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Post subject: Ressurecting my Flood Damaged Tele - DONE
Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 6:14 pm
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Hi all. I had a parts telecaster back in the 90s. In 1999 Hurricane Floyd struck my area and all 3 of my guitars were affected. I had the parts tele, a 90s japanese strat with a kahler tremolo, and a '77 musicmaster.

I knew nothing about building or repairing guitars back then and I was left with few resources after the flood. So I left the guitars in garage of my friend's house (where I had been living). The wood swelled and the finish cracked on the Musicmaster and the strat, but the tele was probably very salvageable after the flood. Fast forward 10 years. I got back into guitars - especially strats, but I always had fond feelings for my tele. I called my buddy up and he told me he never cleaned the garage and the guitars are still there. I stopped by this evening and picked up the tele and I am going to try and re-build it. It has been sitting in a garage outside of the case for 10 years after being water-logged. Here are some pics of the guitar in the current state.

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Last edited by Kong on Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:45 pm, edited 5 times in total.

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Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 6:20 pm
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Here are a few pics after some clean up work tonight. Windex, furniture polish, and Mother's metal polish were my arsenal. I'm pretty happy with my progress so far.

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Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 6:26 pm
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So it looks like I have been able to save quite a bit.

I'm torn on whether to change the bridge, but I definitely need the following:

String Ferrules
Strap Buttons
Bridge Saddles
Pots, Wires, 3-way Switch
Pickups (1 humbucker and 1 single coil)
Neck
Strings

Oh by the way, this guitar used to sound great. It was very easy to dial in the Keith Richards tone from "Can you hear me knocking" which is a favorite of mine. Let me know what you think!

Should I get a cheap tele and cannibalize the parts, or should I get the parts individually from Stewmac, Warmouth, or some other supplier? Opinions are invited.

thanks,

Kong

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Last edited by Kong on Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 6:54 pm
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Looks like a well weathered road warrior (or flood warrior, for that matter :D )

what body wood is that?

Still, doesn't look as beat up as my own 2001 Tele :lol: I'm such a mess :roll:

It´s exciting to see it being brought back to life, keep posting!


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Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 7:08 pm
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Iago wrote:
Looks like a well weathered road warrior (or flood warrior, for that matter :D )

what body wood is that?

Still, doesn't look as beat up as my own 2001 Tele :lol: I'm such a mess :roll:

It´s exciting to see it being brought back to life, keep posting!


I honestly do not know what the body wood is made of. If anyone has any ideas from looking at it, by all means chime in. I will weigh it tomorrow if that helps.

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Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:29 pm
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Nice work my friend.

Biggest con of scavenging from a cheap tele is going to be the quality of the electronics. If you are just using hardware, i dont see anything wrong with taking an 80 dollar squire and parting it out. plus it will always leave you another project for later on down the road :-)


Last edited by siprelude89 on Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 1:54 am
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Hi Kong: great clean up job! I bet some folks would like to hear more about what methods you used - you cleaned that humbucker cover up very nicely!

I wouldn't replace anything that you don't absolutely have to - such damage as remains is real (not artificial) and tells the story of the guitar. So keep the bridge, for example. Which leaves you more cash available for buying really good quality parts for the bits you do have to replace.

Thank you for your clear and informative pictures. While you are at it, would you mind taking a photo or two of what the insides of the pickups looked like?

Please continue to show us your progress on this thread!

Good luck - C

PS: surely that body's alder, no...?


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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:19 am
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Ceri wrote:
Hi Kong: great clean up job! I bet some folks would like to hear more about what methods you used - you cleaned that humbucker cover up very nicely!

I wouldn't replace anything that you don't absolutely have to - such damage as remains is real (not artificial) and tells the story of the guitar. So keep the bridge, for example. Which leaves you more cash available for buying really good quality parts for the bits you do have to replace.

Thank you for your clear and informative pictures. While you are at it, would you mind taking a photo or two of what the insides of the pickups looked like?

Please continue to show us your progress on this thread!

Good luck - C

PS: surely that body's alder, no...?


Ceri - Thanks for the encouragement! Much appreciated coming from the author of the best build thread that I have ever seen.

As far as the clean up methods, I basically completely disassembled the guitar. The neck is shot, but the body is still pretty good. I used windex to get 10 years of grime off of the body and then rubbed it with some inexpensive spray furniture polish.

For the metal bits, I used Mother's metal polish, and some good old fashioned elbow grease. Just an old rag and a lot of rubbing and polishing. Most of the metal parts buffed right up nicely - especially that humbucker cover and the tuners. The bridge does not look that bad, but I was thinking of going to a set-up with individual adjusters. At minimum I will get a new set of compensated saddles.

I also put all the screws, strap buttons, ferrules and small metal pieces in an old glass and shot them up with WD-40 and scrubbed them with a toothbrush. The ferrules have just a slight bit of rust inside them where the ball of the string would make contact, which made me reluctant to re-use them, but they're not really that bad. I will see what other parts I can salvage today based on your sage advice.

