Customizing a MIM Blackout Telecaster

[hawkeye]

This, I think, is my first post ever. I've been here for a while but I haven't really been active (I actually just remembered I even had an account on here).

Anyway, I bought a Deluxe Blackout Telecaster about 4 years ago and love it so much. However, I want to customize it a bit, as the plain all-black look is wearing thin on my tastes. I recently came across a Rickenbacker 330 (which I own, and love), in a peculiar color shown here:



And I absolutely love the color. I want to make my Tele that color, offsetting it with the black pickguard I already have on there.

I'd also like to add a kill switch to the middle pickup so that I could silence it and get the option to play through both the bridge and neck pickup at the same time to get all possible options. I'd like to add a vintage-style saddle to the guitar as well, and maybe put in some hotter pickups, keeping the tele pickup in the back though.

How much do you think all of this would run me if I go through a luthier? I know I can't do the paint job myself, it's too delicate, and I'd want a professional to do the kill switch.

Also, do you think all of this is even a good idea to begin with?

Link to the Blackout and it's original look:

http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...tar?sku=515524

[flat twin]

Can you disassemble the guitar down to the bare body? After that, it's just surface prep and paint. The prep isn't much since it's already been painted. Do you know anyone who does automotive painting? Those guys are quite good at laying down a painted finish. It doesn't necessarily have to be a luthier to do that kind of work.
Do you have any soldiering skills? An iron and solder don't cost much. Get some cheap parts to practise with until you're confident. There is a lot of info online about electrical mods to guitars, especially strats , which is essentially what you have with a 5 way switch and three pickups.

So...
Disassemble
paint
mod
reassemble

[broncstomper]

It's not that bad really. I am in the middle of stripping a body and am gonna do a thin nitro red. I want it to relic quick. If you are not gonna paint the head stock then all you have to do is remove a few screws and just a little soldering. will be great experience under your belt. After I changed a few pick-ups and tore into a few guitars I got addicted. It takes all the fear out of modding and who knows what you'll working on next. I say go for it.

[Boundforglory07]

I say go for it too.

[Skub]

Just buy another Tele,a red one this time.

Job jobbed.

[hawkeye]

Originally Posted by Skub

Just buy another Tele,a red one this time.

Job jobbed.

Well, I don't really wanna buy another Tele. I know I could just take the money I'd spend modding this and put it into buying an MIA Tele, but I personally believe it'd be more interesting to mod a guitar out to your own personal style/desires, ya'know?

I've had this guitar for about 4 years as I said, and it might sound a little crazy but I've completely bonded with this thing, and it's always my go-to guitar, even though I might have "better," more expensive ones, you know what I'm saying?

Even though modding it would sorta change a lot about the guitar, it's still the one that I really got into guitar playing with (though I had a few before), and I think it deserves a little sprucing up a bit.

As far as all the other comments, since this is a delicate project on something that's sorta very valuable to me, I don't want to tackle the work on my own since I really don't have any skills in doing something like this. Maybe one day I'll take apart the guitars I never really use that are cheaper and fiddle with them, but with this one...I want someone to do it right.

I never thought about going to a garage to get it repainted, but I thought that maybe a guitar tech or someone like that would have more experience when removing paint from the wood? I'll have to check around but I really don't know anyone from garages, so iunno about that.

Instead of a kill switch, perhaps a push/pull pot or an added toggle switch to turn the neck pick up on/off would be better, right? Since then I could potentially get 7 possible pick up selections? Anyone know anything about this?

Lastly, I'm trying to decide what pick ups to purchase, and I've looked at Lace Telecaster pickups and then the classic Fender original Tele pickups, does anyone have experience with the Lace ones?

(sorry this is so long)