Hi, guys. I haven't been around much lately. Busy summer: kids off from school, vacation, traveling a lot for work. What little time I had to spend on guitar gear, got used on non-pedal pursuits. I helped my son buy his first full-size bass back in June (Squier Classic Vibe '60s P-bass in Sonic Blue - SWEET bass). Also, I spent some time finding him an old Peavey TNT 130 bass amp while I was out on one of my businees trips (great old amp that will probably run forever, AND it has a Black Widow 15").
Then it was ME time. The latest project was this:
(http://i785.photobucket.com/albums/yy134/Rich_S_GuitarGeek/Dangerous%20Type/dangerous_1.jpg)
It's a 2005 MIM Tele I picked up for a reasonable price on line. It needed a lot of work - I ended up having to remove the neck and clean the gloppy paint runs out of the neck pocket to get it aligned so the low E wasn't falling off the fingerboard. (Thank God for Dan Erlewine and his book How To Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great - his description of this problem and how to fix it was exactly what I found when I popped the neck off.)
Once I had it playing right, I proceeded to realize my "vision" a stripped-down Les-Paul-Juniorish Esquire, with a Duncan Tapped Quarter Pound pickup and two knobs - volume and variable tap. That rear pot lets me dial in any tone between the twangy tapped position and the full-on QP coil, which is more P90-ish that Tele-ish. I got the Esquire pickguard, blank control plate, and Wilkinson compensated 3-saddle bridge from Guitar Fetish.
I've always had a tendency to over-complicate things with too many knobs and switches and choices (the guitar before this was a Nashville Tele). This is the backlash - stupid simple. I named it "Dangerous Type" after the first song I played on it; I've been on a huge Cars kick lately, and I love Elliot Easton's solo in that song.
More photos here: http://s785.photobucket.com/albums/yy134/Rich_S_GuitarGeek/Dangerous%20Type/ (http://s785.photobucket.com/albums/yy134/Rich_S_GuitarGeek/Dangerous%20Type/)
Next up... those four MadBean PC boards waiting in the workshop.
Beautiful. Simply beautiful. I've developed a jonze for a tele--it seems to be the solid-body that can do everything (the police to radiohead). I'm new to the world of guitar but I surmise the tele is the original solid body electric, no? I'm still an SG fan at heart but I see a tele in my future.
How are you coping with a ~single pickup guitar? Seems anathema to me but I guess you got the second knob for that (not being filthy)...
That looks really cool !
I like your Grolsch strap-lock idea too; I think I´m going to copy that if you don´t mind. I had the Schallers as well on my guitars, but kept taking them off because of the rattling.
How do you like using the pot for the coiltap ?
The variable coil tap pot is the best part of tis guitar. There are so many great sounds in between. The 1/4 pound does a pretty good Tele twang on the tap - not completely authentic, but good enough. The full coil is really fat, sometimes to the point of being buried in the band mix. Being able to back it off a little bit to brighten it up helps it cut.
To use an AC/DC reference: 3/4 on the tap pot is Riff Raff, full up is Sin City.
I love all things Tele, and this one is very slick! But, no neck pup??? I can't live without the two pickup combo. I even wire my Strats with this option ;)
Nice
Quote from: madbean on September 13, 2010, 08:08:12 PM
I love all things Tele, and this one is very slick! But, no neck pup??? I can't live without the two pickup combo. I even wire my Strats with this option ;)
My last Tele was a Nashville, but I got sick of fiddling around with too many switch positions, and finding it usually sounded best on the bridge pickup.. This guitar is the Anti-Nashville. I've finally learned that simpler is better.
My goldtop Schecter PT mutt has a pair of Duncan 59s, with a pull-split switch on the bridge volume pot and a pull-phase on the neck volume pot. That guitar has plenty of flexibility if I need it. The new one is all about the basics.
'Sides, it has the typical MIM humbucker route at the neck, so if I find I can't live without a neck pickup, I can fit anything in there with a simple pickguard chance. I'm hanging onto the original pickguard and TexMex neck pickup just in case. It would probably be a pretty good match for the QP.