I bought the new Squier Contemporary Telecaster RH in Pearl White
- Thread starter Dave Sloven
- Start date
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
As you might be able to see in the photo, it is already fitted with the DiMarzo ClipLock strap system. I just use the boring black nylon ones
Zzzzz
Ambassador
I did not see that, actually. Well, congrats!
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Someone finally uploaded a decent demo of this model (in stock form):
EDIT: I also found this one, so I guess more will appear now that a second batch is out there.
EDIT: I also found this one, so I guess more will appear now that a second batch is out there.
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
The guitar is actually with Steve at the moment, he is fitting the Black TUSQ XL nut, the Babicz bridge, and is painting the truss rod recess and under the bridge with a matt black paint. Here is the Babicz bridge test-fitted before the guitar was taken out to Holden Hill Music:
He is also removing the ferrules from the back of the guitar and dowelling the original ferrule holes, as the four-screw mounting of the Babicz bridge is too close the the factory ferrules. Steve does not have a large drill press so the guitar is being set up as a top-loader in the first instance and will later go to Brian at Fretco to drill for new string holes that line up with the ferrule holes in the Babicz bridge (effectively setting the guitar up with the old school four-screw mounting typical of ashtray bridges) that will place the ferrules further back for better intonation, and the back of the guitar routed for a large brass ferrule block that has just arrived in Australia from China and is waiting to be cleared through customs in Sydney. This is the ferrule block. I will polish it and possibly have it plated black.
I believe that this block will actually cover the original (dowelled) ferrule holes.
He is also removing the ferrules from the back of the guitar and dowelling the original ferrule holes, as the four-screw mounting of the Babicz bridge is too close the the factory ferrules. Steve does not have a large drill press so the guitar is being set up as a top-loader in the first instance and will later go to Brian at Fretco to drill for new string holes that line up with the ferrule holes in the Babicz bridge (effectively setting the guitar up with the old school four-screw mounting typical of ashtray bridges) that will place the ferrules further back for better intonation, and the back of the guitar routed for a large brass ferrule block that has just arrived in Australia from China and is waiting to be cleared through customs in Sydney. This is the ferrule block. I will polish it and possibly have it plated black.
I believe that this block will actually cover the original (dowelled) ferrule holes.
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Got this one back from Steve Opitz this afternoon, he dowelled the original string ferrule holes and fitted the Babicz FCH bridge using a four-screw mounting. He also painted the (poorly finished) truss rod adjustment recess black and painted the top of the guitar under the bridge black so that the top would not show through the holes in the black bridge, and fitted a Black TUSQ XL nut. I supplied all of the parts and strings; Steve the labour, paint, and the dowels and glue. At the moment it is strung as a top-loader but when the brass ferrule block arrives I will take it to another guy with a big luthier workshop to have new string holes drilled and the back routed for the ferrule block so that I have a choice of top-loading or string-through.
Here's Steve in his workshop with the guitar this afternoon:
I won't tell you how little he charged me; let's just say it was definitely mate's rates and I expected him to take more.
Here's Steve in his workshop with the guitar this afternoon:
I won't tell you how little he charged me; let's just say it was definitely mate's rates and I expected him to take more.
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
It went to its first band practice last night, together with the PT Apocalypse. The Joyo Bantamp XL Zombie II is loud through that Laney cab with two V30s!
Both guitars kicked arse!
Both guitars kicked arse!
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Okay, I have had a lot of dramas getting good tones out of this guitar, and it was all the fault of my wiring.
In the end I removed the greasebucket circuit and the resistor on the bridge pickup, and set it up just like my Schecter PT Apocalypse, same pickup height and everything.
550K BKP CTS master volume pot with treble bleed kit
550K BKP CTS master tone pot with 0.022uF BKP Dueland PIO cap
3-way selector switch (no funny stuff)
In the end I removed the greasebucket circuit and the resistor on the bridge pickup, and set it up just like my Schecter PT Apocalypse, same pickup height and everything.
