Glendale/Rice Custom Prize--Report

FatTeleTom · December 29th, 2005, 05:12 PM

As you may have seen, I was lucky enough to win the "First Prize" in the TDPRI fundraising giveaway--a finished pine Tele body, neck, pickguard, tuners, bridge/compensated saddles, neckplate, knobs, and jack plate from Glendale Guitars and a set of Custom Shop Nocaster pickups from Rice Custom Guitars.

I promised to keep people informed on the progress of this project, so here we go:

First, as if donating the guitar & parts weren't enough, Dale was kind enough to take time to call me yesterday to let me know that tell me the guitar was on its way.

And sure enough, two boxes from Glendale arrived today!!!!

I've only had time for a quick look here at work (yes, it's killing me not to take this stuff home right away!), so details will have to wait.

But for now, let me just say I'm *extremely* impressed--everything looks to be very professional and absolutely top-quality. And I do believe I'm going to love this neck.

Also, less work remains to be done than I expected. The tuners are already installed, nut slots are cut, holes in the body and neck pre-drilled, etc. So the remaining work assembly should go quickly.

Also, it turns out that the folks from Rice Customer Guitars are fellow Chicagolanders. I'm hoping to be able to do everything myself, but if I need any help, I'll definitely be sending the job to the Rice bros.

More details to follow in the next few days--looks like it's gonna be a happy new year at my house!

Thanks again to Paul, Dale, Rice Custom Guitars, and to everyone on the TDPRI who makes this forum great.

Tele62 · December 29th, 2005, 05:16 PM

I'm going to see Dale play tonight and talk to him about building me a Glendale Tele.

Thanks for the feedback.

Ron Garson · December 29th, 2005, 07:00 PM

Both of you!

I put together a parts Tele, using a lot of Glendale parts, earlier this year, and it is absolutely super!

I am greatly pleased to have my effort featured on the Glendale "testimonials" page!

Dale is a really nice guy to do business with, and also a hell of a picker!!

Wild Rice Chris · December 30th, 2005, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FatTeleTom

Also, it turns out that the folks from Rice Customer Guitars are fellow Chicagolanders. I'm hoping to be able to do everything myself, but if I need any help, I'll definitely be sending the job to the Rice bros.

More details to follow in the next few days--looks like it's gonna be a happy new year at my house!

Thanks again to Paul, Dale, Rice Custom Guitars, and to everyone on the TDPRI who makes this forum great.

Hey now, we're not brothers!

I'm on the left in orange, Rich is the one in the Gibson shirt. My brother is all the way to the right. 8) 8)

Tom, you'll have to at least let me see the guitar finished.:) I've only used Dale's saddles (I have 5 sets), I hear the rest of his stuff is top-notch (sure looks good on the site). You should come to the jam and bring that silver tele!
http://www.tdpri.com/viewtopic.php?t=43829

FatTeleTom · January 6th, 2006, 02:46 PM

Oops, sorry about the "brother" screw up Chris! And yes, looking forward to the jam. It's been a busy week at work, so catching up a bit here:

I was able to assemble most of the mechanical bits last Friday, while waiting for a wiring kit (ordered from TDPRI sponsor Acme Guitar Works) and pickups to arrive. The pickups arrived this afternoon, so I expect to have this fully electrified by this weekend. But until then, all comments refer to the guitar in "acoustic" mode.

First, a quick look at the guitar (don't have a digital camera, so pics will take a while):

The body: The silver finish is *really* cool. Reminds me of the classic silver you'll find on a 50's Porsche or Benz (or a modern Boxster), but with a little darker tint--a little bluish maybe? Nice metallic cast to the finish, but very different from the thick gloss on my American Series Fat Tele.

Also, it came with predrilled holes for the neck and string-thru, and pilot holes for the bridge mounting screws, so assembly was a snap.

The neck: Wow! A great looker--I love Dale's slight twist on the Tele headstock. Fretwork seems perfect. Thin, very smooth finish--feels very much like the "satin" finish on the Fat Tele, which I like a lot. Little narrower at the nut, but gets chunkier as you go up the neck. Feels really nice based on some quick "acoustic" playing.

BTW, the neck/neck pocket fit couldn't have been better--the neck more or less snaps into place. No need to force it in, but no wiggle room either. It just "fits".

Hardware: The bridge plate and saddles are truly works of art. The brushed finish really fit the body color nicely, especially with the off-white pickguard.

