Modify used telecaster or custom build?

[jeremiahzellers]

After watching Tim Lerch play his telecaster with the Charlie Christian pickup, I have decided I want one.

I read good things about K-Line Truxton and was going to reach out about an order.

basically I’m looking for a 50s style telecaster with a single Charlie Christian neck pickup (no bridge pickup, no selector switch, etc).

has anyone had a solid body guitar built anywhere? Really in the dark with how this works. I’m wondering if starting from new would be the best way to go or heavily modify a used guitar.

[ThatRhythmMan]

If start with a Tele with a large enough neck pickup rout it’s a pretty simple mod to add a Lollar CC for Solidbody. All you would need is a pickguard modified to accommodate that pickup.

Charlie Christian Pickup for Solidbody | Lollar Pickups

Even with a smaller neck rout any competent luthier/tech could enlarge the rout to accommodate the pickup.

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[AllanAllen]

You can buy a bridge plate with no cutout.

Easiest way to cover the hole.

[John Owen]

Kind of depends on your preferences are for all the aspects of the guitar besides the pickups and how much you want to spend. If you can find a used tele that suits you in terms of how it plays, putting a Charlie Christian pickup in it would be pretty straightforward. As @ThatRhythmMan mentioned, if you find a tele that already has a rout big enough, all you need is a pickguard cut for a CC. This would probably be the lowest cost option - you could conceivably find a nice used tele for somewhere between $500 and $1000. Add a couple hundred for a pickup and pickguard and you are all set. If you go that route, I would recommend at least giving it a try before removing the bridge pickup. You might find some situations where the combination of the bridge PU and the CC in the neck give you a sound you really like. If that didn’t turn out to be the case then you could always convert to neck pickup only at any time. Just for reference, Tim Lerch seems to hang on to the bridge pickups in his guitars even if he doesn’t use them on every tune.

Otherwise, if you have really specific criteria for things like nut width, fingerboard radius, finish, etc and you can’t find a used guitar that fits the bill, you could either have a custom guitar built or do what I did and buy after market body and neck and put it together yourself. Either of those options would likely cost you at least double that fo the ‘buy used and modify’ approach. Good luck and enjoy the journey.