My Squier FrankenTele '51 mod thread.

[evh1984]

So I have loved my Affinity Tele for several years now. It's the butterscotch blonde alder-bodied version:

 

 

I have always been dissatisfied with the output/lack of clarity of the pickups, but didn't want to sink much money into a new set. Especially for a $169 guitar.

 

Lo and behold, there in the corner sits my Squier '51 (stock image):

 

 

The neck on this thing sucks epically. However, the pups I always loved.

 

 

....to be continued....

[lowbrow]

You're aware that the neck on a Affinity tele and a `51 are identical, right?

[mfergel]

You're aware that the neck on a Affinity tele and a `51 are identical, right?

 

[evh1984]

 

You're aware that the neck on a Affinity tele and a `51 are identical, right?

 

 

I don't think so.

 

At least not in the case of my guitars.

[evh1984]

I oredered an HB Tele bridge from Guitarfetish.com. When it arrived, I immediately noticed several things that were amiss:

 

1. The screw holes didn't line up with the previous ones. I didn't expect a perfect fit, but at least the center hole lined up which gave me something to go on.

 

2. Because the bridge didn't line up properly, I was going to have to do some routing to fit the humbucker.

 

3. The thing that made me gasp the most was that this bridge was only for a string-thru Tele, not a toploader! (The GFS website did not make this clear, but it was my fault, I should've asked ).

 

No worries, I have a drill and a 1/16 bit

 

 

 

[evh1984]

Moving on, I also found that the pickguard was just ever so slightly small for the bridge.

 

Again, no worries, I have an X-acto!

 

[evh1984]

Next came the part that made me cringe. I don't have Dremel, but I do have a set of chisels (Interestingly, my neighbor has a full service metal fabrication and woodworking shop across the street. He would've routed this thing out for me with precision, but it wouldn't have been as much fun for me.)

 

So I broke out these babies:

 

 

And in true EVH fashion, I went to town (avert your eyes if you are sqeamish):

 

 

Ha ha, perfect (as far as the fit goes, looks....not so much). Besides, the bridge is going to cover up the rough edges, see?

 

[evh1984]

Next, I needed to drill some holes through the body.

 

I did some extensive reading online and EVERYONE advised against using a hand drill to do the holes.

 

The neighbor whom I mentioned earlier also has an industrial drill press in his shop. He gave me the alarm code and said I could use anything I wanted. But, who has the time to walk across the steet in this heat? Besides, I didn't want to impose. (However, my neighbor will come into play at the end of this thread.)

 

So, I used the bridge holes still in place as my guide, aimed as straight as I could and let 'er rip:

 

 

I obviously didn't line the holes up as properly as I should've.

 

But, you know what, the bridge holes will make sure the strings align properly, so, who gives a @$%&+

 

[evh1984]

That being said, I WILL NOT ever try to hand drill holes through the body of my guitar again. I am too ashamed to show pics, but it didn't look so hot on the back side. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't pretty.

 

I have my next door neighbor fabricating me a flat chrome ferrule piece that I can mount across the string holes and the back of the guitar and feed the strings through.

 

Pics of that whenever he's done in the future.

 

In the meantime I decided not to order string ferrules and am using a a combination of #6 washers and #4 nuts. I counterbored a little into the back of the guitar and sank the washer/nut combo in.

 

Say what you will, it works!

[evh1984]

Before piecing it all back together, I borrowed my father-in-law's vintage soldering gun and hooked up the Squier 51's neck/bridge pups:

 

[evh1984]

Here's the Tele '51:

 

 

 

 

Isn't she a beauty???

[evh1984]

The gutted '51....

 

 

TeleStein and her hubby...

 

 

I'll get around to the '51 at some point.

 

I'm thinking of selling it. We never bonded.

[NinjaModder]

This makes me want to get a Tele now! That is beautiful. I love the look. Congrats!!!

[evh1984]

One thing I did notice after putting it all together:

 

There's a little more buzz/electrical interference in the pups than before. How can I quiet them down? Shielding. Resoldering?

 

I notice if I roll off the tone control it helps the problem, but I lose the "cut"...

 

That being said, I LOVE my humbucker Tele! I also like the Strat pickup in the neck, much better sound than the brittle and weak pickup that came with it. At some point I'm doing a '59 at the bridge and a VN in the neck.

[evh1984]

I also purchased an all-metal input jack from GFS and did away with the cheap plastic one that came stock on the Tele.

 

Oh yeah, I can tell a noticeable difference in sustain after going string-thru, which is great!

[lowbrow]

Did you make sure you're string ground is connected properly?

[evh1984]

 

Did you make sure you're string ground is connected properly?

 

 

At the risk of sounding amazingly stupid, which one is that???

 

This is the very first time I've done any pickup changing.

[lowbrow]

There should be a wire that comes up through the bridge pup route, under the bridge plate, and makes a connection between the bridge and one of the pots. I see it in one of your photos, but it looks to be pushed too far down and may not be making contact with the bridge.

[Shamdog]

Someone needs to buy that '51 body, throw a BG Hellabucker in the bridge and a BG Phatty in the neck. Then you'd have one hell of a guitar.

 

Just like mine.

[Angry Tele]

oh my

[evh1984]

 

There should be a wire that comes up through the bridge pup route, under the bridge plate, and makes a connection between the bridge and one of the pots. I see it in one of your photos, but it looks to be pushed too far down and may not be making contact with the bridge.

 

 

I did a little adjustment on the ground wire and resoldered the pups a little cleaner just to make sure.

 

Quietened things down.

 

Thanks for the tip!

[NHLfan2010]

Nice job! You're getting my juices flowin' haha

[axegrinder]

All's well that ends well...congrats.

 

I can't see the height adjusto screws for the HB...did you direct mount it to the body? And to clarify the '51 parts that made the transition are the bridge HB and the neck...is that it?

[evh1984]

All's well that ends well...congrats. I can't see the height adjusto screws for the HB...did you direct mount it to the body? And to clarify the '51 parts that made the transition are the bridge HB and the neck...is that it?

 

I'll get around to screw mounting the hb...for now my chiseling skills were so on point (LOL!) that it sat right down in the route very snuggly.

 

'51 parts that made it to the Tele: Humbucker, single coil, various screws and springs, a couple of wires, even the guitar strings were from the '51! I plan on swapping the nut tomorrow as the '51 has an aftermarket Tusq nut on it. I'm also going to switch out the coil tap from the '51 to the Tele soon.

 

FrankenTele isn't finished...

[Surfdude]

About the drill press for the string through holes.....With a table mounted drill press, you may still have to use a power drill anyway for a couple of the holes as the body will hit the upright post on the press anyway making it impossible to drill some of the holes.

 

A bigger, floor mounted press is needed so don't sweat it if you had to do it by hand with an electric drill.

 

Finished guitar turned out good.

 

Surfy