New Tele Clones I'm building

[chuckocaster]

Hey everyone! I've been building a couple more Tele clones since the last time I posted, 2 Pine bodies and a Paisley.

1: 1.5" Pine body I cut from an old chest of drawers that I found on the side of the road. It's an homage to the old Snakehead Teles of yore. It's not a 1:1 copy, more of an "in the vein" type thing. Right now I have a Squier A3 Classic Vibe bridge pup, Wilkinson bridge, All Parts aged neck, Kluson tuners, and an Electrosocket with a Swtichcraft jack. Electronics are CTS pots wired for Vol and tone. Still have more work to do on it, but it's getting close to being done. I plan on playing it some tonight and working on the setup.







2: 1.75" Pine Tele with TV Jones pups, Compensated Titanium saddles, custom made sparkle guard, all the good electronics parts, and a sparkle paint job by me. I think the neck is from All Parts? I don't remember as I put this together awhile ago, and I've been buying necks from Aurora Customs on Reverb. I built this as a "period" piece, something someone would've put together in the early 60's. I'm COMPLETELY in love with it.

[ch willie]

I couldn't say which one is cooler, but they are both cool and interesting.

[CoyotesGator]

Way cool!

[melody]

Pics man we need pics...

[chuckocaster]

I posted pics Melody, but looking today they aren't showing up... Hmm. I'll check if I did something wrong

[OldStrummer]

I posted pics Melody, but looking today they aren't showing up... Hmm. I'll check if I did something wrong

The links are showing an extension of .html, not .jpg. It would seem something has decided the "proper" ending is html and added it to them (i.e, smg.photobucket.../photo.jpg.html).

[ch willie]

I keep going back to look at that pine Tele. Geez I like it.

[chuckocaster]

Thanks man! I'm really digging the way Pine sounds, the Pink one is really bitchin'! Probably helps I have primo TV Jones in it!!! LOL

[melody]

I too am diggin that pine Tele she is just purdy! Nice work Chucko...

[DanTheBluesMan]

I thought you were building a lefty for a second there until I saw the mirror frame.

[pc]

Nice!!!

[chuckocaster]

The Squier Classic Vibe pup is really good!!! I'm quite impressed with the sound, I'm going to leave it as I see no reason to swap it out. And here I was already planning on buying something "better"! LOL Didn't even give it a chance but now I'm glad I didn't get in a rush

[melody]

I may have to retract my last post that sparkle Tele just dose it.. You nailed it bro on both!

[Don]

Those are so cool!

[dirtdog]

definitely cool!

[DanTheBluesMan]

when I sold my esquire (parted out) I kept my Squier bridge pickup. Love those, even sought one out for the build because I like my CV50's so much.

you can find them for 20-25 dollars all day long

[chuckocaster]

Yep, I got mine from Angela Instruments NOS for $30 shipped.

[CoyotesGator]

How did you do the sparkle finish?

I keep coming back to it.

[chuckocaster]

I spray the base color, then mist from about 2 feet away with DupliColor Metal Specks in Silver. It takes some practice so it lays out even and doesn't look patchy. But it's not too hard, it's better to go fast and do multiple light coats. It'll look like crap if you don't. Once you're happy with the amount of flake, you bury it in clear. The sparkles are like grains of sand, so it takes a lot of clear to smooth out. And while I like my sparkle jobs, they don't look like what "real" painters do. But I like it, and it seems a lot of other people do too.

Thanks for the kind words! And I'm excited about how your bass turned out, subtle and classy!!!

[CoyotesGator]

Cheers!

[chuckocaster]

I may have to retract my last post that sparkle Tele just dose it.. You nailed it bro on both!

