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Building a Tele


inscho

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Unless you're really patient I imagine buying individual parts will cost you more. The reason people part out guitars is you can get more money that way. But I imagine if you're REALLY patient and find the right auctions you could do it, although I think the better option is to find a good cheap tele with a nice neck and body and just upgrade all the hardware and electronics.

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the short answer, no.

 

 

people sell Fender MIM body's for up to $300. do you know how much a brand new MIM cost?!?!?

 

that being said this company makes super bad ass stuff. http://www.jamersonguitars.com/ I just saw one of there necks two days ago (in person) and it was AMAZING. They are also cheaper than Warmoth, and extra option's do not cost as much, if anything extra at all. Just to let you know their quality is just as good, if not better than Warmoths.

 

If you really interested i would give them a call.

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do you think you could come out cheaper if you buy all the parts used for a tele on ebay?



just wondering...it could be fun.




It's definetly a project I want to do this summer. No I don't think it will be cheaper, but I will have everything just the way I want it, and I can say I built it myself. I like woodworking anyway. I think it will be a blast. :thu:

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there is a number of USA RI bodies for $200 in ebay completed auctions
:confused:



I am just saying if you can get a good deal than go for it. From what i have seen it is cheaper to just buy the guitar used than piece together. There is a guy around here who just puts together part's teles. Most of the time he will buy a complete guitar for a body, then part it out and make his money back.

He is also the one who showed me Jamerson Guitars.

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I did exactly that. If you're doing it to save money, it's probably not going to happen. The only reason to go that way really is if you have something in mind that can't be found anywhere.

 

The Tele I built has a genuine Fender neck, body and neck plate, all made in the USA. The control plate has high quality wiring but is not stock Fender. The tuning pegs are auto-trim Planet Waves and the pickups are Lollars (Charlie Christian in the neck). I made sure to buy a top-loading bridge plate because I had the plan to have a Parsons-White b-bender (now installed).

 

I tried buying older bodies and necks but they just were outside my budget.

 

Here's my baby:

 

eBaycaster.jpg

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I say go for it.

If I can wire a guitar and set it up, then anyone can. I easily consider myself the least talented forumite around, so yeah. :freak: It'll be easy for ya' for sure.

It takes a lot of patience to get it 'right.' I worry about the wiring on some of my guitars too, but so far so good, y'know? The biggest hurdle was learning floyd rose guitars. :D Fender style guitars are a lot easier to set up, at least if you have a good ruler.

But it's just about patience. Sometimes I feel tempted to bring a guitar to a tech just so I can have the peace of mind that it's perfect, but I'm also cheap, so... I have one guitar where the pickgaurd is slightly 'raised' in one area around the pickup selector and I can't get it to lie flush no matter how much I move the wiring inside around. That's a negative. But still.

Go for it, build it. :D Even if it costs the same amount of money at least you'll get what you want. It's really not as hard as it looks.

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I did exactly that. If you're doing it to save money, it's probably not going to happen. The only reason to go that way really is if you have something in mind that can't be found anywhere.


The Tele I built has a genuine Fender neck, body and neck plate, all made in the USA. The control plate has high quality wiring but is not stock Fender. The tuning pegs are auto-trim Planet Waves and the pickups are Lollars (Charlie Christian in the neck). I made sure to buy a top-loading bridge plate because I had the plan to have a Parsons-White b-bender (now installed).


I tried buying older bodies and necks but they just were outside my budget.


Here's my baby:


eBaycaster.jpg



how much would you think that cost you total?

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Unless you want something very specific, a cheap guitar with minor upgrades is the most inexpensive way to get a player's guitar. For instance, you can get this new Squier tele for $170;

272055.jpg

You can then customize it with GFS pickups for another $50 or so, if you install the pickups yourself. So with minimal effort, you have a new tele for about $229. This involves very little waiting...

However, if you have time, you can stalk ebay for deals on random parts. This tele was made with parts from ebay I bought over a period of several months, starting with a body I bought for a sweet price ($45 shipped from a luthier in Brazil). To the best of my recollection, the neck and the bridge plate was the most expensive purchase; new Mighty Mite parts -- $60 shipped.

The neck pickup is a hot pink DiMarzio I bought for $20 (shipped, I think), and I slapped a cover I had laying around to hide the neon abomination...

The tuners are Kluson copies mage by Gotoh ($15), bridge is another $15 (Fender 6-saddle), and the bridge pickup is $30 from the scratch and dent page on MF.

With another $30 for random parts (string tree, pickguard, screws, strap buttons and ferrules), and a free Fender decal from a friend who just wanted to try and make one, my bargain tele costs about $215, only $14 less, but there's a lot of waiting and even more work involved. It's worth it to me because I wanted the body, but if you just want something inexpensive, a Squier may be the best option.

IMGP0891.jpg


c

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Unless you want something very specific, a cheap guitar with minor upgrades is the most inexpensive way to get a player's guitar. For instance, you can get this new Squier tele for $170;


272055.jpg

You can then customize it with GFS pickups for another $50 or so, if you install the pickups yourself. So with minimal effort, you have a new tele for about $229. This involves very little waiting...


However, if you have time, you can stalk ebay for deals on random parts. This tele was made with parts from ebay I bought over a period of several months, starting with a body I bought for a sweet price ($45 shipped from a luthier in Brazil). To the best of my recollection, the neck and the bridge plate was the most expensive purchase; new Mighty Mite parts -- $60 shipped.


The neck pickup is a hot pink DiMarzio I bought for $20 (shipped, I think), and I slapped a cover I had laying around to hide the neon abomination...


The tuners are Kluson copies mage by Gotoh ($15), bridge is another $15 (Fender 6-saddle), and the bridge pickup is $30 from the scratch and dent page on MF.


With another $30 for random parts (string tree, pickguard, screws, strap buttons and ferrules), and a free Fender decal from a friend who just wanted to try and make one, my bargain tele costs about $215, only $14 less, but there's a lot of waiting and even more work involved. It's worth it to me because I wanted the body, but if you just want something inexpensive, a Squier may be the best option.


IMGP0891.jpg


c



Wow! Is that an Apple Telecaster?

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Wow! Is that an Apple Telecaster?

 

 

The top (left side, if the pic's upright) one's my DIY made out of 1/4" heartwood (I think) slab on top of mahogany, with weight-relief chambers on it.

 

The bottom (right side) one's an Acrylic tele made by Dillion.

 

what's an apple tele?

c

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