new tele inda house

[rufus21]

So I made a road trip today, roughly four hours, to this shop to check out a used Vox AD60VT amp. which turned out to be fruitless, as the amp had no output at all. The guys at the shop said they had gotten it from their repair department, but obviously, something still hadn't gotten fixed.

 

But on my way, I had to go right by one of the Guitar Centers that I didn't go to last weekend, as it was too far out of my way. So I stopped in hoping maybe to find a Highway One tele marked down. Again, no luck.

 

But they did have one tele out front, with the 60th anniversary button on the back of the headstock, an American series Natural Ash, and they actually had it marked down. So I plugged it in, played around with it a bit, checked out the frets and the feel of the neck, asked the guy why it was marked down so much, he said cause it had just been sitting there for so long, and decided, what the heck. Maybe not a killer deal, but still pretty damn good. And with no interest and no payments until 2009, I had to go for it.

 

Guy asked, you want a case with that? I said, don't the Americans come with a case? He said, not marked down like that, but he plugged the serial number in the computer and it came up, w/case. Not one of the long flat rectangular cases, just a formed plastic one, but better than a gig bag. haven't checked what kind of goodies might be in the case.

 

So now, a couple questions.

 

This tele came with a white pickguard, but I picked up a '52 single-ply blackguard to put on it. My question, do the screws screw right into the wood of the guitar, or are there machined inserts that they thread into? And if they screw right into the wood, do I need to put something like wood glue into the hole to make a solid bond?

 

Also, the neck pickup has little mounting screws on either side of it, and the black guard doesn't have these screw holes. Can I just drill a couple holes into it, or better yet, is there a way to keep the pickup mounted with these screws underneath the pickguard, keeping a neat clean appearance. I know many Tele models have a neck pickup without these screws coming through the pickguard, and that's what I'd like to do, if possible with these pickups.

 

lastly, are there any major differences between the 2006 American series, and the current 2007 model? different pickups, neck, hardware, etc? Or are they pretty much the same?

 

So far I plan on keeping it stock, except for the black guard. may go for some compensated brass saddles from http://www.projectconsultants.com/GT...t623series.htm sometime in the future. I'll try to get pics tomorrow.

[MikeStatic]

The pickguard screws right into the wood, no glue needed. You might want to check to make sure the holes on the 52 pickguard line up with the new Tele, they may be different. The other tele pickups are screwed into the body, you should be able to do that without much effort if you don't want to drill screw holes in the 52 guard. Congrats on the new Tele!!

[Doctor Morbius]

Happy New Tele Day! I'm noodling around with mine this evening as well. Love the tone. I may need to shim the neck or something though as the neck isn't quite right.

[rufus21]

ok, so the pickguard screws go right into the wood. My fear was that after unscrewing them, scewing them back into the same holes might not be a very solid connection, the existing holes might be a bit stripped out, and the remaining wood might not grip the screw so well the second time. screw holes line up, although just five with the '52 guard, as opposed to eight on the original.

And when you say the pickups are screwed right into the body, is this in the pickup cavity, or on the top of the body? Cause if I screw these back into the top of the body, I still have the screw heads sticking up. But if it's in the cavity, I assume you can screw them down far enough to be flush with the body surface? And how do you keep the pickup height correct?

I'm not totally mechanically inept, but messing under the hood of guitars is completely new to me, and I'd like to have some idea of what I'm doing before I get into it. I'd really hate to screw something up.

[lowbrow]

Congrats..sound slike a good deal to me. You'll really want to drill two small holes for the neck pup, like the original guard has. Makes fine tuning it's height much easier. Just line up the hooles the pickup slips through, and use a pencil to mark where to put the screw holes in the new guard.

You probably won't have to worry about the holes in the body for the pickguard stripping out, but if they do, use toothpicks and woodglue. It's not like the pickguard has to support any weight or anything, ya know?

[rufus21]

here's some pix. click for the full size.

[Oldskool Texas]

You got a killer deal, but the pickguard might pose a bit of a problem. The screws can be taken in and out of the wood all you want; on old Fenders you had to remove the pickguard to adjust the truss rod, so they're not as easily stripped as you might think.

 

To my knowledge, the '52 pickguard is 5-hole, but the new ones are 8. The neck pickup is mounted to the pickguard, hence the screws that both hold it in place and adjust the height. Since the new Am Series has the flat bridgeplate (as opposed to the "ashtray" style), check to make sure the bottom edge of the '52 pickguard accommodates it. And since modern Teles have the 22-fret lip, make sure the top edge fits as well.

 

 

Just FYI, they make a single-ply black guard that fits the new Teles. I prefer the three-ply (B-W-B), myself, even though it's not as vintage of a look. They tend to be stiffer, I think, and the ones from Fender come with shielding material in place.

 

http://wdmusic.com/fender_telecaster_pickguards_13580_ctg.htm

 

http://www.guitar-parts.com/categories/78/4/Fender-Style.htm

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=telecaster+pickguard

[TheKinks]

Congrats on the tele. I think it would look nice with a black pickguard. You might want to return that pickguard and get one thats ment for that tele though and make it easier on your self.

[rufus21]

Thanks for the info. Ordered one of the all-black 3-plys from MF.

Guess I'll either return or ebay the '52 pickguard I got.

[rufus21]

hey wait a minnit here. I gave you guys pics, so now where's the boobies?

[ArKay]

 

Congrats

[ashasha]

HNGD!! That's a killer deal dude, I would have jumped all over that myself.

As for the pickguard it isn't a big deal. I just put a pearloid one on my tele last night and it was easy.

The screws go right into the wood so you can move them pretty easily. I just shaved a wooden dowel to the diameter the holes and filled the ones that didn't quite line up correctly with that and a touch of wood glue. As for the pickup holes, that is easy to, just take the old pickguard and line up the new one with it at the pikcup hole (don't line up the other holes as those are usually off a bit). Drill new holes; takes 5 seconds.

I find that drilling new holes into the body of the guitar is easiest with a dremel using a diamond tipped cone shaped cutting bit. Its easier to move around to line it up than a regular bit and once it is perfectly centered I just push it down a bit and it makes a perfect size, perfectly centered hole every time.

Just don't try to force a screw in a hole that doesn't line up correctly, fill and redrill even if it is just a little bit off.

[rufus21]

ok, i don't need boobies after all. that's a little overkill.

[ArKay]

ok, i don't need boobies after all. that's a little overkill.

 

:poke:

[wedgehed II]

[maltomario]

But they did have one tele out front, with the 60th anniversary button on the back of the headstock, an American series Natural Ash, and they actually had it marked down. So I plugged it in, played around with it a bit, checked out the frets and the feel of the neck, asked the guy why it was marked down so much, he said cause it had just been sitting there for so long, and decided, what the heck, $722, plus tax. Maybe not a killer deal, but still pretty damn good. And with no interest and no payments until 2009, I had to go for it.

 

 

 

I could have gotten the same model for $599 with case. If you want to return it to GC and save a few bills, and don't mind ordering sight unseen, http://guitars.audioclassics.com/detail.php3?detail=TELE-AMERICAN&nav=brand

 

american ash tele (natural finish, white pickguard) with case for $599 new. yum. but it appears someone else found it out - sale pending. call the store monday morning and ask for lee, maybe its still available.

 

I almost bought it myself but opted for a highway 1 tele instead.

[Geeter]

Congratulations and Happy New Guitar Day!