This is not the first partscaster I’ve built but it is the first Telecaster-styled partscaster I’ve attempted. I have learned the following lessons:
- Neck was bought from a no-name brand on Amazon for about $50 bucks - it’s actually quite nice. 14 inch radius, two-way truss rod adjusted from the heel. looks like Indian rosewood. if you are willing to put in the fret work and want to save money, a cheap neck with a two way truss rod is the way to go. you can fix almost any kind of neck with a two way truss rod and get it dead straight.
- Body was bought from aeguitars.com. Allegedly it’s alder but it seems a bit too light and soft for alder. I suspect it’s poplar? The body shipped quickly to me but had a lot of off-gassing smell for a few days. The finish looks nice but the neck pocket is NOT tight.
- pickups are the EMG-T set. the neck pickup did not fit into the pickguard (also a cheap no-name brand from amazon, I picked it for the pattern). Cheap parts are nice but be prepared to get work with a file or Dremel.
- A telecaster is (counterintuitively) harder to build than a Strat. It’s a very nerve wracking process to position the bridge.
- If you’re used to building Strats, don’t forget the a Telecaster has a SINGLE cutaway body. Don’t drill the strap button hole on the horn… ask me how I know.
Nice! Keep us posted. My GF got me a “Leo Jaymz” tele kit for Christmas, mahogany body and maple neck, excited to get to work on it once the weather here permits finishing. Will be quite the departure from my CBG’s, even though it’s a ready-made kit
Looks awesome, nice build!
Mind if I ask you how much of a pain in the ass is it to swap out pick ups? I recently started playing again and have been paying more attention to some of the gear some bands I listen to use. I was thinking about swapping out the pickups in a Squire Tele I bought, because why not tinker around - https://www.mk-guitar.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=22_32&products_id=114
Might do the bridge as well.
I’m good with cracking open computers and changing out components. I could probably use some practice on soldering though.
changing pickups is not super hard, but does take a little time. You will need a soldering iron and various soldering supplies, and some wire, wire stripper/cutter, and maybe electrical tape (or shrink wrap if you want to do a more fancy job) etc.
Shrink wrap or heat shrink tubing? I’ve always used the latter.
Heat shrink tubing yeah lol. Had a brain fart.
I thought I was doing something wrong for years hahaha.
