New neck for my Mexican Telecaster coming soon.

[Simon Barden]

Is it a 5-screw or an 8-screw pickguard? The 5-screw ones do tend to twist over time, which is why Fender switched to 8-screw pickguards.

[DrNomis_44]

Is it a 5-screw or an 8-screw pickguard? The 5-screw ones do tend to twist over time, which is why Fender switched to 8-screw pickguards.

It's actually a white 8-screw 3-Ply scratchplate, the mounting-screw holes in it are getting a bit worn as well, I've decided to go with a new white pearloid 8-hole scratchplate, just to spruce it up a bit, Realtone Music have them in stock and they do fit Mexican Telecasters well without any mods.

Scratchplate screws are all stainless-steel ones, the original ones got a bit corroded.


I ended-up replacing the original bridgeplate because it had some rust and corrosion on it, and the saddles had pitting on them, I replaced it with a new chrome Gotoh bridgeplate with six modern style saddles on it, and i swear that if my ears aren't lying to me, the new Gotoh bridgeplate actually improved the overall tone of the guitar, I'm still keeping the Tonerider Hot Classics pickups because I found they work so well for me, the original pickups had a harsh treble that I didn't really like much, switching to the Toneriders definitely fixed that, I like the midrange in the tones I'm getting, the guitar seems a bit louder than usual, mainly due to the fact that the Toneriders are hotter-voiced, there's more lows and mids in the tone from what my ears tell me, I have no problems getting my Mexican Tele to cut through a live band mix.

I might see if I can order a can of conductive paint from Stewmac next week so I can use it to shield the body routs while I'm at it.