Good sounding...but ugly

[TG]

Totally shallow and superficial problem here.

I've done a partcaster tele with a black Squier Affinity body and a 50s Classic Esquire neck. Originally it was an esquire and it was fine. Had a parchment single ply pickguard.

But I had a spare strat pickup around and I bunged it in just for curiosity's sake and the thing sounds amazing. It's light, plays like butter and has 3 gorgeous sounds.

But I really hate the way it looks now with the strat pickup. I know it shouldn't really matter...but it does. My other guitars are great to look at with rich sunburst finishes and this one just seems plain and dull. And the odd thing is, it looked great when it was just an esquire. It looked right.
But now it doesn't.

I'm going to try a black pickup cover, but any other ideas would be appreciated. Or you can just tell me to shut up and play the nice guitar.

Here's a pic...

[Telepatio]

shut up and play the thing! cover it in stickers if it needs character!

[dimenjj]

It looks fine to me, and if plays as good as you say, who cares? Enjoy it and play the hell out of it. Robbie Robertson played a Strat with only two (2) pickups, it looked a bit weird, but it worked for him and sounded great. Happy New Year!

[BritishBluesBoy]

How about a black pickup cover and black pickguard...??

[Scotland]

Looks good to me. I think a black cover would draw attention to the fact it has a Strat pickup in it. Whte on white is almost Esquire looking.

[daviddoubleu]

If it sounds good, it's good.

[blue metalflake]

Get one of those parchment coloured p/u covers - alternatively send it around 200 miles NE.

[Telenator]

You could always put a few stickers on it and really make it ugly! LOL!

[dtube]

Your dilemma is similar to something I went through a few months back. In a nutshell: if someone would make a shiny silver or chrome, plastic cover for Strat-size single coils, then that pickup would not look out of place in the neck slot on a Tele.
-Darren

[TG]

Originally Posted by dtube

Your dilemma is similar to something I went through a few months back. In a nutshell: if someone would make a shiny silver or chrome, plastic cover for Strat-size single coils, then that pickup would not look out of place in the neck slot on a Tele.
-Darren

I've looked, and they only come in sets. Also, my strat pickup is a Dimarzio Area61 and I think the cover is slightly larger than normal. I'll find out when the black cover turns up.
If a standard cover fits perhaps I'll invest in a chrome set.

The black pickguard idea is kind of sexy too, BBB.
GFS do black ones for strat pups, I think.

[tiktok]

Originally Posted by dimenjj

It looks fine to me, and if plays as good as you say, who cares? Enjoy it and play the hell out of it. Robbie Robertson played a Strat with only two (2) pickups, it looked a bit weird, but it worked for him and sounded great. Happy New Year!

Robbie's Strat actually had three Strat pickups in it, he just had the middle pickup moved to sit right next to the bridge pickup, so it looked like a double-coil and freed up space for his fingerpicks which were getting hung up on the traditional Strat middle pup placement.

[modelo dos]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

How about a black pickup cover and black pickguard...??

Took the words right out of my mouth. My '95 AmStd was white on black from the factory...for 15 bucks it looks worlds better with a black pickguard on it...just my op. Of course, you'd probably want to go with a black p'up cover, too.

[Highway_61]

[boneyguy]

Originally Posted by BritishBluesBoy

How about a black pickup cover and black pickguard...??

Best suggestion so far. Kinda what I was thinking.

Or a 3 ply b/w/b guard with either the white or black p/u cover would look interesting.

It definately needs a black pickguard but I think having it 3 ply would give it some nice contrast/definition against the body.

[dtube]

Originally Posted by Highway_61

I have a set of those; what I'd like to see though is a solid plastic (or aluminum) shell - no holes for pole pieces. Granted, it would have to be made deep to accommodate units with staggered poles.
-Darren

[aznrambo481]

If you really wanted to be adventurous.. you could try making it a "stealth esquire" (neck pup under the pg). I don't know whether the neck pup would be strong enough to cope with this, though..

[TG]

Originally Posted by aznrambo481

If you really wanted to be adventurous.. you could try making it a "stealth esquire" (neck pup under the pg). I don't know whether the neck pup would be strong enough to cope with this, though..

I tried that first (and posted a thread about it somewhere). It was too far down to be much use unless I wired the 2 pickups in series. That worked...but compared to the 'proper' sound of the neck and middle settings with the pickup mounted properly it wasn't good enough.

[Flat357]

Not sure why it's a problem .
If you hadn't pointed out that it had a Strat pup , I probably wouldn't of noticed .
Regarding guards , there are literally hundreds of choices and styles to choose from .
I'm sure if you research , you'll come up with something unique to yourself that will look good .

[Lane in MS]

Just get some white nail polish, or white model paint, and paint the pole pieces white on the neck p'up. They should disappear against the pickguard, and you're back to looking like an esquire!

[JNE]

I'd say "just play it", but as I had a similar dilemma with my partscaster a good while ago, I understand how you feel

I'd perhaps try the stealth mode first, but I'm not sure whether that Strat pu is strong enough to keep the good sounds when it's tucked under the pickguard.
Another option for a stealth job could be to fit the pu with a white "hole-less" Mustang pu cover?

I ended up putting a black pu cover and white pickguard. IMHO the black cover (with holes) complemented nicely with the bridge pu. It was also sort of a bold statement against white pickguard, in a "I'm not trying to hide it even if it's indeed a Strat pu on my Tele" way

[Yutaka]

I'd vote for a 3 ply tortoise guard + a black PU cover...

[Flat357]

http://www.eldoradostraps.com/products-over.htm

[bendecaster]

TG, I think that is a fine looking Tele! I am with the "shut up & play your guitar" mode of thinking!

[aznrambo481]

Originally Posted by TG

I tried that first (and posted a thread about it somewhere). It was too far down to be much use unless I wired the 2 pickups in series. That worked...but compared to the 'proper' sound of the neck and middle settings with the pickup mounted properly it wasn't good enough.

I knew I saw a thread on the topic somewhere.. didn't remember it was you. Yeah, that's the drawback... If you ever get another esquire going, you might want to try an overwound strat pickup.