Give me some ideas\advice\input

[Double Tones]

Hey Whats UP?

I am looking foward to receiving this cool tele body!



So far, I am thinking gold hardware. Including a gold bigsby.
Kinman broadcaster pickups. 24.3/4 Conversion neck...

I am really looking for a contol plate with three holes drilled, so I can use a les paul style toggle switch.

Thanks!

[Marcondo]

Looks like a Squier body someone painted LPB then tried to Relic.

Just like the foundation of a house the body is very important.

I personally wouldnt use KInmans gold hardware and all the best parts on the least expensive body Fender makes.

I think your project might be alot more successful if you tried another body maybe a solid ash one?

[Double Tones]

Its not a squier body.

[fezz parka]

What kind of body is it? (Ash alder, basswood, poplar?)

I'd go with silver hardware. I can't stand the look of gold hardware. White guard, rosewood 25.5 scale neck, Bigsby B-50, traditional box bridge w/ threaded steel saddles, Fender OV '52 RI pups. But again, this is what I'd do.:tw59

[NeoFauve]

What's going on in the neck rout?
The pickguard will hide it (them), but structurally, (unless you got a major bargain), I'd be a little concerned about those two round divots where the end of the neck should pretty much butt snugly.
Usually that should be pretty straight with a small radius in each corner.
When assembled, your neck will only be making about 1/3 of the contact it should on that surface. (Something to consider.)

Fezz pointed out some resonably priced ebay bodies a couple of weeks ago.
Good luck, but be careful.

Have you considered making a plate? It's just a rectagle with rounded ends.
FWIW- if you're sticking with LPB, I think chrome will look nicer than gold. LPB is my fave Fender hue, BTW. :yay

[butnut]

Originally posted by Double Tones
Hey Whats UP?


I am really looking for a contol plate with three holes drilled, so I can use a les paul style toggle switch.

Thanks!

Been there...done that. :blp

I sold my favorite LP Custom over 12 years ago so this is the closest I'm gonna get to that setup.
I've noticed that exact wierd neck route on one of my MIM Fender bodies too...I've also read that the bottom of the heel should be snug against the neck pocket....kinda hard with some wood missing eh?
Nice color DT...I like gold on black Les Paul Customs...everything else chrome!:} Good luck with your Tele.

[bzimm]

Yeah, I bet it was the neck pocket route that lead Marcondo to believe it was a Squire body. I haven't seen one like that before.

Looks like the blue is just flaking off because the original finish wasn't prepped before painting.

If it where mine I'd restore the org finish.

[Cogs]

I would DEFINITELY strip that to see what it is underneath. That would tell me how much to invest in all the rest. It doesn't look like a Fender route pattern, but the body appears to be solid wood. That's a good sign. What kind of wood is another matter...
I borrowed a P-bass from a friend thinking I might buy it from him, & when I took the neck off, I found PLYWOOD:dead

[Double Tones]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Man, I just noticed that neck pocket thing.
I don't know whats up with that! How will the neck
fit in tightly now? Can I fill in those spaces with anything?
I am not intereseted in taking the paint off this thing, I love the color. However, it is double bound and I would like to take the painting off the binding, to expose that. How do you do that? Is it as simple as scraping it off?

Thanks All!

[Cogs]

You're in a tough spot. The paint has probably cured to a point (judging from the flaking) that will make scraping the binding impossible w/out chipping & more flaking. Stripping the body will be difficult because the stripper could melt the binding. Maybe masking off the body & sanding would do the trick.
Filling the neck pocket spaces is just going to be hard to do if you want to keep the blue paint on there since that will require wood or bondo & sanding & shaping.
I will recommend again that you do a complete refin, stripping the large areas & gently sanding the binding. Reranch can supply you with a lot of cool colors, even Lake Placid Blue, which is what looks like whoever painted it blue in the first place was going for.
You can't always git what you want.

