I decided after a lot of thought that I really like the idea of a Telecaster, but hadn’t seen one that I liked. Browsing around the Fender custom shop site, I got a few ideas and set about deciding what I wanted in a Telecaster.
This guitar has since been sold.
At this point, I had no real carving or finishing experience or tools beyond my work on the Cruiser.
In the end, I opted for a pre-made body and neck and a few other nice parts.
Specs
- Alder Telecaster body (midnight blue burst)
- Canadian maple Telecaster neck (maple fretboard)
- Hipshot trilogy bridge
- Seymour Duncan Quarter-pound single coil bridge and neck pickups
- Paisley pickguard and neck plate
- Locking tuners
- Abalone capped gold knobs
- Graphite Nut
Version 1 — Sans Trilogy
I kicked off building a classic Telecaster with a classic style bridge.
I reused the wiring from a loaded cavity cover and got it working.
I did manage to wire the selector backwards, however after playing it like that for a while, it really seemed to work nicely.
At this point, I added the bridge and the new knobs and played the guitar like that for a few months.
These build pictures are pretty old (2014-15). It’s difficult to show that the body is actually blue (the burst is only visible in good light). One of the older photos does show the burst quite well:
Version 2 — Swapping in the Trilogy
Next it was time to fit the trilogy. This was relatively painless and straightforward to set up.
Final Shots
So I’ve been playing this guitar on and off for a few years now and the bridge is really cool. The pickups make the guitar sound like I think a Telecaster “should” sound, and the thing is just to play and to look at.
