GuitarFetish parts???

[Brodyyy]

Heya everyone.
So I've been in itching on building my own tele for some time now, and I finally decided to get around to designing one. Now all I need to do is build it. I found the site Guitarfetish.com awhile back for pickguards, but I've never bought anything else from them. I'm curious about...


1. GFS Pickups (the "Neovin" noiseless Tele ones and the Retrotron pickups)
How do these sound? Are they good for live playing?

2. Bodies
I'm not planning on using any of their pine bodies, how about their solid ash and mahogany bodies? Do they fit American Standard necks?

3. Hardware
Are their bridges, electronics, etc. good?


If anyone's bought any of these, let me know what you think of them!

[Guitarmadcat]

So where's 'Mr. Please', on tour?

[bossaholic]

Originally Posted by Guitarmadcat

So where's 'Mr. Please', on tour?

What the heck is that suppose to mean?

Brodyy,

For the most part GFS parts are pretty good. Just have to be careful what you order as it might not fit everything.

For instance, I love their pickguards. They fit like a glove but had terrible experiences with their Tele fat body bridge pick-ups because the screw holes on the bridge plate didn't line up with ANY of my bridges and I own several different brands.

I also ordered a tele control plate, but they don't mention it's drilled for asian pots (smaller). Quick fix, but not worth the hassle to reream.

I don't have any experience with their bodies. I've heard good and bad experiences with them.

Good luck!

[Fatherflot]

Funny you should ask. I just spent a whole day trying to make a GFS paulownia body ready for assembly with my other tele parts.

First, the pickup wire channels were not drilled, so I had to buy a 12 inch aircraft drill ( $14) and do it myself. I was really nervous about this, but I went ahead and took the plunge and I managed to do it without wrecking the finish. I think it was particularly easy because the wood is so soft.

Next, the neck holes were way off and I was not about to screw up an expensive Warmoth neck, so I found and cut poplar dowels and glued them in the holes in the body. So far so good, but the scary part is re-drilling out the correct holes without a drill press or a lot of fancy equipment. I took my neck, put toothpick stubs in the existing screw holes and then coated the tops with crayon. Then I pressed it into the neck pocket so I have marks for drilling out the new holes. Wish I knew someone with a drill press, but I don't, so I'll just have to do it very carefully freehand. If this doesn't work I'm not sure if I'll abandon the body or attempt to plug and redrill again. I don't think this is the kind of thing you can keep doing.

I also had to do a lot of routing of the pickup cavity to get it to accept my control plate with 5 way super switch.

All this mucking about resulted in an ugly chipped corner right on the front (of course), but I'm pushing on. It's a featherweight $50 body, so I guess this is all part of the game.

I've got a Neovin vintage neck pickup, but can't report on it until everything's wired up. I have Retrons (Liverpool bridge, memphis neck) on my Ibanez AFS75-TD and I love them. They ship very quickly, so that's one for the plus side as well.

So I'd say you should assume that body parts may require a little to a LOT of extra work and expense to prep properly.

[TimTam]

Originally Posted by Fatherflot

Next, the neck holes were way off and I was not about to screw up an expensive Warmoth neck, so I found and cut poplar dowels and glued them in the holes in the body. So far so good, but the scary part is re-drilling out the correct holes without a drill press or a lot of fancy equipment. I took my neck, put toothpick stubs in the existing screw holes and then coated the tops with crayon. Then I pressed it into the neck pocket so I have marks for drilling out the new holes. Wish I knew someone with a drill press, but I don't, so I'll just have to do it very carefully freehand.

Yep, existing neck holes into new body holes is a nerve wracking job, even with a drill press. I think I'd plug the neck holes. I've done this recently with Araldite. I then mounted the neck on the body and lined it up with the bridge properly. Then I came through the existing body holes with a spike to start the new neck holes. Once they were started I then inserted the screws and let them tap their new holes.

[KenH]

I have the Pure Vintage Neovins in my Strat along with the 3-band equalizer/pre-amp. Very impressed with the sound, lack of noise and quality of the circuitry. I also have the Hot Wound Nashvilles in my Ibanez Musician. Nice warm sound with just a touch of Gretsch twang. I've also bought various electrical components. The 3-way PU switch is very nicely built and the pots are alpha. All-in-all I have been pretty pleased with GFS products, price and quick delivery.

