"upgraded" Standard Telecasters

[i love sharin foo]

Has anyone tried these out? Fairly recently, they started shielding these better, went with higher output pickups, and went up to medium jumbo fretwire. I read what I could find on Harmony Central about them, but there wasn't much there. Most info is obviously on the older ones. I see that they are now using alder for the body wood, too. The main thing I am wondering about is how the pickups sound compared with the lower output ones that they used to use. Odds are, I will replace them with different ones more suited to what I like though (lower output usually, though a hotter bridge PU may be nice to have). I won't be trying one out before I buy though because I'm going to get it from Musicians Friend. I am sending a few things abck to them for credit.

I am also DEFINITELY adding a Bigsby B16  I have always wanted to have one on a Telecaster. I think they look really neat too. It should look really good on the black Telecaster too. 



Justin

[aen]

I've only played them unplugged.

But as usual they were the best feeling and unplugged sounding guitars in the store.  99 times out of 100 when i pick up a MIM standard tele, it goes bwwaaaaaannnnnggg! while the rest of the store goes "dunka dunka"

[i love sharin foo]

I've only played them unplugged.

But as usual they were the best feeling and unplugged sounding guitars in the store.  99 times out of 100 when i pick up a MIM standard tele, it goes bwwaaaaaannnnnggg! while the rest of the store goes "dunka dunka"

I know what you mean! I had a Standard Strat once and it was really nice. It felt perfect and did resonate really well unplugged. I had a CIJ Strat at the same and I almost never used it. It just didn't play, feel, or sound nearly as good as the cheaper MIM model. It amazes me to think that the price used to be $269 for the standars in solid finishes. Now it's $399! They're well worth that IMO though.

Justin

[CLETUStheFETUS]

I wonder if you could slap one of these ona  jazzmaster... What do you think? Is that evena possiblitly?

[i love sharin foo]

I suppose. You would have to fill the trem route, trim the end of the pickguard, route it for the Telecaster bridge pickup, then file off the lip on the underside of the Bigsby. IMO it definitely wouldn't be worth the time or money to do it. You'd be better off starting with a stock Jazzmaster body that isn't routed for a trem and then add a stock B5 Bigsby to that.

Justin

[i love sharin foo]

update:

I finally got ahold of a black Standard Telecaster, like I had planned. It was sold as "NOS", so it isn't one of the new "upgraded" ones. Regardless, it plays well, sounds pretty nice and is real quiet. I think I am going to go ahead and buy the B16 for it, along with the old school Bigsby "bow tie" bridge. The only problem I can see is that the Bigsby bow tie was made with a wound G string in mind, so I won't be able to intonate the G as well as I'd like. For what I do though, that shouldn't be a huge problem.

Also, I had planned on swapping in a better neck pickup. Then I started thinking about it more and realized that regardless, if I want a ncie enck pickup sound, I will usually grab a Jazzmaster. So going for a better bridge tone might make it a more useful guitar. So, I think I am going to convert it to an Esquire for now  I mean, I could always change it back later if I wanted to. I've been reading up on some of the different bridge pickups that are out there right now. So far, some of the Duncan Antiquities are seeming pretty nice. They're kind of expensive though. But it's still cheaper to buy one really nice pickup versus two cheaper ones. I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Justin

[i love sharin foo]

Another update  :









As you can see, I went with the Esquire idea. I used a Seymour Duncan Antiquity pickup with the '55 specs ( raised D anf G pole pieces). It also got a Switchcraft jack, CRL 3 way switch, CTS pots, and Orange drop caps. I also shielded everything a ton. It was quiet before and it still is now. I can't believe how many tones can be had from the one pickup. I will NEVER miss a neck pickup in this particular guitar, ever! I had to shim the neck a TON to get the angle I needed for the height of the Bigsby bridge. I also had to do a signficant amount of work to actually fit the pickup inside the Bigsby as well. After that, I had to cut slots in the bridge, too. It is set up with some .011 gauge Pyramid flats and feels real nice. I might fine tune the neck angle at some point, but for now it is pretty good.

Justin

[chrisjedijane]

very nice indeed!

[sexy andy]

wow that bigsby looks totally badass

[mynameisjonas]

wow that bigsby looks totally badass

badass 

[frippy]

It looks amazing Justin 

As I read through the thread I thought that guitar really needed an SD Antiquity '55 tele bridge p/up -- glad to see you went with it. Are you going to leave the tuners stock or convert to vintage-style Gotohs?

Lest I forget, you did well to score an NOS pre-'06 tele -- the necks are finished better IMO. The body should be alder, as with the *upgraded* teles.

[Superfuzz]

WOW! I bet if J Mascis look at this will stop using JM..

[i love sharin foo]

It looks amazing Justin 

As I read through the thread I thought that guitar really needed an SD Antiquity '55 tele bridge p/up -- glad to see you went with it. Are you going to leave the tuners stock or convert to vintage-style Gotohs?

Thanks Paul!

Actually, at some point, I want to put an Allparts vintage style one piece maple neck on it. It'll have to be finished in lacquer of course  . I want to get an Esquire decal for that one, too. I have a Telecaster Deluxe project lying around that will end up using the Standard neck at some point. Right now though, the stock neck feels really nice. The fretwork is superb and the nut came cut really well.

Justin

[frippy]

Thanks Paul!

Actually, at some point, I want to put an Allparts vintage style one piece maple neck on it. It'll have to be finished in lacquer of course  . I want to get an Esquire decal for that one, too. I have a Telecaster Deluxe project lying around that will end up using the Standard neck at some point. Right now though, the stock neck feels really nice. The fretwork is superb and the nut came cut really well.

Justin

You're welcome, Justin!

A one-piece maple neck would make it very sweet and the Esquire decal would make for a great aesthetic. The stock necks on the '00-'05 teles are surprisingly good in my experience. Now a gold anodized pickguard would really set it apart 

Is the Telecaster Deluxe project the Jazz-blaster you were working on? BTW, who is the photo/sticker on the Tel-Esquire of?

[i love sharin foo]

Is the Telecaster Deluxe project the Jazz-blaster you were working on? BTW, who is the photo/sticker on the Tel-Esquire of?

I have the Jazzblaster all finished up. The Telecaster Deluxe project is an entirely different one    I bought a Squier Deluxe body a while back for practically nothing, so that is at the center of it. I've done some routing to fit actual Wide Range humbuckers in it and I also have a black tele Deluxe guard for it. Besides that, I have some other odds and ends lying around for it. I haven't been actively working on it for a while though. I also have a TOM bridge for it (thanks DDD  ) since it will have a Bigsby when finished.

Tho photo on it is of Jenny from the Warlocks.

Justin