550K BKP CTS master volume pot with treble bleed kit
550K BKP CTS master tone pot with 0.022uF BKP Dueland PIO cap
3-way selector switch (no funny stuff)
chilipeppermaniac
Ambassador of Decibels
AND?
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
This guitar is in pieces at the moment and the body has been taken to Fretco with a brass ferrule block to be modded for string-through functionality.
I will probably be able to reassemble it in a week from now and report back then. Some more wiring mods in the works too. Expect a full photo essay showing all of the mods close up
I will probably be able to reassemble it in a week from now and report back then. Some more wiring mods in the works too. Expect a full photo essay showing all of the mods close up
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Well I can show you one mod that I started before taking the body to Fretco for drilling and routing. I removed some wood from the bottom of the control cavity to enable a BKP CTS 550K push-pull volume pot to fit. I used a the original scratched up and drilled control plate to mock it up and check that I had enough room, but today I rewired the nice Gotoh control plate that I had bought by fitting all new wire and installing the push-pull pot. I also painted the bottom of the control cavity again before taking the body to Fretco, but they are also enlarging the cable channel from the bridge pickup cavity to the control cavity so I will have to paint that too when it comes back. I used woodcarving bits and a sanding drum in my Foredom SR Flex Shaft tool to remove the wood.
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Okay, well I got the body back today and reassembled it. The break angle is a lot more with the string through setup and the feel is a lot tighter. Killer tone for rhythm stuff too. Not the greatest for lead work (I would probably want 11-56 strings for that) but that's not what I set this guitar up to do. It is meant to be a tight rhythm guitar and it delivers that in spades.
Here's a full final list of the mods:
Bare Knuckle Cobra-T single coil bridge pickup
Bare Knuckle Impulse humbucker neck pickup
BKP CTS 550K push-pull volume potentiometer (splits neck pickup, which is reversed so that the coil closest to the neck is active when split)
BKP CTS 550K tone potentiometer
BKP Dueland 0.022uF PIO capacitor
Gotoh VK1-18 knobs
Oaks-Grigsby 3-way selector switch with white Stratocaster-style tip
Switchcraft mono output jack
Channel between bridge pickup cavity and control cavity enlarged to fit the cloth-covered pickup wires on the Cobra-T
Wood removed from bottom-centre of control cavity to provide room for the push-pull volume pot
All cavities and channels shielded with nickel conductive paint, with copper conductive tape for the screws of the control plate and the ground point for the bridge ground, with the new ground wire soldered to the tape and painted over
Body dowelled, drilled, and routed to convert the guitar to the vintage 4-screw type bridge mounting and ferrule placement, with a polished Aumsen brass ferrule block fitted into the back of the body
Babicz FCH TL bridge
Gotoh limited edition SG381-MGTB locking tuners
Graphtech Black TUSQ XL nut
Graphtech Black TUSQ XL string tree
Truss rod recess painted black
Here are some photos taken today.
I was a bit annoyed when I went to get the body from Brian at Fretco today (before my tattoo appointment) and saw that when he drilled the wiring channel larger he accidentally managed to take a chunk out of the top with the long drill bit, but thankfully the bridge covers that little problem and he didn't charge for that part of it (I ended up paying $80 total for the work, which was the quote for just the ferrule drill and rout) and repainted the channel with fresh shielding paint so that I could assemble it tonight when I got it home. Note the dowels that Steve put in the old string holes when he converted it a vintage-style four-screw mounting, the screw holes that Steve made, and the new string holes that Brian did with his drill press based on my pilot holes through the Babicz bridge holes. Note also the pen mark (not visible with the bridge mounted) that Steve made when lining the bridge up properly with the neck, and also the black paint that Steve added. I added copper tape and soldered the bridge ground wire to it, and then painted over that with the shielding paint, so the ground is really good.
Here you can see how I cut away most of the wood in the middle of the bottom of the control cavity, to allow the push-pull pot to fit. The cables were all still a tight fit and it took a bit of fiddling.
If you can compare this to previous photos you will note that the channel is now much larger, which made getting the cloth-covered pickup wires on the Cobra-T through there much easier.
Here you can see the completed wiring on the control plate once the pickup and ground wires have been added.
