Partscaster

[Greentone]

What a contrast, coming hard on the heels of a NGD Unity thread. Oh, well. I finished my partscaster today from the neck and body that I bought from Hammertone (thanks, again HT). I used Kluson Supreme tuners, a Joe Barden bridge, WD Bridge Plate, a Fender pick guard, Rumpelstiltskin White Rope pickups, etc. Everything's intonated and the guitar sounds and plays great.

The Musikraft neck (1" at the first fret, 1" at the 12th fret) is a big, fat, resonant hog--the way I like it. The spalted grain on the body is pretty, as is the double body binding.

Forgive the fact that I am a horrible photographer in comparison to Hammertone or some of the others:

[neatomic]

classic looking tele...clean...nice...

any specific reason on the pickup choice?..(like he's your next door neighbor!!) ... haha

enjoy!


cheers

[Greentone]

Ha! Several of the pickup folks are my neighbors, actually. I live in Virginia. Callahan, Rumpelstiltskin, Fralin, and Barden (until he died) were all in Virginia.

I have Fralin pickups in my Strat. They are outstanding. I used to use Bardens in a Telecaster. I loved them...but they aren't as traditionally "Tele" sounding as the Fralins, the Duncans, or the Rumpelstiltskins (made by Aaron Campbell).

I wanted to try Campbell's Rumpelstiltskin White Ropes this time because they are the closest sounding pickup to a Steve Cropper/Booker T-era Tele pickup that I've heard. The two-pickup blend sound is unbelievably great sounding on my new guitar. The bridge pickup is definitely a late-50s/early-60s sound. The Telecasters I have had in recent years have all sounded really "black guard." That's great, but it's more of a Roy Buchanan/Danny Gatton sound. I wanted a Roy Nichols/Don Rich/Steve Cropper sound this time. That, by the way, will also yield the sound that Ed Bickert got until he went with a neck humbucker on his '66 Telecaster.

I am satisfied, although I may go with a shim under the two screws closest to the edge of the body and the neck. This will give me a higher action. The Barden bridge has short bridge elevation screws on the two outer strings. I like my Telecaster action a bit high, so a shim may be in order.

Otherwise, things have been great this afternoon.

[Greentone]

Your chair is about one Super Eagle more expensive than my chair. That makes some difference.

I actually studied photography...but I just popped off a couple of cell phone shots from a den chair. Composition was terrible. The guitar looks one-dimensional!

[Dave70]

Love the look of that tele!!!

[Greentone]

Thanks, Dave70. It plays great and sounds fabulous. Light,too...7 lbs 6 oz.

[citizenk74]

As a player who loves Teles and big necks, I congratulate you and hope that you play it in good health!

[Greentone]

Thanks! I definitely will do so. I am really enjoying the Telecaster into a Polytone, rather than one of my Tweeds.

[Hammertone]

OK, here are a couple that show the body off a bit:

[Jabberwocky]

Looks wonderful, Greentone.

[ESCC]

Very nice Greentone. When I was deciding on pick ups I went with Bill Lawrence, he's not from Virginia, but I like them none the less.

Any chance you can share a clip, would love to hear the Rumpelstiltskins.

[GNAPPI]

Wow! You are a terrible photographer!
I'll post a few other shots of the same guitar in its "before" state, later.

Don't be too hard on him, he may have used a phone or pocket camera. There's only so much improvement the model can make on the image :-)

Nice looking tele Greentone, partscasters are so much fun to build.

[Greentone]

Thanks for the good pictures, Hammertone. Here are some side shots. The grain on the sides is pretty good, too. I also like the Joe Barden bridge on there now:

The bridge intonation screws aren't this sloppy now. I straightened them up--which got the string placement good and even, too.

[Woody Sound]

Who actually made that body?

[Greentone]

Hammertone told me that it was made in Japan. It was the most expensive body in the shop he bought it from. It is a two-piece, solid alder or ash body--which you can determine from the routing in the pickup cavities.

I like the spalting present in the grain and the double binding.

All the holes lined up perfectly, too, with the stuff I attached.

Overall, the body weight is a bit on the light side, in terms of weight. The completed build came out at 7lbs 6oz--below average for a finished Telecaster. I have played Telecasters anywhere from just under six pounds to ten pounds (not talking about Thinlines or bodies with weight relief). All of them sound good, but I prefer Telecasters under eight pounds. Three of my Telecasters and my original Esquire were all in that class. My excellent sounding/playing '91 Reissue '52 Telecaster OTOH was about 10 pounds and felt it on the shoulder. Had to go.

[Greentone]

Here are the pickups:

[Rob MacKillop]

Looks inviting. Some guitars just open the door, and welcome you in. Some don't. This one does. Have fun, Greentone!

[Hammertone]

My guess was that it was (fairly lightweight) ash because of the overall look of the wood. But it could be alder. Sheesh! I do know it's Japanese, and of the same quality as a custom body from Warmoth or Musikraft. The body was purchased from a defunct guitar shop that specialized in selling guitar kits, part, wood, hardware, accessories.

I also bought many board feet of gorgeous figured hardwood that had originally come from the shop of a retired builder, for an upcoming archtop guitar project. 4/4 quartersawn bloodwood, 16/4 and 12/4 figured sugar maple, 6/4 figured silver maple, and various bits of zebrawood, mahogany, wenge, santos, ipe and more. Even a board of lignum vitae! The wood had been sitting around his shop for a good 30 years before he sold it to the parts vendor, who simply ran out of steam and closed his business.

I share Ken's preference for electric guitars on the lighter side, for simple ergonomic reasons.

[Greentone]

Whoa! I played the new Partscaster today for the first time through one of my 5e3 tweed Deluxe amps. Holy smoke!

Not only does this combination get a great jazz tone through the neck pickup into the "normal" channel with the TONE knob set about half way, but the both pickup setting and the bridge setting gets an unbelievable Steve Cropper tone on songs like "Hip Hug Her" and "Time Is Tight" on this guitar into the 5e3. My, oh my.

I have owned quite a few Telecasters (and an Esquire) through the years, but this is the most accurate 'Booker T & the MGs' guitar that I have ever played. I am very, very pleased with the guitar that Hammertone approached me with.

Now: to get some folks together who'd be interested in playing Memphis soul charts. My son could cover any of the instruments--drums, B3, bass, etc. Gotta find a couple of other folks. There's a great soul drummer who owns the local formal wear shop. Maybe a bass player, hmm?

[neatomic]

just look for a bass player who never changed his strings!! and make sure they're flats!



cheers

[Cunamara]

Tele, the most versatile guitar, into a 5E3- the most versatile amp. Great combination!

[Greentone]

Finishing touch: today I applied the headstock decal. The guitar features the initials of me, my son, and grandson. The model is Buckaroo, after Don Rich and Buck Owens.

[neatomic]

yeah man!

buckaroo!

notice Db..rich tuned down


cheers

[jazzbow]

yeah man!

buckaroo!

notice Db..rich tuned down


cheers

Lovely.

[Greentone]

I switched my bridge saddles over today from Joe Barden compensated brass saddles (three) to Marc Rutter compensated brass (three). Over at TDPRI.com they have been raving for several years about Rutter's bridge as being not only accurate, but more toneful.

I was having a problem with slippage of the plain G-string on the brass barrel of the Barden saddle, so I tried the Rutter's saddles, which intonate accurately by a clever system of positioned saddle grooves.

Lo and behold, the intonation is accurate (it was with the Barden system, too)--but the tone of the Telecaster is _even better_. The jazzy sound on the neck pickup is markedly improved, while the bridge pickup tone is on par with what I noticed before. BINGO!