OK, the new Partscaster isn't so good after all

As referenced here:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-technical/280467-tone-cap-wtf-pic-included.html

and here:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/287561-birth-announcement-my-new-partscaster-finished.html

Hi!
OK, I've redone the nut and checked the wiring on the Tele and been playing it a while.

Some things I dont like:

1. I guess my ears must be better educated now. I hate the sound it makes. THe bridge pickup is brackish sounding, with an unpleasnt piercing tone and no bass whatsoever. It sounds very lo-fi. No fullness or richness to it. I know it's not a humbucker, but this sounds like a $2 pup through a $1 amp. My amp is a Marshall, and it does great with My Les Paul.

2. Neck pickup is muddy and dull. No top end whatsoever. Like the tone control is rolled off completely.

3. Stiff playability. I know Fenders are stiffer than Gibbies, but this seems odd.

4. Low-E is muted sounding, and,

5. High-E buzzes like a sitar.

OK, so I am using old strings that have been put on and taken off many times during the setup. And I know these cheap kits must come with cheap pickups. But is it really THAT bad? Unplugged it vibrates and sounds like it has good resonance and tone. Plugged in it sounds like somebody got sick and pooped out a guitar. :mad:

Please help me troubleshoot this and recommend some good, beefy pups. I play country, rock, hard blues (ala SRV), and precious little metal.

Thanks!
-Johntodd

Borrow a nice tele and play that through your rig.

If it is way better, it is the partscaster.

If it improves only a little, your playing style and/or your rig is not suited for the design.

Even a politician would know that. :^

I'll try that.

Anybody else?

why don't you try a friends telecaster or go to a shop and try a few through an amp similar to yours, and see if it's teles in general you don't like, or just your one.

oh he posted that already, what cap did you use in the end?

THe one that came with the kit. It is of unknown quality(ies).

Those could all be setup issues. The sitar sound could be an improperly cut nut slot.
Have you played around with the height of the pickups? That can really make quite a difference.

ive done a couple of those kits. a strat and a tele, and both have crazy buzzes. i got a new bridge for the tele coming and am going to dig holes in the body so its string through. the hardware is just kmart! ... on the 100 to 200 dollar ones at least.

i had gotten them to have a couple local artists custom paint them and to lay my new headstock design on the world :lol:

you'll knock it into shape, just keep messin with it... talk to it

It sounds to me that either the Tele you're playing isn't equipt or setup very well or that you simply don't like Tele's at all compared to your LP.

There's gonna be a huge difference in the tonality of a single coil vs a humbucker in the bridge position. Not just a little but a lot with even the best after market upgrade pickup you could install. Would you compare a truck with a car and expect them to perform equally?

There any number of things you can do to change the tonality of the neck pickup the first of which is to assure that it's wired using the modern wiring scheme. The original wiring scheme for the Tele neck made it intentionally more bassy so players could play bass lines on that guitar to accompany their picking. If that's not the problem you can easily upgrade that pickup. Nocaster and Keystone necks pickups are notoriously crystalline clear.

Why is it odd that the Fender action feels stiffer? It's a longer scale length than a LP so it's gonna feel that way. Longer scale length = greater string tension. That's just the basic physics of those two guitars.

The rest of the issues you describe are string and setup issues. Like the rest have said. Go play some really nice well setup Tele's then come back with your questions.

Good hunting.

+1 to trying a good Tele through your rig to compare. It could be a problem with cheap parts in the kit, or you need it set up by a pro (the sitar-like high E is a giveaway there). Or it turns out you're not a Tele guy. It happens.

Partscasters do need time to settle in. A buddy built a Tele for me a year ago from top-shelf parts (Warmoth neck, Callaham bridge, BG pickups) and, for the first six months, it was very dark. I had to keep it on the bridge pickup and dime the tone and volume to get a sound I liked. However, as the guitar aged and settled in, the highs started coming in and it sounds like a Tele now. A rock n' roll Tele rather than a country Tele but it sounds like it should.

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb349/stratburst70/IMG_0389.jpg

I gotta be honest with you, I think you have ended up with the norm for a guitar kit. They include the lowest quality of everything, so how can they sound good. It is my opinion that they are a good basis for learning to assemble and tweak a guitar, so that when you eventually build one with quality parts, you will have a better than even chance to end up with a nice partscaster. Please dont take this as a slam, I'm just being honest with you. Good luck on your future builds.

