Cheap Fender Style Parts

[rob aylestone]

Maplin in the UK is a bit like Tandy/radio shack in the US. They have a few things that can get you out of trouble if you need something like pots or capacitors in a hurry, but their range in store is limited, prices high and quality often dubious. Plenty of online suppliers who are cheaper, better and more musician friendly. Like volume pots. Musician quality ones are smooth and you can adjust them with your little finger, while the Maplin ones are heavily lubricated inside, meaning much more resistance to turning. That isn't in the specs.

 

[Bubba po]

Finally got around to getting my old strat copy out of my parents attic.
Probably hasn't had new strings since the late 90s.

It's basically scrap. Needs a complete rebuild I don't think even the neck is usuable.
It doesn't have a truss rod and there are sharp fret ends everywhere. I remember I would occasionally get the top e string caught on the end of a fret and would have to pull it free.
The neck does appear to be straight though and not overly bowed.

I haven't plugged it in yet. But all the hardware is pretty minging. Even the pole pieces and blade switch are showing signs of rust.

The whole thing seems to be covered in a layer of filth too.

View attachment 96257View attachment 96258

Dear god. People pay a lot of money for the Fender custom shop to do that to a guitar. :

Did you see the Strummer Tele they did a while back? Not the ordinary one, the Custom Shop version?

 

[JDOD]

Dear god. People pay a lot of money for the Fender custom shop to do that to a guitar. :

Did you see the Strummer Tele they did a while back? Not the ordinary one, the Custom Shop version?

I haven't no, you got any pics?

I'm gonna get a new scratch plate for it set for HSS. I also want a 3 ply one with a white line. All the electronics and the trem need replacing but I'm gonna try to not end up having it look completely clean.

I'll see if I can save the neck, might not be possible though.

 

[Bubba po]

I haven't no, you got any pics?

I'm gonna get a new scratch plate for it set for HSS. I also want a 3 ply one with a white line. All the electronics and the trem need replacing but I'm gonna try to not end up having it look completely clean.

I'll see if I can save the neck, might not be possible though.

The story's here - makes interesting reading.

A tribute to Joe Strummers Fender Telecaster guitar



Apologies - I was mistaken about it being the custom shop, I think.

 

[JDOD]

The story's here - makes interesting reading.

A tribute to Joe Strummers Fender Telecaster guitar



Apologies - I was mistaken about it being the custom shop, I think.

Sounds like the custom shop fucked up their attempt at it.

Cool guitar though.

 

[JDOD]

OK, I need a quick hand knowing what to but to get started.

What am I looking for with regard's bridge/trem? The current on in there is a) crap and b) broken. I remember banging the whammy bar quite hard once, there was a crack and loads of metal fragments fell out of the back of the guitar so I hammered a lump of wood in behind the trem to stabilise it. I couldn't find anything that looked suitable on the Allparts UK website.

Bear in mind I will be going for a HSS set up with a 5 way blade switch. What pots do I need? Is there a difference between a vol and tone pot? I'll want P5 to be the full humbucker, P4 to be a coil tap P, 3, P2 and P1 being the standard strat positions for the neck and middle pickup.

What do I need to know about capacitors?

 

[JDOD]

Been looking up capacitors and think I have that sorted - I've come across this:
"As a general rule 250K pots are used for single coil pickups and 500K for humbuckers. Similarly 'A' pots (logarithmic) are used for tone, and 'B' pots (linear) are used for volume."
regarding volume and tone pots. Is it true?
Also, I'll be going for an HSS setup so not sure whether to go for 500 or 250k pots

 

[Greg_L]

Been looking up capacitors and think I have that sorted - I've come across this:
"As a general rule 250K pots are used for single coil pickups and 500K for humbuckers. Similarly 'A' pots (logarithmic) are used for tone, and 'B' pots (linear) are used for volume."
regarding volume and tone pots. Is it true?
Also, I'll be going for an HSS setup so not sure whether to go for 500 or 250k pots

I like log pots for volume. They roll off faster and then smooth out. You don't have to go all the way down to 2 to go from wild to cleaner.

 

[JDOD]

I like log pots for volume. They roll off faster and then smooth out. You don't have to go all the way down to 2 to go from wild to cleaner.

Yeah, I've since read a bit about that. I'm gonna get three log pots and have a play with capacitor values on the tone pots. Looking forward to cocking about with this now. Just managed to get the HHS 3 ply BWB plate. So I'm gonna start ripping it apart this weekend... It might never go back together and spend the rest of its life in a shoe box in the attic...

 

[Greg_L]

Yeah, I've since read a bit about that. I'm gonna get three log pots and have a play with capacitor values on the tone pots. Looking forward to cocking about with this now. Just managed to get the HHS 3 ply BWB plate. So I'm gonna start ripping it apart this weekend... It might never go back together and spend the rest of its life in a shoe box in the attic...

Lol. That's probably where it belongs.

Do you even use your tone controls? If not, capacitor values mean very little.

 

[JDOD]

Lol. That's probably where it belongs.

Do you even use your tone controls? If not, capacitor values mean very little.

