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Post subject: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:55 am
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Ever had a guitar build where EVERYTHING goes wrong?
Almost a year ago I bought a nice crimson red Telecaster FMT HH body/neck on ebay to start a new project guitar.
http://media.fmicdirect.com/fender/imag ... md_001.jpg
Simple Asian built guitar, nothing to it. New hardware, pickups – and a job’s done, sounds easy, right?
WRONG!
First, the body arrived with a crack in the top (ebay is so ebay). That had to be glued and lacquered. Twice.
Second thing: practically no hardware for this guitar that would simply go on the guitar without any additional work.
Take the bridge plate for example. I wanted a simple “drop-it-in-and-forget-about-it” black bridge. Judging by the mounting holes Fender used Gotoh parts on this model. And sure enough, Gotoh doesn’t make bridges in black, only in “cosmo black” (think “black chrome”). So it’s either filling the existing holes and mounting another bridge or buying the Gotoh one, stripping the black chrome and powder coating it black.
The last straw came in the form of pickup mounting rings. :? I measured the existing holes twice – they are 80 mm wide (that’s 3-2/16 “, if I’m not mistaken). I searched the Web high and low, there’s positively NO manufacturer that makes pickup rings with this spacing. The closest thing I found is 82,5 mm (3-3/16 “), a tad too wide. Right now I really don’t know, if I would actually play the finished guitar, when I’m done with it… Maybe I’ll just smash it against the wall, laughing hysterically, set fire to the remains, and melt what hasn’t burnt in acid or something… :evil:

P.S. Does anyone, by any chance, know what pickup rings does Fender use in their FMT HH Telecasters ?


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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 9:11 am
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Sorry to hear about your troubles. Sometimes custom builds do not go as planned. Maybe it is time to enlist the help if a local luthier with more resources.


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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 12:51 pm
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I have that identical guitar. Are you saying that someone stripped all the hardware and you bought the carcass? I'm sure you know the pickups are Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates and '59 Humbucker. As cheap as the guitar was, I'd think it would cost more to buy the parts, but that's probably why that one was stripped. Sorry it's giving you so much trouble. It's a nice little guitar. The bridge gives a wide string spacing and the jumbo frets are nice. The fret board has a real flat 15.75" radius, so it's a bit different than the average Tele.

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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 12:29 am
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Thanks for the kind words.
I deliberately intended this build to be a radically different Tele. To tell you the truth, I intend to use it for heavy music (high-output humbuckers, locking tuners, downtuning and other heresy), that's why I bought only the wood, not the complete instrument. With the set neck and a mahogany body/neck combo I imagine it will be more akin to the SG than a Tele.
I am indeed consulting the local luthier (for example the crack in the top was fixed by him, as it’s clearly beyond my capabilities), but I really like to do the majority of the assembly myself.
Anyways, when I manage to get the guitar finished, I’ll post the photo in this thread. :roll:


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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 10:38 am
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Well, in the end I think you'll feel you made a good choice for a donor body to work with. It's too bad the hard ware is odd sizes. It would be pretty hard to have known that ahead of time.
Can you tell me, is the neck profile on yours pretty flat at the 12th fret? Mine is and I wonder if they all are or if I got an anomaly. My neck is smaller at the 12th fret than at the 1st.

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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 11:32 am
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Ahh, I did my first build and I had a ton of problems. They didn't detune the guitar, so the neck cracked from pressure during shipping. They put incorrect knobs on it, so I just pulled 2 off of my amp and put em on. Classy. But I got a new neck and I still have a bit to go until my project is done. Best of luck.

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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 12:55 pm
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Drew365 wrote:
I have that identical guitar. Are you saying that someone stripped all the hardware and you bought the carcass? I'm sure you know the pickups are Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates and '59 Humbucker. As cheap as the guitar was, I'd think it would cost more to buy the parts, but that's probably why that one was stripped. Sorry it's giving you so much trouble. It's a nice little guitar. The bridge gives a wide string spacing and the jumbo frets are nice. The fret board has a real flat 15.75" radius, so it's a bit different than the average Tele.



yeah man, that guitar as is is a rock beast ...flat radius and those are not cheap pups.....i know little of this guitar ....where are they made and how much are they brand new?

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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 12:57 pm
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ok ...the fender site lists them for $840 .....that's a lot of guitar for under a grand ...they are chinese?

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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 1:47 pm
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sammyp wrote:
ok ...the fender site lists them for $840 .....that's a lot of guitar for under a grand ...they are chinese?


Mine was made in Korea. They've since changed manufacture to Indonesia.

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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2011 3:56 am
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Mine says “Indonesia”, so it's a recent production, I believe. ))) The spalted-maple-top ones are Indonesian too, as far as I know. It’s a funny thing that these guitars are made in Asia. IMHO, set neck + maple top = more labor and possible quality issues, so these guitars ideally should be Japanese or Mexican. (We are not talking USA, that’ll be too expensive.) Pity that the company needs to cut the costs.
As for the neck, I’d say it’s more of a C shape than, for example, the recent Charvel necks, it has more shoulders. I’d say the fretboard is pretty flat. I can’t say anything about the playability though, you can’t tell until you have strings on. :)
For the pickups, I shall try the Seymour Duncan SH6 + SH2 combo. Neck SH2 should take care of the cleans and the Duncan Distortion in the bridge is the most menacing and filthy passive pickup that I know. The only problem here may come from the body. Although it’s mahogany, it is so damn thin, that such a high output pickup may just overwhelm it. We’ll see…


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Post subject: Re: Telecaster FMT HH - random rant
Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 5:29 pm
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I have a spalted top made in Korea in 2007. Great guitar value, I've seen them at $500 used in local GC's. The only issue I had was the low-quality pots that came with it - terrible taper. I swapped in some better ones and all is well.

The thought over on TDPRI was that the Korean ones were made in the same factory as Shecters and Corts, the neck heel, high-buff gloss finish and overall excellent quality lead me to believe that was true. There was some serious labor strife that forced operations to move to Indonesia a few years ago.

Definitely a hidden gem in Fender's lineup. I've had fun swapping in and out various pickups. I currently have some hand-wound Zhangbuckers in it. I also put some Sperzel locking tuners on it. I normally *hate* thin wide boards, but this one I can play because it has a nice rounded shoulder to it.

Whenever I take this one out to a gig, someone comes up asking about the spalted maple top. They always ask if it's a super-custom finish. :)


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