it looks, tunes and plays just fine.
Then I sanded the old grimy finish that was on it back to wood (being careful not to remove any more of the neck size.) I think it was just lacquer. It sanded pretty hard. I refinished it in 8 coats of buffed Tung oil and then sanded the head stock before painting it black (Clear coat and buffed to shine).
On the backside of the neck, I fitted some carefully sanded dowels into the holes and glued where the locking nut went and sanded them flush. I could have left it but I figured it would bug me. Now its smooth even though it's not very pleasing to the eyes.
I then found some black Grover tuning pegs and things began to get interesting. The fitment isn't perfect going from a strat to a tele. I knew this going into it. There is a space but I feel I haven't lost too much in the way of sustain. Maybe someday down the road I'll buckle down and get the wood working gear out to fill the pocket carefully with a fitted piece of wood. Naturally, the pickups on these things are pretty cheap so I was keen on looking into other options. I was, however surprised to find Alpha volume/tone pots inside. Cool find, but I had already bought my upgraded Seymour Duncan Lil 59' bridge pickup with a push-pull volume pot by CTC. From there, I ended up getting a TBX tone pot (Alpha) and wiring that in.
From there, I was really left uninspired by the neck pup. I wanted something with broad clarity to smooth out the raw sound of the Lil 59' giving myself a pretty versatile tone. In the end, I decided to go with SD's Jazz Neck pup. I love the beveled clarity and it suits my effects gear really well. I wired both pups in so they can be tapped, and both can be selected independently tapped or as a humbucker or have a 'virtual humbucker' in the middle. It sounds pretty neat.
As far as perceivable volume goes, I found them to be relatively well matched. The Lil 59' is pretty hot but really manageable. The TBX pot brings in a whole host of interesting sounds too, creating an overall versatile tone. I also replaced the 3-way plastic switch with genuine fender (Alpha?) 3 way switch and a Switchcraft 1/4" jack input.
At this point I'm very happy with the sound, but why stop now? A new pick guard is on the way (black & silver tortoiseshell)and should be here in two weeks! I've been reading about different Tele bridges and all the voodoo that people swear by for tone and to this point I realize that personal preference is the biggest key, but I was wondering about that Babicz bridge some people are digging these days. They look neat, and yes the logo is kind of massive but I do like the interesting-looking design. Input would be appreciated!
The tone plate and the bridge are the only pieces of hardware left from Squier so, I suspect a swap out on those later on.
And in reality, the only thing left Squier is the body, which from what I can see is two-piece basswood. Its fine for all intents and purposes. It's very light, resonant and plucky sounding... But high chance I will want to find a Nitro-finished body in the future. I dig the color.
So there you have it. The Cornchopper doesn't have a lot of it's original parts, but I think it's pretty unique and I love how it plays. If it wasn't for the cheap 100$ guitar that it was before, I would never have thought to piece this thing together over the last bunch of months.
I welcome comments and constructive criticism!
