Snookie Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) I was thinking about assembling a telecaster and I'd like your thoughts on the subject - Here are mine: No colour or coating I was thinking about a swamp ash body and a maple neck http://www.guitar-alley.com/servlet/the-9/...il?sfs=eda9e820 http://www.guitar-alley.com/servlet/the-18...il?sfs=eda9e820 Anyone ordered from B. Hefner? Pickup, Noiseless tele http://www.music123.com/Fender-Vintage-Noi...127530.Music123 And here's some misc hardware I found http://www.music123.com/Fender-Vintage-Tel...130090.Music123 http://www.music123.com/Fender-70s--F--Sty...130310.Music123 http://www.music123.com/Fender-Strap-Locks...133552.Music123 http://www.music123.com/Fender-Strat-Tele-...130083.Music123 http://www.music123.com/Fender-Schaller-Lo...130085.Music123 http://www.music123.com/Fender-Pickguard-S...130043.Music123 http://www.music123.com/Fender-Vintage-Tel...133555.Music123 http://www.music123.com/Fender-Tele-Bridge...130091.Music123 http://www.music123.com/Fender-American-St...130077.Music123 I believe the "pots" and all the wiring is missing, some help needed I'm also unsure about the bridge And I don't know anything about the jack (Pun resisted) And please, if you know a better dealer, tell me That is all Edited February 21, 2008 by Snookie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 If you are willing to sacrifice the "made by fender" sticker on some of the parts you could probably save quite a few bucks without sacrificing quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I was thinking about assembling a telecaster and I'd like your thoughts on the subject - Here are mine: Why bother? Just buy a real telecaster. It'll end up costing you much more (in grief, if not in dollars) trying to part together the guitar. And that telecaster will never be a 'real' telecaster, no matter how many Fender-branded parts you put into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 Those are great prices for the neck and body. I would really consider using some kind of finish to seal up the body and prevent warpage on the neck. If the neck warps the manufacturer may not cover it under warranty without a sealing finish. Look around on the 'net for your parts. GuitarFetish has some pretty good Tele parts for less coin than Music123, and you can find better pickups for about the same or less from many manufacturers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snookie Posted February 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I don't mind loosing the Fender logo if I save some money but if it's a trivial amount I'll just go with fender Finding a pickup proves tricky and I just checked the fender selection Coating whould have to be something like Nitro-Cellulose so it will sound and look the best, right? And if I were to just buy a Fender I couldn't really get the Swamp Ash/Maple combination without going into the higher priced ones but there is of course the alder one http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0110500721 . and that one is pretty cheap too.. around 450$ I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 As crafty said guitarfetish has some nice tele stuff (bridge, knobs, control plate, pickguard etc). You could go with nitro if you want, don't expect to hear any difference to any other finish though. For finishing go with what's available to you and what will get you the best results with the equipment you have. Why does finding a pickup prove tricky? there's a gazillion different pickup manufacturers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Buying Fender pickups is pretty easy, there's a whole host of people out there swapping out the stock pickups for boutique pups -- I picked up a full set of MIM strat pups with harness for less than $20 bucks. That's Fender enough for me. Still, Snookie, what I'm trying to say is that saving money is not the best motivation for getting into this -- even if you do just gather a bunch of parts together, you'll need to spend a lot of time choosing them to make sure everything is going to fit perfectly together. Which is not always the case, since even among Fender's guitars, the specs vary pretty widely (they do that on purpose of course). You'll definitely need to spend time verifying all your measurements and double-checking them against all the other parts. And then you get to the finish...well, you might get lucky on the first time out and manage a perfect spray job...you never know. But you should know that finishing a guitar is probably the most difficult part of building one --and it's the part that everyone will see. And you'll still need to factor in the cost of the paints (and the respirator and filters you'll need to wear). Really, by the time all of that is done, you'll be close to the price of a new guitar (and over the price of a used guitar). And chances are, your guitar won't be any higher quality --especially if you're sourcing cheapo parts from guitarfetish (it's all just beautifully photographed Chinese-made stuff, the same as every other ebay seller) or even Fender (which is mostly the same anyway!). Most of us here are driven by the fun and/or passion we have for doing this kind of thing. The money part really is not an issue. All that said, I'm just adding food for thought. It's your project, follow your own dream. