Custom Tele advice need

[cowardm]

First time poster, but I've known of this forum for a while. I have a Bill Lawrence Swampkaster and it's time to get the dream Tele.

I'm seriously thinking about selling all of my gear and starting fresh. One of the things I'm thinking about is a custom Tele through USA Custom Guitars. I'd appreciate any thoughts.

I already have a pickguard, which is a slight vintage off-white. I had it made by Pickguardian and it's nice.

I also already have Kinman pickups which have a control plate (chrome with knobs and everything) and output jack.

Body - Korina or swamp ash. I'm leaning toward swamp ash. I'm looking for traditional tele tone, but I wouldn't mind something like korina to thicken it up a bit. My current tele is swamp ash and I really do like the harmonics and stuff. Also planning on a contoured heel, probably not a tummy cut (thinking about though).

Body finish - I was torn between a transparent wine dark red (a la Les Paul Studio) and black, but I was thinking the oxblood (a la Jeff Beck's signature Les Paul) might be perfect.

Neck/fretboard - Maple neck with rosewood fretboard. I'll do a satin vintage tint for the finish.

Tuners - Locking is a must. Planet Waves has the auto-trim option that's pretty cool. I also like Sperzels and their satin chrome option. My reservations on Sperzel is that they are higher mass. I'm open to Gotoh as well.

Bridge - I'm leaning toward the vintage ash-tray style from Callaham. The vintage styles have that lip on them, which I think would get in the way, so I'd rather this style:



I'm open to the modern style, but I'm afraid it will interfere with that tele magic. Callaham is also really expensive, and maybe it's worth it. Anything comparable, vintage (yet lipless) that might deliver for less?

Now, my control plate is chrome, but I think I do want satin bridge and tuners. Any thoughts if that will look odd at all?

[Groovey Records]

If you choose ash get real ash not swamp ash

Other then that you have made some very personal choices

I don't know USA Custom Guitars but I'd want a builder who would work together with me on all these decisions one step at a time.

Someone who will share there expertise. Not just fill in a build sheet.

Experienced but accessible.

[cowardm]

Hard ash always struck me as a slightly brighter wood. I sort of got the impression that swamp ash had the balance of alder with a nice bright ashy pop. Swamp ash is also lighter and weight matters to me. I'm open to suggestions on tonewood, but I sort of don't know why hard ash is superior.

USACG is good stuff. I've talked to them some.

[BigDaddyLH]

Tuners - Locking is a must.

Why? I thought locking tuners were only to deal with whammy bars. I've never had tuning problems with standard tuners, so I'm wondering what the advantage would be.

BTW, I am strangely attracted to these Steinbergers:

[cowardm]

On locking tuners:
They are incredibly handy for whammy bars and such, but they have other advantages.

First of all, restringing is way easier and quicker. I had Sperzels on my (hardtail) Les Paul and loved them. Changing string was quick.

Second, they hold tune better in general. No wraps around the post mean less excess string to slip and stretch.

The Steinbergers are cool, but not my cup of tea. I could see putting them on another custom build, but I want this to be a sort of traditional tele-style. It doesn't have to be super duper vintage or whatever, but I'm trying not to stray too far from the look and feel of a normal tele. That's one reason I lean from korina as a wood option. Is it a great tonewood? Yes. Is it great for Tele pickups? Probably. Is it going to have the Tele-magic? I'd lean toward no.

[jkingma]

Originally Posted by Groovey Records

If you choose ash get real ash not swamp ash
Other then that you have made some very personal choices

I don't know USA Custom Guitars but I'd want a builder who would work together with me on all these decisions one step at a time.

Someone who will share there expertise. Not just fill in a build sheet.

Experienced but accessible.

Curious why you said this...

[Strongpersuader]

Originally Posted by jkingma

Curious why you said this...

+1

[BritishBluesBoy]

Tommy at USACG is great to work with. Fantastic customer service and fantastic products. You won't be disappointed.

[caytele]

...my experience with Korina wood for a tele body has been nothing short of incredible!..i have two assembled so far..one from the thicker heavier Black Limba(cocobolo neck, Wilkinson Vintage three saddle bridge(the Black one!..seems to my ears to have a little less 'zing') and modern tuners(as opposed to 'vintage' tuners) and Dimarzio Twang Kings, 4-way switch...this baby will do most anything, but is really at home with the blues, classic rock, reggae..can twang too...the other is made of White Limba(much lighter) with a maple Fender Nashvile neck neck with vintage tuners, Klein T1s,Wilkinson chrome vintage,(lots of zing and sparkle)3-way switch...the tone circuit/volume use 250k pots and a .047 paper in oil russian capacitor(i believe many folk do NOT recognize the importance of getting the right high quality capacitor ..the difference it can make to your sound has to be heard to be believed!)..in other words..a very 'traditional' settup
......compared to my teles made from other woods?...korina/limba is the sure winner!!..give the white limba a try for your traditional type...you won't be disappointed...but if you are...i'll buy it off ya...cheap

[absaroke]

Originally Posted by cowardm

On locking tuners:
They are incredibly handy for whammy bars and such, but they have other advantages.

First of all, restringing is way easier and quicker. I had Sperzels on my (hardtail) Les Paul and loved them. Changing string was quick.

