Tele Fever!

kakerlak

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Here's the Warmoth:
FlYr7uE.jpg

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kakerlak

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Nice wood ;-)

Thanks! It's a real featherweight, loud and snappy acoustically. I kind of hate the finish color, but it's a nice thin nitro job and full of cool checking. Wish the red would fade out, but it's shown zero signs of that in the couple decades I've owned it. Hard to beat second hand parts teles in bang for buck.
 

Guildedagain

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Yeah, some bursts (Tomato soup they called it on the 1960 LP's) can be pretty garish, and they don't fade like you'd want them to. They figured out a way to keep the red from fading that was turning all of those pre 1960 LP's into "unbursts".

I've use the sun to fade bursts with limited success, in a sunny window.

The best faded LP Flametop I ever had was supposedly faded in a window for a year.

Bursts also always look different in pics than what your eye sees, not as many transitional color nuances.

UV light does the same thing.
 

kakerlak

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Yeah, some bursts (Tomato soup they called it on the 1960 LP's) can be pretty garish, and they don't fade like you'd want them to. They figured out a way to keep the red from fading that was turning all of those pre 1960 LP's into "unbursts".

I've use the sun to fade bursts with limited success, in a sunny window.

The best faded LP Flametop I ever had was supposedly faded in a window for a year.

Bursts also always look different in pics than what your eye sees, not as many transitional color nuances.

UV light does the same thing.

For sure. Those pics are actually pretty close to how it looks in person -- it's a bright red and the middle is pretty bright yellow. Just kind of garish, like you said. It originally had a white pearl pickguard on it, which made it worse. I swapped for the tortie to kind of darken the overall vibe, but it might look less busy with plain white/cream and would probably look better with chrome hardware, for the same reason, but I'm too cheap to swap it all out. If it wasn't a physically nice finish, I'd have probably redone it by now, but it's hard to justify stripping off a nice, aged finish like that, just for a color swap.

It's just the best tele, though -- so loud and strident.
 

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Outside of the Not Roy Buchanan T-250, I just picked up a G&L Will Ray Signature ASAT Tribute. Made in Indonesia, reportedly American hardware. It has a Hipshot B-bender, z pickups and locking tuners. Nice satin neck, in sunburst. It was hanging in a music store for ten years, so the shopkeeper is scrounging me a case. Not sure how long it will stay in my hands, but it will be fun to play around with for a month or two. Along with it, I picked up an Egnater TOL 50 amp, so I can live up to the adage, "If you can't be good, at least be loud".
 

Quantum Strummer

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Even in the '60s Gibson had issues with red dye instability. 1963 is a good year if you want a brown/orange or "teaburst" finish on your Gibbie archtop.

-Dave-
 

Guildedagain

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For sure. Those pics are actually pretty close to how it looks in person -- it's a bright red and the middle is pretty bright yellow. Just kind of garish, like you said. It originally had a white pearl pickguard on it, which made it worse. I swapped for the tortie to kind of darken the overall vibe, but it might look less busy with plain white/cream and would probably look better with chrome hardware, for the same reason, but I'm too cheap to swap it all out. If it wasn't a physically nice finish, I'd have probably redone it by now, but it's hard to justify stripping off a nice, aged finish like that, just for a color swap.

It's just the best tele, though -- so loud and strident.

The Tele sounds like "the one"./

Here's something cool, Warmoth history. I feel kinda proud, being from the Evergreen state.

http://blog.warmoth.com/category/guitar-history/

The Tele did get here, unreal... and it got blasted pretty good in the tone pot (it's always something isn't it), cheesy knobs that were set too high, blew the tone pot wide open...

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Guildedagain

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Oh yeah, I'll probably go over the wiring. CTS premium pots, 4 way Oak Grisby switch, some tone cap, not sure which, treble bleed?

I've never had the 4 way mod and it sounds awesome, and I found a reaally good video of 4 way wiring where he puts both middle positions in the middle, instead of one all the way in the front.

So it will be;

1 Bridge
2 Neck/Bridge in series (standard)
3 Neck/Bridge reversed = BIG FAT Humbucker tone!
4 Neck

The only complicated thing, besides the wiring is disconnecting the ground from the neck p'up cover (without killing the p'up) and soldering a lead to it to go back down to the control cavity.
 

gilded

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Hey guys, here's a little tidbit I forgot about until I was email talking to my amigo kakerlak a few minutes ago.

Blackie's owner was part of the music crew of the film Crazy Heart. The Black Tele was with him on set. Collin Farrell's character Tommy Sweet needed a 'real deal' geetar and wound up playing......the Black Tele!

Of course, it wound up on youtube. You can't hear what it sounds like, but I guess you can see what it looks like, if you wanna. Check out the aluminum back plate and B-string bender knob, plus the strap (I still have the strap but it stayed in the Tahoe too long and is permanently sticky. Durn!).

Enjoy, gilded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgKuzsEN7wY
 

Guildedagain

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You left the strap in Tahoe? ;-)

Too cool, so was that it for him playing the guitar in the movie?

Dang, the good Tele's keep coming.

That's got some hellacious checking on this butterscotch Tele, what is it, Fender Custom Shop?

Super cool, I'm working on #2 right now, when I get time.

Getting close.
 

Guildedagain

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Outside of the Not Roy Buchanan T-250, I just picked up a G&L Will Ray Signature ASAT Tribute. Made in Indonesia, reportedly American hardware. It has a Hipshot B-bender, z pickups and locking tuners. Nice satin neck, in sunburst. It was hanging in a music store for ten years, so the shopkeeper is scrounging me a case. Not sure how long it will stay in my hands, but it will be fun to play around with for a month or two. Along with it, I picked up an Egnater TOL 50 amp, so I can live up to the adage, "If you can't be good, at least be loud".

