Telecaster udgrade

Hi All

after some advise

thinking of doing a full refit of my pitbull telecaster (new pickups, hardware, wiring, the works)
can anybody recommend any kits or websites to save having to order each part individually?

TIA

Pitbull shop should cover pretty much all bases unless you have something very specific in mind :D

Maybe Warmouth or Stewmac

Or you could go to GFS or somewhere like that but if you want high end branded stuff your likely to have to go to various different sources.

thanks will check them out

any reccomendations on tele pick ups? i want that classic tele bluesy twang

this website seems to be a decent option?
https://www.realparts.com.au/guitar-...-kit-gold.html

Pit bull do stock a pretty extensive range of upgrades.

These guys do upgrade kits as well.

https://www.realparts.com.au/guitar-...ware-kits.html

Beat me to it. The toneriders are a great choice available in the pitbull store.

Tonerider Hot Classics are very close to Fender Texas Specials, I have them in the Tuff Dog and am very happy with them.

The bridge pickup of Tuff Dog is on the lead parts here, apart from a bit of Sustain, EQ & Compression it's unprocessed.

https://soundcloud.com/suthol/brown-bottle

Neck pickup on this one

https://soundcloud.com/suthol/road-to-forbes

Both links go on to songs that aren't mine but folks I follow on Soundcloud, you are welcome to fall down that rabbit hole if you must :D

cheers, will check them out

so the pitbull upgradable parts stack up well against other brands?
the stock stuff that has come with the kit was ok, but the chrome on the tuners and bridge has already begun to rust or chip and the tone knob is pretty ch useless

Yep. Based on the stuff I've used: The Babicz stuff is unreal - like seriously good.

I have Benson and Entwistle pickups in my super strat - the Bensons are lovely and creamy but the Entwistle HDN absolutely wails.

Grover locking tuners are a 'must do' upgrade as far as I'm concerned.

The Wilkinson Tele bridge is OK. Fine for what it costs, but my next one will use one of the Babicz bridges.

Tonerider Vintage plus in the bridge possie on the sonic caster sounds great - proper twang and jangle. I've used a stock Pitbull humbucker in the neck position and the combination of the two is one of my favourite sounds out of any of my guitars.

I used an orange drop cap in the sonic caster as well and i think it's improved the tone for sure. The circuit, style (linear vs logarithmic) and cap can make a big difference to how the tone knob operates.

sounds good, i think my plan will be

• pitbull electrical upgrade - https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...v=6cc98ba2045f
• locking tuners - https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...v=6cc98ba2045f
• full contact bridge (looks sexy) - https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...v=6cc98ba2045f

only thing left is what pickups to choose... which i have no idea
wanting to play blues/rock, black crows, Georgia satellites, george thorogood, bachman turner overdrive
anything with a good chunky, rock n roll guitar line

Hi Gallagherbuild,

Not an expert on Teles, but I made one for a mate who's owned several Fenders and a Musicman and he just loves the tone of the Toneriders. I used Hot Classics in his, not sure if that's the tone you're going for, but he's into rock, not country.

Best bet is to check out the Tonerider website and listen to some of their sound demos. The demos for the Hot Classics are just awesome.

But of course buy them from Adam, I doubt you'll get a better price anywhere.

rob

I got a Entwistle AT52 set for my TLA-12 build... VERY impressed !!! ... Nice and clear sounding, and reasonably bright top end, plenty of bottom end that isn't boomy. Still need to put a better set of strings than the supplied ones and spend some more time getting the setup just right but right off the bat on a rough 'make sure it all works' assembly the AT52 set certainly gave me that auditory "Wow" moment.

Not sure how they dirty up as being on a 12 string build one tends not to hit the OD pedal, though I suspect on a standard 6 string build they would crunch up quite nicely.

I'm currently in the process of getting together all the bits and pieces I need to build a custom Telecaster for myself, now since Darwin's weather isn't very conducive to building guitars, I decided to forego doing the finishing-work myself, and opt for a pre-finished Telecaster body, finished in Butterscotch Blonde, which I bought on eBay, here's a pic of the body:

Attachment 26516

For the neck, I'm going to be ordering one of these 2018 Fender made in Mexico maple Telecaster necks from The Stratosphere:

https://stratosphereparts.com/2018-f...adius-c-maple/


For all the hardware, I opted for one of these Total Overhaul Telecaster hardware kits from Realtone music, still need to order it though:

https://www.realparts.com.au/guitar-...it-chrome.html

For the scratchplate, I've opted for one of these Tortoiseshell Telecaster scratchplates, which Realtone Music also stock:

https://www.realparts.com.au/pickgua...ell-3-ply.html


And finally, Realtone Music stock these Tonerider Hot Classics Telecaster pickups, which I think will work great for playing Blues or Hard Rock, like early Led Zeppelin:

https://www.realparts.com.au/pickups...assic-set.html


After putting some thought into how I'm going to be wiring-up the electronics of the custom Telecaster, I had a look through all the Telecaster wiring-diagrams in my Guitar Player Repair Guide book, I bought from Stewmac, and opted to wire it up same like a 1966 Fender standard Telecaster.


Attachment 26517

thanks all for the input
i think tone riders are the way to go
should have a nice guitar once i'm done, just need to find some people who will put up with my playing lol