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Post subject: My first setup...
Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:13 pm
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Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:14 pm
Posts: 2561
Got this '99 'Nashville' Telecaster Deluxe from a friend, who got it from his brother (orig. owner). My friend quit trying to learn and gave it to me.

His brother used this guitar for slide work and modded it to remove the middle pup and wired it to modern spec. When I got it, I replaced the incorrect black PG w/ a Tortoise one.

The action was always very high (for slide work(?)) and the intonation was way off and I never got it right.

Picked up a Wilkinson 3-saddle compensated bridge on closeout from a Ma & Pa store for $15, hoping this would fix the intonation issue and also because I like the vintage 3-saddle look. Also, the guitar had 11 ga. strings which were OK until I got my Empress Tele w/ 9 ga., love those 9s ! So, I decided to swap strings when I did the bridge.

Already had a straightedge and Feeler Gauges and picked up some Radius Gauges and a Stew-Mac string action gauge. The Stew-Mac gauge seemed a little arbitrary as it required that you sight to a line, plus it was graduated only in 0.10", while changes could be in the 0.01" range. Another issue was that the dimensions of the Wilkinson Saddles was completely different from the Fender ones.

So, having tons of machining and engine building tools, I decided to use a Dial Indicator rather than the Stew-Mac gauge. I set it up so that my reference was the baseplate and top of the strings on top of the saddles - my zero (0) point. I could set saddle and string heights by calculating zero point - X.

Fortunately the neck relief was good and gave sufficient tension on the 9s. The bridge swap was easy, again using the dial indicator to measure and re-establish pickup height. This Wilkinson Bridge is a nice bit of kit, well made, nicely plated and lined up perfectly.

Cleaned & oiled the rosewood, installed the new strings, lowered the string action to 0.078"-E / 0.061"-High E (had been 0.083"/0.071") without any buzzing, used the radius gauge to set the rest and got the intonation PEFECT !! It's a whole different guitar. Plays better, sounds better, way better sustain.

All this is not a big deal for many of the seasoned members here, but honestly, I was nervous tackling this for the first time... but very pleased with the results.

If anyone is hesitant about doing this sort of work, don't be.

A few simple tools, a little knowledge (the Net is full of it), and some patience, and you can do it too !

Requisite Before and After pics:

Image

Image

Image

Image

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele


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Post subject: Re: My first setup...
Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 2:20 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2011 11:47 am
Posts: 838
Location: Hawaii
Nice writeup and beautiful tele! Nice job I'm jealous. :P

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Post subject: Re: My first setup...
Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 2:49 pm
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Rock Star
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Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 7:10 pm
Posts: 5057
Location: The Capital Wasteland
You were just given that????

If you were, I'm mad jelly.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic


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Post subject: Re: My first setup...
Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:01 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Sun Apr 14, 2013 4:41 pm
Posts: 764
Location: Sydney. Australia
Nice guitar, great results!


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Post subject: Re: My first setup...
Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:13 pm
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Professional Musician
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Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:14 pm
Posts: 2561
Buxom wrote:
You were just given that????

If you were, I'm mad jelly.


Yep !! :mrgreen:

There is a little more to it... Actually, I met my buddy about a dozen years ago when I was at a gas station with my 911. He admired the car, asked about Classic Cars etc.

A month later, he called me to ask if I'd look over a vintage Jaguar he was interested in. I agreed. The car was a little rough, but nothing you couldn't correct. He said he knew nothing about cars and I said I'd help teach him. We restored that car to showroom new and became friends in the process.

For years, he kept asking me what he could do to repay all I'd done. My reply was always "That's what Car Guys do... no payment necessary..."

Last year, when I was at his house, I mentioned I was taking up the guitar. He told me to come with him upstairs. He opened his closet and pulled this Tele out of the back, handed it to me and said: "Here...". When I asked what he was doing, he replied: " That's what Car Guys do... "

Told me his brother bought it new and gave it to him when he tried learning 10 years ago. After a couple frustrating months, he gave up and put the guitar in it's gig bag and put it in the back of his closet.

cheers!

_________________
Image

'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My first setup...
Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:15 pm
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Rock Star
Rock Star
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Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 7:10 pm
Posts: 5057
Location: The Capital Wasteland
That's a friend for life. :)

My friend is in autoshop and is scavenging parts his teacher doesn't want for a go kart build I'm gonna do. He's also right hand man in terms of being a drummer.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic


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Post subject: Re: My first setup...
Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 5:27 pm
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Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2011 11:47 am
Posts: 838
Location: Hawaii
Damn that's an even better story!

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Post subject: Re: My first setup...
Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2013 9:05 pm
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Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2012 2:14 pm
Posts: 2561
Nikola Tesla wrote:
Nice guitar, great results!


Thanks ! I really like it a lot...

Hard to believe that it's 15 years old because it's condition is just short of new. I've had several people think it to be less than a year old.

It was gigged every weekend for the 1st three years of it's life by my buddy's bro. who was in a fairly popular local band, but he took care of it well.

When my buddy got it, he only used it a couple months before sending it into a 10-year hibernation... in the gig bag, string tension loosened, and a in a closet w/ no exterior walls - a controlled environment for all intents.

I could never sell it because I believe that it represents more value than the Market places on it. Such a used MIM Tele is maybe worth $300, but it'd take more than $300 to replace it in the condition it's in.

cheers!

_________________
Image

'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele


Top
Profile
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