Finished my New Brent Mason Tele

[Just Joe]

Hey how far are you from Casnovia MI
I would love to play it

I have made guitars before I must tell you i am no good
at it,but is was fun thu
Thanks Tdowns
Just Joe

[charliebrown]

Incredible...gray primer and nitro...LOL....it's amazing. I'm taking notes...hope you don't mind

[Dirt]

Terry never ceases to amaze me. Fine job! I'll bet you and Fuzzy could open up a guitar modification company. Just for guys looking for that 'certain' guitar.

The bottom line is: What does it sound like?

Fuzzy, get hold of me, re: decals! Thanks!

My best,
Dirt
BuddyEmmons.com

[tdowns]

Mik,
Now that is a unique guitar. How did you switch those pickups?

Thanks Just Joe and charliebrown.

Dirt,
You never cease to amaze ME. I played it on the first gig last night. It's not much different than what I had experienced except the parallel wiring of the middle pickup blended with the neck is probably more like a Brent tone. The biggest potential improvement to the sound would be if I had a better set of hands.


Additional Notes

Blue Water Girl mentioned the original Seymour Duncan Red Hot Stack. Yes, I have an old one. I bought it off Ebay about 5-6 years ago and that is the original red cover. They are really hard to find. The new ones are black and I've heard they are opposite in polarity. I've used other Strat pickups in this mode and they all seem to accomplish the same thing, except for the noiseless feature of the Seymour stacks.

The equation...


that Fuzzy posted earlier where he was razzing me a little was from my website. I had a post a while back on string vibration and I derived a relationship of string vibration amplitude relative to the distance from the nut.

Another thing I didn't mention is that I shielded the control cavity. Since the pots are wired backwards, the output signal is high impedance when the volume control is turned down. This is a case where shielding actually appears to work. I had not done this before on a backward pot guitar and experienced a little hum with the volumes down. I recommend it for this type circuit.

[GuitarJonz]

Anyone have pros/cons of using a stacked volume pot (like the old Jazz basses) to control volumes, instead of adding the 3rd knob to the control plate, if that is even possible?

[tdowns]

In the past I have used the concentric knob stacked pot and I prefer it over 3 pots. I don't really like the 3 pots. They are harder to adjust quickly and it is more difficult to clean between them. My favorite is ditching the tone function because I almost never use it. I put the blend pot where the tone WAS. Not everybody likes that option.

Stewmac's Concentric Pots

[Joel Terry]

Originally Posted by 0le FUZZY

<li>O.K. I'll play "Original subject".
<li>Thank you Mister Terry Downs for you contributions here on the TELECASTER Discussion Page ReIssue.
<li>Many of us here have taken note of your expertise both on the main page and the other sections of this forum.
<li>You are a wise man here among the group that visits this forum.
<li>Not only wise but very talented and kind to share your vast knowledge of all things guitar related along with your talent and skills.
<li>You have created a copy of a guitar and have done an extraordinary job of it.
<li>I commend you for your talent and thank you for your time.
<li>The accuracy of your drawings and musical skills is beyond reproach.
<li>Your first person and direct approach is commendable and appreciated by many here and very much by me.

<li>Please understand that my above posts are in no way directed as a negative toward you.
<li>Please continue to inform and educate us with your vast knowledge and grasp of the technical aspects of the electric guitar.

Your humble admirer:

A.D. Barron

FUZZY sums it up perfectly, Terry--and having FUZZY as an humble admirer of your Tele work is a badge of honor I would take over the Congressional Medal of Freedom, I kid you not!

How does someone get to be that intelligent, Terry? I love your posts--they're like manna from Heaven. Sometimes I struggle to understand them; however, like Stephen Hawking, you put enough of your amazing thoughts into layman's terms to let us all share your knowledge (not unlike what the man 0le FUZZY himself does).

Your care and attention to detail in putting together this replica of Brent's guitar is astounding. God, if only Fender or a lot of other manufacturers did this, it would be wonderful. I'd give anything to look at it, hold it, and play it. Well done, bud! (Of course, we wouldn't expect anything less from you, Terry!)

Now then, if you could only get this sucker built, Terry:



(FUZZY, you ol' rascal! :P )

Joel

[rcrecelius]

Terry,
Great job!

BTW...since youve "done the math" on exactly where that middle pickup should be located, maybe you should make a tele pickguard template and sell pickguards with the route for the middle pup in the "right" place?
I bet you'd sell a few here

[rcrecelius]

Terry,
Great job!

BTW...since youve "done the math" on exactly where that middle pickup should be located, maybe you should make a tele pickguard template and sell pickguards with the route for the middle pup in the "right" place?
I bet you'd sell a few here

[tdowns]

Joel Terry,
You wanna talk about intelligent???? Read any of your own posts lately??? You are too kind my man. I really enjoy your posts.

I do feel honored to get a seal of approval from Fuzzy. As I said in an earlier reply, Fuzzy has more Tele knowledge in his little finger than I do in my whole body!!

Thanks so much Joel.

rcrecelius,
Thank you. I'm not sure there is such thing as the "right place". I just documented what I picked up from Brent's guitar. I still say there is more to the "Man" and his talent and hands than any pickup spacing. It is a fascinating intellectual exercise to ponder on.

