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Hi everyone. The other day I set up my tele, so I guess it's done now.
After three years since I didn't want to finish the finish :) I used the
design I did for my blog and threw in some pictures of the guitar, so it's
nothing special and the design doesn't really relate. <g> Check it out
anyway!

James -- that's a beaut! Nice job on the finish. I love tele's one of my fav electrics.

Hey good looking axe. I bought my son a Tele and he turned his nose up at it. In his mind: "That thing ain't nothin' but Country". So, I sold it and put the money elsewhere. But me likes yours a lot, a whole lot. Congrats on getting her done. I'm putting a finish on my number one right now, after finishing five......

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Don't know much about electric guitars but i can tell a nice one when i see it and yours has style!

Guys, thank you :) Jury's still out on the drawing.

I'm kind of surprised by that, Bruce (the snubbed tele). When I look
around, I see Coldplay, Radiohead, U2, and other rock groups all over the
tele. I love the way they look, but LOVE their sound. Mine has Van Zandt
pickups and has a big warm sound, but with a decent amount of mid. It's
really a rock guitar, but I love it's warm, slightly overdriven sound for
blues, soul, and traditional jazz. Tele's sound so big and open to me.

:D Thanks again!

If I were to do it again, I'd get more appropriate hardware for the older
look I was thinking of. At the time I wasn't really keyed in on some of
those things (tuners, strap buttons, bridge, heel contour). I went with the
wilkinson bridge because at the time it was the only one that actually said
"brass" saddles. I'm very happy with it regardless.

Always preferred the tele, miss my old '63, the sacrifices we make to get married!

Nice looking guitar James, really nice.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

James,
I am a Tele man all the way...always loved those rascals! Trying (for a long time) to finish a custom I'm making...but already have some beautiful flamed maple for my next.....a TELE of course! I have a 1976 that I've had for a LONG time now and I love it. But, I do plan on making more than one more Tele for myself thats for sure! What kind of pick-ups did you use? I love the stain color and the finish looks real nice. Hey if you don't like the bird drawing you could allways inlay them in and refinish....they look kind of cool, very diffrent! Did you buy or make the neck?
Mark LauraMark Laura38814.5279050926

James,

That's a sweet-lookin' axe! I'd say keep it looking purtty--make it earn that "used" look (in fact, I'd replace that hardware with something nice and shiney). The "distressed" look was something perfected by forgers--I've never understood how Fender (and now Gibson) gets away with using that as a special feature. I guess you can fool a lot of the people a lot of the time.

BTW, I REALLY like the headstock drawing! It's got that "quick sketch by a good artist" look. Distinctive enough to be an instantly recognizable logo.

Oh, and what is the body wood--alder? It's exceptionally nice! Could I ask where you got it? CarltonM38814.5866782407

Very nice. Another guitar on my build list.

Kevin

Good looking guitar there Jim. Thanks for sharing. We don't get too many of those electric thingys around here.

haha, thanks guys! This is a lot more encouraging than I thought it'd be!

Yep, the body is Alder. I made both the neck and the body, but can't
remember where I got the lumber. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it came
from Larry Davis at Gallery Hardwoods.

Carlton, that's exactly what I was going for with the drawing! I would
LOVE to inlay it with some darker woods and india ink. Too bad I sprayed
the neck a year and a half ago! Se la vie! I'm afraid if I did it again, it'd be
another year before I decided to finish it. That's my track record on this.

Mark, the pickups are both Van Zandt. I love everything about them
except for the lack of a cover on the neck. But the awesome sound
makes that ok. The bridge is absolutely tremendous. It's full, has body,
and a great bridge pickup sound, but isn't too harsh and doesn't make
me cringe. It's the first bridge pickup I've liked, actually. The neck has all
of the same good qualities. It's definitely the neck pickup, nice, round,
deep, but with just a hair of bite. And that bite is what I think makes it
different from what I'm used too. I'm used to that pickup being a little
soft.

The stain was really easy for the neck. I just used some brown pigments
and put them in alcohol. It's a real dilluted mix. I like browned necks
way more than yellowed.

I wanted to use this guitar in jazz band. I want to be able to rock a bit.
Aesthetically and tonally, I think I can do both. Too bad I graduated a
year too late for the band!

[QUOTE=James Orr]Carlton, that's exactly what I was going for with the drawing! I would
LOVE to inlay it with some darker woods and india ink. Too bad I sprayed
the neck a year and a half ago![/QUOTE]
It's got lots of appeal just like it is! If you'd like to try an inlay, practice first off the instrument, then use it on your next effort. I bet it'll be difficult to match the spontaneity of the drawing with an inlay, though, unless you can reproduce it squiggle for squiggle.

James, i'm interested in learning more on Alder, would ya know it's latin name by any chance?

Looks fantastic James....and I really liked the drawings! They're whimsical and artistic. The guitar is great. But I really like your web design even better. Wish I had a clue about that stuff!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

James - Tele's got me into this addiction! My real numbers 1 and 2 are below, and were built in 2001 and 2003. (Well, number 2 isn't that much like a Tele ) Since then, I realized that if you make the body hollow, you don't need all that electrical stuff



Number 1 has a set of EMG-T's and a Fishman powerbridge. I like the EMG's - the bridge probably doesn't have as much bite as a really good one should, but the neck is a nice, full sounding beast.





Number two is the complicated machine from hell. DiMarzio's (Super Distortion, SDS1, Super II) with a PUTW #27 under the bridge, Baggs Ctrl-X for mixing, blend pot to pan from magnetic to acoustic pickups, coil splitting for the humbuckers and phase switch for the single, yada. I like the first one better, but I got to do more woodworking on this one

I'm finishing a third for a friend right now - myrtle drop top over an ash body. It's a much more normal tele!
I'll post a pick when done.

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Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Oh wow... That must've been horrible to wire. Then again wiring it was
difficult for me. I've grounded everything and can't get rid of the
buzzing. I like them both a lot, and I love hollow electrics.

Thanks Don. I really like this design too. I've done some real gophers.
This has some others
I've done. My first Flash experiment is in there, and the UPC site is
something I'm just about to finish for my church, but the most current
work is on the new server. The yosemite site is embarrassing to be
honest. You have the link to my blog, right?

Hey Guys, awesome tele's! I am going to remember you guys when I try to build one, I am sure I will have lots of questions, and it looks like you will have answers.

Jeff

Those are some sweet units above - Good Job!
I had to sell my Nashville B Bender a while ago for some cash when I was broke - but its rocking down in New Mex somewheres, which is as good as place as it could be - I wish I were in NM sometimes, my absolutely fav state.
Good work and keep it up - those are nicer than any Fender custom shop axe's I have seen in a while - they got's "vibe" baby.
Cheers
Charlie

Sweet Teles men! I wouldn't have one when I was a kid, but after a 15 or so year hiatus from all things guitar, I bought an old "yeller" one...maple neck, best thing ever! Ended up selling it to get a Les Paul...the nostalgia just wouldn't let me go!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com