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Hey guys,
So this is my first post on the re-doing of my TL-1 (well, this is a new paddle neck, but an update on my telecaster will follow this thread).
Im hoping to upgrade pickups & Relic the body (Or atleast, put a contour on the body), but that will come in time.
Enjoy a progress pic of my new neck with new Fender Machineheads!
Most posts to come when I decide on pickups/ Figure out what im going to do with the body
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ty-Collage.png
well done Danger looks excellent, nice upgrades !
OK, So what sound are you after?
Do you want the classic Tele sound or something with more bite and growl?
If you want a classic sound, you cant go past the Tonerider Tele pups... great sound and very cost effective.
For more bite and growl you may have to shop around... Kinman, Bareknuckle or Mojo... But these are rather expensive options, and you may have to re rout the pup cavities to suit.
But remember, myself and all the guys on the forum are here to help you if needed :)
DM,
Having put some Toneriders into my VP (bass), I'm stoked. It's now my go-to bass. Nicely manufactured and well put together. On top of that, great price.
Cheers Wokka!
DB, well my favourite telecaster pickup of all time would have to be the single coil sized humbucker that I have in my standard telecaster (From memory, its a DiMarzio Chopper T). But I cant seem to find any Tonerider/Entwhistle equivalent that fit that mould, and I'm pretty tight on funds for the refurb on my telecaster.
Any suggestions?
If I have no luck, I may keep an eye out for secondhand Chopper T's/Hot Rails
@Brendan - I do like the look and, from what I have heard, the sound of Toneirders so I still think that they are the forerunner for any new pickups I install
Hey Danger, check out GFS pickups. They aren't as nice as Dimarzio or Tonerider, but the price is pretty good.
http://www.guitarfetish.com/Calibrat...ter_p_150.html
One way of giving the Toneriders (or any pup) more grunt is to drop a one meg ohm volume pot in.
Another way is to use a pre amp, yes, you can use use an active preamp with passive pups.
This is a great way to boost the signal and quieten down any background hum.
As for other brands of pups, there are too many to list, but I always avoid GFS gear as I have had a few bad experiences with it.
Recently had a Guitar in that had the Filletron copies in and it sounded like mud and the plating on the covers was crap... I could rub it off with my finger! (Same with a Floyd copy bridge I got from there)
Sure, the service is great from GFS (they offered to replace the Floyd) but you get what you pay for and at the end of the day GFS pups are no better than the ones supplied with PBG kits.
But that is my experience, others may have had better ones but when it comes to hardware and electrics I will not compromise on quality.
I have looked into GFS pickups PabloPepper but I cant seem to find many good review about them, plus around the 60-100 bracket I could probably scoop some decent secondhand dimarzios. But definitely an option for a future build on a budget.
DB - Cheers for the ideas. I think my easiest bet may be the upgrading pickup options but that offers me a whole new range of ideas for the TL-1.
Onto another idea, how difficult would it be to get a contour on the back of my Tele? Im thinking something along the lines of what you get with some deluxe models. Would I need any specialist tools?
For the contour, you just need a rasp and sandpaper... should be able to do it for under 20 bucks!
DB- Excellent! Will be headed to the big green shed or the big blue one in the next few days to grab a new rasp!
Meanwhile - I finally got around to stringing it up this evening... Plays awesome!
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...8-image-3.jpeg
Just ordered a Kent Armstrong bridge humbucking sized single coil for the DC.
In addition, I also bought a white esquire pickguard so the plan will be to turn the DangerCaster into a single pickup esquire with, what I hope will be, a punchy pickup in the bridge!
Pictures to come :)
Noice!:)
I did it with a a flat and curved rasp. Took about 2-3 hours. Not easy work to get it perfect, but it's rewarding at the end! It took so long not because it's hard to shave off the wood, but most of the work came from smooth out the rasp marks. You might consider shaving off the rasp marks which I saw a guy on youtube do before. Good luck!Quote:
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from TheDangerMan on July 1, 2014, 17:15
I have looked into GFS pickups PabloPepper but I cant seem to find many good review about them, plus around the 60-100 bracket I could probably scoop some decent secondhand dimarzios. But definitely an option for a future build on a budget.
DB - Cheers for the ideas. I think my easiest bet may be the upgrading pickup options but that offers me a whole new range of ideas for the TL-1.
Onto another idea, how difficult would it be to get a contour on the back of my Tele? Im thinking something along the lines of what you get with some deluxe models. Would I need any specialist tools?
Hey guys!
