My First Tele and Partscaster!

Well.. I think I was posting in the wrong forum.. I was posting in the general discussion forums but wasn't having much luck.

I am new to this game so please bear with me.

Well This will be my first Tele.. I have spent the last month playing Teles in different shops. Listening to the different pickups and reading these forums till the wee hours of the night.

I am kinda a geek and gadget freak so I like some of the techy electronics stuff and am probly over complicating things but I think I have come up with a plan.

I am planning to buy a 2010 Fender Telecaster standard. I really like the lake placid Blue.. but with all the upgrades I want to do I am wondering if it would be cheaper or better to buy a body and neck and just build it.


The plan was to get this tele
http://www.fender.com/themes/products/images/prod_images/guitars/0145102302_md.jpg

and upgrade to Fender Chrome locking tuners and this bridge

http://hipshotproducts.com/img/mids/ss_tele_bridge2.jpg

http://images.miretail.com/products/optionLarge/Hipshot/687994.jpg


I guess I am just looking for advice.. I would rather learn from somebody elses mistakes at this point.

Is it better to just get the new tele or build it?
Is that a good bridge or is there one like it but better / cheaper?
Has anyone wired their tele like that? Do you like it?

Here is the List of the electronics I am planning to Install on whatever I get

Pickups: Fender Texas Specials

Pots: 1 x Fender S-1(For Phasing) and 1x Fender TBX Tone Control.

Switch: Fender 4-way.

The Switch setup would be as follows:

S-1 Switch Up:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups (In Parallel)
Position 3. Neck Pickup (Standard Tele)
Position 4. Neck and Bridge Pickups (In Series) (Fatter Tone Than Position 2. and More Output Than Position 1., 2., or 3.)
S-1 Switch Down:
Position 1. Bridge Pickup
Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups (In Parallel)-Out of Phase
Position 3. Neck Pickup (Standard Tele)
Position 4. Neck and Bridge Pickups (In Series) Out of Phase


Anyways thanks in advance for your advice.

Don't do the out-a-phase thing. Those sounds are outdated since the 80s and just disappointing. The rest sounds like a lot of fun to me.

I am planning to buy a 2010 Fender Telecaster standard. I really like the lake placid Blue.. but with all the upgrades I want to do I am wondering if it would be cheaper or better to buy a body and neck and just build it.

Are you planning to buy all new Fender parts, including a finished body
and neck? I'm not sure, but I don't think you could buy all the parts
new from Fender, and even if you could this route would surely be more
expensive than buying the guitar and upgrading.

You might be able to get all the Fender parts you need in "like new"
condition from eBay. Some sellers there sell parts they strip from
new guitars. But it might be hard to get a Lake Placid Blue body
this way. And the price of the parts would probably again be
more than the price of the guitar.

Another option would be to build a guitar from parts that aren't
necessarily from Fender. This is trickier, because it's not always
easy to see if parts are going to fit together properly.

Also, if you went this route, would you think of buying an unfinished
body and painting it yourself? This can be a pretty big job, especially
if you want a quality paint job and haven't done it before.

In short, if you simply want a Lake Placid Blue standard strat with
a couple of upgrades, it is almost certainly easiest/cheapest to buy
one and perform the upgrades you want. Don't forget that you
can sell the parts you remove.

You could also attempt to buy a used Lake Placid Blue strat on eBay
or elsewhere to use as your starting point.

Now if you want to know the option that's the most fun...

In all honesty, you would end up with a better guitar buying a new Fender and Modding it. Not that you can't build a new one with all the same features. The cost of parts, tools, learning curves are such that building a guitar is a hobby, not a cheap way to acquire a guitar.

Nothing against Hipshot, but have you considered GLendale and Callaham bridges. I just pain don't like the look of those l bracket shaped bridges and relief cut saddles. I like the Glendale version and saddles much more.
http://www.glendaleguitars.com/americanstandard.htm
http://www.glendaleguitars.com/saddles.htm

I would do it to a Squier instead and save some bucks there. I don't think you can do it much cheaper by buying neck and body etc. part by part.

Nothing against Hipshot, but have you considered GLendale and Callaham bridges. I just pain don't like the look of those l bracket shaped bridges and relief cut saddles. I like the Glendale version and saddles much more.
http://www.glendaleguitars.com/americanstandard.htm
http://www.glendaleguitars.com/saddles.htm

The probelm is that those are 3 hole mounted bridges and I like hte flat plate rather then the ashtray design.

The Mim's have a 4 hole mount and I would rather not have to fill and redrill.

Does anyone else make a flat plate 3 saddle brass bridge?

This one is nice to.. and only $43. I guess the guy takes the Genuine Fender 50's style bridge, double cuts, and polishes them himself.

http://acimg.auctivacommerce.com/imgdata/0/1/3/8/2/3/webimg/1311284.jpg

http://thebridge-works.com/Fender-Telecaster-Bridge-Plate-with-Double-Long-Notches--P558692.aspx

Then Get these off ebay

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x78/2hip2b4real/DSC_0068.jpg

Then the total price is $65 vs $109 for the hipshot

I would stick to the hipshot if you don't like ashtray bridges.

But glendale makes both 3 and four hole mount. I thought you said American Standard, but maybe you just said Standard.

I would stick to the hipshot if you don't like ashtray bridges.

But glendale makes both 3 and four hole mount. I thought you said American Standard, but maybe you just said Standard.

Yeah i realize that now.. But the 4 hole Glendale is $125

I don't know what the difference between that and this one from thebridge-works is.

Are the Fender plates that he uses junk?

There is nothing wrong with a Fender bridge.

Here is the difference.

Fender bridges are massed produced using inexpensive pot metal, and are manufactured by stamping. This means that metal is going to be less dense and probably slightly crooked.

Glendale bridges are produced in small quantities using some of the best materials available, and are machined to tight tolerances. The metal is going to be denser, the bottom of the plate will be flat, allowing more surface area to contact the body therefore transfering more vibration from the saddles to the body. Some of the glendale bridges are non magnetic and noise cancelling as well. So Its a higher end product. I wouldn't pay 43$ for a fender bridge. MF friend use to sell an Fender ashtray bridge for 12$, you could cut the edges off yourself.

I found this that was donated for that one telecaster build and I fell in love with it.

http://app4.websitetonight.com/projects2/0/3/8/9/1609830/_mygallery/RuttersBridge2.jpg

It is a little out of my price range but I think I am going to have to save up for it..

I know Marc Rutters is part of the community so that makes it even better.

looks amazing.