T-250 pics?

Just read up on these, read "the" review ;-)

It definitely needs representation in this thread?

I didn't even really know these existed, I mean... I'm sure I knew but maybe tried to forget ;-)
 

gilded

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You left the strap in Tahoe? ;-)

Too cool, so was that it for him playing the guitar in the movie?

Dang, the good Tele's keep coming.

That's got some hellacious checking on this butterscotch Tele, what is it, Fender Custom Shop?

Super cool, I'm working on #2 right now, when I get time.

Getting close.


Question: You left the strap in Tahoe? ;-)
Answer: Yep, it was in the bottom of bag, it was summer, I forgot it was in there, plus it gets pretty hot in Texas these days. I'm still mildly surprised that the plasticky stuff started breaking down, but there it is.

Question......so was that it for him playing the guitar in the movie?
Answer: I don't know, I never saw the movie. As far as I know, Farrell plays it on some song named Gone Gone Gone. I hope it's not on the cutting room floor.

The story on the finish? Well, it's complicated, but I can tell you what I was told. As I posted on March 25th (page 4 of this thread), I know a guitar show dealer who would buy 50 'dry' (unfinished) bodies and necks at a time, then 'mix and match until he got the best fitting/looking combinations. That dealer sold the tele body and neck to a customer, who had the dry guitar sprayed, then relic'd. At later point, the original customer traded it back to the original dealer and informed him that MJT Aged Finishes in Carthage, MO had done the finish/relic work.

A good friend of mine bought it from the dealer at a show, then sold it to another good friend of mine in Austin. I wound up with the guitar from the Austin gent. I love it, but do not appreciate the underwound pickups as much as the original purchaser.

Looking back, I think the dealer told me that the original body and neck were purchased from All Parts, which means the one-piece, very-slightly-oversized-by-a-1/4" body and neck were made in Japan. Where the maple and ash wood came from, I do not know. I would not be surprised if they were from here (USA), but that could be just wishful thinking.

For what it's worth, it does not seem to look like a Fender Custom Shop finish in person.
 

Guildedagain

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Totally awesome Teles and cool stories.

Here's my long time buddy '52 RI that just got an MJT body transplant and lost almost 3lbs! Non relic body, the way I prefer them, let it age on it's own. It's the black guard in the pic of course, and this guard looks like it's from 1950, rough square cut edges, lumpy looking, bakelite?

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And the old Alder Warmoth Tele with the ancient Seymour Duncans, paired up with that old Japan Allparts Rosewood frtbd neck. The radiused nut was a nightmare to work, maybe the toughest nut I've done. The neck to body joint nearly needed to be vised into place, unreal ;-) One of those I don't ever want to take the neck off again guitars.

It's one of those guitars too, the moment I started getting some tension on the strings, I was like whoa, this thing has unreal acoustic tone.

Like, it's about twice as loud as my Ash/Maple '52.

I guess there was a reason I wanted to do this, and I didn't even really know why, now I know why.

The old steel six saddle bridge (more or less a not so good design) sounds amazing, steel on Alder, like a Strat, to brighten, toughen it up, and man, it works!

I'll probably go with an old three saddle bridge, but with the old school threaded saddles.

Probably a little bit classier aged white guard than this one, hopefully soon.

The old old Seymour Duncan p'ups are totally amazing, sound reaally nice. Readings are 6.78kΩ bridge and 8.12kΩ neck through a patch cord.

Haven't checked it out through any kind of stompbox, so not sure how it rocks, but I have the other if there was any doubt.

The Butterscotch Tele on the bridge p'up (especially now that it's lighter?) just kicks serious you know what. It's weird, but it's got Les Paul tone, I mean more like it would walk right over the top of a Les Paul.

I'm saying it's a Les Paul killer ;-)
 
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gilded

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two nice looking guitars, guildedagain. I bet those old Seymours sound great, too.

Harry aka gilded
 

kakerlak

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Man, those chicken heads would drive me nuts, lol. Good looking teles!
 

Guildedagain

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Thx guys ;-)

Chicken head knobs, for chicken picken ;-) The tone knob is inop, and the volume pot feels like sand...

Got a set of old knobs on the way, the superlight flattops.

In a way, I wanted it it to have no Fender parts on it, because none of the parts are Fender, but in the end, I couldn't resist...

I still need to rebuild the control assy, maybe go through with that 4 way wiring thing. Never done it, probably so totally worth it.

This is it today, different guard that came in the mail.

Had to widen it on the right side of the neck opening by a gob, this Allparts neck is HUGE, no wonder it barely fit the body.


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And a better shot of the 4lb MJT body ;-)

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Hmmmm Butterscotch

Looks like I'm ahead of the curve, as usual... ;-) Look at this Tele in Steve Earle's hands in this month's Guitar Player. It's totally got the same vibe going as this project that came out of nowhere on me...

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Quantum Strummer

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I recently swapped out the original brass saddles on my oldie (notched under the E strings, an "only in '53" thing) for a set of threaded steels. Really like 'em! The guitar sounds ballsier now compared to the brass saddles' warmer tone. I also like that the threads let me set the string spacing more precisely. The low E on this Tele has always been a little closer than I've liked to the fretboard edge at the upper frets…but no more.

I like the rosewood board/white pickguard combo on that alder Tele!

Black Bakelite guards can be smooth in texture when polished but are kinda grainy otherwise. Fairly stiff too compared to modern plastics.

-Dave-
 
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