SX Furrian Tele Setup - Plays much better

My 3 main guitars all need work, so I took a chance on a Rondo to have an inexpensive backup (while the others are on the bench).

After weeks of fooling around with my Furrian Tele and never getting it to really feel right I went by my local shop and got the tech to take a look at it. The neck on the Furrian was nice and straight but the angle was off, he shimmed it and it really plays well now - so my $119 investment is up to $169 now (about the price of an Affinity Tele).

Tone: I had some parts laying around and upgraded the Furrian with SD's Antiquity II's and locking tuners. The sound is still pretty thin and ringy. Not sure if it could be the dime pots, cap, and cheaper import switch or the materials in the guitar itself. I have a Mojotone 4 way switch kit for my P-caster that I may try in here to see if it makes a difference.

It's the Swampash contour model (SB) with a bound maple neck and jumbo frets. Like I said ti plays pretty well just doesn't sound that good through an amp.

I figure this is good test to how much base construction and parts affect tone.. :roll:

Open for any hints on the sound...

FYI: He gave me some good info as well, one of the ways that the imports like Rondo save money is that all the of the parts are cut by automation (C&C machine) the necks are fretted all at once. Basically frets are placed and the neck is set in a jig and one press and they are all done, so one mystery solved. He also said that the wood is usually quickly aged in kilns to keep production moving.

change out the pots to 250k to get rid of the thinness of the tone. That's probably it bud. Nice to hear folks can get the cheaper guitars to work

Thanks TQ,

I need to build the new control plate for my P-caster anyway (with the Mojotone kit). It will be a while before I get a chance to shape the new paddle neck for it. The SD Pup's also go to the P-caster. If it sounds good I may order a set of Reilander Pup's for the Furrian.

I hope it works out it's a pretty Tele, and perfect to leave at the boat...

Actually got to put some play time on the Rondo this weekend. As the strings are breaking in the sound quality is getting better. I'm still going to build the 4-way control with CTS pots - but even as is it is more than useable.

Very pleasantly surprised... it's never going to be a collectors item but for a good knockaround or an inexpensive test platform it's hard to beat. :idea:

FYI: With the decent setup the jumbo frets play nicely...

You might try a TUSQ nut with some stainless steel saddles. I have the Power Blue SX with a P90 neck PU that's quicky becoming my #1.

You might try a TUSQ nut with some stainless steel saddles. I have the Power Blue SX with a P90 neck PU that's quicky becoming my #1.

Greetings,

I've the same powder blue one, and it sounds like it has similar issues to yours. Any advice on improvements is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

cv2_r

I have owned 3 or 4 SX guitars and have been happy with all of them although I don't have any of them anymore....I hate the new headstock shape, Main Street Guitars is my SX replacement, I like the headstock shape and they are fine instruments made by Kona.

I'm about to give up on mine... I robbed a few more parts off of my benched parts caster (4-way mojotone switchplate assy). Still has that "ringy" tone and seems to go out of tune easily even with locking tuners. Not sure if it's the jumbo frets or what, but very frustrating (I'm kind of heavy handed).

My 77' Strat sounds like 10 million bucks compared to the Rondo, and it's got worn out frets and GFS Texas Pup's on it that I don't really care for. In one sense it's got me going and I'd like to find out what the issue is - I may add a bone nut to it, I need to practice in cutting nuts anyway. Someone suggested that the bridgeplate materials can affect the tone, also using springs instead of rubber tubing on the Pup's (which I did). I really don't want to put any more money into it...

Unfortunately the Furrian was the 1st guitar I tried these SD Antiquity II's in - I got them used in a trade. You would think they would have a good Tele tone.

I had high hopes for this to work out, but I like a good sounding and playing guitar and this isn't there. I was hesitant to agree with the "you get what you pay for" group - but at this point I could have bought a nice used Squier for $250 and been done with it.

Changing your nut may help your tuning issues. Take a pencil, and rub some of the lead (graphite) into your current nut slots. This will help the strings move more freely and prevent binding. If your guitar stays in tune after doing this, then the nut was your culprit. Also, if you have a death grip with jumbo frets... to much pressure on the string can make it sound out of tune.

