Wanted: Misc. Tele Parts

**tenwatt** · 11-24-2009, 01:31 PM

One of the guitarist at our church is one of the most talented, annointed, and deicated players I've ever meet in my life. He served on a worship team with me at my former church for about five years and before I was there for about ten. He's now served with me at our current church for about three years. He is easily one of the most talented guitarist I've ever meet and has been stuck with the same ole crappy strat copy guitars I've ever seen and it's always giving him problems. He's about 45 years old and has a dead end job and can't afford ANY new gear. He was at my house the other day playing and it was like watching a kid in a candy shop. To make a long story short...I felt like God put it on my heart to build him a guitar. More like assemble a guitar for him I guess. He's a HUGE Tele fan so that's what I'm going to build him.

I'm looking for ANY Telecaster parts that you might have and would part with for as little funds as possible. I found a sweet body on Warmoth that I'll probably start with but if you have a body I'd take that too. As of right now I have NOTHING in hand so ANYTHING would be a blessing. I'll be funding this project myself and thought I would offer the opportunity to bless a fellow guitarist to everyone here. Thanx in advanced!

gtrdave · 11-24-2009, 02:18 PM

I may have a vintage style bridge and stock pickups out of an older Fernandes Tele that I'd be willing to offer.
Can you PM me and I'll respond once I've checked my stash at home?

Major Tom · 11-24-2009, 02:44 PM

How about a neck? I have a decent import neck, not accomplishing anything at the moment; maple fretboard with tuners, but it has the rounded heel end, like a strat. I think it has 2 sets of mounting holes that would need to be filled in. The headstock is not tele shape. Aren't some tele bodies routed for the strat standard rounded heel instead of the flat tele standard?

One thing you could also do - find a Peavey Reactor - a nice american made tele clone that can often be had on the cheap. I paid 120 for mine, in almost-new condition. Might be cheaper and less hassle in the long run than buying a body, and then trying to marry non-standard donated parts to it....

**thesteve** · 11-24-2009, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom

How about a neck? I have a decent import neck, not accomplishing anything at the moment; maple fretboard with tuners, but it has the rounded heel end, like a strat. I think it has 2 sets of mounting holes that would need to be filled in. The headstock is not tele shape. Aren't some tele bodies routed for the strat standard rounded heel instead of the flat tele standard?

I think (I could be wrong) that it's easier to mount the rounded heel into the square neck joint than it is to mount the square heel into a rounded neck joint, hence the popularity of Telecasters with Stratocaster necks.

roscoestring · 11-24-2009, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesteve

I think (I could be wrong) that it's easier to mount the rounded heel into the square neck joint than it is to mount the square heel into a rounded neck joint, hence the popularity of Telecasters with Stratocaster necks.

I've done both. I put a Squier Tele neck into a Squier Strat body. I put a Squier Strat neck into an SX Tele body. I had no problems with the fit in either. I did have to make new pickguards to cover the gaps left from the different shape necks in the pockets. However, I didn't like either guitar and soon swapped them back. The tele I actually turned into a bass.

**tenwatt** · 11-25-2009, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom

How about a neck? I have a decent import neck, not accomplishing anything at the moment; maple fretboard with tuners, but it has the rounded heel end, like a strat. I think it has 2 sets of mounting holes that would need to be filled in. The headstock is not tele shape. Aren't some tele bodies routed for the strat standard rounded heel instead of the flat tele standard?

One thing you could also do - find a Peavey Reactor - a nice american made tele clone that can often be had on the cheap. I paid 120 for mine, in almost-new condition. Might be cheaper and less hassle in the long run than buying a body, and then trying to marry non-standard donated parts to it....

I'll probably hold out for a Tele neck. This project is going to be a labor of love so I won't consider any part of it a hassle. Using the Warmoth body should be a good start so that I can drill my own holes for the bridge, pickguard, etc. Thanx for the interest so far. Dave's sending me a bridge and some PuPs. I'll order the body in the next few weeks. I'll try to keep everyone involved updated on the project.

Major Tom · 11-25-2009, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tenwatt

.... This project is going to be a labor of love so I won't consider any part of it a hassle.

I can relate

No problem, I didn't know what kind of budget you were working with. If that neck would significantly improve one of his existing cheapo strats, lemme know. Other than that and a set of import pickups, I don't have anything for it. The pickups from GtrDave - from the older Ferdandes, ought to be pretty good - I'm assuming that it was one of the MIJ's, they had a rep of being as good as a "real" Fender.

If I were building a tele from the ground up, I would definitely make it a Nashville tele, or better yet, a modified Nashville - standard tele bridge pickup, strat pickups in both the middle and neck positions. Just a thought....

**tenwatt** · 11-25-2009, 09:04 PM

We could definitely try it out. Sending a PM now.

gtrdave · 11-25-2009, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Major Tom

I can relate

No problem, I didn't know what kind of budget you were working with. If that neck would significantly improve one of his existing cheapo strats, lemme know. Other than that and a set of import pickups, I don't have anything for it. The pickups from GtrDave - from the older Ferdandes, ought to be pretty good - I'm assuming that it was one of the MIJ's, they had a rep of being as good as a "real" Fender.

If I were building a tele from the ground up, I would definitely make it a Nashville tele, or better yet, a modified Nashville - standard tele bridge pickup, strat pickups in both the middle and neck positions. Just a thought....

Yes, it was an early '90s MIJ Fernandes. Bridge pickup has the copper (?) plate under it.

**tenwatt** · 12-02-2009, 01:51 PM

So...I've been shopping for a good body. My first thought was to buy something from Warmoth and finish it myself but the more I think about it I'm wondering what would be so bad about buying a cheap Squier, or MIM, etc and stripping it down and putting good pots, pickups, neck, tuners, etc on it? Any objections?

**thesteve** · 12-02-2009, 01:58 PM

It really depends on what you want to do. A Squier body, depending on the era, might be total junk. If you're just looking for a mounting surface, they work fine, but when you start thinking about wood quality, you have to be more discerning.

**tenwatt** · 12-05-2009, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtrdave

I may have a vintage style bridge and stock pickups out of an older Fernandes Tele that I'd be willing to offer.
Can you PM me and I'll respond once I've checked my stash at home?

I got my bridge and PuPs in the mail yesterday! Thanx Dave! I'm working on getting a Mighty Mite body now.