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Post subject: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 1:33 am
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Hello!

So after years of using a cheap, terrible Stratocaster and a heavy Les Paul that I love but in retrospect shouldn't have gotten, I've decided that I should get the perfect guitar for me. I've always loved the sound of the bridge pickup in a Telecaster. I play primarily alternative and pop-punk and a lot of the guitarists I love use it. I'd get one but something about it just feels (and looks) off to me. The Stratocaster on the other hand feels like its contours were created with my skinny body in mind. The neck pickup on Stratocasters is pretty much the holy grail of tone in my books. In those same books, the middle and bridge pickups are amongst the worst though..

So I come here to ask a question that's probably been asked a hundred times before.. Putting a Tele bridge in place of a Strat's.. Yay-nay? I know the bridge plate has a lot to do with the tone of a Tele and it won't even fit initially without a few body mods. But regardless of that it really does seem like a great idea to me. Also, I was thinking about putting one of those Seymour Duncan Strat-sized humbuckers in the middle. I don't know much about electronics but I'm certain that's possible, right? :lol: That would give me my three favourite tones in under one pickguard.

I just wanted to ask firsthand if anyone here has tried switching out the bridge pickup for a Tele's and how that went over for you. Also, feel free to let me know if you think this is a dumb idea. I'll appreciate it. Thanks in advance! :D


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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 3:55 am
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If it's cheap and terrible, you have nothing to loose! :wink:
Go for it!

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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 9:48 am
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Or here's something to consider:

There's a Blacktop MIM Strat that comes in an HSH configuration
and the middle (S) pickup is actually a Telecaster pickup.
Try before you buy, of course, but this has been my go-to guitar for the best sound variety.
I love it.


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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 12:40 pm
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Or you could look into a Telecaster Deluxe ..... :?: :idea:
Which has a contoured back ... Look up / Google Tele Deluxe Images or better yet go to http://www.tdpri.com

And there is always this ..... Difficult to find but they are out there.

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Last edited by 53magnatone on Thu Jan 17, 2013 5:23 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 4:48 pm
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Don't remember where but I've seen teles with strat type body contours. That might be ideal for you.

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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 7:54 pm
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Thanks for the replies everyone!

It probably would be much easier to get a Telecaster, but I'm the adventurous moron type :D I simply love the Stratocaster. Hands down my favourite guitar both in looks and feels (and sounds if my messed up idea came to fruition) I appreciate everyone's suggestions and I'll definitely take them to heart if it turns out what I want would just be too much of a hassle. For now, I'll just ask.. Has anyone tried wiring the Telecaster bridge into a SSS Stratocaster? I'm guessing it will be a unique sound that isn't quite like a Tele but I need to know if it's worth trying at least. I love the idea of the Blacktop Strat throwing one in between two beefy humbuckers but that takes away from the sweet and dreamy single-coil neck pickup that made me fall in love with the Stratocaster to begin with. :mrgreen:


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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:23 pm
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Why not a Nashville Tele?

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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:20 pm
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Just gotta love it when you say "I like/want a Strat" with very specific reasons and people keep coming up with "Oh...try this Tele instead".

Anyways, to address the OP's question(s), no I've never tried it myself but I'm certain it's possible. With a big enough hammer and enough money, ANYTHING is possible :-) That said however, since this seems like your first experiment, I would use a fairly inexpensive Strat body to start with at least. Maybe something with a "swimming pool" route to save you some trouble getting parts and such to fit (you'll still have to deal with the bridge obviously). The one place where I do see a bit of a problem is with the Tele bridge itself...you'll want to make sure you get one that is NOT string thru body...unless you're using a hard tail Strat body, you'll have no place to put the anchor ferrules for the strings...remember the back of most Strat bodies is wide open because of the trem. For this, I would suggest maybe Guitar Fetish for your parts. Make sure you get a Tele bridge where the strings anchor to the bridge. Also watch your string spacing as well...if you use a neck with "import/metric" spacing, don't try to use a bridge with vintage spacing (or vice-versa) as you'll run into trouble there. Likewise, watch what kind of humbucker you get too for the same reason...you'll want something where your strings will line up correctly over the pup's pole pieces otherwise you're sound on that pickup is going to be SERIOUSLY screwed up.

I also might suggest using a Tele switch too...save you some headaches when you go to solder things up. You may need to mod the pickguard a bit (which you'll have to do anyways for the Tele bridge) but should be easy enough.

Honestly I hope you go for it! I like to tinker myself so I'd be interested to see how this little proposed project of yours comes out.

