Need a new Tele...hack up a Fender, parts-o-caster... or?

[J Moose]

I've always loved Teles. About 10-odd years ago one of my friends had a pair of '70s models and I feel in love with the neck shapes & the tone, even for high gain stuff. I should've bought 'em when he sold 'em... for like $400 each. AGH! Who knew?! Being young & dumb, plus broke & in college, I didn't want to drop the money into them for refrets & new pickups.

Since then I've owned several...none of them really blowing my skirt up besides my old USA schecter which was close to the mark & the '99 Bigsby Tele I traded it for... but the Bigs, while very hip ain't quite "it" for me. So... I still need a gnarly Tele.

The American Standards don't do much for me... not a fan of the "modern C" neck so the Highway 1's are out too... I've really liked most every '52 reissues I've picked up over the years. Maybe a Classic Baja?! The local shop just got one in that's pretty cool... not sure if it's haunting me yet, but I'm thinking about it.

I've also been strongly considering the parts route... get a neck, maybe a USACG or an Allparts and a body from the Fleabay... slap it together. Rock out.

It's gotta have a three-saddle bridge. Neck bucker with splits. I have a custom wiring thing all worked out from a previous guitar...

I kinda want to go the parts angle, because even if I bought a '52 reissue or the Baja I'd be changing a whole lot... Basically, keep the body & neck. Plus, ya know... wood is wood. Kinda. Not really. But why spend $1300 on a ride just to hack it up when I can get the equivalent parts for a quarter of that? Well, I can't play it first... I've been through the Warmoth parts thing before and was pretty happy in the long run...

I also found a '76 Tele at a semi-local vintage shop that's a player... $1800 + whatever I dump into it. Way outta reach unless I liquidate some other stuff like the EJ Strat... tempting...

Thoughts from the class?

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: Need a new Tele...hack up a Fender, parts-o-caster... or?

If you're looking for a good deal on a body with a nitro finish you should check out the Fender Highway 1 bodies on ebay, which typically sell for approx $150. You can then route for the neck humbucker, and get whatever neck you want from Warmoth or USACG.

 

[Pete Galati]

Re: Need a new Tele...hack up a Fender, parts-o-caster... or?

One of the things that made the late '60s and '70s Telecasters different was that they had 1meg pots, and a .001uf treble bleed cap on the volume pot.

That made them behave very different than Telecasters with 250K pots.

I wasn't able to duplicate the sound of my '69 Tele. There was some elusive element I couldn't find.

I may make a second attempt sometime, but the body I was using is in my Esquire now. Having the real thing around for comparison made it a sure thing that I'd never succeed though, so I'll probably just let it rest and admit failure, even though what I came up with was somewhat good.

Don't go for a nitro lacquer finish unless you just like them. Fender stopped using lacquer sometime in the '60s.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Need a new Tele...hack up a Fender, parts-o-caster... or?

Parts-o-Caster.

If you're hacking it up enough, buying a whole axe doesn't make sense to me.

 

[scottish]

Re: Need a new Tele...hack up a Fender, parts-o-caster... or?

i would hit up the usacg web specials for a body. you can pick up some stuning bodies for a darn good price. you can have them finish it or do it yourself

 

[Curly]

Re: Need a new Tele...hack up a Fender, parts-o-caster... or?

I can't advise against a parts caster, since I've done a bunch ...

of the teles out there, I like the Baja (which is the first foreign one I'd consider), and the thin skin '52s at Wildwood -- they have a 9.5" neck radius and are fairly reasonable at $1550

 

[J Moose]

Re: Need a new Tele...hack up a Fender, parts-o-caster... or?

If you're hacking it up enough, buying a whole axe doesn't make sense to me.

Well, not that it's going to be entirely hacked up, but certainly routed for a full-size neck bucker and replacing most all of the electronics save for the pots & jack!

I'm not terribly concerned about finish at this point, if I go the parts route I might just stain it and have a bike or body shop hit it with clear. Neck shape and hip woods are the bigger thing... Vibe. Not big fan of the "butterscotch" finish either... just too many of 'em out there!

I guess what I'm pondering...how much of a difference might there be between buying a "Fender" and buying the same pieces from USACG? Priced out without pickups the raw parts come to about $500 +/- and the baja Tele is $700... minus whatever I make back from the gutted electronics. Quite possibly a wash... Or get a Muddy Waters or MIM James Burton model & hack that... Maybe an MIJ or whatever.

Curly - Thanks for the link! Ya think they have enough of those Tele's? Over 40 in stock of the same model?! Geez... they should pay ME to take one! haha Not sure I'm down for a $1600 Tele. If I spend that much I'll probably look for a real deal '70s.

This one gets my guitar woodie going... $2600 though. ~ http://wildwoodguitars.com/electrics/misc/r28661/r28661.php