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 I have been playing guitar for over 20 years. Hotrod fever started for me with a late '70s Z-28, then moved to the much more affordable hobby
of modifying guitars. My first Tele was a mustard yellow Japanese Standard in the '80s. I only slightly modified it by adding a middle pickup and a push-pull pot to activate it.
The early '90s brought a B-Bender American Standard that ended up with 3 Lace Sensors, Piezo saddles and a collection of switches that gave me
every possible series and/or parallel combination of the three pickups.I eventually sold it to get a Variax, but that only lasted a couple
of years before I was trading in the convenience for real tone from real pickups. My current Tele is a work in progress. Here's the rundown:
- Butterscotch Fender HotRod 52 Tele Body
- Temporary knock-off Tele Neck
- Joe Barden Compensated Bridge
- Gotoh Locking Vintage Tuners
- Fender 52 Reissue Neck and Bridge Pickups
- Modified and Hidden Fender 57 Reissue Middle Pickup
- Built-In BYOC 5-Knob Compressor (all controls converted to Trimpots except Sustain)
- Future Generation Prototype Turnstyle Switch (passive switching circuit for pickup voicings of Strat, Tele, Tele "Wide-Range" Humbuckers, P-90's, PAF Humbuckers, Dot
332 PAF's, Casino P-90's and a Rickenbacker 330
- Controls are: 5-Way Pickup Selector, Volume, Turnstyle Mode Rotary Switch, and Tone (top) / Compressor Sustain (bottom)
It's a blast having a Tele again! Future plans include upgrading the neck, bakelite pickguard as well as a few choice parts from Glendale Guitars.
Blondie's brother is a Strat with a Buddy Guy Signature Neck, Lace Hot Gold pickups, Fender-Clapton 25dB boost and earlier
Turnstyle prototype. Their new sibling "Jazz" is hanging in the garage drying from a new paint job (same color as the Z-28 that
stated it all). It is a Warmoth Jazzmaster body that will have a similar switching setup as Blondie, but with Fender Reissue Jazzmaster pickups on the bridge and neck with a Jaguar pickup
in the middle.
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Update: December, 2013
I wanted to give you an update on Blondie. Much has changed, well almost everything has changed on her. Here's the revised bullet list:
- Butterscotch Fender HotRod 52 Tele Body
- Warmoth Pro Neck (Boatneck shape, compound radius, quatersawn maple neck & fretboard, 22 stainless steel frets, 1-11/16" TUSQ Earvana nut)
- Forrest Lee B & G Double Benders
- Mastery M4.1 Bridge
- Hipshot 18:1 Grip-Lock Open Tuners
- Fralin Hybrid Blues Tele Pickup Set
- Fralin AlNiCo Rod P-90 in the middle
- 4th Generation Turnstyle Switch Controls (5-way, Volume, Tone). Press on Volume to get the 2nd set of voicing. Tones include the standard Tele three, Strat in-between tones, PAF, Wide-Range HB, Thinline, Cocked Wah, P-90
- Bakelite Pickguard
- Stainless Steel Flat-Blade Screw
Here's Blondie's new deep-voiced boyfriend:
- Forrest Lee Custom Guitars 1-Off Dark Blue over Black Paisley Tele Body
- Forrest Lee Custom Guitars Baritone Neck (Tung Oil Finish, special back shape, hard rock maple & fretboard, 24 frets, 27" scale, custom made brass nut)
- Wilkinson Compensated Bridge
- Wilkinson Vintage Style Tuners
- Benson Custom Handwound Nasville Tele Pickup Set
- 4th Generation Turnstyle Switch Controls (5-way, Volume, Tone). Press on Volume to get the 2nd set of voicing. Tones include the standard Tele three, Strat in-between tones, PAF, Wide-Range HB, Thinline, Cocked Wah, P-90
- Dunlop Strap-Lok
Thanks to Blondie's influence, I will likely be asking Forrest Lee to add either a B or B & G benders in "Bari" at some point. Either that or a Stetsbar Tremolo.
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