Thanks man! It sounds amazing to boot. I used a set of TV Jones FilterTrons in it, along with a set of compensated Titanium saddles. I normally use brass, but had been intrigued with what Ti might sound like. They're usually pretty pricey but GFS sells them for like $30. So WTF! I figured even if they suck I could flip them. But they sound great and that's that. I decided a Mint guard would cap the guitar off perfectly, really nail an early 60's vibe, which is the look I was going for. I built this as if someone may have put it together in that time period. Maybe they snapped the neck off their Gretsch or something? Same reason I went with the chopped bridge and notched pickguard. Didn't go for perfect, even though I built from scratch, as I wanted it to look like a hotrodded guitar.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Oh man. NOW I get what you're all about lol! Very nice projects and although difficult to pick a favorite, I have a soft spot for recycled/ reclaimed wood so I REALLY dig that first one... love the maple with that pine. Second one is sincerely nice too however. That rosewood goes quite well with the copper(?) sparkle. I have to ask though... are you ambidextrous? Anyway... thanks for posting and btw, you have done NOTHING to help quell my Tele gas lol!

[chuckocaster]

LOL I haven't figured that out either... I have WAY too many guitars and I can't seem to stop. Oh well, it's a lot of fun.

[CoyotesGator]

LOL I haven't figured that out either... I have WAY too many guitars and I can't seem to stop. Oh well, it's a lot of fun.

I know that feeling!

[Don]

LOL I haven't figured that out either... I have WAY too many guitars and I can't seem to stop. Oh well, it's a lot of fun.

It's a sickness Chuck! I don't build guitars often, but like to work on guitars and amps.

A few weeks ago I rescued a 1983 Carvin DC150. Last week I bought a Carvin Bolt kit build that needed help. They both became really nice guitars with a few hours of work and a few bucks in parts. The Bolt has a Floyd Rose tremolo which is something that I have very little experience with but have enjoyed working on. I'll try to start a new thread about this guitar.

[ch willie]

I wish I had the talent to build one. My hands are shaky, so it's hard for me to solder. And if you ever saw my woodworking skills, you'd beg me never to try!

Anyway, I'm always impressed with the guitars y'all build. My soon to be former father in law, a great player, builds incredible Les Paul copies, carving them himself--body and neck. Custom shop quality at that.

[CoyotesGator]

It's a sickness Chuck! I don't build guitars often, but like to work on guitars and amps.

A few weeks ago I rescued a 1983 Carvin DC150. Last week I bought a Carvin Bolt kit build that needed help. They both became really nice guitars with a few hours of work and a few bucks in parts. The Bolt has a Floyd Rose tremolo which is something that I have very little experience with but have enjoyed working on. I'll try to start a new thread about this guitar.

Hey Don,

If you have time, I would love to see pics of the DC150.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Hey Don,

If you have time, I would love to see pics of the DC150.

Echoing Don's comment. Carvin owner here.

[Franklin]

Very cool chuckocaster!! I like them both!

[chuckocaster]

Here's the Paisley Tele I built for myself, I tried to replicate another Tele I built for myself but sold to a friend after he had borrowed it... He didn't want to give it back, and I also loved the way it sounded. So I got a body and pups from GFS, a 10K rail bridge pup like I used in the other one, and their version of a Gibson Mini. Honestly, their Mini is ok, but nothing compared to the real thing! I would order another one, but would rather spend the extra cash and get the real thing.

[chuckocaster]

My newest Tele project is a 70's Deluxe. I've always really wanted a Tele Deluxe, but I could never afford the real thing, so I decided to build my own. I was patient and kept searching on Reverb for parts, what I had to buy was pups and a neck. Like I mentioned previously, I've been buying my necks from Aurora Customs on Reverb. They're a great company, good prices and they sell WD and AllParts necks. You can get relic or regular finish, along with tuners and other hardware. Fast shipping and great customer service. I also found a used loaded pickguard for a really good price, and I didn't mind that it was a little beat up, I was building a relic after all. The body I cut from an Ash blank I've had laying around for a couple years, and I painted it myself. I cut down a "chopped" Tele bridge to use on this, where this would normally get a hardtail Strat bridge, I much prefer the barrel saddles. I've been using Wilkinson compensated saddles on pretty much every Tele I've been building. I am REALLY impressed with them, they're AWESOME!!!









At some point I'm going to send these pups off to get the Telenator workover, they sound pretty darn good as they are, but I'm interested in taking them to the next level. But at the moment I don't have the funds to do so, so I'll just have to wait until I can afford it. And I'm totally ok with that as they sound so good in this, think it's because of the Swamp Ash and brass barrel saddles. I know there's plenty of ways to build a Tele but I truly think that the traditional 3 barrel saddles is crucial in making a Tele a "Tele".