[fezz parka]

Can you get out of the deal? If you can, do it and buy this

[Cogs]

Originally posted by fezz parka
Can you get out of the deal? If you can, do it and buy this

There ya go! That guy must really know his math; he dismembers all those MIM guitars & YOU KNOW he's making a buck or two. He's got at least fifteen bodies listed, & all the parts from the complete guitars...Chop shop!
Not too spendy, either. But he says this is ash:

NOT!

[frank thomson]

dt....w/ all due respect.......yuk!

imho, it doesn't look like a solid body.

what's up w/ that middle hole in the neck pocket? it looks like they dug it out w/ a penknife...

so the body was bound and they spray painted it?

sorry, but unless that body was free, i think you paid too much.

and i think DEFINITELY gold hdwe would look terrible on THAT relic'd bod.

sorry....jmho

[Cogs]

That's what happens when you shoot lacquer or something over poly. It flakes off. Notice there's no "real" wear, like a soft fade from a fore-arm rubbing on the lower bout on the gbass side??
The hole in the neck pocket is from some sort of tooling jig. After looking at that other Tele body, I'm thinking it might be MIM, also.

[Cogs]

Ouch!
3705653177

[Double Tones]

Man......I got burned on this deal.

I really shoulda checked with you guys first!

Oh well. I will wait til it arrives and see what I can do with it.
I mean I know it was never going to be an "amazing, studio quality" guitar. I have a Gibson Les Paul Custom for that!

Anyway, now that you've seen the ad, and embarressed the hell out of me,...what do you think of the ad? Is there any truth to it?

crap

[Marcondo]

That guy on ebay is selling MIM STD bodies. WHat he does is buy factory seconds and guitars that have been dropped at places like guitar center and parts them out.

Here is a pic of the 50's Classic body its solid ash and uses the standard oldtime Tele routes.





Here is the same body stripped of most of the poly.

[NeoFauve]

Yup, you were burned.
But I don't think it was anybody's intention to embarrass you.

Always check in here before bidding on anything slightly mysterious. Lots of wise guitar people around here.

Hope you can salvage that thing, whatever it is.
I'm not as informed as some of these guys, but I tend to doubt that it's actually a "Vintage Tele body" as stated in the ad. People selling the real deal might include close-ups of a date written in pencil somewhere, initialed by a vintage Fender employee.
I don't know.
Short of a refund, the best revenge would be to make some great music with that puppy.

:yay

[Cogs]

The bad news is: Yeah, you got burned! That's definitely NOT a vintage body; I doubt everything that guy said in his ad.
The good news is: That body is most likely alder. I've never heard of anyone making a basswood or poplar bound Tele. Even the MIM Teles & Strats were ash & alder if they were see-thru blonde or sunburst.
*I* think the best revenge (aside from the great music & possible negative or neutral feedback on eBay) would be to give that thing a killer finish. It's not that hard, really, & there are a lot of guys here that have done it before & could walk you through it.
Of course, you need a rosewood fingerboard neck on that baby! And these guys can make the 24 1/2 scale Tele-style neck for you. Click on the link & scroll down to "Retro-fit Conversion Guitar Necks".

[Cogs]

Marcondo- That body has some nice grain to it. What's it look like now?

[Marcondo]

Pretty sure the body looks the same its a friends body I wanted to show the routes and what it looks like under all the poly.

Surprised the wood was that good really they did use some nice grain.

I think they save the better woods for the 2 tone finish 50's Classics check these out.

[Double Tones]

Hey whats up,

Got the tele body today.

Its quite thick and pretty heavy! Doesn't feel like junk.
The finish looks pretty cool in person and there is natural fading on the front near the pickguard area and some of the forearm are on top.

It has that "old vintage" smell of a piece of gear thats been around for a while. IMHO, I think this baby has some mojo!

There is definately top binding on this thang.

Is it possible its from warmoth or usa customs or some other type
aftermarket body replacement? I actually like the finish and don't want to strip it. So any other ways of finding out what kinda of wood it is?

Thanks!

[ProzaKc]

Heavy isn't always good. I have a '52 RI that is very light and
plays great. About that neck pocket, I have an Am. Standard with the much sought after swimming pool rout ( ) that has that over routed neck with the rounded off bottom. It sounds fine.