I do have a template for the pickguard. But even if I had pickguards, you would still need templates for the body cavity routing. I made my own template to route the pickguard. I then transferred the image to the body. I used the same template for the Gibson mini, then used a Stewmac Strat template over the image for the middle pickup.

[Cindi 500]

(Late in the game comment)

Lovely work on that finish, Terry.
I saw an Ice Blue Metallic Jazzmaster under some nice lighting recently that looked quite yummy, but that primer shade you've got really grabs the eyes! Fantabulous~

[zane]

Dang ol' Terry is allways throwin' somthin' else on the amaze me fire....Video teachin' dude...mathamatical dude... dial caliper dude...steel guitar dude...guitar playin' dude...nice dude... guitar building dude...
where'd you get all those hats?

[tdowns]

Cindi 500, Thanks you are so kind. An Ice Blue Metallic Jazzmaster sounds way cool. You wouldn't happen to have a pic of that would you?

zane,
YOU are way too kind. You must understand that I am an old hack at all these things. You know, jack of all trades, master of none.

Bill Hullett,
I forgot to thank you. I sure wish I could play like you!!!

[jack.plugg]

... out of interest ... I see that the Gibson mini-humbucker has been "reversed", (presumably because BM's guitar maybe has it that way, is that it?)

What would be the effect of installing it that way round?

I ask this because I've recently bought a mini-humbucker, but haven't yet installed it. It wouldn't have ocurred to me to put it any other way than standard, but do you think it mellows it out a little by reversing it? Or is there no discernable difference?

I wonder, does it affect harmonics less this way?

Thanks, JP

[zane]

Well that beats me ...I just "Jack Around"

[Mik]

Terry,

The "Telennium" has a 7 way switching, with a 5-way (CRL?) "Strat" switch and a pushpull volume pot. The pushpull allows a neck/bridge postion, and a neck/mid/bridge position.

The pickups all compliment one another pretty well, and each has a very different sound of course.

Thanks for asking,
Mik

[tdowns]

Here is the requested schematic diagram. Remember, this comes from my interpretation. I didn't tear down Brent's guitar or a Valley Arts guitar. I believe this is the functional equivalent.

• I'd use 500K pots for more highs and less control over volume range.
• I'd use 250K for slightly less highs but more useful volume control range.
• Use the treble bypass capacitor to suit your own use

Wiring diagram with series/parallel switch (PDF format)
Wiring diagram with series/parallel switch (JPG format)

jack.plugg,
I know from pictures that the "backwards" Gibson mini is how Brent's guitar is. My measurements indicate that if reversed (pole pieces in normal location nearest the neck), the pole pieces would be almost exactly at the quarter wavelength position (8 3/8" from the 12th fret). How much sustain difference you would get from the Brent location is not clear. But I do know that keeping it down low WILL increase sustain (especially through the bends).

Mik,
Thanks for the explaination. That's cool.

[pikopiko]

Originally Posted by tdowns

Below is a link to a picture of the naked body. I was amused that I could read the name brand of the fluorescent light in the reflection of the guitar. I was dissapointed that the photo does not do it justice.

High resolution photo of the naked body front (full frontal nudity)

Greetings,

tdowns, where did you get the body? i am wanting to build a tele with this kind of pickup configuration, but i am having trouble finding the body with the space for the humbucker in the neck and then the single coils in the middle and bridge position.

i've been on ebay and they have the deluxe bodies but it seems all of those are already painted and i'd like to find a body that is "naked". if someone could point me in the right direction i would appreciate it, i've never built a guitar so i don't really know where to start finding the body...

thanks for your time

corey

[tdowns]

pikopiko,

I guess I didn't make it clear, but you can't buy a body like that. I made the router templates for the pickups that I wanted to use, and then routed out the pickup cavities myself. I just used a standard Musicraft body, modified with my own routed cavities. I made my own router templates for the pickguard cutouts too.

Regards,
Terry

[E.D. Patton]

Terrry, my man... Diamond on a goat's butt?

I beg to differ. Actually, I won't even beg... I've heard you play and sing and I didn't detect a whiff of goat butt, and you'll have to trust me here Because I'm an authority when it comes the south end of a northbound Capra aegagrus hircus.

[tdowns]

Capra aegagrus hircus? I can relate to that. baaaahhhhaa baaaaahhha

Wow, you really dug this post up from the grave. Thanks for the comments.

Best regards,
tdowns,
the old hack.

[Pete Galati]

Originally Posted by tdowns

Cool guitar Terry. I was looking at that guitar thinking, how'd I miss this thread? Then I looked at the date!

Pete

[eddiewagner]

wow, that looks like a wonderful tonemachine. and it makes an impression on me to really "worth something". all the little secret magik-stuff hidden in that beautiful instrument. congratulations! too bad i can´t come over to check it out,
eddie

[tdowns]

Hey Pete,
I didn't realize that you weren't around on the TDPRI on 2005. Thanks for the comments.

eddiewagner,
I wish you could come check it out. But, its potential is currently limited buy its picker.