Tele MADNESS! (New Tele Content)

[NTBluesGuitar]

The madness is that I undertook this project just a couple of months after getting my first Tele (Squier CV 50s Tele).



I'm calling it a "Custom '69". Thanks to some sage advice from Phantomman, most of the guitar is period-correct for a '69. I envision this as a guitar that someone easily could have bought and modified around then.



It's a 2008 MIM Standard Tele body and 2008 MIM '69 Thinline RI neck. I dropped a '52 style bridge on it with a GFS '50s Boutique bridge pickup:



It's got the '70s 'F' Schaller tuners:





The neck pickup is a Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P90 that's build into a standard humbucker case; it dropped right in. The neck is a 1-piece maple, 'U' shape profile, 7.25" radius and has the tiny vintage frets (which I love):



And the 'F' neck plate is a direct suggestion from Phantomman:



This thing is buttah with a Tweed! Namely, my number one amp, the Hot Rod Tweed Pro:





It is a beautiful morning today which is why I finally got some shots of it.

It's wired up as a classic Tele with 500K pots. I need to put in a .047uF cap, though, as I currently have a .022uF in there and the bridge is a bit too bright for me. I have some tweaking to do, but the feel is just right. It settled in with .11s nicely and I didn't have to shim the neck or adjust the truss rod. It intonates very well.

The P90 neck is just perfect and does exactly what I want it to. Amazing jazz sounds when clean, and drives the amp easily when turned up. It's very sensitive to where you pick as well and offers up a lot of versatility in that aspect. I tried my MI Audio Blues Pro OD pedal with it on the tweed, but it did not need it. I'm betting it will be more usable on a BF-style amp.

I've had it finished for a few weeks now and really wanted to get to know it before posting. That, and I've been too busy to get proper photos. I had a great time talking this one over with Phantomman over several weeks and he really helped me finish off this idea with suggestions as to which components to select for assembly. Thanks, Roger!

Now I have a 'Burst Fender in the stable.

[melody]

Very nice lookin Tele! I don't think 500k pots came on a 69 Tele I'm pretty sure they where 1k...Any way if you like it thats all that counts..

[NTBluesGuitar]

Seymour Duncan's diagrams called for the 500K with the P90. I guess that's one of the 'custom' parts.

[melody]

Seymour Duncan's diagrams called for the 500K with the P90. I guess that's one of the 'custom' parts.

That may be some of the BRIGHTNESS you where experiencing...

[hippiebob01]

nice TJ! what model did you start with? or did you source the parts?

[phantomman]

I am soooooo diggin' the way that thang turned out, TJ!!!

All the planning an' attention to detail really paid off.

Bet it'd sound great wif a BF Supah Reverb too.

You should explore a career in pro baseball......

'CAUSE YOU REALLY HIT A GRAND SLAM WIF THIS ONE!!!

[121064]

Very nice lookin Tele! I don't think 500k pots came on a 69 Tele I'm pretty sure they where 1k...Any way if you like it thats all that counts..

'69 Teles came with 250K pots.

[NTBluesGuitar]

nice TJ! what model did you start with? or did you source the parts?

It's an eBay special, I hand-selected each part.

That may be some of the BRIGHTNESS you where experiencing...

Well the P90 is just fine, it's the bridge pickup that I need to tone down some. The SD paperwork says: "250K pots will work fine, but result in a darker tone with less treble"

I suppose I could try swapping in a 250K and see how dark is dark, but I'll start with the tone cap first since it's a bit easier to do.

All the planning an' attention to detail really paid off.

Bet it'd sound great wif a BF Supah Reverb too.

Or a Deluxe Reverb repro, or a certain Vibroverb that is still awaiting it's permanent housing.

Glad you were there to offer your experience!

[Gris]

ALL the Teles we have built w/ neck buckers (min or otherwise) have ended up with 250k pots (for the trad bridge PU) and a no-load pot (for the neck bucker).

[pc]

Gorgeous guitar TJ. I love the look.

[NTBluesGuitar]

Thanks, pc, it's inspired in part by the Andy Summers Tele with a dash of Bill Frisell, as seen here.

I know I don't have the double-bound 'burst body, but those bodies aren't pre-routed for a neck 'bucker in most cases. That and they command a hell of a lot more dough.

Gris, I'm going to give the 250K pots a try if the tone cap change doesn't help. I've got a used pair o CTS 250K pots now, and I can make on a no-load if I want.

[Gris]

The buckers and min-buckers in the neck just don't open up til you take the load off - fanny, take a load for free...

Seriously, we even had one recording guitarist send us the PUs to put in his guitar and INSTRUCT us to only use 250k pots WITHOUT a no-load. We tried it his way then seasoned to taste by putting in a no-load. He got all PO'd but then called to apologize a month later saying he we were right, the firebird PU in neck had to have no-load with 250k pots...

[pc]

Honestly that's been my experience too. I've had two Teles with neck buckers and one with a P-90. I bought the P-90 Tele already modded that way and it had a 500k pots already in it. When I loaded buckers in my other Teles, both times I first went with 500k pots.

In all three guitars it was a mistake. Going back to 250 made both the bridge and neck pickups sound like I thought they should.

Now... in one of the three I did a hybrid where one pot was 250k and one stayed 500k and that wasn't bad, but in the end I preferred both as 250k. I also preferred no-load where the neck bucker was concerned.

[NTBluesGuitar]

Good to know! You guys rock. I'll give this a try when I make my next electronics order.

[melody]

'69 Teles came with 250K pots.

I know an original owner of a 69 Tele it has 1k pot's..

[melody]

Well the P90 is just fine, it's the bridge pickup that I need to tone down some. The SD paperwork says: "250K pots will work fine, but result in a darker tone with less treble"

I suppose I could try swapping in a 250K and see how dark is dark, but I'll start with the tone cap first since it's a bit easier to do.

Gotcha..No biggie if its 1k-250-500 if you like the sound your getting that's all that matters..:

[rockntommy]

Gorgeous guitar TJ. I love the look.

Great Looker!
I like the poodle interior on the case too

[DanD]

Sweeeet

[NTBluesGuitar]

Great Looker!
I like the poodle interior on the case too

Yeah! You know, a buddy of mine was given one guitar and two cases, this being one of them. He didn't need this nice of a case for his $99 Squier, so he gave it to me a while ago. I've been looking for the right guitar to house in it.

I really like the red-poodle interior with the 'burst, too.

[elicross]

Very nice! I remember you'd posted about wanting to build a Tele after getting your Squier CV, but I had no idea you'd do it so soon.

[NTBluesGuitar]

You and me both, Eli.

It IS madness!

[chuckocaster]

that looks great teej. i love those "F" neck plates. i have them on a couple of my guitars.

[JAM]

Want to trade, T.J.?

[jeru]

The buckers and min-buckers in the neck just don't open up til you take the load off - fanny, take a load for free...

He got all PO'd but then called to apologize a month later saying he we were right, the firebird PU in neck had to have no-load with 250k pots...

SO, fellows, what would be your preferred source for one of these 250K no-load pots?


(TJ, sorry to keep the thread hijack going -- BEAUTIFUL teleblaster, and as usual, very nice detail work..)

[Gris]

Seems like ACME has them. Tell them the Roadrunner sent you - beep beep!

[NTBluesGuitar]

Hijack away! I'm always watching and reading to see what folks are saying so I can pick up a tip or two along the way.

Joe, I'll trade this Tele for that Gibson ES-175 you lug around on occasion.