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 I don't mind loosing the Fender logo if I save some money but if it's a trivial amount I'll just go with fender Finding a pickup proves tricky and I just checked the fender selection Coating whould have to be something like Nitro-Cellulose so it will sound and look the best, right? And if I were to just buy a Fender I couldn't really get the Swamp Ash/Maple combination without going into the higher priced ones but there is of course the alder one http://www.fender.com/products//search.php?partno=0110500721 . and that one is pretty cheap too.. around 450$ I guess. Like Mick said, there's no way you can beat the price point on the Standard Telecaster. However, like you said, you can't get a Standard with a swamp ash body! Here's what I'd suggest: Do as much research as you can here and other sites like the Fender Forum, TDPRI, and harmony-central. Beware of actual supplier's websites. All of them are there to sell their products for as much money as they can get, so you need to know how to separate the BS from the real deal. Building up a custom guitar is like building up a custom computer. You can't beat Dell on the price point, but you can buy better parts and build the machine YOU want. The reason why I mentioned GuitarFetish is because their parts are pretty much the same quality you'll find on even an American Standard Tele for a lot less money than the Fender-stamped components. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 22, 2008 Report Share Posted February 22, 2008 Like Mick said, there's no way you can beat the price point on the Standard Telecaster. However, like you said, you can't get a Standard with a swamp ash body! I'm borrowing my brother-in-law's MIM Esquire reissue -- he bought it last year, although I don't know what year it's from (maybe 2004? That's the 50th anniversary right?) Cost him 400 euros (which is a great deal for a Fender over here) in like new condition. At any rate, it's an ash body with a maple neck/fretboard. Great guitar too. Nice sunburst Since it was already routed for a neck pickup, I gave him one of my extras, changed the pickguard and exchanged the control plate, and now it's a Telecaster. It just says 'Esquire' on the headstock. He just picked up an Ibanez, so I'll end up buying this one from him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~davie Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 (edited) its not too bad, I'm in the process of doing the same thing, in total it cost me around $500, a MIM tele is like $450-500, but seriously, they suck. And plus, i have 2-pc swamp ash body, fender brass-saddle bridge, fender vintage noiseless pups, licensed maple neck, and etc (nearly all geniune parts, or very closely matched). And i also did the body in nitro with a yellowish-tint. the money u save on cost isn't bad, but the main idea is that you're building it to your ideal specifications and preference. Edited February 23, 2008 by ~davie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtmullet Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 I would recomend staying away from the noiseless pickups pickups cause although it has less hum they have to cut down the pickups power to do so witch in turn I think makes them kinda sterile sounding I would recomend finding a good boutiqe pickup maker you could ask around on a telecaster forum to see what everyone has to say pickup wise and then look into investing in a eh humdebugger or just do a really really good shielding job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~davie Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 I would recomend staying away from the noiseless pickups pickups cause although it has less hum they have to cut down the pickups power to do so witch in turn I think makes them kinda sterile sounding I would recomend finding a good boutiqe pickup maker you could ask around on a telecaster forum to see what everyone has to say pickup wise and then look into investing in a eh humdebugger or just do a really really good shielding job. i've heard pretty good things about them though. like good reviews etc. and relatively hot compared in DC resistance compared to most 'real' tele single coils. And a shielding job, no matter how good is it isn't gonna get rid of that 60hz hum. That's not what shielding is used for. Its a basic phenomena solely linked to single coil pups. Trust me, all my electric guitars are shielded with copper tape, and it doesn't eliminate the "single-coil hum", it just grounds/neutralizes all the damn IF or radio, etc.. waves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtmullet Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 I would recomend staying away from the noiseless pickups pickups cause although it has less hum they have to cut down the pickups power to do so witch in turn I think makes them kinda sterile sounding I would recomend finding