From the saddle pics on the Glendale site, I thought the contrast between the alumunium saddle on the two brass saddles might look a little funny, but it all works nicely, at least on this guitar--really meshes with the silver finish and off-white pickguard. Easy to adjust saddle height and intonation, and the set screws are short enough that they don't extend out the top of the saddles.

The knobs and milled jack cup are similarly impressive bits of machining. I'll save further comments on the knobs until I'm able to plug it in and give em a real tryout, but I'm very impressed.

I went ahead and strung the guitar up to try it out. The nut seems to be cut perfectly for the 10s I put on. After a quick string-height and (rough) intonation adjustment, the setup also seems almost perfect, right out of the box. At most, it might need a slight truss-rod adjustment, but I'm not even sure that will be necessary. Again, very impressed.

Just FYI, I also picked up Fender ferrules and strap locks, and a Fender control plate from a local shop (Guitar Works in Evanston). The wiring kit came with just about everything else I'll need: pots, switch, cap, their "volume kit" (treble bleed cap/resistor pair), and wire. The only other part I'll need is a switch tip.

The sound? Well, I'm never sure how much you can tell about how an electric will sound based on it's acoustic nature, but I will say that this guitar seems acoustically much more resonant/snappier/louder than the Fat Tele.

Is it the one-piece body vs. 3-piece? The fact that its thinner (1.5" versus 1 7/8")? The vintage bridge/saddle setup vs. modern 6-saddle? Who knows. But the acoustic sound/feel has me VERY excited to hear what it sounds like plugged in.

OK, all for now. Stay tuned for the "electrified" update!

bebopalula · January 7th, 2006, 12:52 AM

Re:Stay tuned for the "electrified" update!

I sure will!

sounds great so far,Tom.

(Pics!...Pix!!borrow a digicam!!!)

:P

Twangbanger · January 7th, 2006, 02:59 AM

Does it have a real fat neck.
I played one of his necks the other day and it was like a baseball bat, nothing like those Nocaster relics or such. Very big. I felt like I should have been swinging it not palying it.

Nice neck, I want one now!

FatTeleTom · January 9th, 2006, 03:42 PM

It's done!!!

Some of the solder joints aren't quite as neat as I would have liked, but everything seems to be working. I do have a couple of wiring questions, which I'll get to in a minute, but first, the 5 second review:

This is, quite simply, the best-sounding Tele I have ever played. I'm totally thrilled. I mostly play blues and soul/r&b stuff these days, and this thing seems perfectly suited for that.

It's very early days, but I'm thinking those Robben Ford tele tones, that early Bloomfield sound, and much more are going to be there for the asking. Seems to sound great clean, with mild overdrive, and with my Barber Direct Drive pedal cranked up.

I do have to note that my appreciation for Tele's is a fairly recent phenomenon, so my experience with great Tele's is pretty limited. So, apply your grain of salt. But I do hope to get Chris Rice and some other folks try this out ASAP and offer their opinions as well.

Regarding my wiring questions:

1) I didn't run a separate ground to the bridge, as I understand that's not necessary when you have a bridge pickup with a backing plate, as is the case with the Nocaster set? Noise levels are pretty low on the bridge setting, and pretty much disappear entirely when I touch the strings/bridge--I *think* this means the bridge p-up *is* wired/grounded properly?

2) However, the neck pickup does buzz loudly if I touch the pickup cover (when the neck p-up is active, that is). I've done some searching and found comments about this, but it's not clear if this is or is not normal, and if not, what the solution would be. Maybe a shaky ground connection on the neck p-up?

Any comments/suggestions appreciated.

More details, pics, comments on the neck dimensions, and such to follow, probably after I have a chance to try it out at band rehearsal Wednesday night.

Oh, btw, a quick trip to the bathroom scale suggests the Glendale Tele weighs in right at 7 lbs even. The Fat Tele is a relative boat anchor, at about 8.2 lbs ("Fat" in more ways than one?).

guitar_ed · January 9th, 2006, 04:15 PM

I ALWAYS ground my bridge. I have found that it does make a difference in noise levels.

And it can't hurt things.

Guitar Ed

Wild Rice Chris · January 9th, 2006, 05:25 PM

Tom-

The bridge is grounded correctly. It sounds like the neck pickup is not. Check the underside of the pickup to make sure that the ground connection to the cover is going to the black lead. It sounds like it is connected to white. The easiest way to solve that buzz for sure would be to run a separate ground wire from the cover to the volume pot.

