SX Tele Deluxe to Custom w/ G&B bender y'all

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 3:06 am

I have a SX tele deluxe copy that I really like but I've always loved the tele bridge. So, I'm taking the tele deluxe, that has stratocaster tremolo and converting it into a hard tail bridge (more specifically the tele bridge).

After trying to figure out the best way to do this and with online research, I decided the best way to do it was to just make a piece of wood that would fit the cavity snug. The piece of wood I used was just a spare bit of 2x4 that me padre had laying around. I am gluing it in now and will drill the holes for the bridge, hopefully, tomorrow. So far, I spent about 2 hours getting the piece of wood to the right shape and gluing it in. My main problem was the piece of wood I used was a little twisted and I didn't pay attention to it until I would about 1.5 hours in. I tried my best to make it as snug fit as possible. It came out okay, definitely could have been better but I'm pretty sure it will hold.

Tomorrow, I will route the pickguard, assuming I can get the tele bridge installed successfully. Also, I don't have many wood working tools, so I am using pretty much all hand tools. With the exception of a drill press, which I'll use for the bridge installation.

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gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 3:19 am

this is gonna be a fun project to watch!

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:31 am

Neat work! Have you got a drill press for the string-through holes? Drilling those without one will be a bitch to get right.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 9:59 am

Nice job, I was thinking about doing this the other day to my parts strat, so I'll be watching this carefully.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 1:40 pm

This is a great project. I'll be keeping an eye on this.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:56 pm

Dave wrote:Neat work! Have you got a drill press for the string-through holes? Drilling those without one will be a bitch to get right.

Right now, the plan is to do a top loader, since that is how the bridge is setup. I'm a little concerned that is too much pressure for the piece of wood but I think it will hold.

And yes, I have a drill press.

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:33 am

portugalwillie wrote:I'm a little concerned that is too much pressure for the piece of wood but I think it will hold.

use the glue they use for set necks, prolly to late now but does look very proper...

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:56 am

I just used regular wood glue and that sucker isn't going to move anytime soon. definitely a strong hold. I actually have to use a rubber mallet to get the block to go in all the way.

how would you guys go about getting the little metal rings that used to hold the post for the trem out? I've got the bridge on and it angles the bridge plate up. It's playable with them in, just looks a little goofy. Also got the pickguard on. Just waiting on the bridge pickup which is in the post, then I'll wire the thing up and play it!

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 1:13 am

i'd screw the trem screw back on and then use a prybar to pull 'em out. bring it over and we can TERRORIZE THEM THREADS.

EDIT: FYI, if anyone is thinking about buying one of these guitars, do it. robbie's is super nice. i would like to have one if it didn't have that whack ass trem.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:51 pm

So, I've been working on the tele a little bit more. I had an extra SX tele neck laying around that I had attempted to rub shellac oil on. I didn't thin the shellac and after trying to rub it on, it looked like shit. so I sanded it off the best I could, bought a $3 bottle of krylon clear coat and started building up some gloss on the back of the neck. I sprayed a couple of coats on the top, but I like the feeling of unfinished wood on a fretboard (like rosewood or ebony) so I didn't really build it up at all. it will probably wear through really fast but I love the look of a warn out maple neck, so that doesn't both me too much. After finishing the neck, I fitted it onto the body. The only thing left to do on this project is to wire it up (waiting on the tele bridge pup - will be getting it tomorrow).

I also got a set of tuners and GFS wide range humbuckers for my Epiphone dot. I installed them but they're not hum canceling? I'm thinking I'm going to rewire them soon. I really like they way they sound. A little bit like a cross between a humbucker and a P90. It has all the attack of the P90 but a little fuller sound like a PAF.

I also couldn't get the tuners in because I don't have any conversion bushings. So know, I have 4 sets of vintage style bushings and 0 sets of conversion. I need two sets of conversion so I can put the wilkinson 6 in a line tuners that I bought from Mages on the tele too. So if anybody has a spare set of conversion bushings laying around and they want to trade, that'd be great.

also, I some pictures of my dad's current project. guess what he's building!

now to the pictures

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SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:53 pm

hotrodperlmutter wrote:i'd screw the trem screw back on and then use a prybar to pull 'em out. bring it over and we can TERRORIZE THEM THREADS.

EDIT: FYI, if anyone is thinking about buying one of these guitars, do it. robbie's is super nice. i would like to have one if it didn't have that whack ass trem.

I don't know why I didn't think of it before, but I just used a hammer and they pulled out with almost no effort.

And yes, they are great guitars. I actually almost didn't do any of this to the guitar because it played so well. I'm afraid now that I'm swapping necks that it won't play half as well.

Lucamo · Post by **Lucamo** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:40 am

Dude nice... that Dot looks classy.

Do GFS Widerangers fit in a regular humbucker slot?
Do an DEMO.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 3:48 am

they're not 'wide range' humbuckers. they're just regular humbuckers with split poles. they say they're 'faithful recreations' or something like that, but i don't think they sound anything like WRHB's. they sound like PAF's with more mids (if that doesn't sound to PARUMPH). it's a good sound, but not really what they're selling it as.

i had one in the neck of my jagmaster for a minute, but had weird volume differences between it and the vista bridge pickup, so i pulled it. i finally got a vista pg that i'll be putting it back in the neck, with a super distortion in the bridge.

Lucamo · Post by **Lucamo** » Fri Mar 04, 2011 4:54 am

Nice. I need to try a super distortion

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:34 pm

update: I installed the normal bridge and when I was trying to sell the bigsby that was on that dot (I put a hard tail back on it) someone offered to trade me a real B5 bigsby, the one made in America with the good bearings and everything, so I decided to get it to put onto this guitar. I really liked bigsby, I just didn't use it as much on the dot as I normally do. But, once I got it, I remember that Andrewdoeshair guy made a Jaguar but he only used it for the G and B strings, so that's what I did. The spring doesn't have enough pressure to do up bends without it falling off, so I just took the damn thing off, bent the arm up a little and it works like magic. Doesn't fall out of tune (sometimes it does, but not nearly as often as most bigsbys I've played). The great part is, I didn't modify the bridge at all. I just run the strings from the bigsby, through the top loader holes and it seems to work. It's only been a few hours, though. So, if I start breaking strings, I'll have to think of something else.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:36 pm

I can now country all over your ass.

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:40 pm

just cuz this tele is done does not mean ur Waylon Jennings

is there any binding issues with the way the strins are ran thru the back of the bridge?

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:41 pm

ooooooh oh, me first.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:43 pm

SGJarrod wrote:just cuz this tele is done does not mean ur Waylon Jennings

is there any binding issues with the way the strins are ran thru the back of the bridge?

no. I expected there to be but I think every once in a while (like twice in the last hour) it does bind and it makes it go all out of tune. So, eventually I may add some tubing or something in there so it doesn't happen but I don't notice it.

SGJarrod · Post by **SGJarrod** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:46 pm

I could see drunk Jarrod getting nuts and tryin to yankin a squeally and snapping a string where it runs thru there

looks primetime none the less