Tele Special overhaul; hot pups, new everything, and a Bigsby

Verne Bunsen · January 16th, 2009, 05:42 PM

Hi guys! Just wanted to share this girl with the group, I think she turned out real nice! It was my first attempt at modding a guitar and well, everything works so I guess I did alright! Anyway, the vitals:

Bridge pickup: Seymour Duncan Hot Rails for Tele
Neck pickup: Seymour Duncan Full Shred
Original "F-Logo" B5 custom mounted on ZZ GuitarWorks EZ-mount plate (Thanks to Fred at ZZ for the custom mounting job!)
Bridge assembly is part of the ZZ kit
GraphTech saddles
2 X 500k push/pull pots
Volume push/pull coil-cuts neck (Full Humbucker/Single Coil), Tone coil-cuts bridge
3-way selector switch
Full thickness black HB-cut pickguard from Warmoth
Black control plate and knobs from Guitar Fetish

The pickups sound great together, much more balanced than the factory setup. And quite damn hot to boot! The bridge in full HB plus the neck in single coil on clean channel delivers a real smooth sound, very bright and full tone. Also sounds great with a mild overdrive. Both pickups in full HB on dirty channel provides a respectable "wall o' sound", pretty potent but still surprisingly crisp, not as muddy as I'd expected. Deteriorates a bit on heavy chugga-chugga stuff though, neck only stays a bit more distinct with that. The bridge alone in full HB delivers absolutely blistering lead. That Hot Rails is one badass little pickup! Yes, I am prepared for the onslaught of hate mail for using a humbucking pickup in the bridge.

The ZZ GuitarWorks Bigsby system out-performed my most optimistic expectations. It mounts just as easy as you please and, once you get your intonation and action and such squared away, you get big full bodied tone and better tuning stability than you'd expect. And, of course, you get that Neil Young warble. All without even taking the drill out of the drawer! If you're looking to Bigsbify your Tele, the ZZ system is the way to go. Those guys have it figured out.

Sorry, the pictures aren't the greatest, but hey, I'm a guitar picker not a photographer. Please feel free to post if you've got comments or questions!

PS - anyone know where I can find some black selector switch mounting screws? That's a rare beast there.

madmark · January 17th, 2009, 06:36 PM

Nice job... She looks great....

mkern · January 19th, 2009, 02:08 PM

Nice work. I'm about to embark on a similar project myself. I'm calling it the Black-Out guitar.

Verne Bunsen · January 19th, 2009, 03:58 PM

Total black-out was my initial plan too, then I got the Bigsby itch

Guitar Fetish was a good source of nice black hardware, the stuff I got from them is not chinsy at all. Nice and thick and the black ain't from a can of Krylon. They've got vintage and modern style bridges in black as well. Post her when your done, I'd love to check it out! And if you find a source for black pickup selector switch mounting screws please post where you got them, I can't find them anywhere!!

mkern · January 19th, 2009, 04:26 PM

Yeah I ordered my gear from GuitarFetish over the weekend. I was thinking about those screws. I have in my stockpile enough black screws for the pickguard and control plate and thought i might dab the pickup selector screws with my blakc paint-pen. I decided to go with a mini-humbucker and while it isn't black, I think it with work with the black/chrome headstock on my guitar. Stay tuned, it could be a couple of weeks wait as I had to order the pickguard elsewhere becuase Jay was out of stock.

Tim73 · January 19th, 2009, 07:46 PM

Looks great... Is that a 90s Tele Special? I've just modded mine with SDs too (& Glendale)

Verne Bunsen · January 19th, 2009, 10:14 PM

Thanks! Big roger on that, a '96 Special. Who did your pickguard? It's exceptional!

