More Telescapades - Part II (picture heavy) 5-16-23 Final Update.

[MichaelW]

So I have two more new tele projects in various stages of completion. (E.g., waiting for parts....heh)

Couple of years ago I had a really cool blonde blackguard Tele. It was probably the coolest production Fender outside of Custom Shop at the time.
The "Baja" tele. Had a nice hand filling beefy neck which is my preference. Made in Mexico with Fender Custom Shop pickups and their trick switching.

But I never liked the pickups and for the life of me I don't know why I didn't "do my thing" and overhaul it but sold it. They had become out of production by then and I sold it for a couple hundred more than I bought it for. And it wasn't an expensive guitar to begin with.

I've pretty much regretted selling it as soon as I shipped it off and have been thinking about building a replacement "50's" style blonde/blackguard maple neck Tele.

So recently, I mentioned in my "60's" tele thread that I put a set of Lollar Special's in that guitar for a bit more meatier sound replacing the Wolfetones that I originally had in there. The Wolfetone tele set is perfect for a 50's style. The bridge is wound like an old Broadcaster and the neck has a nice vintage output tone to it with an almost "strat" like quality. Perfect for a 50's style build.

So I had a set of pickups needing a home. I also had a neck for it from my cool Reverb neck vendor.
Then to seal the deal, my man @Harry Klippton sends me a bridge plate with a note containing an imperative to "get to it" on my next tele .

I saw that as a sign to go for it!

Here's the body, another MJT nitro finished body, this one is Pine. I got into a bidding war with someone on Ebay and probably paid more than I should have for it. But this was the one I wanted, heh. (It was still very reasonably priced for a premium nitro finished body as most MJT's are, but I didn't "steal it" like my Seafoam tele body)

Part of the reason I wanted this particular body is because of the weight, being Pine I prefer a lighter weight as Pine can hold a lot of moisture. This one clocks in a bit under 4 lbs.





The neck is done, just waiting for hardware and a final fret dress at this point. It came with a satin nitro finish but I buffed the back of the neck with Carnauba and it's got a nice semi-gloss feel to it.





Continued in next post...

 

[Harry Klippton]

You're killing me with these MJT bodies...

 

[MichaelW]

So first up, I got some brass compensated saddles for it. I usually like to use the Gotoh "In Tune" saddles but I found these knocks offs that were half the price on Amazon. So I decided to check them out. They're identical to the Gotoh's and I'm pretty pleased with them.

I wanted to "patina" the brass saddles a bit. So I fumed them inside a plastic container with a mixture of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide.
It only took a couple of hours but they came out nice.





Next up was trying my hand at relic-ing my own hardware. I've never done this. I spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos of various methods. I didn't want to deal with hydrochloric acid. Big shout out to @Guardians of the analog for giving my a tip about using PCB echtant.





First I roughed it up with a Dremel and a scrubby wheel to break through the chrome plating. Then I put a few scratches and dings on it with a hammer and nail. So note to self, this part is important, getting the "scuffing" as even as possible. I missed a few spots.


next step was wrapping up the part in a tissue so that the echtant could be applied more evenly and stick to the part instead of forming pools.





It only took a few minutes to get it to where I wanted it.


I used a tiny bit of "brass ager" in a few spots to pull up some oxidation.


I'm not super happy with how it looks forward of the pickup but the rest of it looks pretty good to me.

Here she is ready to be installed.



More to come......

 

[Blooze]

I regret not buying the Baja I ran across 4-5 years ago. I won’t pay the price most are asking now for them, but I haven’t found a neck like what was on that one anywhere. You’d think as popular as they were they’d reissue them.

 

[Erik S]

That hardware came out great! Never seen that fuming method for aging brass before. Gonna have to file that away!

 

[MichaelW]

I regret not buying the Baja I ran across 4-5 years ago. I won’t pay the price most are asking now for them, but I haven’t found a neck like what was on that one anywhere. You’d think as popular as they were they’d reissue them.

They really were the best Mexican tele ever released in my opinion.

 

[MichaelW]

That hardware came out great! Never seen that fuming method for aging brass before. Gonna have to file that away!

