flipped control plate

[GvsB]

Does anybody have a tele with a flipped control plate? If so do you have pics i can see? thanks

[Phil Jacoby]

I love the flipped plate and even went one step better and had some plates made up for using a Gibson style (Switchcraft) toggle instead of the blade switch. I can't use a 4 way or a 5 way with this, but I find I can switch PUs much easier and quicker since I can orient the axis of travel of the switch in a more intuitive up/down than the usual side/side, which also gets in the way of the adjacent knob (volume for stock layout, tone for flipped).

Of course, the vol and tone are now more accessible for swells. I prefer this set up as I don't really use effects these days and try to get a wide range of sounds between technique, vocabulary and riding the controls (including switching PUs during tunes, solos, even phrases if I can work it in).

The flipped plate just makes it that much easier, thus my Teles that much more versatile.

Sorry no pics; I'll try to post some soon. I gotta admit that I love to gloat about my Teles as I find them to be the perfect balance of function and aesthetics. Nothings extra and everything is useful. So I need to post some soon.

The flipped plate is an easy and harmless mod. Worst case scenario you'd have to extend a couple of leads. No big deal, patience and a little heat shrink. If you don't like it, you can flip it back. Have fun!

[Bob Craver]

No pics, but check out Bill Kirchen's website. Mine looks alot like his. It goes vol., tone, switch. It's great if you like to do Buchananesque volume swells.

[Mike Roberts]

Sorry... I don't have any pics either, but I did have Phil flip the control plate on my '62 Custom Reissue when he set her up with a new neck recently. Thanks dude!

This is my first Tele, so I don't have to get used to a new orientation :)

Phil's a Tele guru, that's for sure. His love for the Tele is one of the reasons I own one now.

[Cogs]

I flipped mine as well (also no pics) & I have a cool mod I will hunt down & post. This is a killer idea that is very useful.

[Cogs]

GvsB- try this: I have a parts Tele that has been through the mill & this is the configuration I settled on: I took the control-plate & flipped it around. Then I made the volume knob the knob closest to the cutaway. Now it's at the perfect spot for volume swells & horn-like solos. The switch I disconnected. The tone knob(in the middle) is now wired to be a FADER between the two pickups. It has a small pointer on it so I can tell just where I am: all the way clockwise=bridge. All the way counterclockwise=neck. Anywhere in between= the possibilities are seemingly endless. So you don't have a tone control any more. I rarely used mine anyhow. This setup is cool.

[Jon Silberman]

I flipped mine after playing Bill Kirchen's Tele the summer before last (he was our guest instructor in Nashville at the National Guitar Workshop's Hot Country Licks class). Got to reach both knobs for those Kirchen-style faux truck and train sounds!

[Sammy]

I agree with you all that the switched plate is a nice idea.

My 90's Deluxe Tele came with the plate switched. Fender has done this periodically with various models.

I went one step further and put a concentric pot in the tone hole, for both volume and tone, and plugged the other hole. The reversed plate got the switch out of the way, and the concentric pot got the volume knob out of the way. I hate having controls in my area of hand movement or placement.

My other Tele is a '72RI Custom, so it has the dual volume, dual tone control set-up way out of the way, and the 3-way is on top, LP style. I like that too.

Keep Thumpin'! Sammy!

[butnut]

Originally posted by Phil Jacoby
I love the flipped plate and even went one step better and had some plates made up for using a Gibson style (Switchcraft) toggle instead of the blade switch.

Hey Phil. Where did you get the custom plate from. I have 2 HB's and I'm thinking of puttin a Les Paul toggle right where Gibson put's 'em on my Tele. Then, I want to put 4 pots in a row on a custom control plate. Basicly, just a plate with 4 holes. Can ya help me? Thanks.

[Phil Jacoby]

Any Machine shop can make you one. Take your old one, trace it on paper and mic out the measurements you want. A small machine shop is your best bet. I went stainless and polished it up with rouge on a grinder with a buffing wheel, so I didn't have to have it plated.

Have fun!

[butnut]

Thanks Phil. I may just try and make one. No need to be that perfect as it will go with the relic look I need.