Chris

FatTeleTom · January 9th, 2006, 07:00 PM

Thanks for the tips guys. I probably won't be able to open it up again until later this week, but it sounds like it should be a fairly simple fix.

I forgot to mention a comparison:

The best-sounding, best-playing guitar I've tried in a long time--maybe ever--was one of the new Eric Johnson signature Strat's. I tried one out just after Thanksgiving, and was really, really impressed. Seemed worth every penny of the $1,600 asking price.

So far, I'd say this Glendale Tele is right up there with that EJ Strat. Both in terms of feel and tone.

FatTeleTom · January 13th, 2006, 11:15 PM

Just thought I'd mention that I posted a quick cip of the Glendale Tele in action over in the Twanger section for any who might be interested:

http://www.tdpri.com/viewtopic.php?p=438740#438740

Neither the playing nor the extremely quick recording job do the guitar justice, but I just wanted to share.

FatTeleTom · January 29th, 2006, 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wild Rice Chris

The bridge is grounded correctly. It sounds like the neck pickup is not. Check the underside of the pickup to make sure that the ground connection to the cover is going to the black lead. It sounds like it is connected to white. The easiest way to solve that buzz for sure would be to run a separate ground wire from the cover to the volume pot.

Well, I finally unstrung the guitar to fix this problem (been having way too much fun playing it!), and you were right on the money Chris. I unsoldered the ground connection on the neck pickup, and did a little testing, and this was indeed the problem.

Rather than risk screwing up the pickup by trying to resolder the ground lead to the other lug on the pickup, I went ahead and ran a separate ground lead back to the volume pot as you suggested. Problem solved, and now it sounds even better than before.

By the way, I was up at Music Gallery yesterday helping a buddy check out some Custom Shop Teles--mostly a couple of Nocasters, and a really nice humbucker-equipped variation on a Nocaster.

I didn't bring the Glendale in for a direct side by side comparison, but I did plug it in as soon as I got home. And I have to say it didn't suffer by comparison at all. The playability and tone are right there.

The neck is not as huge as the Nocaster necks, but not as thin as the American Series necks--really nice middle ground thickness/width. The finish feels a little faster than the Nocasters as well.

I'm hoping to have pics developed in the next day or two.

andrew · January 29th, 2006, 10:35 PM

That track sounds great but...

I actually got to hear Dale on the radio tonight playing guitar for Max on a live radio show here in Dallas. They played the Pila Song (my favorite Max song) and gave him a great chance to solo at the end, and he made every second count. He went on for about 2 minutes of just him soloing with a bass, and rythem backing him.

I really need to chatch a live show.

December 29th, 2005, 05:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
FatTeleTom Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Evanston Age: 41 Posts: 194 3 Photos	Glendale/Rice Custom Prize--Report As you may have seen, I was lucky enough to win the "First Prize" in the TDPRI fundraising giveaway--a finished pine Tele body, neck, pickguard, tuners, bridge/compensated saddles, neckplate, knobs, and jack plate from Glendale Guitars and a set of Custom Shop Nocaster pickups from Rice Custom Guitars. I promised to keep people informed on the progress of this project, so here we go: First, as if donating the guitar & parts weren't enough, Dale was kind enough to take time to call me yesterday to let me know that tell me the guitar was on its way. And sure enough, two boxes from Glendale arrived today!!!! I've only had time for a quick look here at work (yes, it's killing me not to take this stuff home right away!), so details will have to wait. But for now, let me just say I'm extremely impressed--everything looks to be very professional and absolutely top-quality. And I do believe I'm going to love this neck. Also, less work remains to be done than I expected. The tuners are already installed, nut slots are cut, holes in the body and neck pre-drilled, etc. So the remaining work assembly should go quickly. Also, it turns out that the folks from Rice Customer Guitars are fellow Chicagolanders. I'm hoping to be able to do everything myself, but if I need any help, I'll definitely be sending the job to the Rice bros. More details to follow in the next few days--looks like it's gonna be a happy new year at my house! Thanks again to Paul, Dale, Rice Custom Guitars, and to everyone on the TDPRI who makes this forum great.

December 29th, 2005, 05:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tele62 TDPRI Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Houston, Texas Posts: 71	Congrats.. I'm going to see Dale play tonight and talk to him about building me a Glendale Tele. Thanks for the feedback. __________________ And on the 8th day.......the Telecaster was created......

