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#1
05-04-2011, 02:51 PM
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 2 archtops and a Tele Here are a few recent projects: Archtop 1 is a 1960's-era Silvertone, tobacco-burst, that a friend gave to me. There was an old mouse nest inside the guitar--it had been sitting in his closet for 20 years and previously belonged to his guitar teacher. Fortunately, all the hardware was original and in good shape. I replaced the bridge with a Stew mac bone-rosewood bridge, which I filed down to about 5/8" height to account for the high action, and now it plays and sounds great. The neck is one of those thick triangular affairs though--takes some getting used to. Archtop 2 is a 1956 Kay guitar I bought from a pawn shop (Sol's in Omaha, if you're familiar) and rehabbed. It is solid mahogany. None of the hardware was original, so I scored a replacement vintage tailpiece off Ebay and a replica logo. I replaced the tuners with Stew Mac Golden Age machines and the bridge with the same as the first, also filed down to a low height. Some bozo had put on a flattop bridge at some point, drilling 8 holes on the top in the process, so I filled these with stained wood filler so it doesn't look too bad. I also made a replacement pickguard with laminated parchment material. Overall a really nice looking guitar--finish is like finely aged furniture. The neck is very comfortable--I thought it would play better than the Silvertone, but I think I prefer the Silvertone for playability. Last, but not least, I have fulfilled my Tele fetish with an interesting guitar I scored off Craigslist. This is obviously some kid's project--more or less a partscaster. He tells me it was originally a MIM tele. The neck is a Warmoth, and the pickups are SD Alnico II's and Quarter-Pounder in the neck and bridge position, resp. He did a decent job of relic'ing it, though not quite to my taste. The hardware looks awesome, but I don't know about the black-on-white look of the body. I MAY change the finish at some point. The frets need a little setup work as well. Now the sound really exceeds my expectations. I have been trying Tele's in every guitar store in town and was trying to decide between a MIA American Standard and a Classic Vibe Squier. I want to avoid the squeaky, thin sounds of many Teles. Well, this pickup combo is awesome. He has it wired so the left position is neck, right position bridge, and middle combination. The first 2 positions give a warm, balanced sound, while the bridge cranks it up a notch if I ever dreamed of being a lead guitar player in an Eagle covers band. If I had played this kind of guitar 30 years ago I would never have developed an archtop obsession. Speaking of which, there is a 1995 black Gibson ES-135 on CL I may try out. If I like it I guess I will have to sell my Epi Joe Pass... Last edited by Doctor Jeff : 05-04-2011 at 04:40 PM.     |
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#3
05-04-2011, 03:18 PM
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| ...and immediately the first tele gets approached by a sexy young lady. "I like your solid body" she says. The tele leaves with her. A minute later, a good looking young man comes up to the archtop and says "Baby, I like your curves." Minutes later, they walk out of the bar. The other tele sighs and saunters up to the bar and orders a drink, looking dejected that his friends have left him. "Tough night, eh?" says the bartender. "Tough night?" Says the tele--"I haven't had a single pickup in years!" |
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#4
05-04-2011, 03:22 PM
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 Don't feel sorry for the Tele. It gets spanked regularly. |
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#6
05-04-2011, 04:02 PM
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| Quote:
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#8
05-04-2011, 04:41 PM
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| Shouldn't that be "Squier"? LOL Sorry for small pic--I was having trouble linking to hosted photos. The original post has been revised. |
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#9
05-05-2011, 04:42 AM
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| Well I like them all. Nice collection! I would be thinking about a refinish on the Tele as well. To me the relic job looks overdone. The one thing I don't like about the relic movement is that it has given inspiration to too many kids with belt sanders. Still a nice guitar though. |
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