As others stated it might be hard to get it really good. The neck PU sounds muddy: take the cover off it. You don't like it now so what to loose? It could sound brigther but also be more sensitive to humm. Try it it is reversible. The bridge PU , try to lower it almost flat to the bridge plate. The further away from the strings the less trebele usually. The full low E: is the angle over the saddle and nut shallow? If so that might cause that. The sitar sound could be the nut but check the screws on the saddles. They might rattle. The string might also create a redonance with the saddle springs. I would not say a Fender style guitar always is stiffer than a Gibson LP or the like. I got stiff LPs and soft Fenders and vice versa. It depends on many things if it feel stiff. Good luck with your project.

And change the strings, used ones being off and in the guitar might be a problem as well.

And change the strings, used ones being off and in the guitar might be a problem as well.

+1

And change the strings, used ones being off and in the guitar might be a problem as well.

Always the first thing to try. Nothing else you do will matter much if the strings are shot. Pickups sound bad? How do you know if you haven't given them a chance with decent strings? Buzzing? Intonation problems? What have you? All could disappear with the old strings. Sounds like you have more going on here, but you won't know for sure until you put on a fresh set of nickel wounds.

BTW, what gauge are you using? Maybe try going down a size if they're feeling stiff.

May I ask what pickups you are using? . Also have you any tiny fluffs of cloth wrapped round a string? .Its almost certainly a nut slot problem but a tiny amount of cotton wool or cloth can deaden a string or and also make it go all Ravi .Partscasters depend on what parts are used.I am building a really cheap strat but I am buying decent but lower priced quality components ,mainly Wilkingson fittings and i have worked on the EY store neck,rolling the edges, though its quality was great for 30 quid.I used a GFS P wood body nitroed over and the whole thing rings out like an acoustic .Now waiting for Rose Mariposas to thud onto the door mat.Its cost me less than 200 quid and thats with a Fender 5 way super switch and a push pull pot .The point is that you have to pick out componants .Cheap Chinese tele pickups are fuggin awful .I'm not talking about Toneriders,Rose,etc or such but the real cheapie 2 quid a pair touch with a magnet stuck on the bottom . Keep sorting it and a few upgrades may well sort it out and you learn on the way

What everyone else said.

Let me also add that 'neck pickup is muddy and dull' is pretty much applicable to most every stock tele neck pickup. So there might not be any 'problem' there.

Beyond that, a tele is a good platform for figuring out how to setup and tweak a guitar's tone. As others have noted, you might find you just don't like the classic sound of a telecaster, but there are plenty of solutions (eg put a single coil sized humbucker in the bridge.)

Also, if you are plugging the guitar straight into an amp adjusted to sound good with humbuckers then it is not unsurprising to find the tone anemic. Turn up the gain on the amp, and if it sounds too trebly then roll off the guitar's tone knob (not the amps!) a bit. That's the way to fatten up the tone from a bridge single coil.

Oh, guys, I DO love the sound of a Tele. I play pro in a country band (with a Les Paul through a Marshall!), so I know the sounds of a good Tele. Brad Paisley back to Buck Owens, et al. And Keef, of course!

I know my LP will be totally different from the Tele, but I bought a Tele kit because I wanted to go Tele with it.

As for pups, they and everything else on this guitar is stock from the kit. So IDK what they are, but they seem to be 'fuggin awful'.

BTW, I went LP because of a wine-red LP Roy Clark played on Hee-Haw. :)

I gained up on the amp and just got more puke from it. I've tinkered with the amp all around; this I knew form experience: new guitar isn't old guitar.

Should I experiment with the electronics? Are we to that point yet? What about wiring 1 pup straight to the jack and seeing what it sounds like?

Yep wire to output might be a good idea, but first change the strings ;-) if they sound bad, put Tone Riders in it. Lots if bang for the buck. Or search the e-bay for some used Fender PUs. Might as well change the pots and switch while your at it. Welcome to mod heaven but beware, once you start it is hard to stop. As for stiffness, yes try some light gauge strings. I use 9s or 10 sets on fender styles nowadays but have been using 13s which is stiff. Get rid of that cover on the neck PU and wire it straight to output and listen for changes. Since you don't like the PUs go wild on them. Ad resistors and or caps to the bridge PU or just Esquire it and do an Eldred mod on it :-) good luck.

One last thing before you move on to new pickups - have you tried adjusting the height of the pickups? Furhter away gives a cleaner, more trebly tone, whole closer to the strings gives a thicker, meatier tone. But too close and the strong magnetic pull from the pole pieces can ruins sustain, or cause unnatural overtones and intonation issues (wolf tones.)

If that doesn't work it sounds like your next step is to try some better/different pickups. If there are tele's that you've played and liked find out what pickups were in them and let that be your purchasing guide.