Telecaster advice needed

[RoyaleT]

Guitar fetish sells Tele style Xavier guitars with 12" radii. They have necks also, but do not list specs for nut width or radius in their descriptions. Less than $100.

[Eddie Lang]

Thanks for the replies.

I haven't had the chance to play one yet, but on paper at least, it seemed like the American Special might be what I'd be aiming for. That is until last night...

Like I said in the original post, I have an American Standard Stratocaster that I have never really played for some reason. Last night, in an attempt to confirm my decision of trading or selling it, I spent more time than I ever did playing it. In the end, with the right tone settings, it could be a guitar that I could live with except that I realized for the first time how heavy this thing is! It really makes me wonder if I really want a solid body after all.

This week, I may have a little time on my hands and I'll try to get to the music store to try whatever Thinline Telecaster they have. Maybe that will do the trick. If not, I'll just stick to hollowbody electrics and acoustic archtops.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Thanks for the replies.

I haven't had the chance to play one yet, but on paper at least, it seemed like the American Special might be what I'd be aiming for. That is until last night...

Like I said in the original post, I have an American Standard Stratocaster that I have never really played for some reason. Last night, in an attempt to confirm my decision of trading or selling it, I spent more time than I ever did playing it. In the end, with the right tone settings, it could be a guitar that I could live with except that I realized for the first time how heavy this thing is! It really makes me wonder if I really want a solid body after all.

This week, I may have a little time on my hands and I'll try to get to the music store to try whatever Thinline Telecaster they have. Maybe that will do the trick. If not, I'll just stick to hollowbody electrics and acoustic archtops.

Partscaster with a chambered body... The lightness of a semi hollow body guitar without the feedback.

[Eddie Lang]

Partscaster with a chambered body... The lightness of a semi hollow body guitar without the feedback.

Please enlighten me.

[Eddie Lang]

Plus I play in a duo and a trio and we don't play at high volume. Feedback is never an issue with my fully hollow body so am I wrong in not anticipating any feedback with a thin line tele either?

[Hoopskidoodle]

Please enlighten me.

A chambered body is like a semi-hollow guitar with no holes (actually the external F-hole is an option on the one pictured below.) The interior wood is honeycombed with "resonance chambers" but the top is sans f-holes. I suppose that people who stuff their hollow and semi hollow body guitars with foam are trying to achieve a similar effect.

Here's an example from Warmouth.



You have your choice of woods, contours, finishes etc. At this point, I prefer Partscasters to Fenders. I played a Fender '52 Reissue last week for the first time, and I was amazed at how much less chunky its neck was than the Allparts neck on my beloved Frankencaster. People typically rant and rave about how chunky 52' RI necks are, but for my purposes they are still too thin.

Unless you're ordering a Fender from their custom shop, you have to take whatever they decide that you need. If you build it yourself, you get exactly what you want, down to the resistors and wires.

Showcase Body

[Eddie Lang]

Thanks Hoopskidoodle. This is interesting.

Now what did you use for you neck and where did you get it. I like chunky necks too.

And what about pups? What did you use?

What about the other hardware?

[Drumbler]

Gibson has been doing that for years with their Les Pauls.

Makes for a lighter guitar which for Les Pauls is a plus.

I have my doubts as to how the actual guitar sound is affected by this swiss cheese technique. My thinking is there is not much difference.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Gibson has been doing that for years with their Les Pauls.

Makes for a lighter guitar which for Les Pauls is a plus.

I have my doubts as to how the actual guitar sound is affected by this swiss cheese technique. My thinking is there is not much difference.

I'd imagine that with vintage un-potted (thus microphonic) pickups or with a transducer pickup blended in that the difference would be appreciable. With wax potted magnetic pickups only, I think that it's mostly about the weight.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Thanks Hoopskidoodle. This is interesting.

Now what did you use for you neck and where did you get it. I like chunky necks too.

And what about pups? What did you use?

What about the other hardware?

I have an Allparts TMNF-FAT neck on my Tele. It's 0.99" thick at the nut and 1.00" thick at the 12th fret. This neck is very chunky. In fact it's chunkier than the neck on a Fender '52 RI Telecaster. It has a 9½" radius. I'd prefer a 7¼", but I can live with a 9½".

However, on the next Tele that I build, which will be completely custom from inception, I plan to use a USA Custom Guitars Super Fatback (AKA The John Holmes) neck with a 7¼" and a tinted nitrocellulose finish.