You saw the pics, did you?

I do use them a bit - not a great deal. Just when I am messing about in the house. This neck does have a much smaller radius that what I am now used to. The frets on it are pretty fucked though - not sure I want to go through the labour of re-freting a shit neck that doesn't have a truss rod.

 

[Greg_L]

The story's here - makes interesting reading.

A tribute to Joe Strummers Fender Telecaster guitar



Apologies - I was mistaken about it being the custom shop, I think.

There is a Fender CS Strummer guitar, and I've seen one at Fullers in Houston. It's pretty underwhelming. I love Joe Strummer, but I hate Teles and his was nothing special besides being beat up, stickered, and painted from years of touring. It's not like he did any unique mods to make it his own style. Joe would have been Joe with any Telecaster, and his was not unique besides having his own DNA all over it, so I don't get it when companies recreate an artist replica stock guitar that they make anyway. It's like the Dee Dee Ramone P-Bass. Cool, they honor Dee Dee with a signature bass....which is just a regular old P-Bass. Woopdy doo. Dee Dee did nothing to his basses to make them "Dee Dee" basses. They were just plain old P-Basses.

---------- Update ----------

You saw the pics, did you?

I do use them a bit - not a great deal. Just when I am messing about in the house. This neck does have a much smaller radius that what I am now used to. The frets on it are pretty fucked though - not sure I want to go through the labour of re-freting a shit neck that doesn't have a truss rod.

You could buy a new neck. Strat necks literally and figuratively grown on trees.

 

[Bubba po]

You could buy a new neck. Strat necks literally and figuratively grown on trees.

I would do this. You could get a second quality neck (which usually only means slight grain defects - appearance/aesthetic defects in other words) for a very reasonable cost.

 

[JDOD]

I would do this. You could get a second quality neck (which usually only means slight grain defects - appearance/aesthetic defects in other words) for a very reasonable cost.

I probably will do at some point - I want to make sure that I have the skill and patience to get the electronics to work first.
I would prefer a slightly different neck to a Fender though, I've been looking up un-lacquered Fernandes necks but can't find where to buy one.

 

[Bubba po]

I'm the other way round - I can do the woodwork but I'm unsure of the electrics!

 

[Bubba po]

This thread got me thinking; the only thing really shit about my no.2 gigging guitar is the neck and fretboard. For about 90 quid I can buy a Fender licenced Mighty Mite tele neck, 22 fret, USA hard rock maple. I think I'm gonna do it. Has anybody else bought a Mighty Mite neck? Is the quality good? A Fender neck with the decal is three times the cost. I'm going to break tradition and go maple on maple, too.

 

[jimistone]

This thread got me thinking; the only thing really shit about my no.2 gigging guitar is the neck and fretboard. For about 90 quid I can buy a Fender licenced Mighty Mite tele neck, 22 fret, USA hard rock maple. I think I'm gonna do it. Has anybody else bought a Mighty Mite neck? Is the quality good? A Fender neck with the decal is three times the cost. I'm going to break tradition and go maple on maple, too.

I bought a Allparts neck. They aren't just a little bit higher than a mighty mite. The neck I got was very nice. I don't have any experience with mighty mite, but I almost bought one instead of the allparts.

 

[JDOD]

This thread got me thinking; the only thing really shit about my no.2 gigging guitar is the neck and fretboard. For about 90 quid I can buy a Fender licenced Mighty Mite tele neck, 22 fret, USA hard rock maple. I think I'm gonna do it. Has anybody else bought a Mighty Mite neck? Is the quality good? A Fender neck with the decal is three times the cost. I'm going to break tradition and go maple on maple, too.

Tell me how you get if you do get one. The neck will be the last thing I replace. Gonna sort the electronics first with pickups I have spare so I only have to buy a few knobs and switches. If I don't fuck that up I'll get a neck, then if I can't set it up right I'll get pickups.

 

[Bubba po]

Tell me how you get if you do get one. The neck will be the last thing I replace. Gonna sort the electronics first with pickups I have spare so I only have to buy a few knobs and switches. If I don't fuck that up I'll get a neck, then if I can't set it up right I'll get pickups.

I do have experience of fitting a neck bought from Ebay. Our bassplayer bought a P-bass neck with the decal and I fitted it with tuners, fitted it to the body and set it up. I can't remember now who the manufacturer was but the setup was a complete breeze. It was excellent, and compared to a setup on a Mexican P-bass I did for our singer it ended up a far better playing instrument.

I have other good guitars I could use but my stage guitars need to look abused, be stickered up and generally punkified. They also need to play great and this one doesn't. It sounds good, though.

 

[Bubba po]

I bought a Allparts neck. They aren't just a little bit higher than a mighty mite. The neck I got was very nice. I don't have any experience with mighty mite, but I almost bought one instead of the allparts.

Thanks, Jimi. The lower-priced Allparts necks are about £30 (£40-odd dollars) more than the Mighty Mite, which is just getting a little pricy for a guitar that's mostly a backup. Having said that, I may well play it more when the neck is sorted.