Low Budget Tele Body – good or...

[Boondocks]

Hi guys;

Thought I'd share a few thoughts and get some inputs on a frequent subject: How about the build quality of a cheapo body, and will the final product be "cheapo" even with good hardware and good quality work done?

In order to get some more knowledge in the matter I decided to build a Tele style guitasr, with top quality hardware, all except the body which I bought from GuitarFetish at the very reasonable price of 59$. This is an unfinished ash body, 3-piece as it seems. Compared to most other manufacturers this is to be considered a low price, don't 'ya think?

Anyway, said and done. Body arrived in due time together with a GFS Nasville Minitron humbucker to be used in neck position. Fast delivery and well packed I inspected the body before starting the work. I noticed that the measurements/the outline of this body differed some from a Fender Telecaster – it was slightly larger. It felt quite heavy in comparison to another Tele Ash body I have. I will weigh it when it's finished. Everything looked OK, but since I'm into vintage style I decided to recut the body a little - to make it look more "Fenderish". So I recut the cut-aways a little deeper, cut a little deeper "waist" and removed about an inch at the rear end. Now it's got a very nice outline.

Two issues appeared while measuring:
1. The neck holes does'nt fit a Fender style neck plate. The two rear holes are place a little too far back (see pic 1.) which causes the neck screws to enter at an angle. Therefor I will have to plug these two holes and redrill new ones - correct placed. GFS states on their website that these bodies accept Fender style hardware - this proves otherwise! No big issue but a little more work to be done.

2. The string-thru holes are also located at a strange position compared to my other Tele bodies (from Fender Lic. Manufacturers) - almost 3/8" more to the rear. Maybe I will have to plug and redrill, but in any case I'll have to make sure I have longer saddle screws to get intonation correct. However, the vintage style bridge fitted perfect, so maybe I let it pass.

Pic 1: Neck hole placement...


So far so good. Just for the fun of it I decided to make both a belly cut and a Strat style arm cut. My vicious friends claims it's due to the weight of the body, but that's not the least true The cuts are not as deep as the new Am Std Tele, but still quite noticeable.

Pic 2: Below you see the body sanded, after the grain filler has been applied



Pic 3: Body reshaped and sanded. To raise the grain I've wet the body - and the next step is to sand with 320 grit.



As you all can see I have sanded the edges of the body apprimately as much as the American Standard, which I think has a great, comfortable feel to it. It'll be funny to proceed with the hardware in due time.

Pic 4: The front side - here you see the arm cut outline...



Pic 5: Back side - here you see the belly cut outline...



Finally, at least for now, two pics with different pickguards. What 'ye think...? The black one is ready for the mini humbucker, and that's the one I'll use for this Butterscotch Hot Rod "partycaster".
The blue one will perhaps be used sometime, but not now.

Pic 6: With black 5-hole, 3-ply pick guard. Nice, eh...?



Pic 7: With the Paisley beauty ( )



Finally - first impression was pretty much disappointing. But that has changed quite a bit as the work proceeds. Sofar I must say I consider this a good deal, even though a couple of issues appeared. A little more work than expected, but what the #€%@ - time waits for noone. And the Olympics is better off on radio. In the workshop.
I'll update as it proceeds.

[Bill B]

Nice post & cool project. Let's see some more.

[NastyMojo]

keep us updated man! I like the Paisley PG