Tele: to upgrade or to trade up, that is the question

[Andy Eagle]

Take your's to a shop that has some CS vintage style (9.5"and tall fret) and play them acoustically. See if they sound a lot better to you and go from that.

 

[Dave Merrill]

A playable (9.5" or flatter with 6105/6100 frets) with full vintage spec is the way to go for a Tele IMO . Teles have a sound and versatility that seems to reduce as you move the spec away from this .
View attachment 136574
These two have 16" radius and stainless 57110 frets.

What are those, to have those neck specs? One says Fender, not sure about the other, but is that radius and stainless stock?

 

[unix-guy]

Also, cough, that’s, uh, humbling

Meh...:

https://forum.fractalaudio.com/sear...post&c[title_only]=1&c[users]=unix-guy&o=date

 

[Budda]

glad @nathan_393 is giving me something to look for that wont cost me money haha.

 

[nathan_393]

@Andy Eagle one more question for you, good sir: if I picked up the Double Esquire and wanted to mod it so it has normal wiring and a tone knob instead of the vintage Nocaster blend wiring, would that drastically change the sound of the bridge pickup wide open? (Or the value of the instrument?)

 

[Andy Eagle]

What are those, to have those neck specs? One says Fender, not sure about the other, but is that radius and stainless stock?

I made those.

Totally vintage accurate apart from the frets and radius.

 

[Andy Eagle]

@Andy Eagle one more question for you, good sir: if I picked up the Double Esquire and wanted to mod it so it has normal wiring and a tone knob instead of the vintage Nocaster blend wiring, would that drastically change the sound of the bridge pickup wide open? (Or the value of the instrument?)

I have blend wiring on mine and it can do things standard can't but you need to get used to it.

 

[nathan_393]

I have blend wiring on mine and it can do things standard can't but you need to get used to it.

That much I can get behind, but if I just prefer standard things and change it, is it going to have an unpredictable effect on the sound?

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

@Andy Eagle one more question for you, good sir: if I picked up the Double Esquire and wanted to mod it so it has normal wiring and a tone knob instead of the vintage Nocaster blend wiring, would that drastically change the sound of the bridge pickup wide open? (Or the value of the instrument?)

A thought: swap the control plate en masse for a replacement that has the wiring you want. Then it's just a matter of swapping the pickup, jack, and ground wires that go to the control to put it back to stock. Rutters makes a nice one, their "3/8 Over" that moves the one knob hole 3/8" further away from the switch, and which makes it less "crowded" feeling. His knobs and switch tips are top notch as well....

 

[nathan_393]

That sounds like a good idea to me. I haven’t done any of that before. Do you need to solder those wires to the control plate? (I assume yes, but I also often hope it’s just a basic terminal.)

 

[Andy Eagle]

Mods like these are all easy If you are used to soldering but you need to either mod a pot internally or get a "blend" pot. The thing about the old blend wiring is the extra tones not the normal ones.