My First TELEMASTER (ALL DONE)

[skullservant]

Thanks guys

I'm getting more and more excited as things progress

Ended up ordering a Sozo mustard cap for the tone control so it'll be nicer than the cheapie I had bought before.

[MEC]

Looks good! I'm interested to hear what you think about the Super Distortion T.

[skullservant]

Me too. So far I've not been super impressed- they only sent 2 mounting screws, and the leads near the actual pickup itself look kind of grungy. But lets hope it rules!

[CBA]

Hey dude! This is awesome... I didn't realize that both you and MEC were making these killer Telemaster-ish kinda thingies.

I'll follow along now that I know that you're building it. Looks awesome so far... and kudos on the finish. Excellent choice.


C

[skullservant]

Thanks duder! TELE KULT

[mathias]

awesome color

[skullservant]

I'm soooo surprised how it matches the fretboard. I stained it ebony to match my
verellen 1x12 that I've been using!

[Nj0rd]

yeah that stain is really cool. can't wait to see it finished. perhaps some sound clips too, ey ey?

[skullservant]

most definitely! It seems like it will be a nice, fast playing guitar

[skullservant]

So last night the rest of the materials came in to finish this up. String tree, copper shielding, 3 way switch, and one or two other things I can't think of off the top of my head. After I reorganized the man cave I put the copper shielding in the cavities and wired her up.

I got everything to work first try, but I was SO disappointed with the Super Distortion vs the Phat Cat that I decided to forgo a bridge pickup all together and just do the neck Phat Cat and a volume control. I don't ever use the tone control to need it, so I guess you could say I Thurston Moore'd it.

Didn't get a chance to snap any pictures yet, and there is still some work I'd like to do to it, but it is killer. The Phat Cat is SUPER articulate even being in the neck as it is, while still being heavy as balls and REALLY hot output.

Some things I need to do before I will call it finished:

-Get a new control plate, probably a blank one with just the pilot holes drilled, so that I can drill 2 holes. 1 hole for the volume control, and 1 hole for the jack. Instead of the Tele-routed bottom jack and messing with all that bullshit with the Tele cup I just mounted the jack in the control plate so its in the same area as the rest of my offsets. It's just what I'm used to. But this way I won't have the two mini-toggle switch holes or the 3 way switch slide line.

-Mount a piece of metal under the bridge to seal the bridge pickup route. This is the cheap way of MEC'ing until I get the Mastery for my Jazzmaster and then start to save funds to get a Tele bridge like MEC's I suppose. I might not if I end up liking just adding a pedal plate.

-Add cap and resistor to volume pot so there isn't any roll off when I turn the volume down.

That's about it. But I'm really happy with how simple it is. I know this all means nothing without pictures.

Right after I wired everything up:

[skullservant]

Just ordered a black blank control plate. I don't think it will look super goofy since the pickguard is black. This should be good.

[MEC]

Sorry to here about the Super Distortion.
Getting a bridge pickup that sounds good (to me) with the Tele ashtray style bridge is a tough task.
That bridge always gives that pingy, twangy, hollow sound that I hate. I do use the middle position some though.

Good to hear everything else worked out.
To cover the hole, you could always use a sticker or some of that aluminum A/C duct tape.

[skullservant]

Its no problem dude! It was worth a shot. The P90 just seems to have so much more life to it. It's the first neck pickup that I can actually say that I think I can actually play black metal on without it being muddy or have the sharpness to pick up the strumming

It'll be my super caveman axe

[skullservant]

As far as the bridge go I might go the aluminum tape route if I can find some that is decently wide. I could do the metal plate, a layer of plastic or otherwise to make it level, and then the aluminum tape on top of that

[skullservant]

Welp, bought a Glendale bridge. SUPER SWEET MINIMALISM