Cheapest telecaster bodies?

[mike is here]

Who's got the cheapest tele bodies? So far looks like allparts, but even they seem a little steep; $60 for a '2nd quality' body? All I need is an alder plank to wail on

[TeleTim911]

Have you looked at Guitar Fetish? Bodies start at $49.95.

In case you're interested: http://www.guitarfetish.com/Tele-Style-Bodies_c_71.html

[Prison Rodeo]

Better yet: Get a body from GuitarFetish's "Clearance" section. Occasionally they pop up for under $30.

[Jim Dep]

Rondo has a couple used tele and strat bodies for cheap...under their "parts" section I think

[trailboss]

Originally Posted by Jim Dep

Rondo has a couple used tele and strat bodies for cheap...under their "parts" section I think

...or buy the whole dang guitar for $99-ish and pitch what you don't need.

[mike is here]

awesome, i knew i had seen guitarfetish before but i couldnt remember what it was called.

anyone know if rondo tele bodies are made to fender specs?

[jwsamuel]

I tried putting together a Tele with one of the Guitar Fetish bodies I got about a week ago. The body looks great and is extremely light. The finish (Surf Green) was much better than expected.

The problem I had that made the body unusable is that the string holes were drilled at an angle. When I mounted a bridge to line up with the spring holes, the bridge was at an angle to the neck. Besides looking crooked in comparison to the pickguard, I could not get the guitar to intonate properly because the bridge was angled.

In addition, the routing for the neck pickup was so close to the neck pocket that on of the screws for the pickguard was right on the edge of the pickup route and could not be used. Finally, the neck pocket was too wide for a neck from Fender MIM Standard Tele and a Mighty Mite neck.

I've been a big fan of GFS pickups and other parts over the years. This was my first try with one of their bodies and based on this experience, i'd say it will be my last.

As for Rondo, the bodies and necks are a bit difference in size and dimension from Fender Teles -- and even among themselves. I bought a Furrian last year and liked it so much, I bought another one two month ago. On the new one, the pickup hole in the pickguard is too small for Fender neck pickups and the body shape is just different enough that Fender pickguards won't work. I tried other pickguards I got from Rondo and they are not the correct size either.

So, if you're looking for a cheap body, be careful.

Jim

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by mike is here

anyone know if rondo tele bodies are made to fender specs?

None are made totally to Fender specs. The parts that fit vary among Rondo guitars. Fender parts may fit but don't count on it. And as I said in my other message, parts are not always interchangeable among Rondo's SX guitars. You can have two of the same model guitar and parts don't exchange.

Jim

[fendrguitplayr]

Originally Posted by mike is here

awesome, i knew i had seen guitarfetish before but i couldnt remember what it was called.

anyone know if rondo tele bodies are made to fender specs?

No, they are not.

[glen smith]

Originally Posted by jwsamuel

I tried putting together a Tele with one of the Guitar Fetish bodies I got about a week ago. The body looks great and is extremely light. The finish (Surf Green) was much better than expected.

The problem I had that made the body unusable is that the string holes were drilled at an angle. When I mounted a bridge to line up with the spring holes, the bridge was at an angle to the neck. Besides looking crooked in comparison to the pickguard, I could not get the guitar to intonate properly because the bridge was angled.

In addition, the routing for the neck pickup was so close to the neck pocket that on of the screws for the pickguard was right on the edge of the pickup route and could not be used. Finally, the neck pocket was too wide for a neck from Fender MIM Standard Tele and a Mighty Mite neck.

I've been a big fan of GFS pickups and other parts over the years. This was my first try with one of their bodies and based on this experience, i'd say it will be my last.

As for Rondo, the bodies and necks are a bit difference in size and dimension from Fender Teles -- and even among themselves. I bought a Furrian last year and liked it so much, I bought another one two month ago. On the new one, the pickup hole in the pickguard is too small for Fender neck pickups and the body shape is just different enough that Fender pickguards won't work. I tried other pickguards I got from Rondo and they are not the correct size either.

So, if you're looking for a cheap body, be careful.

Jim

Was the GFS body from their "clearance" section?

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by glen smith

Was the GFS body from their "clearance" section?

No.

Jim

[Tim Armstrong]

If the string holes were hidden under the bridge, I'd just drill new ones. Or maybe go with a toploader.

Tim

[HOBBSTER01]

I currently have the same problem with string holes.
I re-drilled mine from the top side and corrected the problem.
Wasn't pretty but it worked.

[onenotetom]

I just got a body from USACG. Probably one of the most expensive out there. I have done the cheap route. It is hit and miss and after all the time spent making things right I am at a point where the money up front on a quality product makes for a better investment.

If you want to do some finish routing Guitar Mill has some specials right now.

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by Tim Armstrong

If the string holes were hidden under the bridge, I'd just drill new ones. Or maybe go with a toploader.

I'm not sure what I am going to do with the body. The problem is that I did not realize the holes were not drilled correctly until after I drilled the four holes to mount the bridge. So, I'll have to plug those holes first.

The big lesson is that cheap often creates a lot of extra work to achieve a result that is far from perfect.

Jim

[musicalmartin]

Originally Posted by jwsamuel

I'm not sure what I am going to do with the body. The problem is that I did not realize the holes were not drilled correctly until after I drilled the four holes to mount the bridge. So, I'll have to plug those holes first.

The big lesson is that cheap often creates a lot of extra work to achieve a result that is far from perfect.

Jim

I would fit a Wilkingson bridge .It has top loader and string through .The paulowonia wood resonates well with either .my strat body is oK .maybe just lucky
You have to be very carefule of cheap bodies .I have a great paulowonia body on my parts caster but no idea who made it .it ended up costing me 16 quid on Ebay but its very easy to damage which is great .who cares, its cheap as chips

[HOBBSTER01]

Originally Posted by jwsamuel

I'm not sure what I am going to do with the body. The problem is that I did not realize the holes were not drilled correctly until after I drilled the four holes to mount the bridge. So, I'll have to plug those holes first.

The big lesson is that cheap often creates a lot of extra work to achieve a result that is far from perfect.

Jim

PM me. I'll buy it.

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by musicalmartin

I would fit a Wilkingson bridge .It has top loader and string through .

That's what I was mounting. The problem, as I said in another post, is that I already mounted the bridge by lining it up with the string through holes. That means the bridge is mounted at a slant to the neck.

Also, buying a body that is already drilled for string hole and then mounting a top loading bridge leaves holes in the backside of the body.

Jim

[paulswifka]

Is there any bodies out there that are made to Fender specs? I dont' want to spend any time or doing any extra work re drilling holes ect...I want to just mount a Fender Neck..or a fender pickguard and bridge and it lines up....simple..... I basically would like to be able to replace the body on my MIM for a different color if someday I wanted to....Which ones are Fender spec?

[Wayne Alexander]

USACG http://www.usacustomguitars.com/, Musikraft http://www.musikraft.com/, Warmoth http://www.warmoth.com/, and MJT http://mjtagedfinishes.com all sell bodies that will bolt on correctly to a Fender spec neck. There may be others.