Here you can see Brian's routing for the new brass ferrule block (made by Aumsen in China, and polished by me with my Foredom SR Flex Shaft with jeweller's kit), and the bottoms of the dowels that Steve fitted when he changed the bridge mounting.
I use 12-60 D'Addario EXL148 strings, but the 20P third is replaced with a 22W.
The finished guitar, now strung through the body.
From the back, showing the brass ferrule block (held in by the string tension).
Here's a full final list of the mods:
Bare Knuckle Cobra-T single coil bridge pickup
Bare Knuckle Impulse humbucker neck pickup
BKP CTS 550K push-pull volume potentiometer (splits neck pickup, which is reversed so that the coil closest to the neck is active when split)
BKP CTS 550K tone potentiometer
BKP Dueland 0.022uF PIO capacitor
Gotoh VK1-18 knobs
Oaks-Grigsby 3-way selector switch with white Stratocaster-style tip
Switchcraft mono output jack
Channel between bridge pickup cavity and control cavity enlarged to fit the cloth-covered pickup wires on the Cobra-T
Wood removed from bottom-centre of control cavity to provide room for the push-pull volume pot
All cavities and channels shielded with nickel conductive paint, with copper conductive tape for the screws of the control plate and the ground point for the bridge ground, with the new ground wire soldered to the tape and painted over
Body dowelled, drilled, and routed to convert the guitar to the vintage 4-screw type bridge mounting and ferrule placement, with a polished Aumsen brass ferrule block fitted into the back of the body
Babicz FCH TL bridge
Gotoh limited edition SG381-MGTB locking tuners
Graphtech Black TUSQ XL nut
Graphtech Black TUSQ XL string tree
Truss rod recess painted black
Here are some photos taken today.
I was a bit annoyed when I went to get the body from Brian at Fretco today (before my tattoo appointment) and saw that when he drilled the wiring channel larger he accidentally managed to take a chunk out of the top with the long drill bit, but thankfully the bridge covers that little problem and he didn't charge for that part of it (I ended up paying $80 total for the work, which was the quote for just the ferrule drill and rout) and repainted the channel with fresh shielding paint so that I could assemble it tonight when I got it home. Note the dowels that Steve put in the old string holes when he converted it a vintage-style four-screw mounting, the screw holes that Steve made, and the new string holes that Brian did with his drill press based on my pilot holes through the Babicz bridge holes. Note also the pen mark (not visible with the bridge mounted) that Steve made when lining the bridge up properly with the neck, and also the black paint that Steve added. I added copper tape and soldered the bridge ground wire to it, and then painted over that with the shielding paint, so the ground is really good.
Here you can see how I cut away most of the wood in the middle of the bottom of the control cavity, to allow the push-pull pot to fit. The cables were all still a tight fit and it took a bit of fiddling.
If you can compare this to previous photos you will note that the channel is now much larger, which made getting the cloth-covered pickup wires on the Cobra-T through there much easier.
Here you can see the completed wiring on the control plate once the pickup and ground wires have been added.
Here you can see Brian's routing for the new brass ferrule block (made by Aumsen in China, and polished by me with my Foredom SR Flex Shaft with jeweller's kit), and the bottoms of the dowels that Steve fitted when he changed the bridge mounting.
I use 12-60 D'Addario EXL148 strings, but the 20P third is replaced with a 22W.
The finished guitar, now strung through the body.
From the back, showing the brass ferrule block (held in by the string tension).
OP
Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
I made a couple of small changes to this guitar a couple of weeks ago. In general I felt that in the bridge position the guitar had too much top end to the point of being 'plinky', and in the coil-split mode the neck pickup sounded too thin and bright. So I added 470K resistors between the bridge switch lug (to reduce it to more like a 300K pot when the bridge pickup is engaged) and ground and in the ground circuit of the push-pull pot to give a 'partial' split. This addressed those two issues adequately. I did it at the same time as fitting a CRL 3-way switch, which I much prefer to the Oaks-Grigsby (I like the clack-clack-clack feel of the CRL with its spring).
I made sure that these resistors were not in the main ground path. You can see what I did in these photos.