[chuckocaster]

Here's a Tele I'm rebuilding, bought it CHEAP at $75! A buddy of mine picked it up at a Flea Market for me, he only knew I'd be interested in it because "it looks like all those ugly guitars you're always showing me pictures of..." LOL Anyway, it's a StewMac body with Emerson Custom CTS pots, Mighty Mite neck, Electrosocket. It came with Fender CS Tele pups that I sold to a friend for $125. I then installed a set of GFS GoldFoils (which I think are RAD AF!!!). This is just a mockup pic, but all I have left to do is cut the guard for a Strat neck pup. Since they don't sell Tele GoldFoils, I took a Strat pup and epoxied it to Tele baseplate. I'm really excited to get this one up and going.

[chuckocaster]

Oh, and here's what my Pine Proto Tele looks like all done up

[ch willie]

It looked good un-done. Now it looks fantastic!

[chuckocaster]

Thanks man! 👍 I really do think the guard is the frosting on the cake

[CoyotesGator]

Oh man you're killing me!

I like your style.

Keep the great pics coming!

FWIW, I was on the fence with the GFS "Fullerton" alnico 7.6K vintage matched tele pickups.

Until my son-in-law came over and played for me.

I like dem a lot now.

And...

Those Wilkinson compensated saddles are the bomb.

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I really do think the guard is the frosting on the cake

It surely is. The tortoise-shell looks great on that Tele!

It looked good un-done. Now it looks fantastic!

Oh man you're killing me!

I like your style.


And...

Those Wilkinson compensated saddles are the bomb.

... and all of this ^^^. Great job on these.

[chuckocaster]

CoyotesGator: I'm assuming you're talking about the Slick line of pickups? Because those are different from the ones I posted. I've built several Teles with the mid output Tele lead pup, forgot the DC reading of it, but it's nicer than the hot one they make. I'm actually enthralled with the flat pole Strat pup they make, been using it in the neck position of Teles. I've always been a Strat neck pup in a Tele fan, and these are killer pups for that!

I ordered P90's from the Slick line to experiment with, an A5 9.6K bridge pup and a 7.8K A2 neck pup. I pulled and swapped a mag on each. So they're now basically a "Chuck 90", which is a set with those approximate DC readings, and a mix of A5 and A2 in each pup. As weird as that may seem, you get a nice mix of tones from the pups. Having an A5 and A2 in each gives you both "snap/growl" and some "smooth". I had a custom set built awhile ago to put in my DeArmond M75T and couldn't be happier. They're clear without being harsh, while still having some smoothness without "mud".

And thanks so much for the kind words! 👍 I glad y'all are digging the creations

[Von Herndon Guitar]

Hey everyone! I've been building a couple more Tele clones since the last time I posted, 2 Pine bodies and a Paisley.

1: 1.5" Pine body I cut from an old chest of drawers that I found on the side of the road. It's an homage to the old Snakehead Teles of yore. It's not a 1:1 copy, more of an "in the vein" type thing. Right now I have a Squier A3 Classic Vibe bridge pup, Wilkinson bridge, All Parts aged neck, Kluson tuners, and an Electrosocket with a Swtichcraft jack. Electronics are CTS pots wired for Vol and tone. Still have more work to do on it, but it's getting close to being done. I plan on playing it some tonight and working on the setup.







2: 1.75" Pine Tele with TV Jones pups, Compensated Titanium saddles, custom made sparkle guard, all the good electronics parts, and a sparkle paint job by me. I think the neck is from All Parts? I don't remember as I put this together awhile ago, and I've been buying necks from Aurora Customs on Reverb. I built this as a "period" piece, something someone would've put together in the early 60's. I'm COMPLETELY in love with it.

Very nice work...

[chuckocaster]

Just an update: my FilterTron Tele went back to being an Esquire/Jr type guitar, just Vol and Tone no switch. Just couldn't get on with the neck pup