So now the weather is getting a little warmer, its safe to venture back down the shed and start the build process again in earnest. And first up is the carved Tele.
The body was built by a guy called Robert in Poland. A good accurate Alder body with this amazing intricate carving - very unique. It is left handed , fortunately Robert is also a lefty so he rose to the challenge and I got him to do a right handed bridge route to compensate for my rather weird configuration and also got him to do a deep P90 neck pickup route to accommodate a Gibson P100 pickup. I ordered it with no expectations having come across him on the internet and was simply stunned by the quality of his work.
The solid brass bridge, control plate and knobs were built for me by Michael the bell brass maestro over at Armadillo Guitars in Texas - the milling work is immaculate and extremely accurate and the whole assembly just adds mass and tone and sustain to the guitar. I had used him previously for a custom bridge on the original Blonde Telecaster and again on the Thinline, and I even got him to make me a set of custom brass saddles for one of the Strats. Fairly soon the Black on Black will have an Armadillo update. Michael's boutique parts just add so much to a guitar and I thank him for allowing me to use his artistry.
The neck was an ebay adventure purchase of a Fender Mexican Telecaster neck sold off because of truss rod problems but even in that state was eminently playable and it was hard to put the guitar down. In the end I have bitten the bullet and dropped a rosewood 60's Classic Vibe neck on, and sent the Mexican neck up to Jacks Guitars up in Manchester to have the fingerboard steamed off and the truss rod replaced but the CV plays really well so may stay on it for a while.
The bride pickup is a Fender Baja which is just about the loudest stock Telecaster pickup you can get which is good, as the neck pickup is a Gibson P100 which I got the guys over at Wild Guitars in Highgate to modify for me, allowing me to drop the second humbucking coil, thus increasing the gain and giving a completely different tonal palette. They also split out the ground for me allowing full 4 way switching capability. This is then topped off with a 3 way toggle switch which in addition to dropping the P100 coil, also completely takes the controls out of circuit removing any impedance loading on the amp and the thing just flies but with finese.