a good boutiqe pickup maker you could ask around on a telecaster forum to see what everyone has to say pickup wise and then look into investing in a eh humdebugger or just do a really really good shielding job. i've heard pretty good things about them though. like good reviews etc. and relatively hot compared in DC resistance compared to most 'real' tele single coils. And a shielding job, no matter how good is it isn't gonna get rid of that 60hz hum. That's not what shielding is used for. Its a basic phenomena solely linked to single coil pups. Trust me, all my electric guitars are shielded with copper tape, and it doesn't eliminate the "single-coil hum", it just grounds/neutralizes all the damn IF or radio, etc.. waves. Firstly I'm not saying they are a bad pickup I am just saying there are beter pickups to be had in the price range also it's very true that just a good shielding job won't eliminate hum however it can be done I have seen one guitar that was shielded by a big carlos santa fan if I remember corectly but don't quote me on that but he hand cut strips of copper glued them in every cavity then he sodered all the overlaping pieces together and there was no hum what so ever and beleive me I tried.But once I found the humdebugger I was convinced that if hum bothers you that this thing is the best way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howfar Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 ... Anyone ordered from B. Hefner?... Yes, I got a hardtail strat body from them. Read their fine print, it takes about a month but I have no problem recommending them. I feel I got my money's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 I would recomend staying away from the noiseless pickups pickups cause although it has less hum they have to cut down the pickups power to do so witch in turn I think makes them kinda sterile sounding I would recomend finding a good boutiqe pickup maker you could ask around on a telecaster forum to see what everyone has to say pickup wise and then look into investing in a eh humdebugger or just do a really really good shielding job. Riiight. No tele pickup is going to sound The Best between two people, and there's a lot of people performing and recording with noiseless pickups. Modern noiseless pickups have really come a long way because of the evolution of pickup design and you have your choice of many different qualities in design. Having said that, Duncan hasn't put out a new noiseless tele design in ages. DiMarzio, Lawrence/Wilde, and Kinman seem to be the ones coming up with new designs and improvements in this area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted February 23, 2008 Report Share Posted February 23, 2008 Noiseless single-coil pups: Bill Lawrence designed the noiseless pups that Fender uses and everyone else copied. If this is the route you take, go for the original, not an imitation. For a tele, you can get a brand new set for just under $100 shipped. Also, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone say anything bad about Bill's pups. That says a lot right there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidlook Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 Noiseless single-coil pups: Bill Lawrence designed the noiseless pups that Fender uses and everyone else copied. If this is the route you take, go for the original, not an imitation. For a tele, you can get a brand new set for just under $100 shipped. Also, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone say anything bad about Bill's pups. That says a lot right there. Just because someone was first to come up with something doesn't make the others' inferior. Competition and different takes on ideas usually promotes progress and the first product based on a new idea is rarely going to be the best ever made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted February 24, 2008 Report Share Posted February 24, 2008 Just because someone was first to come up with something doesn't make the others' inferior. Competition and different takes on ideas usually promotes progress and the first product based on a new idea is rarely going to be the best ever made. Agreed. Note, however, that I did not say the others were inferior. I said they were copies. I'm not being snippy, but please don't put words into my mouth, then chide me for what I did not say. Consider this: Fender pups are frequently replaced with aftermarket pups. Fender's noiseless pups are the exact same design as Bill Lawrence's. He licenses the design to Fender. Kinman copied the design. BL is known throughout the industry as producing pups of unparalleled quality. Price wise, BL is approximately 2/3 the cost of Fender, an less than 1/2 of Kinman. It would seem to me that given these facts, BL's pups would be an extremely safe choice. IIRC, our original poster was concerned with cost. I'm not suggesting he get cheap pups from an unproven no-name. I'm suggesting he get pups from an extremely reputable manufacturer that are cheaper than the big companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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