Control plate swap on a tele !

1poorplayer

1poorplayer

Power User
I just did a control plate flip on my Fender American deluxe ashe telecaster.

I truly believe this is the way it should have been from the start.

It wasn't as quick as I had hoped. Lol. The wires from the jack were too short , and several others were too short , when flipping the 3 way switch and swapping the position of the tone and volume. THEN , I went to drop it in to the guitar cavity , and the route was too shallow on one side. Out came the drill.
Volume swells galore ! This is a great mod.
 
IMO, that's a fundamental Tele design flaw. The volume knob is too far away, the switch is right where you can whack it accidentally, and everything is crammed too close together.

Back around 2006, Austin Guitars came up with a fix for that:

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Rex said:
IMO, that's a fundamental Tele design flaw. The volume knob is too far away, ....View attachment 31784
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Leo worked with several guitarists to prototype and test the design. It's difficult to see how they got this wrong. I can only imagine it's because, in the early days of the electric guitar, they played as they used to on acoustic, and didn't ride the volume.

That Austin approach doesn't work for me because the selector is then obstructed. It's much easier to grab if it's at the back.
 
Roland said:
Leo worked with several guitarists to prototype and test the design. It's difficult to see how they got this wrong.
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Leo once or twice bemoaned that fact that people revered his old designs, when he felt that has newer G&L stuff was better.


Roland said:
That Austin approach doesn't work for me because the selector is then obstructed. It's much easier to grab if it's at the back.
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But it's much easier to flick with a finger (or two fingers—one on either side of the switch) when it's in the middle and the spacing is adequate. With the original design, you pretty much have to grab it if you're going to move off of the bridge position.
 
I found one on the net that has the normal layout (which I like) but moves the volume pot mid-way between the pickup selector and tone control. Love it!
 
GM Arts said:
I found one on the net that has the normal layout (which I like) but moves the volume pot mid-way between the pickup selector and tone control. Love it!
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Did you find a switchplate or the whole Tele?
 
This has always bothered me and could never figure out why it was done this way. The Dean zelinski tele guitars have the reverse configuration on them.
 
I tried the reverse configuration and couldn't bond with it. I thought that I would like having the switch out of the way and the volume closer, but I ended up grabbing the tone control instead of the volume all the time, and the switch was too far away. I think if you've played a standard Tele long enough, it could just becomes 2nd nature with a standard configuration. Oddly enough, I find I like the standard tele configuration best right now. My Strat volume feels too close and in the way. My Tele Custom with 2 volume controls and 2 tone feels like the bridge volume is just a smidgen too far away. I actually bought a Mexican Tele that came reversed from the factory, and I had to route out the cavity in order to flip it around to standard because it was driving me crazy.
 
Sixstring said:
How does the 4 way work?
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The standard three way tele options are
  • Bridge
  • Neck
  • Bridge + Neck in parallel
The four-way switch adds
  • Bridge + Neck in series
Effectively, it's a humbucker, but with a couple of inches between the coils. It's big, warm, and jazzy.

Also, when I did the control plate / 4 way switch mod, a friend of mine convinced me to swap out the six-saddle bridge plate, and replace it with a Joe Barden 3-saddle plate (http://shop.joebarden.com/p/american-standard-style-bridge-plate). My friend is a telecaster fanatic, and he insists going with the compensated 3-saddle bridge is crucial for better sustain.

I can say the combination of that bridge and the 3 brass saddles definitely has improved the guitar's clarity, tone, and sustain. You can tell the difference when playing it unplugged. The wiring mod is frosting on the cake.
 
Sixstring said:
How does the 4 way work?
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LOL. I was thinking the same thing.
My tele has an S1 switch , built into the end of the chrome volume knob. When the switch is in center position , pressing the end of the knob puts the 2 pickups in series , instead of parallel (like normal).
 
Fro said:
I tried the reverse configuration and couldn't bond with it. I thought that I would like having the switch out of the way and the volume closer, but I ended up grabbing the tone control instead of the volume all the time, and the switch was too far away.
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Depends on muscle memory, I suppose. After years of playing PRS, I pretty well got used to the switch being at the back and the volume right off the bridge.
 
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