Bit of a while since I have posted here, have been busy with this build and another (A non PBG 12 String tele kit!).
You cant see the full extent of my body work but I went nuts and put in a two tummy curves (I guess one of those are probably work likely a 'leg curve') and a forearm cut to help strumming accessibility.
So far my build is coming along nicely. I have planned (as you may well have noticed) having a single bridge 'humbucker' design TL, so I sourced a reasonably priced pickguard to suit. Im also going to put on an ashtray tele bridge as well as some Jim Dunlop Straploks mainly because I want to be able to gig this guitar and all my other guitars have them
Its going to be a stripped down rock and roll tele, so im very excited to get it finished!
Ive got some timbermate in a couple of dings that im working on at the moment so once I get rid of that ill post some proper pictures of the back :)
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...e-on-build.jpg
looing good Danger, nice clean elbow cut !
Azure always looks good
Nice approach to a more player friendly setup.
I still am amazed as how good the Az looks on that timber :)
Yeah, if I haven't said it before elsewhere, bloody hell, the finish on that basswood is outrageously good.
If your gonna do it, ya gotta do it properly!
http://www.provide.net/~cfh/esquire.gif
Great minds Geoff, I was about to suggest that layout too. Maybe even add a push/pull to split the Kent Armstrong, depending on how it sounds.
It's not applicable to this build, but I actually sketched out a couple of designs the other day for fully switchable Tele/Esquire wiring for both 3 and 4-way lever switches, which could make an interesting future project... damn, now I'm going to have to build another Tele.
sounds good Scott/Geoff, so what is the main difference of the sound of the Esquire wiring ?
Woks, the standard Bridge-only Esquire wiring basically gives three flavours of bridge:
1. Volume only, no tone (slightly hotter and brighter).
2. Volume and tone control (warmer sound).
3. Fixed treble roll-off/filter caps with volume control, no tone (darker sound, slightly less output).
Then there are other variations with different filter cap setups, bypassing the volume as well as tone, etc.
cool thanks for explaining that Scott, I figured it would be something like that with the additional capacitors.
It's a clever way to vary the sound with only one bridge pup
Hey lads,
Thanks all for your tips and help - Always like to have new ideas on the back burner!
As far as the pickup selection goes, for this guy i'm going to have it pretty 'basic'.
My favourite guitar (Mexican Tele that I have had for about 10 years) is a two pickup beast, however I never touch the bridge so im really a one pickup kind of guy.
Going to resume re-screwing the bridge in place (Because of the pickup, the position of the bridge has gone out so ill make sure to get that spot on in the next few days) but ill be sure to post some progress pics when I get it done
Cheers,
TDM
Hey guys,
So I was going to start a new thread but instead of bothering the admins I wanted to direct a question to anyone who knows much about routers/routing.
The DangerCasters pickup replacement seems to be a smidge too big for the cavity which is pre-routed, at the risk of sounding like a newbie, is it worth me going to get a router to do a proper job in making the cavity wider?
I was thinking about getting a router for another, non-PBG build anyway but I thought I would ask on here if anyone could recommend me a good brand? And whether I can get away with using a 'Trim Router'?
Thanks!
For enlarging a pickup rout, a 'trimming' hand held router is perfect and if you have need for it elsewhere, yes I think totally worth it. If you're planning on cutting bodies, a larger 'plunge' router would be better, but not 100% necessary. I have Makita hand held routers that have been used daily for 15 years with very few problems (mind you, the older style which you can't get anymore).
Cheers for that Pablopepper!
I went ahead and bought a little wireless router (which is an awesome little thing!) and routed the cavity out to fit the pickup, so now its all finished!
After a quick solder and restring, here is the finished DangerCaster with mods!
The arm cut and the two other cuts on the back help out hugely with the play-ability of the thing. I dont really know what I did with the wiring but it sounds pretty wicked.
The neck is the original , but with a few modifications. Not the prettiest, but I love the way it plays and sounds so a little rough looking I can deal with!
Cheers for all the tips and tricks, learnt a lot from doing these mods
TDM
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-Finished.jpeg
looks good Danger, well done on the mods. So no neck pickup, is that a mini humbucker you fit ?
what does the 3 way switch do now ?
Looks great!
Hey Woks,
Yeah thats right, just the one humbucker sized single coil. Its weird, the pickup seems to split the blades in the humbucker so I get two single coils then both (i.e. the humbucker). Not sure if its intended, but it sounds pretty sweet!
Such a better fit to what it was when I first started!
Cheers all!
nice work Danger, think you meant to type the switch splits the blades haha