Mike Rejsa

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Hi, I'm Mike Rejsa. Every Tele tells a story...

At one gig back in 1973, I accidentally broke my SG in half during our grand finale. I needed another guitar in a hurry. The only decent guitar I could find cheap was this beat up old Tele ($120) (right). It was probably a 1957 or so... all refinished and the headstock had been split down the tuners and repaired badly.

I fell in love with the clanky edgy tone and used single coils for the next 20 years. You can see I put in a neck humbucker and then went back to the stocker, leaving a big hole. I wonder where it is today?

This was my first time making a body from raw wood (left). It's Phillipine mahogany, which is supposed to be garbage wood but sounds great. It has a Warmoth boatneck, bar bridge, Duncan PAF's, and Gibson style controls. This is the best classic rock guitar I've ever had.

I wanted more of a Rockabilly guitar and this was the result (right). I suppose I should have put on a Bigsby, but I like Strat trems so this roller unit went in. The body was fun to make... it is basswood with a maple top and hardly weighs anything. Did 5-layer binding around the top. Then I soaked it in ReRanch tinted clear, the yellowing looks great with the gold parts.

It needs some rework. The neck is way too big, I don't like the pickups, and the roller trem makes funny noises and feels stiff. I'll get a smaller neck, Duncan 59's, and a normal vintage trem with solid saddles, and I want to take another shot at binding the F-holes.

I'll be modifying this bubinga Tele as soon as I find a neck and bridge that fit. ;)