If you have locking tuners and it's going out of tune it's probably the nut. A new nut should make it ring nicely. The stock bridge pu on mine is really nice sounding. If you scoop your midtones, add a bit of slap back delay, bit of compression and reverb, you should get some nice tone out of it.

sx teles are great instruments.....with proper setup. if that is good, the nut is cut right, and the pots are replaced with 250k's (get rid of the muddy neck pickup too) then you have a great cheap axe.

sx teles are great instruments.....with proper setup. if that is good, the nut is cut right, and the pots are replaced with 250k's (get rid of the muddy neck pickup too) then you have a great cheap axe.

I agree. I like my SX much better than the Classic Vibe I had. Ugly headstock, however.

With my SX Furrian Ash, the first thing I did out of the box was to change strings, load the nut with graphite (pencil led) and do a set-up. It played well and held tune, but sounded thin with the stock pots, switch and jack. I did a re-wire with the Gutar Electronic's Tele Super Kit (http://www.**********************/product/PK2/Tele-Guitar-Super-Kit-w-CTS-Precision-Tolerance-Pots.html) (using the .022µF cap), the V-Treb and 20GA wire. The sound was so much deeper/warmer, the neck pup is still a little muddy, but bearable. I just installed a TUSQ XL nut last week, it still holds tune decent, but the tone is a little more crisp.

I still find the frets to be a bit too tall. As soon as I get the contour files, I'll do a fret level on it and lower the fret height. I still want to replace the tuners with a set of Grover 18:1 Rotomatics, even though the stock tuners I have on there now work okay. I like the higher gear ratio of the Grover's. I'm looking into the GFS stainless steel saddles and I'm still up in the air on what budget pup I'm going to use. For the price, this is really a decent guitar. I know it helps price wise, to do your own work, but even having this work done, the price is still reasonable and you come out with an inexpensive player.

Level & crowned mine, widened/graphited nut slots, shimmed the headstock end.

Really good.

Obviously need pup change and 250k pots, I know the diff, audience would not-- so what the heck!!

/

oh yea, the headstocks arent the best, but honestly they dont bother me too much. i added a 4 way switch, new neck pickup, and gave it a set up, other than that it is mostly stock. the bridge pickup might be changed in the future, but the 250k pots need to be in there >.<

oh and i made a pickguard from a record, looks great!

I could care less about the headstock, just looking for a good "Tele" sound - when I get some time I'll probably try a couple of the recommedations.

1) Change the nut, probably add some graphite first to see if it makes any difference.

2) I checked the neck when I first got it and it was pretty straight, but if I have the strings off doing a fret level may not be a bad idea to lower the fret height a little. (Mike - 20+ years as a mechanic isn't exactly a death grip but does make sense :roll:)

Appreciate the comments - it may be a while before I get around to it but I'll do updates as thiongs progress. Worst case I'll learn something.

The headstock shape is perfectly shaped so you can spend two minutes with a drum sander and have the classic fender tele shape.
With the proper precautions like removing the neck, masking the face and back of the headstock, make a tele peghead pattern and tape that to the face.
Carefully reshape the headstock to match the pattern.
Sand the edge if the headstock with 220 then 320 then 400 , then seal it and begin applying the finish.
After the topcoat is completely dry sand again with 400 and a little water, then polish by hand.
Ugly headstock design, gone

The headstock shape is perfectly shaped so you can spend two minutes with a drum sander and have the classic fender tele shape.
With the proper precautions like removing the neck, masking the face and back of the headstock, make a tele peghead pattern and tape that to the face.
Carefully reshape the headstock to match the pattern.
Sand the edge if the headstock with 220 then 320 then 400 , then seal it and begin applying the finish.
After the topcoat is completely dry sand again with 400 and a little water, then polish by hand.
Ugly headstock design, gone

You sure about this on the new Furian headstocks? I laid a template up to it and it looked like wood was missing in all the wrong places.

Southpaw Tele did a reshape with photos, Yet Another SX Headstock Reshape (Furrian photo content!) (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/277875-yet-another-sx-headstock-reshape-furrian-photo-content.html). You can see the difference as he works the two designs together.

I never did post pics of the final job. I'll snap some and add it to the thread this week. ;-)

Hmm. The tuning problem could be the nut. Does it go sharp as you play lower on the neck? If so, the slots aren't cut deep enough.

Another thing to do is loosen the neck screws a half turn and let the string tension pull the neck heel into contact with the rear of the neck pocket. Retighten the screws and retune. This simple setup trick improves tone immensely.