December 29th, 2005, 07:00 PM	#3 (permalink)
Ron Garson Tele-Holic Join Date: May 2003 Location: UK Posts: 650 20 Photos	You will be pleased! Both of you! I put together a parts Tele, using a lot of Glendale parts, earlier this year, and it is absolutely super! I am greatly pleased to have my effort featured on the Glendale "testimonials" page! Dale is a really nice guy to do business with, and also a hell of a picker!!

January 7th, 2006, 12:52 AM	#6 (permalink)
bebopalula Tele-Meister Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: USA Posts: 324 48 Photos	Re:Stay tuned for the "electrified" update! Re:Stay tuned for the "electrified" update! I sure will! sounds great so far,Tom. (Pics!...Pix!!borrow a digicam!!!) :P

January 7th, 2006, 02:59 AM	#7 (permalink)
Twangbanger Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Marble Falls, TX Age: 28 Posts: 869 32 Photos	Does it have a real fat neck. I played one of his necks the other day and it was like a baseball bat, nothing like those Nocaster relics or such. Very big. I felt like I should have been swinging it not palying it. Nice neck, I want one now! __________________ Play'n tele till I drop! *************** Bryan Hibler

January 6th, 2006, 02:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
FatTeleTom Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Evanston Age: 41 Posts: 194 3 Photos	Oops, sorry about the "brother" screw up Chris! And yes, looking forward to the jam. It's been a busy week at work, so catching up a bit here: I was able to assemble most of the mechanical bits last Friday, while waiting for a wiring kit (ordered from TDPRI sponsor Acme Guitar Works) and pickups to arrive. The pickups arrived this afternoon, so I expect to have this fully electrified by this weekend. But until then, all comments refer to the guitar in "acoustic" mode. First, a quick look at the guitar (don't have a digital camera, so pics will take a while): The body: The silver finish is really cool. Reminds me of the classic silver you'll find on a 50's Porsche or Benz (or a modern Boxster), but with a little darker tint--a little bluish maybe? Nice metallic cast to the finish, but very different from the thick gloss on my American Series Fat Tele. Also, it came with predrilled holes for the neck and string-thru, and pilot holes for the bridge mounting screws, so assembly was a snap. The neck: Wow! A great looker--I love Dale's slight twist on the Tele headstock. Fretwork seems perfect. Thin, very smooth finish--feels very much like the "satin" finish on the Fat Tele, which I like a lot. Little narrower at the nut, but gets chunkier as you go up the neck. Feels really nice based on some quick "acoustic" playing. BTW, the neck/neck pocket fit couldn't have been better--the neck more or less snaps into place. No need to force it in, but no wiggle room either. It just "fits". Hardware: The bridge plate and saddles are truly works of art. The brushed finish really fit the body color nicely, especially with the off-white pickguard. From the saddle pics on the Glendale site, I thought the contrast between the alumunium saddle on the two brass saddles might look a little funny, but it all works nicely, at least on this guitar--really meshes with the silver finish and off-white pickguard. Easy to adjust saddle height and intonation, and the set screws are short enough that they don't extend out the top of the saddles. The knobs and milled jack cup are similarly impressive bits of machining. I'll save further comments on the knobs until I'm able to plug it in and give em a real tryout, but I'm very impressed. I went ahead and strung the guitar up to try it out. The nut seems to be cut perfectly for the 10s I put on. After a quick string-height and (rough) intonation adjustment, the setup also seems almost perfect, right out of the box. At most, it might need a slight truss-rod adjustment, but I'm not even sure that will be necessary. Again, very impressed. Just FYI, I also picked up Fender ferrules and strap locks, and a Fender control plate from a local shop (Guitar Works in Evanston). The wiring kit came with just about everything else I'll need: pots, switch, cap, their "volume kit" (treble bleed cap/resistor pair), and wire. The only other part I'll need is a switch tip. The sound? Well, I'm never sure how much you can tell about how an electric will sound based on it's acoustic nature, but I will say that this guitar seems acoustically much more resonant/snappier/louder than the Fat Tele. Is it the one-piece body vs. 3-piece? The fact that its thinner (1.5" versus 1 7/8")? The vintage bridge/saddle setup vs. modern 6-saddle? Who knows. But the acoustic sound/feel has me VERY excited to hear what it sounds like plugged in. OK, all for now. Stay tuned for the "electrified" update!

