After being Tele-less for almost 10 years, I picked up a '96 Japanese "50s" Tele with cheap crumbling finish at a pawnshop.
I was expecting that I'd have to swap the pickups out but to my pleasant surprise it had already been outfitted with a pair of Jason Lollar pickups.
The guitar came without
a pickguard, so I slapped an "incorrect" 8-hole w/b/w pickguard on it.
I outfitted it with a 5-way switch which gives added "parallel"
and "series out-of-phase" settings when the two pickups are combined, and replaced the volume pot with an ancient and very loose 250k pot from an old radio for improved steel-like
swells, and replaced the tone pot with a "mystery" pot from an old Kawai "Mysteries of the Orient" guitar - this gives very
extreme treble roll-off, almost like an on/off switch, for really articulate faux-steel effects.
I also made my own slightly oversized stainless steel saddles and drilled and tapped the hole for the intonation adjustment
screws at a slight angle - my attempt at making "compensated" saddles. I'm toying with the idea of making a new one out of brass for the two high strings.
You can hear the Tele in action (through a 1949 Silvertone single-6V6 amp) at
After being Tele-less for almost 10 years, I picked up a '96 Japanese "50s" Tele with cheap crumbling finish at a pawnshop.