project #2 Telecaster Deluxe

[i love sharin foo]

It'll definitely be a little bit before I can get this one all finished up. So far, I bought one of the Squier Deluxe bodies off of eBay for practically nothing. It doesn't have any contouring on the back and uses a 4 bolt plate, so it won't be 100% faithful to a "real" Deluxe, but I'm not concerned. It's black and I also have a b/w/b pickguard for it. It is definitely going to have a Bigsby and most likely a TOM bridge. I might go with an old Jazzmaster bridge, but I'm still debating it. As for a neck, I'm thinking I will get as close to an original as I can..  maple board, CBS headstock, bullet truss rod. I am thinking about one of the baritone conversion necks, but I think I'd rather just make a straight ahead Deluxe. The electronics will be wired just like the originals. I'll be using reissue pickups, along with CTS pots and a Switchcraft jack and switch. Plus cloth covered wire, solely because I like working with it  I'd post a pic, but it is just a plain black body right now. It does still have the hardtail Strat bridge on it, though.

Justin

[StevenO]

Holy moly!
I've been thinking about doing something similar as this, but instead, I'd be really tricking this thing out, neck pickup only, and then in the bridge position, I'd put either a fuzz pedal of some sort of delay pedal. JM pickup of course. It's be nuts, and I'd like it! and then of course, a bigsby.
I'd ideally like to build a bunch of these, since they are so cheap.

Your idea sounds really awesome, and I hope you follow through with it!

I found a 74 tele custom with a bigsby at a vintage music store for only $1400 cdn(I believe), it was very thurstonized, but I didn't get a chance to buy it in time.

Good luck with this project, Justin. You did a great job with the jazzblaster.

[i love sharin foo]

Thanks for the kind words 

It would be really, really awesome to build one with a delay pedal built right in. One of the newer Ibanez AD9s would be perfect for that.

I have wanted a Deluxe for a long time, so this way I should be able to build it the way I want and probably save a little money. I mean I have about a quarter of the parts rounded up and have only spent $80 so far    It will definitely get finished, but I just can't afford to go off the deep end and buy all the parts at once on this one. Here's my breakdown on what else I need and real round about costs:

Bigsby  ~$90
bridge ~$15-20 for a cheap TOM knockoff (or free if I use one of my spare JM bridges)
pickups ~$125
neck probably an unfinished Allparts ~$125-130
and the all the other odds and ends like pots, switch, etc

I would LOVE to buy that real Deluxe body that's been on eBay for a while now (the natural one for $600). THAT would be a nice way to start this project off. This Squier body I have right now weighs about 6 pounds...  maybe that will translate into SUSTAIN FOR DAYS!!!!!! Probably just shoulder pain, but wishful thinking can be a good thing.

Justin

[StevenO]

I'm also very much interested in those new white tele deluxes that musicians friend is selling, but sadly they aren't available to Canada and even if they were, I'd probably not buy one...
But they look very, very cool.
I like three colours for tele deluxes/customs, Black, White, and Walnut/root beer brown, especially when they are beaten up and have bigsbys.

A friend of mine uses a 70s tele deluxe, it looks superb and sounds wonderful. It's got that nice yellowed Olympic White look to it and it's quite beat up. Very nice!

[i love sharin foo]

Yeah, I like the white ones too. The black pickguard really makes them look neat, IMO. That was one of the reasons why I made a black guard for my Jazzblaster. If you seriously do decide that you want one of those Deluxes from MF, let me know. I'd be more than glad to buy it and ship it to you. It's hard to tell if they'd hit you up for some customs fees though 

Justin

[mynameisjonas]

can a CBS strat neck be made to fit a telecaster neck pocket?
maybe you just need to flatten the heel, but i just thought i´d ask if you had thought about it.

[i love sharin foo]

can a CBS strat neck be made to fit a telecaster neck pocket?
maybe you just need to flatten the heel, but i just thought i´d ask if you had thought about it.

Yeah, it'll fit. The only difference is that the corners of the pocket on the body are squared out. If you slip a rounded Strat heel in there and push the rounded part until it stops, it will fit the same as a Telecaster one would. If there is a tiny bit of difference, which I don't think there will be, I can compensate with bridge placement and some saddle adjustment.

The real Deluxes already use a Strat neck (the originals, MIJ and MIM ones). This one I got is a Squier though, which used  a Telecaster neck because they turned it into some kind of bastardized Deluxe. Thus the reason for no stomach contour. It should be pretty cool when it's all done though.

Justin

[mynameisjonas]

The real Deluxes already use a Strat neck (the originals, MIJ and MIM ones).

yes i knew that, i just wasn´t sure if you could fit a strat neck in a tele pocket.

damn it, this thread has made me miss my old tele deluxe even more than usual.

[i love sharin foo]

The real Deluxes already use a Strat neck (the originals, MIJ and MIM ones).

yes i knew that, i just wasn´t sure if you could fit a strat neck in a tele pocket.

damn it, this thread has made me miss my old tele deluxe even more than usual.

Sorry! I didn't mean to sound like you didn't know that, I figured you did  . I just measured the pockets on the Deluxe body andmy spare JM body. The Deluxe's pocket extends about 1/16" further toward the bridge end of the body as compared with the JM. The width and everything is the same. I might just put the neck in all the way and compensate by moving the bridge slightly since I'll have to mount a different one anyway. If not, I could cover the small gap in the pocket with the pickguard.

Your old Deluxe looks really cool. How long ago did you sell it? I hve a few that still haunt me too 

Justin

[mynameisjonas]

it was about five years ago. i sold it because it badly needed a refret, which i couldn´t afford. plus i got two really nice hagströms in exchange for it, that i later sold for LOTS more than i payed for the tele. i was very pleased at the time, but now i wish i would have kept it. i can even remember the way it smelled...

[StevenO]

This is a cool project.
It hasn't received as much attention as it should.

http://www.vintage-guitars.se/1973_Fend ... 399721.htm
I'd like to have that one^^.

[Stereordinary]

I really wasn't into Tele Deluxes until I saw Aaron Turner from Isis playing one (in a tiny coffee shop, what a great show!).  It sounded fantastic.  Looked kinda like the one in the link above.  And Justin, if you're gonna make one of these you gotta get a fat CBS headstock on it. 

[Infliktor]

I bought this Made in Mexico one and installed some of the original pickups that I bought a few years ago.

Sounds just like an original.  Only difference that I can tell is the fretboard is 12 inch radius

[i love sharin foo]

  And Justin, if you're gonna make one of these you gotta get a fat CBS headstock on it.   :D

I'm going to for sure! I briefly thought about making it a baritone, but I think I'd rather have the stock scale.

StevenO, thanks 

I bought this Made in Mexico one and installed some of the original pickups that I bought a few years ago.

Sounds just like an original.  Only difference that I can tell is the fretboard is 12 inch radius

Wow, I never knew that the MIM versions had a 12" radius board. I just kind of assumed they had the normal 7.25

Justin

[Infliktor]

I forgot also the frets are medium jumbo