Singlebucker String-Through Walnut Tele Mod

Nope, this is not a genuine Fender Telecaster. I thought I'd better make that clear from the start. Instead, it's yet another one of Kombatt's adventures in partscaster land. But it sure looks, plays and sounds like one, so in my book, it qualifies as a "Tele."

This guitar features a nice reddish-brown stained hardwood body, 3-ply black pickguard, maple neck with a 25.5" scale 22-fret rosewood fretboard, dark green quilted-maple headstock overlay, generic Tele neck and bridge single coils, vintage-style triple-saddle bridge, 3-way selector switch, master tone and volume controls. Yes, the bridge pickup says "Lines," but I doubt if that's of any significance.

The requested mods were:
1. A new 6-saddle humbucker-ready string-through bridge
2. No neck pickup
3. Single bridge humbucker
4. Tinted clear plastic pickguard
5. Dark walnut stained top with "faux binding"
6. Clear matt refinish

After carefully determining the location of the new bridge, holes were drilled for the string-through mod. I determined that the most efficient job sequence would be to:
1. Mount the bridge and mark the location of the six holes on the front of the body
2. Drill the holes for the 1st and 6th strings right through to the back
3. Drill the holes for the 2nd - 5th strings halfway through
4. Flip the body, remount the bridge using the 1st and 6th holes as location guides
5. Mark the location of the 2nd - 5th string holes
6. Drill the holes for the 2nd - 5th strings (they'll meet the holes drilled from the top in the middle)
7. Measure the diameter and length of the string ferrules
8. Widen the holes with a larger drill bit to a depth slightly deeper than the length of the ferrules
9. Insert the ferrules and carefully seat them with a plastic-tipped hammer

Having settled that, the existing bridge pickup rout was widened and deepened to fit a full-sized humbucker. I must say that the reddish hardwood body proved most difficult to work on, and I had to sharpen my chisels a couple of times to get the job done right.

Next, the exposed wiring channel from the neck pickup to the control cavity was filled using a small piece of hardwood, and the neck pickup cavity painted black.

Following this, I taped off the sides of the body, leaving about a quarter inch all round the top edge exposed. Then, American Jel'd Walnut Gel Stain was applied to the top and sides of the body. This was to create a darker-colored top and the "faux binding" effect.

Once the stain had dried, the entire body was sprayed with a few coats of clear poly. I then used fine grit sandpaper and 0000 steel wool to dull the glossy top coat and give the body a matt finish.

The tinted clear pickguard was a custom job by the one-and-only Eddie of Archsign. Muchas gracias, Eddie. He first stuck tinted plastic film (the kind used to tint car windshields) on to the back of a sheet of clear plastic, and then band-sawed it into the shape of a Tele pickguard.

And that's how this "singlebucker string-through walnut" Tele came into being.