The resistor on the bridge pickup hot lug:
The resistor between the push-pull switch and ground:
I made sure that these resistors were not in the main ground path. You can see what I did in these photos.
The resistor on the bridge pickup hot lug:
The resistor between the push-pull switch and ground:
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Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
Okay so I have been back and forth on the volume pot value to use with a Cobra-T, whether a 470k resistor is necessary, etc. I'm calling it: use a 550K or 500K pot with the Cobra-T.
I went to band practice with my little Joyo Bantamp XL Zombie II (through my Laney Ironheart 212 fitted with two Vintage 30 speakers) and two other guitars, my Schecter C-1 Blackjack ATX with an Impulse set (which is a relatively dark guitar with mahogany set-neck construction and brass saddles) and my Gibson SG Special Worn Yellow with an alnico War Pig set, all in the same tuning and with the same string set, although the SG is 24.75" scale whereas the other two are 25.5" scale.
Of the three the Schecter was the brightest, followed by the SG, with the Tele definitely being the darkest. The annoying plink is gone, so it obviously was caused by the bridge saddles going out of adjustment when the bridge was converted to string-through. So I decided to desolder the 470k resistor from the bridge pickup lug on the selector switch today and give it another test at home here through the same rig, but minus the clean boost that I used at practice (I didn't connect the pedalboard here in my office). Even without the clean boost the guitar now has considerably more bite and crunch and is on a par with the Schecter with regard to that. In fact it sounds quite epic now.
This obviously makes life easier when combined with a neck humbucker. If using a less powerful single coil neck pickup, then stick with the 550K pot but experiment with a resistor to see whether you prefer that. With a more high output single coil in the neck (e.g., a P-90) you probably won't.
Here's a photo from last night's band practice. I ended up playing sitting down in front of my pedalboard with my strap adjusted George Harrison style on the SG as my sciatica was giving me grief. Josh was running late after work and this photo was taken early on, before he turned up and set up his rig next to my guitars.
I went to band practice with my little Joyo Bantamp XL Zombie II (through my Laney Ironheart 212 fitted with two Vintage 30 speakers) and two other guitars, my Schecter C-1 Blackjack ATX with an Impulse set (which is a relatively dark guitar with mahogany set-neck construction and brass saddles) and my Gibson SG Special Worn Yellow with an alnico War Pig set, all in the same tuning and with the same string set, although the SG is 24.75" scale whereas the other two are 25.5" scale.
Of the three the Schecter was the brightest, followed by the SG, with the Tele definitely being the darkest. The annoying plink is gone, so it obviously was caused by the bridge saddles going out of adjustment when the bridge was converted to string-through. So I decided to desolder the 470k resistor from the bridge pickup lug on the selector switch today and give it another test at home here through the same rig, but minus the clean boost that I used at practice (I didn't connect the pedalboard here in my office). Even without the clean boost the guitar now has considerably more bite and crunch and is on a par with the Schecter with regard to that. In fact it sounds quite epic now.
This obviously makes life easier when combined with a neck humbucker. If using a less powerful single coil neck pickup, then stick with the 550K pot but experiment with a resistor to see whether you prefer that. With a more high output single coil in the neck (e.g., a P-90) you probably won't.
Here's a photo from last night's band practice. I ended up playing sitting down in front of my pedalboard with my strap adjusted George Harrison style on the SG as my sciatica was giving me grief. Josh was running late after work and this photo was taken early on, before he turned up and set up his rig next to my guitars.
OP
Dave Sloven
Ambassador of DOOM!
After fooling around with it for a while I decided that it would be cool to have the option of using that 470k resistor on the bridge pickup now and then if it works better with the amp I am using.
I so I wired one through the unused side of the push-pull so that it is engaged when the switch is pulled up. So it is there when the coil split for the neck humbucker is engaged, which makes for an interesting middle position sound.
It was very easy
I so I wired one through the unused side of the push-pull so that it is engaged when the switch is pulled up. So it is there when the coil split for the neck humbucker is engaged, which makes for an interesting middle position sound.
It was very easy