There all manner of exotic boutique-y pickups for Telecasters, but mine are pretty mundane: Seymour Duncan vintage neck and hotter bridge. I also have a four-way switch. Everything else is from Stewart-MacDonald.

One pickup that haunts my dreams is the Lollar Charlie Christian neck pickup for Tele. Eventually, I'm going to break down and order one. The only thing that has prevented me from doing so thus far is that I'd have to make a special jig for the rout.

[Doctor Jeff]

Another option for a lighter instrument is a paulownia body. I got one from GF to go with my Wamouth neck, and it is at least a pound lighter than the previous body. It has a nice grain pattern too, and is an excellent tonewood - artisans in the Far East have been making stringed instruments out of it for centuries.

The only downside is it is rather soft, but unless you plan on seriously abusing it that shouldn't be a problem.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Another option for a lighter instrument is a paulownia body. I got one from GF to go with my Wamouth neck, and it is at least a pound lighter than the previous body. It has a nice grain pattern too, and is an excellent tonewood - artisans in the Far East have been making stringed instruments out of it for centuries.

The only downside is it is rather soft, but unless you plan on seriously abusing it that shouldn't be a problem.

Did you do anything special for the neck bolts -- inserts?

[Hoopskidoodle]

+1 on what Wiz said (or USACG). To "keep the value of the instrument" just keep the original neck and swap it back if you need to resell it.

I don't think that you're likely to go wrong with either Allparts, Warmouth or USACG.

USACG, however, is the generally acknowledged Rolls Royce of aftermarket necks.

On the other hand, Mighty Mite seems to generate the most complaints and negative reviews, which really doesn't surprise me since they're basically giving necks away.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Another option for a lighter instrument is a paulownia body. I got one from GF to go with my Wamouth neck, and it is at least a pound lighter than the previous body. It has a nice grain pattern too, and is an excellent tonewood - artisans in the Far East have been making stringed instruments out of it for centuries.

The only downside is it is rather soft, but unless you plan on seriously abusing it that shouldn't be a problem.

I've bought a ton of stuff from GF. When I want to experiment, that is my go-to source. I've liked some of their products more than others, but I've yet to be disappointed in anything I've bought from them. And, at least in my case, their customer service and tech support is very responsive.

As to paulowinia, how soft would you say it is compared to pine? My Telecaster has a pine body and it will ding if you look at it hard. Of course, since it's a BSB 50s style Tele, I don't really care.

[Double 07]

Because it needed to be said, here's the coolest guy ever to play a Telecaster:

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Isn't that a Hohner?

[Doctor Jeff]

I did not do anything special for neck screws. It was a perfect fit too.

It is a really strange wood--looks spongy on the inside, kind of like balsa wood. As I understand it is very strong in terms of withstanding tension, but does dent more or less like pine. Of course pine has been used as a tonewood, also basswood, another soft wood.

I quote from Wikipedia: "Paulownia wood is very light, fine-grained, soft, and warp-resistant and is used for chests, boxes, and clogs (geta). Its low silica content reduces dulling of blades, making it a preferred wood for boxes to hold fine Japanese edge tools. These fine grained, soft and warp-resistant properties also make Paulownia wood exceptionally suited for making wooden surfboards. Unlike those made from balsa wood, the resulting surfboards do not need to be glassed. More recently, it is used as body material for low-cost electric guitars and as the core for lightweight touring skis. It is often used in guitars as the core body, then laminated under a more durable wood, such as the Dean ML XM that is made of Paulownia as the body but is topped with mahogany."

As far as I know the GFS paulownia bodies are not laminated. Given the low price, you can hardly go wrong.

[Double 07]

Isn't that a Hohner?

Yup it's a Hohner Telecaster copy. I'm sure his are custom made. My very first guitar was a Hohner LP, really.

[Hoopskidoodle]

Because it needed to be said, here's the coolest guy ever to play a Telecaster:

I've heard that we, inexplicably, look alike to some people, but that's not who you clearly must have thought that it was.

Here we go...

[Hoopskidoodle]

Yup it's a Hohner Telecaster copy. I'm sure his are custom made. My very first guitar was a Hohner LP, really.

That's interesting. I always assumed that Prince played an original HS Anderson Madcat, but I guess not. Then again, my interest in Prince's music only spanned from 1978 - 1987. So, it's possible that I knew better at some point in the murky past.

[Double 07]

Yes he sure did make some great albums during those years. He went through some drama with his greedy record company during the nineties which I think caused him to loose some of his enthusiasm for the industry. He still single handedly sells out arenas all over the world for his tours tho.