Help identifying a 73 Telecaster.

[Peteurre]

Are those the obligatory schaller replacement tuners?

Is swapping the the tuners a common mod on the 70s Teles and Strats? Mine still has the original F-stamped tuners, and eventhough I can feel that they are tighter than the 50s style Klusons on my Custom Shop '56 Strat, I haven't really noticed that they did not function properly. I do remember Zac Childs on his Ask Zac youtube channel mentioning that they were inferior to the Klusons, and that they were not easily interchangeable, as the screwholes do not align... Are the F-style tuners so bad, that many people would swap them? I guess what I'm really asking is: Should I consider this on my own '73?

 

[msalama]

The Fs work per se, but their gear ratio was a lowish 14:1 whereas Kluson's was always 15:1, which made them more accurate and smoother feeling. So yes, Kluson's original design is actually a wee bit better than the Schaller F.

 

[Nobster]

Is swapping the the tuners a common mod on the 70s Teles and Strats? Mine still has the original F-stamped tuners, and eventhough I can feel that they are tighter than the 50s style Klusons on my Custom Shop '56 Strat, I haven't really noticed that they did not function properly. I do remember Zac Childs on his Ask Zac youtube channel mentioning that they were inferior to the Klusons, and that they were not easily interchangeable, as the screwholes do not align... Are the F-style tuners so bad, that many people would swap them? I guess what I'm really asking is: Should I consider this on my own '73?

Nope. I still have the old F-style tuners on my '73 and they work fine, so no need to change them. I did change one sometime around 1979 because it got severely bent after a fall. In those days though you could just walk into a music shop and they'd happily give you an odd used F tuner out of a box of spare Fender parts that was behind the counter. I can no longer remember which one I changed but I guess it was one of the end ones.

 

[reggy_nz]

Also no doubt the brass nut was installed around the same time, seems as though that was a common “upgrade”? In the 70s?

 

[Fretting out]

Is swapping the the tuners a common mod on the 70s Teles and Strats? Mine still has the original F-stamped tuners, and eventhough I can feel that they are tighter than the 50s style Klusons on my Custom Shop '56 Strat, I haven't really noticed that they did not function properly. I do remember Zac Childs on his Ask Zac youtube channel mentioning that they were inferior to the Klusons, and that they were not easily interchangeable, as the screwholes do not align... Are the F-style tuners so bad, that many people would swap them? I guess what I'm really asking is: Should I consider this on my own '73?

Nothing wrong with them but that was the era of “I need to swap tuners” and “I need a brass nut!”

I wouldn’t change them

It’s like the fad of people putting locking tuners on their guitars immediately because the internet says stock tuners are crap

 

[msalama]

In the 70s?

Yah, they were very common back then, as daft as it was.

 

[reggy_nz]

And any other suggestions on what the pickups might be?
The Dimarzio PreB1 sounds logical to me but I’d love to get something more concrete.

 

[Fretting out]

Woe I didn’t even realize the o.p’s guitar has a brass nut

Super 70’s!

 

[Peteurre]

Woe I didn’t even realize the o.p’s guitar has a brass nut

Super 70’s!

I hadn't noticed either. What was the reason for opting for brass nuts? (I feel tempted to make some kind of joke about the extremly tight and revealing pants being worn by rock stars in the late 60s and 70s, and something about nuts made of brass, but hey, we are adults here.) I'm guessing it's something to do with the sound, which leads to the next question: The OP's guitar also has alternative saddles - looks like brass. Would this also be a common 70s mod? Or maybe something people would still do today?

 

[msalama]

What was the reason

People thought they increase sustain manyfold. Yah, they also wore flared trousers and platform shoes, so that particular fad wasn't the only thing they got wrong.

 

[Fretting out]

I hadn't noticed either. What was the reason for opting for brass nuts? (I feel tempted to make some kind of joke about the extremly tight and revealing pants being worn by rock stars in the late 60s and 70s, and something about nuts made of brass, but hey, we are adults here.) I'm guessing it's something to do with the sound, which leads to the next question: The OP's guitar also has alternative saddles - looks like brass. Would this also be a common 70s mod? Or maybe something people would still do today?

Yup the era of Heavy is better!

12 pound les Paul’s with all brass appointments! Sustain for days!

In the late 70’s early 80’s Ibanez made a solid brass guitar for namm, it weighs somewhere around 80 pounds

It was very common back then to have brass parts on your guitar

 

[reggy_nz]

So the bridge pickup has been repaired and is measuring 14.2k, sounds like a Pre-B1 Dimarzio?

 

[msalama]

Does sound like a 70's hot DiMarzio or some such, yeah.

 

[msalama]

Sustain for days!

My '73 is only 9.7 lbs and has no brass HW whatsoever, yet still sustains for days. So those 70's types with their flares and platforms were wrong!

 

[reggy_nz]

What was the deal with brass nuts?
After playing the guitar for a week, plugged in and acoustically I wondering how much of a part the nut plays. The guitar rings out acoustically very nicely but I’m unsure if this is the guitar itself or the nut?
It seems as though it was a thing in the 70s? But died out after that.

 

[Antoon]

Does it sound equally well with a capo on the first fret? I would say it is the guitar that sounds good.

 

[msalama]

What was the deal with brass nuts?

Too much grass and coke.

 

[scotabilly]

What was the deal with brass nuts?
After playing the guitar for a week, plugged in and acoustically I wondering how much of a part the nut plays. The guitar rings out acoustically very nicely but I’m unsure if this is the guitar itself or the nut?
It seems as though it was a thing in the 70s? But died out after that.

I have a brass nut on my '76 Strat. I don't think it really contributes either way. I think brass saddles make a difference though.

 

[scotabilly]

My '73 is only 9.7 lbs and has no brass HW whatsoever, yet still sustains for days. So those 70's types with their flares and platforms were wrong!

I had a '73 Tele that I recently sold. It was 8lbs, 14oz., rosewood fretboard. All original except a refret and bone nut. Sounded great. Made me rethink the whole 1 Meg pot theory.

 

[reggy_nz]

Bit of an update on the guitar. I got the bridge pickup fixed (wires had come off) it read 14.2k.
I installed it to see how it sounded and it was not to bad actually. I decided as they weren’t original I’d replace them to something more my taste so I’ve just installed a set of Mr Glyn (made in New Zealand) Cruel Mistress pickups which sound great.
Replaced pots with new cts250k with a treble bleed. Metal black pickguard was replaced with an all parts parchment. Going to keep the 3 way switch, 1meg pots and Dimarzio pickups as part of its story.
Here’s a quick demo (of one of my fuzz builds) but it’s the only video I have of the new pickguard. (Some other videos showing the new pickups are on my channel too)