January 16th, 2009, 05:42 PM	#1 (permalink)
Verne Bunsen Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Anchorage, AK Age: 29 Posts: 287	Tele Special overhaul; hot pups, new everything, and a Bigsby Hi guys! Just wanted to share this girl with the group, I think she turned out real nice! It was my first attempt at modding a guitar and well, everything works so I guess I did alright! Anyway, the vitals: Bridge pickup: Seymour Duncan Hot Rails for Tele Neck pickup: Seymour Duncan Full Shred Original "F-Logo" B5 custom mounted on ZZ GuitarWorks EZ-mount plate (Thanks to Fred at ZZ for the custom mounting job!) Bridge assembly is part of the ZZ kit GraphTech saddles 2 X 500k push/pull pots Volume push/pull coil-cuts neck (Full Humbucker/Single Coil), Tone coil-cuts bridge 3-way selector switch Full thickness black HB-cut pickguard from Warmoth Black control plate and knobs from Guitar Fetish The pickups sound great together, much more balanced than the factory setup. And quite damn hot to boot! The bridge in full HB plus the neck in single coil on clean channel delivers a real smooth sound, very bright and full tone. Also sounds great with a mild overdrive. Both pickups in full HB on dirty channel provides a respectable "wall o' sound", pretty potent but still surprisingly crisp, not as muddy as I'd expected. Deteriorates a bit on heavy chugga-chugga stuff though, neck only stays a bit more distinct with that. The bridge alone in full HB delivers absolutely blistering lead. That Hot Rails is one badass little pickup! Yes, I am prepared for the onslaught of hate mail for using a humbucking pickup in the bridge. The ZZ GuitarWorks Bigsby system out-performed my most optimistic expectations. It mounts just as easy as you please and, once you get your intonation and action and such squared away, you get big full bodied tone and better tuning stability than you'd expect. And, of course, you get that Neil Young warble. All without even taking the drill out of the drawer! If you're looking to Bigsbify your Tele, the ZZ system is the way to go. Those guys have it figured out. Sorry, the pictures aren't the greatest, but hey, I'm a guitar picker not a photographer. Please feel free to post if you've got comments or questions! PS - anyone know where I can find some black selector switch mounting screws? That's a rare beast there. Last edited by Verne Bunsen; January 17th, 2009 at 01:57 AM.

January 19th, 2009, 07:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
Tim73 Friend of Leo's Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Berkshire, England Age: 36 Posts: 2,386 19 Photos	Looks great... Is that a 90s Tele Special? I've just modded mine with SDs too (& Glendale) __________________ Born in the '70's & in my mind, still living there now...

January 17th, 2009, 06:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
madmark Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: New York Age: 40 Posts: 899	Nice job... She looks great....

January 19th, 2009, 02:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
mkern Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Toronto Age: 38 Posts: 239	Nice work. I'm about to embark on a similar project myself. I'm calling it the Black-Out guitar.

January 19th, 2009, 03:58 PM	#4 (permalink)
Verne Bunsen Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Anchorage, AK Age: 29 Posts: 287	Total black-out was my initial plan too, then I got the Bigsby itch Guitar Fetish was a good source of nice black hardware, the stuff I got from them is not chinsy at all. Nice and thick and the black ain't from a can of Krylon. They've got vintage and modern style bridges in black as well. Post her when your done, I'd love to check it out! And if you find a source for black pickup selector switch mounting screws please post where you got them, I can't find them anywhere!!

January 19th, 2009, 04:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
mkern Tele-Meister Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Toronto Age: 38 Posts: 239	Yeah I ordered my gear from GuitarFetish over the weekend. I was thinking about those screws. I have in my stockpile enough black screws for the pickguard and control plate and thought i might dab the pickup selector screws with my blakc paint-pen. I decided to go with a mini-humbucker and while it isn't black, I think it with work with the black/chrome headstock on my guitar. Stay tuned, it could be a couple of weeks wait as I had to order the pickguard elsewhere becuase Jay was out of stock.

January 19th, 2009, 10:14 PM	#7 (permalink)
Verne Bunsen Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Anchorage, AK Age: 29 Posts: 287	Thanks! Big roger on that, a '96 Special. Who did your pickguard? It's exceptional!

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