I found this used Black double bound body on-line which inspired this project. I love P90 guitars but have never had a P90 Tele, so this is new for me and it's been on my wish list a loooong time.
The bridge pickup was already routed for humbucker and I got my carpenter neighbour, James, to route out for humbucker neck, which he did for just £25 – top man, James! It’s lightly aged, not relic'd, I suppose trying to look like an older guitar that has been modded from the original. I'm delighted with the way it's turned out and I think it looks pretty mean.
Well, I do think Pete Townshend would have liked this in the '80s! It sounds a little like my SG with P90 (a very good thing) it is a little brighter, toppier, snappier. when I roll back the volume it sounds much more Tele like on the bridge at least and can jangle with the best of them. Balances perfectly and comes in about 7 pounds. Very even playing all the way up the neck with plentiful string harmonics to be squeezed out. What's noticeable is that the string tension is very low, more like a Les Paul. That, plus the P90s, means it just cries out for a bit of tube amp gain and go all widdley widdley .
Parts:Body: Used Allparts Alder Black double bound Custom Tele body
Neck: Allparts 10" radius C neck, rosewood fingerboard, thin vintage nitro finish by @rexter Jon Rexter Crawford of Rexter guitars https://rexterguitars.co.uk/ UK). Always great work, Jon! Ebonising, edge rolling and ageing by me.Nickel Gotoh tuners. Unbleached bone nut from acousticelectricuk (eBay), finished by me.Used Seymour Duncan Phat Kat pickups with nickel covers
Light Vintage Mint '52 Pickguard 5 hole humbucker Micawber style 3 ply from earlpilanz (eBay), modded by me
Used aged Fender Telecaster G.E.Smith-style half bridge with compensated brass saddles
Used aged nickel knobs, 3-way Fender USA Switch, CTS USA Custom Audio Taper 500K Pots, Sprague "Orange Drop" Tone Capacitor, 0.001uF Treble Bleed cap. Bloodstone Works (UK)
Other hardware by Axecaster UK (
www.axecaster.co.uk )pics:
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The LPB body just awaits it's neck which I'm preparing. Lovely body - that's going to look great .
I'm getting really into telecasters myself at the moment... been bitten by the bug. You're probably part of the cause with all the nice ones I did for you last year!
www.rexterguitars.co.uk
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www.rexterguitars.co.uk
I spend a while on-line sourcing pre-owned parts wherever possible to minimise the costs while keeping the standard as high as possible. I also had some bits in my parts drawer. I just use the dining room table as my workshop when I've got free evenings.
Not using pre-owned parts sends the price of way up for nice quality stuff. Sites like this dear one keep the costs down. @rexter did me a bit of a deal on the neck because I'd ordered bodies from him.