Rock Guitar: The Major Food Groups

[WordMan]

@Crotalus

@WordMan

Is there any aspect of your Strat’s feel that you can move over to the Tele? Is it a control layout situation or just neck and overall feel?

I don’t think that the things that make the Strat feel so right are transferable. When he was designing the Strat, one of the things Leo Fender did in response to feedback from Tele players was to smooth out some of the plankiness by removing some wood at the waist and where the player’s right arm rests. I guess I could start hacking at my Tele body until it had the same bevels as a Strat, but I don’t think I will. I am also very used to the control layout and functions on a Strat, but I’m learning to like the Tele controls.

• Lots of Tele’s - both Fender and Tele bodies from other makers - have contour cuts. Jeff Beck’s Esquire (1-pickup Tele) from the Yardbirds days famously had an arm contour on the lower bout done by the guy he bought it from (one of the Walker Bros?)…

• As for the layout part, do you find you are twiddling knobs more on the Tele?

[Crotalus]

First of all, I definitely twiddle the knobs a lot more than I did on the Strat, partly because more seems to happen on the Tele when I do so, and partly because you have taught me that more can happen. So yeah, I’m a twiddler now.

As for changing the contours of the Tele, I considered it when I was accumulating the parts to build it, but rejected the idea because: I was building a Tele, why turn it into a Strat, I was more concerned about the neck, hardware and electronics than I was about the body, and I didn’t want to piss off the guy I bought the body from by mutilating it.

[WordMan]

@Crotalus

First of all, I definitely twiddle the knobs a lot more than I did on the Strat, partly because more seems to happen on the Tele when I do so, and partly because you have taught me that more can happen. So yeah, I’m a twiddler now.

As for changing the contours of the Tele, I considered it when I was accumulating the parts to build it, but rejected the idea because: I was building a Tele, why turn it into a Strat, I was more concerned about the neck, hardware and electronics than I was about the body, and I didn’t want to piss off the guy I bought the body from by mutilating it.

That’s the beauty of parts-o-casters: you can do whatever you want. You should consider it - I am sure the guy wouldn’t mind

[Crotalus]

@WordMan

@Crotalus

First of all, I definitely twiddle the knobs a lot more than I did on the Strat, partly because more seems to happen on the Tele when I do so, and partly because you have taught me that more can happen. So yeah, I’m a twiddler now.

As for changing the contours of the Tele, I considered it when I was accumulating the parts to build it, but rejected the idea because: I was building a Tele, why turn it into a Strat, I was more concerned about the neck, hardware and electronics than I was about the body, and I didn’t want to piss off the guy I bought the body from by mutilating it.

That’s the beauty of parts-o-casters: you can do whatever you want. You should consider it - I am sure the guy wouldn’t mind

Thanks for the assurance that the guy wouldn’t mind. I’ll consider that authoritative.

What I have been thinking of doing is taking my kayak out on the Scioto River on a fallen tree hunting trip. Several species of ash are found along the river, and the ash borer is taking a toll on them. My idea is to find a fallen ash, cut a few slices out of it, and see if I can make a Tele body from scratch. There’s no swamp ash around here, but there are white, black and green ash.

[WordMan]

[quote=“Crotalus, post:64, topic:528141”]

@WordMan

What I have been thinking of doing is taking my kayak out on the Scioto River on a fallen tree hunting trip. Several species of ash are found along the river, and the ash borer is taking a toll on them. My idea is to find a fallen ash, cut a few slices out of it, and see if I can make a Tele body from scratch. There’s no swamp ash around here, but there are white, black and green ash.

That sounds cool. I would be interested in hear what it takes to dry out “raw” wood to get it ready for work in a workshop setting, but that should probably move over to the GOGT (Great Ongoing Guitar Thread…)

[Crotalus]

[quote=“WordMan, post:65, topic:528141”]

@Crotalus

That sounds cool. I would be interested in hear what it takes to dry out “raw” wood to get it ready for work in a workshop setting, but that should probably move over to the GOGT (Great Ongoing Guitar Thread…)

One of my wife’s relatives runs the woodyard for the paper mill in my town. He’s going to be my resource for the knowledge I’ll need for drying my wood. I already know the basics, and have dried some hardwood, but he has tools for checking moisture content. Since I’ll be somewhat impatient to get started once I have acquired some wood, being able to verify that the wood is dry enough as soon as it is dry enough will be a plus.

I’ll post in the GOGT as things develop.

[WordMan]

Here’s a thread on The Gear Page that is a love letter to 335’s/semi-hollow guitars. Geek out, gushy-love thread alert: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=769522

[E-Sabbath]

And yet again I learn more about my WTF guitar. That’s what the ‘335’ comment means. It’s a Dot. I know what a Dot is. Yes, my WTF Not A Les Paul is built like a 335 without the sound holes.

Good lord, what were they smoking when they came up with this?

[WordMan]

@E-Sabbath

And yet again I learn more about my WTF guitar. That’s what the ‘335’ comment means. It’s a Dot. I know what a Dot is. Yes, my WTF Not A Les Paul is built like a 335 without the sound holes.

Good lord, what were they smoking when they came up with this?

There are chambered-bodied Les Pauls made for both Epiphoneand Gibson lines - all the way up to high-end Historic Gibsons…

[E-Sabbath]

Yeah, but they updated the description of the XV-585 since I got it.

The XV-585 features a semi hollow “Chambered” Body with carved top.

We start with a solid Mahogany body, rout away the entire inside of the guitar leaving a solid “Tone Block” of mahogany for the bridge and tailpiece to rest on. Then we attach a solid Mahogany top and carve it to produce a deep “Vintage” archtop.

The result of this construction is a featherweight (Most 585’s are UNDER 6.25 lbs!!) and very warm guitar with tremendous sustain and power. While all Mahogany guitars can often be very dark- the “airy” chambering gives the 585 a wonderful “335” vibe, with a rich, creamy high end. We’ve sculpted this neck a bit thinner than our 500 Solidbody series- It’s a slim very fast neck with just a hint of that vintage feel.

(The 500 is the Les Paul copy)

I knew what a Dot was, but I didn’t know what a 335 was. ES-335, okay, I know what those look like now.

[WordMan]

@E-Sabbath

I knew what a Dot was, but I didn’t know what a 335 was. ES-335, okay, I know what those look like now.

As I have stated in previous threads, “Dot-neck” is the nickname for ES-335s made from '58 - '61 which had fingerboards with dot markers - changed to small block inlays after that (Clapton’s '64 that he played the Crossroads solo on is a small-block inlay). Dot-neck 335’s are the most desirable vintage semi-hollows and Gibson trades on that by naming the Epi example The Dot. Epi Dots can be great guitars - I have played a few that compare favorably with Gibson 335’s…