I have another shot at it with the "Yet to be post" Telescapades Part III......

Edit: Lessons learned from my first attempt

 

[Blooze]

They really were the best Mexican tele ever released in my opinion.

Agreed. I have a 1998 Nashville that the neck has the dreaded hump. I’ve had two luthiers work on it. It’s playable, but there is a little more buzz than I’d like. I’ve wanted to put a neck similar to a Baja on it, but I’m not sure who makes one.

MichaelW , sorry to derail your thread. Awesome job btw. I love build threads!

 

[MichaelW]

Agreed. I have a 1998 Nashville that the neck has the dreaded hump. I’ve had two luthiers work on it. It’s playable, but there is a little more buzz than I’d like. I’ve wanted to put a neck similar to a Baja on it, but I’m not sure who makes one.

MichaelW , sorry to derail your thread. Awesome job btw. I love build threads!

Try the AllParts necks. Out of all the aftermarket necks I've used the AllParts is still my favorite neck profile. It's beefy like the Baja.

TMO-C REPLACEMENT NECK FOR TELECASTER®

Our TMO-C replacement neck for Telecaster® is “officially licensed by Fender®” and made to exacting quality standards in Japan. Offering a modern 10” fingerboard radius and 21 tall frets, this neck offers easy playability and super-smooth string bending. Unfinished and ready to spray, you can...

www.allparts.com

You can get them pre-finished.

 

[Blooze]

I’ve heard the Vintera 50’s modified is exactly like the Baja with a satin finished neck, but I’ve not tried one.

 

[MichaelW]

Todays project was more hardware aging.

I decided to try to make some aged pickguard screws. I hit these with the Dremel to scuff them up.



And at the same time do some ferrules and knobs. The ferrules were Fender Pure Vintage but no aging. The are Fender Roadworn and they have a bit of aging on them already. I kinda like how they look already but I decided to see if I could add a little more patina.



Same process as with the bridge plate.



OOOPS. Overcooked the screws.......



The ferrules came out nice, this was just the amount of patina I wanted.


The knobs were a total bust. They must have some thick plating. I didn't want to overscuff them. I decided to leave them the way they are.



After putting caustic stuff on it then rinsing with water, I put some lubricant on the set screws so they won't seize up on me.


After buffing out the pickguard screws a bit they actually turned out nice.



If Amazon shows up today I can do the control plate and maybe wired it up. Still missing the pickguard though, that's not arriving till Tuesday.
For now, back to pedals.......

 

[MichaelW]

So today's project was moving things along a bit.

Starting with some brand spanking new parts.





Same process as before with the Ferric Chloride after scuffing up the parts.

The screws came out pretty good.




As did the strap buttons....


Not too happy with the neck-late and control plate. I scuffed them up using an orbital sander and went too far on the control plate down to the brass. Plus I let the tissue with a wrinkle in it, which shows up pretty significantly across the switch slot. Bleah.....what an amateur......


Got the tuners installed...these are the Fender Roadworn tuners. I've mentioned before that I thought they were made by Gotoh. But I've changed my mind. The Gotoh's look very similar (and cost 2x) but the tuning posts on the Gotoh's are slightly thinner.
They both work about the same, which is very good. And for $35 a great value for vintage style tuners.


I decided to use the neck plate for now, since I don't have another one. I've got some plain aged plates coming in a couple of days. (If UPS gets their act together, it's been delayed twice now.....)

Neck and body fit was perfect. snug but I didn't have to do any sanding of the pocket to get it to fit. And it was perfectly aligned. Didn't need to horse the neck at all. As it is now, the neck angle is just "barely" making it. Both E string saddles are at their lowest point with no more adjustment. I may need to go back and add a shim if anything moves too much while it settles under tension.



Since this will be a wood mount neck pickup I decided to wire everything up.



Continued in next post....

 

[MichaelW]

Got the nut cut and strung her up, set the action and intonation. She plays beautifully.
I know I keep raving about the quality of these necks but just another plug for the Reverb dude "Guitar Flow" where I got these necks from.
The profile is nearly identical to my all time favorite Fender neck profile which is the Allparts "C". Nice and hand filling without being a baseball bat. This one is .89 under the first fret.