The pickup mounting screws, bridge screws and saddles were pretty much destroyed. Maybe the pickups can be re-used, I'm not sure about the affects of being dunked in water is on them. But I definitely think new wires, pots, and switch are in order.

I'll post pics of the remaining parts later, and I will be looking for advice on what to save and what to trash. Saw some good deals on Squiers on the net last night, and I would like to get it playable sooner than later. If I go with a Squier, I will be looking to upgrade the neck in the future...

GAS has really been getting the better of me lately and I made a deal for a Classic Players 50s Strat that I'm supposed to buy tomorrow, price was right, but it will deplete my gear budget for a while.

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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 3:55 am
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Hey again, Kong. First, thank you for your very generous remark! :oops:

Now:
Kong wrote:
For the metal bits, I used Mother's metal polish, and some good old fashioned elbow grease. Just an old rag and a lot of rubbing and polishing.

Ideal!

Kong wrote:
The ferrules have just a slight bit of rust inside them where the ball of the string would make contact, which made me reluctant to re-use them, but they're not really that bad.

I'd stick with 'em if you can. You might find that new ones didn't fit the holes quite so snuggly - and then you're into all kinds of tiresome issues...

Kong wrote:
The bridge does not look that bad, but I was thinking of going to a set-up with individual adjusters. At minimum I will get a new set of compensated saddles.

Some suggestions on that. Earlier this year I went with a set of these compensated saddles:

http://www.wdmusic.com/compensated_tele ... brass.html

Not too pricy and they improved the intonation significantly over traditional type barrel saddles. BUT. That issue is still not perfect. To my ear and electronic tuner they are actually over-compensated. The stagger on the top two pairs needs to be slightly less.

So. Next time I'm going to try these saddles:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_ta ... es#details

They still have the benefits of brass barrels, but each string position is adjustable, so we can get the intonation absolutely perfect.

Unfortunately, they are very expensive, even if you buy them without the bridge plate. Good things come at a price, I'm afraid...

Anyway. Looking great, Kong! Can't wait to see more.

Cheers man - C


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Post subject: Pickups
Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 4:00 am
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Here are pictures of the pickups as requested. Not sure if I should try and break them down further, especially as I have no expertise in this area. I attempted no clean-up on the pickups. They are as I found them.

The humbucker says "PAT NO 2,737,842" on it.

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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 6:10 am
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Don't give up on the electronics until you're forced to. You may be able to clean out the pots by injecting contact cleaner. And who knows, the pickups might even work.

If it was me I'd bake the electronics in a real slow oven for a couple of hours - like 175F. All that time in a garage couldn't be a good thing.

It could all be futile but why not try?

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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:36 am
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To me I would scrap the pups and pots. I mean why go through all that work and assembly to only have things start giving out on you. The body is really nice as is the rest of the pieces you salvaged.


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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:37 am
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A great thread, a great story, and a great guitar.

If I were in your shoes, I'd be hesitant to pick up new electronics unless they were truly needed. If you can get those pickups to work, all the power to you!


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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:14 am
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I was waiting to read how many coats of what finish you used to restore the body. Windex, furniture polish and elbow grease. Very nice work.
Have you tried putting an ohm meter on the pots and switch? Might give you an over-all view of the repair/replace issues. At any rate, thanks for sharing you efforts so far, and please do keep the pictures and progress reports coming.
Cheers,
John.E


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Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:35 am
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Great thread. I love projects like this.

My opinions:

Assuming you want to make this Tele a solid player, don't buy a cheap Squier for parts. You're obviously a guy who knows guitars and after all the work you've put into this Tele, why not make it the best you can?

Squier Teles generally use cheap pots and switches. I suggest buying CTS pots, a geniune Fender switch, a Switchcraft jack, and an Electrosocket jack plate.

You already know www.stewmac.com. I use their brass compensated saddles and the work well and have recessed allen-head adjustment screws that won't tear up your hand like Fender saddles with the raised screws.

Another good source for genuine Fender Tele parts is www.angela.com. I buy stuff from them that stewmac.com doesn't carry and have had nothing but good experiences - fast shipping, fair prices, etc.


As for the neck, what I'd do is go play every new Fender Tele at my local Fender dealer and find the neck size and shape that I liked best. Note the model - a '50s Classic or an American Standard or '69 Thinline or whatever. Then buy one from that model on eBay. There are a few sellers on eBay who sell brand new Fender necks, tuners, and string trees from disassembled new Fender guitars.

Warmoth and USA Custom Guitars are good neck sources too. I suggest genuine Fender necks from eBay simply because that's what I like and they don't cost more than the other companies, on average - at least the last time I bought one (it's been a couple years).

Good luck! I look forward to watching your progress if you're inclined to post more pictures in the future.


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