This is not the first partscaster I’ve built but it is the first Telecaster-styled partscaster I’ve attempted. I have learned the following lessons:
- Neck was bought from a no-name brand on Amazon for about $50 bucks - it’s actually quite nice. 14 inch radius, two-way truss rod adjusted from the heel. looks like Indian rosewood. if you are willing to put in the fret work and want to save money, a cheap neck with a two way truss rod is the way to go. you can fix almost any kind of neck with a two way truss rod and get it dead straight.
- Body was bought from aeguitars.com. Allegedly it’s alder but it seems a bit too light and soft for alder. I suspect it’s poplar? The body shipped quickly to me but had a lot of off-gassing smell for a few days. The finish looks nice but the neck pocket is NOT tight.
- pickups are the EMG-T set. the neck pickup did not fit into the pickguard (also a cheap no-name brand from amazon, I picked it for the pattern). Cheap parts are nice but be prepared to get work with a file or Dremel.
- A telecaster is (counterintuitively) harder to build than a Strat. It’s a very nerve wracking process to position the bridge.
- If you’re used to building Strats, don’t forget the a Telecaster has a SINGLE cutaway body. Don’t drill the strap button hole on the horn… ask me how I know.
changing pickups is not super hard, but does take a little time. You will need a soldering iron and various soldering supplies, and some wire, wire stripper/cutter, and maybe electrical tape (or shrink wrap if you want to do a more fancy job) etc.
Shrink wrap or heat shrink tubing? I’ve always used the latter.
Heat shrink tubing yeah lol. Had a brain fart.
I thought I was doing something wrong for years hahaha.