Happy with how the string ferrules came out...



I had a second control plate. so I took another shot at the aging. This time I scuffed it up using a Dremel and scrubby wheel.
I'm STILL not happy with it. It looks "overcooked" to me. But it's my last control plate before UPS shows up. I have a couple of Gotoh "aged" control plates in that order from AES. I'll probably swap it out. Dunno yet....but in the meantime. I needed something to hold the electronics heh...

I didn't screw the plate down yet as I want to wait for the pickguard to make sure everything lines up correctly.



I'm not sure what's going on with the quality of Oaks Grigsby switches lately. I've had two defective ones in the last couple of months.
When I wired it up the bridge pickup wasn't working. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why. Then I flipped the control plate over and this fell out....



Like wtf? Fortunately I had another one on hand for my other tele build.

Anyway, I played it for a bit and it sounds wonderful. It's exactly as I expected it would be with these pickups. They really sound awesome in this guitar. The pine body is light weight and very resonant. Super happy with how it's turning out.

Once I get it put together with the guard and dial in the set up a bit more I'll post a demo.

 

[almondcity]

Nice project. When's the next one?

I really like the CRL switch with the spring in it, though I think it is more expensive

I'm going to promote again the control plate with the volume knob moved over a bit. Not vintage correct or whatever but functions better in my mind. You can get them from Philadelphia Luthier or other places

 

[MichaelW]

Yah, the CRL switches are my normal goto. I think I got these Oaks Grigsby because they were "next day delivery" from Amazon.......(patience is a virtue I'm short supply of ....... .

This project is not a vintage repro, but rather a "50's style". There's quite a bit on it that's not "period correct". (String tree, for instance).

I'm going to have to look into those plates from Philly. It IS a pain in the ass to switch from bridge back to neck.

 

[MichaelW]

Nice project. When's the next one?

I really like the CRL switch with the spring in it, though I think it is more expensive

I'm going to promote again the control plate with the volume knob moved over a bit. Not vintage correct or whatever but functions better in my mind. You can get them from Philadelphia Luthier or other places

Next one is here.......

 

[andare]

Very cool project. I remember trying out a Baja in 2017 when I was shopping for a Tele. Biggest neck ever and the pickups were too hot. I ended up buying a beautiful milky white Classic Series 50s. Then I realized I wasn't Blake Mills and I wanted to play surf so I got a Strat and sold the Tele. It was a good one but Teles are not for me.

I like yours without the pickguard. Actually Blake Mills has one like that.

Speaking of switches, the Switchcraft pickup selector I put in my Jazzmaster is very jiggly in the middle position, as much as the stock Squier cheapie. Quality is down for so many things these days.

 

[MichaelW]

Sorry to hear about your switch craft. Some of mine are a little jiggly as well but I haven't lost connection on any of them,

I think I FINALLY tracked down which patch cable in my rig has been giving me fits. It's actually a retail 10ft guitar cable that goes to my looper under my desk. I'm building a new cable this afternoon to replace it.

 

[andare]

Sorry to hear about your switch craft. Some of mine are a little jiggly as well but I haven't lost connection on any of them,

I think I FINALLY tracked down which patch cable in my rig has been giving me fits. It's actually a retail 10ft guitar cable that goes to my looper under my desk. I'm building a new cable this afternoon to replace it.

My switch works. It's just very flimsy inside, those thin strips of metal don't look very sturdy. We'll see.

BTW I also have a cable to fix, thanks for the reminder

 

[SillyOctpuss]

@MichaelW I'll only use CRL now for that type of switch. The Oak Grigsby are pretty terrible now and have been for a good few years, I've personally had three literally fall apart very quickly through regular use.

Feline guitars do all the fret and nut work on my guitars and Jonathan who is the main luthier there won't use them either. When I was moaning about one failing in my strat he said he'd seen quite a few with misformed or bent contacts which don't connect properly and also had some which failed really quickly.

I'm surprised to hear about @andare's dodgy Switchcraft tbh. I've never had a problem with any Switchcraft I've had.