Telecaster control plate size, pick guard & electronics

[benh]

Hi Folks !

Apologies in advance if this has been covered already...

So I received the TLA-1 kit, everything looks awesome at first sight but I probably won't start building it for a little while longer due to some work commitments in the immediate future. That said, I've noticed something, advice welcome:

The control plate seems to be a somewhat non-standard width, around 34mm (but not quite). 34mm is apparently found on some Squiers and various knock-offs, but the standard Fender are 32mm width. That means that various after market parts (such as the really nice electronic upgrades from obsidianwire.com, from slightly further down under) really want the 32mm plate.

However, that I assume also impacts the pickguard which needs to have exactly the right size cutout, and possibly other aspect of the cavity dimensions that I haven't investigated yet.

Do you reckon I should just go with what's in the kit for now, and "upgrade" later ? Or are the various screw holes going to be in wildly different locations if I later switch to a 32mm plate and corresponding pickguard ? I haven't quite found exact dimensions yet...

Or should I just for now get a 32mm plate and simple/cheap pickguard, retro-fit the kit electronics in there (which shouldn't be rocket science) and upgrade the whole lot later, so at least all the holes are in the right place ?

[fender3x]

Hi Ben,

It's all about what you like. If you are happy with the kit pickguard and control plate, then no need to change.

I hadn't heard of obsidian wire (OW). It looks like their harness is on a sort of plate that is attached to a Kluson control plate with CTS pots. That suggests to me that it is fitted to the control plate, and that it is "US spec." There might be slight variances in the location of the switch and knob holes on your kit's "Asian-spec" plate. At the least, the holes for the pots will be a little smaller than the ones on the OW harness. If you want to use the kit plate I would ask OW if it will work.

If it were me and I had purchased one of their harnesses, I'd be inclined to use the Kluson. I'd do a dry-fit with the Kluson plate and the kit pickguard. If you don't like the fit, a US spec pickguard won't cost you much.

In my experience the holes for a new pickguard are never exactly in the same place as the old one, so it's better to drill for just one. Having not always taken this advice, however, I can also say that if you don't like the first pickguard you install, the new pickguard usually will cover both new and old holes.

That said, a Tele harness is relatively simple to build . You can get the same pots, switch jack, caps, etc. for about 1/3 the cost.

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[benh]

Hi Ben,
That said, a Tele harness is relatively simple to build . You can get the same pots, switch jack, caps, etc. for about 1/3 the cost.

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Right, that's my conclusion. I'm reasonably handy with the iron (been building pedals for the kid for a while now :-)

I've ordered a Fender US vintage spec plate (naked, found one for $35) and will get the boy to chose a fitting pickguard. That way the holes will fit anything designed for an actual fender tele.

I'll then initially fit the existing kit switch & pots (I have plenty of pots if those don't fit), and "upgrade" later to a 4 way & better pots as needed. The obsidian stuff is nice but overkill.



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[colin2121]

You might find the holes on the Tele plate that came with the kit are too small for decent pots. I had to drill out the holes on the kit plate to fit decent pots. The selector switch holes were fine. I did the Bill Lawrence mod (https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ad.php?t=12416) on my kit.

[fender3x]

You can get Alpha pots in either Asian or US sized shafts. The Asian ones will fit the kit plate, and I have found them to be as good as Bourns or CTS. EMG put them in the harness that came with some pickups I got from them.

On a build using Tele pickups I used a 3 way switch with a push pull pot for the "4th" setting. Also an option and I find it more intuitive.

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