Second, they hold tune better in general. No wraps around the post mean less excess string to slip and stretch.

My experience with locking tuners is that is makes little difference with holding tune. If you wrap the string properly there's no slipping. I've used both locking and standard tuners and went back to standard tuners on my Gretsch with Bigsby. Tuning issues with a Bigsby (for me at least) have all been nut related...not tuners. For restringing there's definitely an advantage to having locking tuners. As with all things YMMV

[Groovey Records]

IMHO Swamp ash though lighter has low scooped mids. It is more plentiful and much easier to find then the harder Ashes of the northern state.

Hard Ash IMHO has much mure sustain and brilliance to the tone.

Of course each piece of wood is different and should be judged on its own merit within the sub species. But Overall I think the slightly heavier and denser Northern Ashes offers a more pleasant tonal pallet.

think about taking a 2 pieces of wood, say 10 inches by 10 inches.
one weighs 9 lbs and the other weighs 2 lbs.
think about if you hit each piece with a drum stick. how would they sound?

the heavier piece would have a tighter sound to it.
the lighter would have a looser , hollow sound to it in comparison.
as with the heavier piece of wood being used for a guitar it would have that tighter sound to it. more of an eee sound in comparison to the lighter piece which would probably have more of an aww sound to it.

As well the heavier tighter piece would have a faster, snappier response in comparison.
the lighter piece would be little more mellow as far as response and attack in comparison.

All general ideas maybe at some point, it being too heavy would be too much cut in mids and the lighter the piece would be too much loss of snappy qualities and that eee sound

Early fifties Tele's and Strat's were made of Ash.

Your Milage May Vary

[Groovey Records]

ttt

[Fatmanstratman]

Originally Posted by Groovey Records

IMHO Swamp ash though lighter has low scooped mids. It is more plentiful and much easier to find then the harder Ashes of the northern state.

Hard Ash IMHO has much mure sustain and brilliance to the tone.

Please, please, NO!

Not another "The wood makes all the difference to the tone" thread....

I've been here 6 years, and we're still waiting for any kind of proof....

The first time I saw "Tone is in the underpants", I thought "Huh?"

These days I'm enlightened.....

[cowardm]

If I understand correctly, wood weight probably has most to do with tone when talking wood. Like a piece of 4 pound mahogany is going to sound different from an 8 pound piece of mahogany (besides the fact that no two trees are the same anyway). My impression was that you sort of shoot for your weight preference and use wood choice to sort of fine tune the tone. I'm not saying tonewood is the major factor in actual tone (although I think it makes up a good bit). I think pickups probably do the most work. Everything effects tone though. Wood pickups, saddles, general setup (truss rod relief, etc), strings, and the list goes on. I frequent the forums as Guitarists.net as well and I came up with this fun thread about it.

I've compared tonewoods and I'm pretty sure I've heard a difference. I know places like Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars and Fender are all in the supply business (and therefore meeting tonewood demands), but I'd like to think there's a reason bigger than "it just makes money".

I'd at least like to think my train of thought on the first paragraph is more or less reasonable.

[Spudrok]

Originally Posted by cowardm

Tuners - I also like Sperzels and their satin chrome option. My reservations on Sperzel is that they are higher mass.

I have a personal kind of epiphany with Sperzels and 'higher mass' tuners.

First my Sperzels story: My dear old Strat. I've had it since '78. It had developed issues holding tune. Some years back, 90's I believe I replaced the old Klusons with Sperzels. Had to bore larger holes in the headstock. It was done very well by a pro. When I got the guitar back, it sounded different. My first impression: "God, please, NOOO!!!" I thought that I had ruined the magic that my Strat had. After a couple of weeks I started to see this changed tone signature in a different light. The tone and response of my Strat had changed, something I was totally unprepared for, but the change was for the better. It just took me some time to realize it.

My other higher mass tuner story: New Melody Maker Reissue - stock single pickup replaced with P90. I have another '03 MM that came stock with a P90 that I like better. Can't get the newer one to have that wonderful tone of the '03 (that was why pickup was swapped to P90). The newer MM was my red-headed stepchild guitar. It sounded sorta good, but almost all of my other guitars sounded better. I didn't care all that much for it. One night I took it to a blues jam at an area tavern. A good friend and I were discussing it. He is also a big fan of single P90 guitars. In jest, he said "You ought to relic it and" whatever else he said. For humor and shock value I tossed the guitar to the floor for its first relic dents. One of the tuners bent and came apart. I replaced the tuners with Grover 10218C Rotomatics which could well be considered higher mass. Direct retrofit with zero modification. Holy Cow! The tone change is glorious! It has turned my 'who cares?' guitar into something that is a whole new animal that is great fun to play.

Remember the FatFinger that Aspen Pittman (Groove Tubes) used to market? The idea was that adding mass at the headstock eliminated dead spots and enhanced an instrument's tone. I don't own a FatFinger, but I do believe that there is something to that theory.

[BigDaddyLH]

One more thing: I've always been attracted to the "Firebird" idea: putting a left-handed Tele neck on a right-handed guitar. But standard tuners would point downwards -- awkward! Then I see these crazy Steinbergers. Hmmm...

So, does anyone play with a wrong way neck? A LH on a RH body or a RH on a LH body?