Almost a Telecaster #72

[kodiakblair]

Always liked the look of the Telecaster bass.

There was a Squier body on ebay start of the month so I thought it was about time I built one.

£31 winning bid was a good price 🙂 £20 to wrap in some cardboard and send PF 48 was taking the p!55 but hey ho I had the choice to bid or not. Day after the body arrived a similar Squier Modern Player went on Gumtree for £275, it sold very quickly. Now I had an idea how expensive my folly would end up😄

 

None of the spare necks here were wide enough for the pocket. Even tough it has a 38mm nut and was 21 fret the Kmise from Amazon had an attractive price (£36) delivered.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01536M33C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[kodiakblair]

Neck coming on the slowboat from China there was time to play about.

 

2 saddle bridge from ebay US was ordered,£14 delivered. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392099110068?ViewItem=&item=392099110068

 

Pickup and scratchplate were a problem. Nobody was selling the wide Fender humbucker leaving me little choice bar the Artec mudbucker. @Meddle has posted about their magnets needing turned around but on another thread he'd suggested dummy covers on a 5 string so I pinched the idea. Cheers Alan 👍

 

The Warman jazzbar I'm so fond of dropped right in 😎http://www.warmanguitars.co.uk/product/warman-jazzbar-bass-humbucker-13-31k-8-56-h-4-wire-overwound/

Scratchplate was still a problem as Scratch-It didn't appear to have the Squier template.A good few hours were spent scaling up an image from pickguard planet. When I enlarge the photo to get 64mm for a neck pocket the template was too short to cover screw holes.On the 6th attempt I printed it out in 4 pieces then taped it together in-situ.

Covered the Warman nicely.

[kodiakblair]

Next things got silly 😀

The neck arrived and it took 20 minutes to reshape for a Tele headstock but I was still messing about trying to cut covers.

I also decided to cut the scratchplate myself😱With a hacksaw 😱😱Bloody stupid idea and one I don't recommend.

£18 for the 3 ply and maybe 3-4 hours cutting/filing.All the while disaster is watching over your shoulder. Scratch-It charge about £30 odd to do the job right. It's really not worth the hassle just to save £12,and that's if you don't botch it.

 

Dumb luck saw me get away with it.

Edited August 18, 2018 by kodiakblair
missed a photo.

[kodiakblair]

Put it together last night 👍 Since the fake cover issue hasn't been resolved it's looking very Variax 😁

No idea what the previous owner of the body had for an ashtray but to hide the screwholes this one needs fitted upside down.

Until I sort the pickup cover I've these card holders for drawers to try on for size😃

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DRAWERS-PLAN-CHEST-CUPBOARD-FILING-CABINET-LABEL-CARD-FRAME-HOLDER/221747385766?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=520590460317&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

[kodiakblair]

Better picture with the fake cover 🙂

[Jimothey]

9 hours ago, kodiakblair said:

Better picture with the fake cover 🙂

I really like the look of the '72, I should have done mine with a humbucker instead of split coil then I would have probably kept it?

I love the look of the 2 saddle bridge but I always wondered how to you set the intonation properly with only 2 screws?

Great job mate! 😀 

Edited August 19, 2018 by Jimothey

[kodiakblair]

Cheers Jim

I always liked it when Fender tried something different from their norm,the Dimension is another I'd like to try 😎 Can't see that happening for a long time ☹️ There was a thread a few weeks back regarding "How many basses .....",72 was the year Fender released this design but I'm embarassed to say here 72 has another meaning  🤐

 

The 2 saddle bridge  is a thing I doubt anybody gets 100% perfect, I aim for bang on E and leave the other 3 slightly flat. Convinced myself that playing with a higher action than usual sharpens the notes when fretted.As long as I'm on the park 1st to 10th I don't bother over much 😎

[Jimothey]

44 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Cheers Jim

I always liked it when Fender tried something different from their norm,the Dimension is another I'd like to try 😎 Can't see that happening for a long time ☹️ There was a thread a few weeks back regarding "How many basses .....",72 was the year Fender released this design but I'm embarassed to say here 72 has another meaning  🤐

 

The 2 saddle bridge  is a thing I doubt anybody gets 100% perfect, I aim for bang on E and leave the other 3 slightly flat. Convinced myself that playing with a higher action than usual sharpens the notes when fretted.As long as I'm on the park 1st to 10th I don't bother over much 😎

Im on the fence about the newer shaped dimension I really like the flow of the pickguard but not overly taken with the shape of the top horn 

But I've always liked the shape of the  performer Bass 😀

[kodiakblair]

2 hours ago, Jimothey said:

But I've always liked the shape of the  performer Bass 😀

That was a new one to me. Very cool 🙂 Just watched Dave's World of Fun Stuff video on it.

[Jimothey]

1 hour ago, kodiakblair said:

That was a new one to me. Very cool 🙂 Just watched Dave's World of Fun Stuff video on it.

I've been thinking of doing a performer as a build for a while (when I finally finish some of my other projects and manage to sneak them into the house so the Mrs doesn't see them!!) but the headstock shape definitely has to go I'd probably do more of a standard Fender-ish shape instead 😁

[kodiakblair]

9 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

the headstock shape definitely has to go I'd probably do more of a standard Fender-ish shape instead 😁

Reminded me of the Katana. Saw one in the scrap bin at Strung Out,should have grabbed it 😖

 

Kmise neck is settling in nicely,did I mention the fretwork ? 9th fret was lifting on G&D,gentle tap saw it seared properly.

Next move is getting flats on it 😎

[kodiakblair]

A few months down the line and I still wasn't 100% happy with Almost a Telecaster.

 

The 2 saddle bridge and that extra fret just didn't work together 😠 Popped a 20 fret Harley Benton PB-50 neck on it and the problem was solved 😎 Also since cutting the pearloid scratchplate I picked up one from a Squier Modern Player Telecaser bass. I still like to fake pickup cover on pearloid but a pal in Germany sold me a Lakland Chi Sonic 🙂

 

Darkstar/Bi-Sonic are well thought of in a Telecaster bass thread I was reading so the bass now looks like this 🙂

Even with the Chi Sonic,PB-50 neck and the Squier scratchplate costs added I'm still under the £275 target.