January 9th, 2006, 03:42 PM	#8 (permalink)
FatTeleTom Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Evanston Age: 41 Posts: 194 3 Photos	It's done!!! Some of the solder joints aren't quite as neat as I would have liked, but everything seems to be working. I do have a couple of wiring questions, which I'll get to in a minute, but first, the 5 second review: This is, quite simply, the best-sounding Tele I have ever played. I'm totally thrilled. I mostly play blues and soul/r&b stuff these days, and this thing seems perfectly suited for that. It's very early days, but I'm thinking those Robben Ford tele tones, that early Bloomfield sound, and much more are going to be there for the asking. Seems to sound great clean, with mild overdrive, and with my Barber Direct Drive pedal cranked up. I do have to note that my appreciation for Tele's is a fairly recent phenomenon, so my experience with great Tele's is pretty limited. So, apply your grain of salt. But I do hope to get Chris Rice and some other folks try this out ASAP and offer their opinions as well. Regarding my wiring questions: 1) I didn't run a separate ground to the bridge, as I understand that's not necessary when you have a bridge pickup with a backing plate, as is the case with the Nocaster set? Noise levels are pretty low on the bridge setting, and pretty much disappear entirely when I touch the strings/bridge--I think this means the bridge p-up is wired/grounded properly? 2) However, the neck pickup does buzz loudly if I touch the pickup cover (when the neck p-up is active, that is). I've done some searching and found comments about this, but it's not clear if this is or is not normal, and if not, what the solution would be. Maybe a shaky ground connection on the neck p-up? Any comments/suggestions appreciated. More details, pics, comments on the neck dimensions, and such to follow, probably after I have a chance to try it out at band rehearsal Wednesday night. Oh, btw, a quick trip to the bathroom scale suggests the Glendale Tele weighs in right at 7 lbs even. The Fat Tele is a relative boat anchor, at about 8.2 lbs ("Fat" in more ways than one?).

January 9th, 2006, 04:15 PM	#9 (permalink)
guitar_ed Tele-Holic Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bankrupt State of California Age: 47 Posts: 711 16 Photos	I ALWAYS ground my bridge. I have found that it does make a difference in noise levels. And it can't hurt things. Guitar Ed __________________ Piss off a politician, register to vote. When you complain about the government, remember that you ARE the government. Voting is the ultimate act of civil dis-obediance. AIM - guitar_edg Skype - guitar_edg (had to change on 5/16/06)

January 9th, 2006, 05:25 PM	#10 (permalink)
Wild Rice Chris Friend of Leo's Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Rice Custom Dungeon Posts: 2,867 27 Photos	Tom- The bridge is grounded correctly. It sounds like the neck pickup is not. Check the underside of the pickup to make sure that the ground connection to the cover is going to the black lead. It sounds like it is connected to white. The easiest way to solve that buzz for sure would be to run a separate ground wire from the cover to the volume pot. Chris __________________ "The children need to learn how to build their own environment and make their own music that is inspired by their roots."--Eugene Hütz "All music turns out to be ethnic music."--Steve Reich Enjoy, and please visit my homepage.

January 9th, 2006, 07:00 PM	#11 (permalink)
FatTeleTom Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Evanston Age: 41 Posts: 194 3 Photos	Thanks for the tips guys. I probably won't be able to open it up again until later this week, but it sounds like it should be a fairly simple fix. I forgot to mention a comparison: The best-sounding, best-playing guitar I've tried in a long time--maybe ever--was one of the new Eric Johnson signature Strat's. I tried one out just after Thanksgiving, and was really, really impressed. Seemed worth every penny of the $1,600 asking price. So far, I'd say this Glendale Tele is right up there with that EJ Strat. Both in terms of feel and tone.

January 13th, 2006, 11:15 PM	#12 (permalink)
FatTeleTom Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Evanston Age: 41 Posts: 194 3 Photos	Just thought I'd mention that I posted a quick cip of the Glendale Tele in action over in the Twanger section for any who might be interested: http://www.tdpri.com/viewtopic.php?p=438740#438740 Neither the playing nor the extremely quick recording job do the guitar justice, but I just wanted to share.

January 29th, 2006, 10:35 PM	#14 (permalink)
andrew Tele-Holic Join Date: May 2003 Location: Valley Ranch, TX Posts: 799 5 Photos	That track sounds great but... I actually got to hear Dale on the radio tonight playing guitar for Max on a live radio show here in Dallas. They played the Pila Song (my favorite Max song) and gave him a great chance to solo at the end, and he made every second count. He went on for about 2 minutes of just him soloing with a bass, and rythem backing him. I really need to chatch a live show.