[cj11l]

I have had good luck with most of their parts. I did have some control knobs I had to drill out slightly to fit shafts. Actually had to do that on 2 sets. Unlike Bossaholic though, my fatbody pickup fit couple different plates I used. YMMV

[Jeff_K]

Funny you should ask because I have both. I have the Hard Vintage Neovins in a Squier Standard and a Retrotron (neck) in an Affinity BSB and a Retrotron (bridge) in a La Cab clone. The Neovins are indeed noiseless and sound very good, but you have to get them ridiculously close to the strings to work well. They also lose (for me anyway) a little bit of the twang--well, particularly the bridge, of course. But still twangy enough and worth that very small drop in twang for the lack of hum. They sound like a Tele and are very quiet--even with dirt pedals. The neck Neovin has kind of a Strat position 2 sound to me. The Retrotrons are very full sounding HB sound, not at all Tele-like but very creamy. Have to say I prefer the Retrotrons to the Neovins. I like the SOUND of the Squier Standard pups over the Neovins, too, but they hum whereas the Neovins are totally quiet. So at home I like the Standards (in a GFS paulownia body with GFS white pearloid p/g--very nice guitar) because I don't care about the hum, but with the band I use the Neovins as the backup but the La Cab with Retrotron as #1. If you're looking for the noiseless aspect of the Neovins, I'd say it's worth the small trade-off of the less twang. If you really want to rock, the Retrotrons are much fuller...but you'd expect that with a HB, right? I have been very happy with the GFS products I have used.

[Brodyyy]

Originally Posted by Guitarmadcat

So where's 'Mr. Please', on tour?

Mr. Please? I used to dance under that name!

Thanks to Fatherflot for the body information. Bossaholic, KenH and Jeff_K on the pickup info!

*Mr. Please strikes again*

I'm thinking about avoiding their bodies altogether, but I'm on a $500 dollar budget and I don't have many other options for a low-cost body. Does anyone have suggestions?

[TRogers2281]

ok ive heard stuff that the parts dont fit or whatever, if you build an entire guitar out of GFS parts, will it all fit?

[bossaholic]

Originally Posted by Brodyyy

I'm thinking about avoiding their bodies altogether, but I'm on a $500 dollar budget and I don't have many other options for a low-cost body. Does anyone have suggestions?

Your body and neck will be your most important components so don't skimp. You don't want to buy a cheap body and neck, only to have to retool everything to make them fit each other. In the end, you'll either end up throwing both in the trash and starting over, or spending more money fixing their flaws. Just spend the cash up front for a good body and neck from reputable builders.

I just won a very nice Musikraft body on Ebay (from MK themselves) for under a hundred bucks. They make some of the best bodies and necks on the market. You can also check Red Dirt (Wood Tone) and Newmetalworkshop on Ebay.

[Brodyyy]

Originally Posted by bossaholic

Your body and neck will be your most important components so don't skimp. You don't want to buy a cheap body and neck, only to have to retool everything to make them fit each other. In the end, you'll either end up throwing both in the trash and starting over, or spending more money fixing their flaws. Just spend the cash up front for a good body and neck from reputable builders.

The body and neck are very important, and I'm buying an Am. Std. neck, which is why I'm mostly concerned about the body now. I'll be sure to check Musikraft and Red Dirt though!

[Colt W. Knight]

Ive heard the neo pups, and wasn't impressed. But that was just one guitar. I have used the Retrotron Hot Nasville bridge pups, and they are my favorite GFS pup to date. Sounds great, looks great, and was very easy to install. I also like the GFS little punchers. They are the best budget tele pickups in my opinion.

When buying GFS Hardware, I really like the Wilkinson ashtray bridge, tele humbucker bridge, and all of their tuners I have tried have been good. Control plates are nice, knobs are nice, neck plate is a little flimsy, but still looks nice, just be careful tightening it. I am not crazy about their switches. Their input jack plates can be sketchy, and the jack itself is metric, so they don't screw into a lot of higher end jack plates.

When it comes to potentiometers, GFS is as good as anyone elses. There are different types of pots, and I think CTS are the best, and the rest are all equal in my opinion.

[Parma_TeleMon]

Installed a set of Neovins in a buddy's strat last summer - pretty impressed. Also have used tuners and a TOM bridge from GFS and would consider them more than adequate. Happy enough overall that I'd buy a guitar from them.

[Strat62]

I have a Neovin in my 62 Strat in the center position. Great sounding pup; just like a Strat should sound only better. I also have a set of Retrotrons in a custom Tele build that I just love. For comparison, I just got a set of Gretschbuckers that I installed in another custom Tele build, and the Retrotrons have that sound nailed, only a little sweeter, cleaner and more refined. I couldn't believe how dirty and full of harmonics those Gretschbuckers were. As for GFS-I don't know what I'd do without them. Great prices, prompt delivery and for the most part, decent quality parts. Those bodies can sometimes be less than stellar, but whaddya want for $50!

[redstringuitar]

Stuck a GFS vintage steel block trem in my Strat, great quality, price and delivery to UK.

[Fatherflot]

Just to update: All the mods to the GFS body seemed to have worked out. Though she needs some electronic work and some final tweaking, she's now an actual guitar.



Despite the Bigsby, she a major neckdiver, so I put a second strap button behind the neck heel. Then I added a little weight to the bottom of my strap.

She sounds great with just the bridge pickup (DiMarzio Virtual T) so far. Really twangs.

[Parma_TeleMon]

Crazy, man - but sweet lookin'!