the second great telecaster “plus” construction project (2009)


View the complete photo gallery or see the first guitar that I built.

Steps:



1. Carve/Route out space in Bridge Position of the Tele's body to fit the Dually Lace Sensor Red/Red.


This way, I could fit the discontinued Fender Dually Red/Red Lace Sensor pickup into the guitar’s bridge position. Without carving out this wood, the pickup would never fit.


So in order to get this guitar as close to the early 90’s Tele + sound, this was a necessary modification.






2. 250K Push-Pull Pot/Coil Tap: WIRE IN VOLUME POSITION.


This is a push-pull knob. When it is pulled, it engages a coil tap. A coil tap is a wiring scheme having to do with transformers, inductors and coil pickups. I can choose to split, reconnect or regroup a series of different pickups on the guitar, depending on the 3-way selector.


I chose this pot to be 250K instead of 500K because I was worried about the high impedance when each LS is activated individually.


  1. -When coil tap is engaged, both Red Lace Sensors are active.

  2. -When coil tap isn’t engaged, each Red should be singled out.

  3. -When coil tap is engaged and the 3-way selector is in the neck position, all 3 pickups should be engaged.




3. Fender TBX Tone Control Knob: WIRE IN TONE POSITION.


The Fender TBX Tone Control stands for treble (T), bass (B), and cut (X). It works much like your car stereo’s treble/bass controller; in the middle position (5), both the treble and bass are at full volume (as opposed to 10 on every other tone knob).


So the TBX cuts either treble or bass instead of a tone pot that cuts treble frequencies only. A center ‘click’ in the middle position is provided for the off or "flat" position.






4. Fender Dually Red/Red Lace Sensor: WIRE IN BRIDGE POSITION.


In the late 90’s, Fender and Lace Sensor dissolved their relationship. Thus, the original LS’s have a different output than the modern ones.


I have specially designed this humbucker to be SPLIT (as in, separated into two single-coil Lace Sensor Reds). It is then wired with the coil tap. Here’s what the coil tap does:


  1. -Wire R-1 to bridge in the 3-way selector and R-2 to the middle.

  2. -Wire to have both of the Reds active when coil tap is engaged.

  3. -When coil tap is engaged, ALL 3 pickups should be active when 3-way selector is in the neck position.




5. Fender Blue Lace Sensor: WIRE IN NECK POSITION.


The Blue has a DC resistance of 12.8K with a warmer, 50’s sound to it than the red. Clean tones shine while distorted tones stick to the sustainable low-end. In contrast, the Red has a hot, extreme output which gives it a huge sound. And when both Reds are activated simultaneously (with the coil tap engaged), they sound fucking fat.


When the coil tap is engaged, this Blue LS can be activated alongside BOTH other pickups (something I have never, ever seen done before) for a rich, huge sound. This goes for $105 used today.





6. Momentary Kill Switch: WIRE BETWEEN THE KNOBS.


This 250K ‘push-to-make’ kill switch that I purchased at Radio Shack essentially mutes the sound that the guitar is making at the moment it is pressed. What this enables you to do is simple: with practice, one could create some funky rhythms while playing with one hand and pressing the kill-switch with the other. Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine is a huge proponent of the kill-switch. Here’s how it was done:


  1. - Solder the hot and ground to one prong each.

  2. - Pushing the switch will 'make' the connection and mute.

  3. - Drilled a hole in the control plate to fit the kill-switch's button.

  4. - A washer was required to fit this snugly.




7. Tele Bridge Routed for Humbucker: INSTALL.


Because the wood was routed out in the body to make room for this oversized pickup, a special bridge was required. I considered a Strat bridge with a matching humbucker ring, but this combo seemed to have the strongest structural integrity, which I couldn’t risk since we put a gaping hole into the body where the original Tele pickup was.


This specific model is a Gotoh Humbucker Tele flat mount bridge with a 1/8” thick brass plate and a string spreat of 2-1/16”.







8. Custom-made Pickguard: INSTALL.


Like the bridge, the pickguard/scratch plate would need to be specially routed to fit the new pickups as well. That is because the Blue Lace Sensor is about 1cm wider than the stock lipstick-style 50’s Telecaster pickup.


Also, to fit the new bridge, a wider mouth would be required. I had a guitar-maker named Warmoth in Washington hand-make this for me. It was well-worth it, I will likely end up painting this scratch plate some funky colors in the coming months.






9. Dunlop Strap Locks: INSTALL.


These are simple - they keep you from dropping this sweet new guitar.











View the complete photo gallery or see the first guitar that I built.

 

Components:

  1. √ Fender Left-handed American Telecaster

  2. √ Discontinued Fender Dually Red/Red Lace Sensor (black)

  3. √ Discontinued Fender Blue Lace Sensor (black)

  4. √ Fender Tele bridge routed for humbucker

  5. √ Fender Strap Locks

  6. √ Custom Telecaster pickguard

  7. √ Fender Push-Pull Coil Tap volume pot, 250k

  8. √ Fender TBX ton pot, 250k

  9. √ Momentary kill switch (‘black button’)