Keep us informed!
Jim


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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:38 am
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doctorlazerduck wrote:
For now, I'll just ask.. Has anyone tried wiring the Telecaster bridge into a SSS Stratocaster?


Hello doctorlazerduck: to be clear, are we actually talking about putting a Telecaster bridge pickup into a Strat, or the entire Tele bridge?

If it's just the pickup then it's perfectly do-able. Wiring is the same as an ordinarly single-coil Strat pickup, so that's easy. You'd have to adapt the pickup cavity in the pickguard and probably the cavity in the wood underneath for the larger Tele pickup, but that's do-able too. So if this is what you want, have at it.

On the other hand, if you want to put the whole bridge unit on a Strat there's problems. Like lomitus said, a Strat's trem cavity falls exactly where you'd want the string-through holes and ferrules in the body to go, so that's rather a large difficulty.

I'm also not sure if all the Tele bridge plate fixing screws would meet timber on a Strat or if they'd be falling into the trem block cavity. Different makers' Tele bridges have their mounting screws in different places, so there's that to think about.

Most but not all Tele bridges have additional holes in the rear edge of the flange beside the saddle adjusters, so's you can make your strings top loaded rather than through-body. But again, you need to check that on the individual bridge unit.

Frankly, if I was determined to have a Strat with a Tele bridge on it I'd buy a hardtail Strat body from Mighty Mite, WD Music, Warmoth or one of the other aftermarket suppliers and go at it from there. Seems the best - though drilling those six through-body holes with perfect spacing and then insetting the six ferrules is not nearly as simple as you might think.

Everything is achievable. Though there are some things where you wonder if they're worth the effort...

Good luck - C

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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:32 am
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Quote:
though drilling those six through-body holes with perfect spacing and then insetting the six ferrules is not nearly as simple as you might think.


I do have to second that...even with a GOOD drill press, trying to do it without a jig is tough...the bit will still tend to walk just enough to throw things off on the other side. And doing it with a hand drill is ny-on to impossible. In any case, do a few practices pieces first should you go that way...run the bit down a couple pieces of wood of the same thickness as the body you get before you try the body itself...make sure you do six holes on each practice piece so you know the bit is running true.

Peace,
Jim


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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:56 am
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lomitus wrote:
...even with a GOOD drill press, trying to do it without a jig is tough...the bit will still tend to walk just enough to throw things off on the other side. And doing it with a hand drill is ny-on to impossible. In any case, do a few practices pieces first should you go that way...run the bit down a couple pieces of wood of the same thickness as the body you get before you try the body itself...make sure you do six holes on each practice piece so you know the bit is running true.

Hey Jim - and add to that the fact that an awful lot of drill presses aren't big enough to reach the middle of a guitar body. It all gets very tricky!

Personally, I'd leave it be a use a Telecaster for Tele sounds and let a Strat be a Strat. But I do admire a guy who is prepared to go the mile to get things exactly how he wants, so good luck to doctorlazerduck. :)

Cheers - C

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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 8:03 am
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Ceri just beat me to it 8) but I will add this ..

It is difficult to drill accurately and perpendicularly.
I had the very same problems with Stratopartster II.
Predrilling with the bit is the way to go. By this I mean once you have ( must ) clamped the body down then you can drill the 1st hole.
At small depth increments, in other words drill down into the body about 3/8ths of an inch then pull the bit out, then go in again and repeat until 3/4 into the bodies thickness. ( Do NOt drill completely thru to the other side.

Change drill bits to a 1/4 inch diameter. Line this up with your existing hole's center and slowly carefully drill thru to the other side. Slow because you want to prevent tear out, using a smaller bit because this is actually your pilot hole. Once you have done this process for all 6 holes you can now flip the body over and drill from the back to the front to meet up with the othe half of the drilled holes....
There will be one difference, if you use flush Ferrules then the hole will have to be flanged to allow for the ferrules to sit flush. if they sit on top of the body then that will be just one drill size.
I suggest going to StewMac and looking up the Ferrules dimensions and process, I think they have a vid on this subject.

ONe critical last ( but actually First thing to make certain... Is that the body when it sits on the drill press table /shelf is absolutely square ( 90 degree's ) to the drill bit. If it's off by a 16th on the top side, it will be off by 1/8th to 1/4 on the back side...

Set Up is critical in getting this correct... This is why we use Jigs to hold necks and bodies in place ...

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Post subject: Re: Your opinions? :)
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 9:19 am
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Lindy Fralin sells a bridge plate for Stratocasters. That should be the cheapest and best mod you can do to give you that "Tele" bridge tone... Don't forget the bridge and saddles help define that tone too.

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