# Fiesta Tele build



## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

With most of the parts in, I figured it was time to start a thread on this build.

Since seeing Doug Pettibone playing his vintage fiesta Strat live a few years back, I've wanted a fiesta red guitar. I'm not much of a Strat guy, but Teles...;-)

The Body

As soon as I saw this body listed on the parts forum here, I grabbed it. At 3lbs / 10oz, it would make a reasonably light guitar, and the MJT finish job wasn't excessive, which I like. I should note that I had some hardware on hand before buying the body - a Rutters bridge with compensated saddles and knobs that were on a MIM Tele I bought a couple months back.










The Neck

I was tempted to go with a roasted maple neck with a tort guard, but there's just something about the look of fiesta with a rosewood fretboard and a mint or parchment guard, so I started searching. As luck would have it, I found one on Kijiji. It was a leap of faith becasue it was in AB and I'm not. Once I was very comfortable with the situation, I pressed send on the transfer and 3 days later a parcel appeared. The neck is a Musikraft deep c - as in HUGE C (it's actually fuller than the Kotzen Tele I had). It has a 9.5" radius, bone nut, stainless frets, and finished by MJT with a counterfeit waterslide applied later (not my preference and I may pull a Waylon move and sand it off). It also came with the Gotoh tuners. The finish job on the neck is a bit more exagerated than that of the body, but the feel is amazing - the fret work, edge roll, and the back finish are incredible.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Isn't the Kotzen 1"-1"? That thing must be massive!

Looking forward to your thoughts upon completion!


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

The extra hardware has all now been secured - strap-pins, screws, neck plate, electrosocket jack cup, and control assembly. Not having any interest in making the controls myself, I ordered a pre-made one with the plate included from a gentleman in Ontario. He did some nice work, very clean soldering, and I'm looking forward to getting some pickups in the guitar to actually test it out.

I went with the Fender locking strap-pins because I have a set of locks here, and if we ever get to play live music again, I plan to use a Tele and a LP or 335 style guitar with a wireless...one strap makes more sense and locks make it a little more safe for the guitars. That said, if I like how this all finishes up, I may swap the rest of the hardware on this one to Rutters gear, saving the other parst fro future builds.










I was going to get an aged mint pickguard from LSL complement the relic job, but it would come in close to $100 CAD if not more, and I'm aiming to keep this build under the $1200 mark, so I bought a used white one. I won't bloat the forum with pics since that's already been documented in the thread I started, but I'm liking how it is coming together.

Pickups are the current snag. I've had Dave Budzinski's pickups in every Tele I've owned save 1 or 2. Unfortunately for me...fortunately for David - the cat's out of the bag. Budz is now picking up orders from Mario Martin, Bill Crook, and other boutique tele builders, not to mention his steady stream of parts-builders and regular customers. I have a set on the way comprised of his Tall neck with an open cover, giving the pickup more of a Strat tone and response, and a iron-loaded bridge pickup, which is inspired by a pedal steel pickup, wound somewhere in the upper 7k range, but putting out something like 10 henries...but they're delayed considerably due to David's crazy order list. I'm going to try to find something to slap in there and test out the control assembly in the meantime. I wrote Craig Vineham to see if there's any chance he has something ready to go...hell, maybe I'll have to build a second Tele sooner than I thought ;-).

Assembly was interesting. I'm used to MJT neck and bodies having to be jammed together. This neck seems to have contracted some. There's no fret-spouting, but the heel was pretty loose in the pocket. Not only that, but it had a serious need of shimming for some break-angle. When I put it together first it looked like it was set up for slide. I assembles the neck, body and bridge as soon as I could to make sure the neck was ok and the truss worked - all good. I then added some highly technological cardboard and put some break into the neck - it now rings like bell and plays very well. I learned a fair bit about shimming and torquing the neck screws, and will probably order some shims from StewMac to put a piece of wood in there because I think it can still use a little more break.

All the parts installed minus one set of pickups - still under 6lbs ;-)










...also, a big shout out @markxander for this beautiful, ratty as hell gig bag to match the rat-caster ;-)


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Budda said:


> Isn't the Kotzen 1"-1"? That thing must be massive!
> 
> Looking forward to your thoughts upon completion!


This neck swells out from the headstock at the nut...it's a baseball bat ;-)


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## markxander (Oct 24, 2009)

Not sure if you want a more conventional set, but Vineham Nocasters are my go-to tele set. The price is right and Craig makes them fast!


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

The Budz are ordered and paid for, but I will grab whatever I can as quickly I can to use in the guitar until the Budz pups arrive. If a Craig gets back to me with something ready or ready soon, I’ll grab.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

It's funny I read this now, as I've been tossing around Tele ideas in my head for months. I was going to do an orange body w/cream binding, maple neck, tort guard, and Charlie Christians. Then I was going to do Seafoam body, rosewood neck, parchment or mint guard with (either) a Humbucker (which I have), or P-90 in the neck. Vineham's "Nocaster" in the bridge. Then I was going to do a Fiesta Red _Esquire_, with maple neck, mint guard (which I already have) the Nocaster pup, and even the full ashtray bridge with cover and all. 

Now though, I'm in talks to land a guitar I have been coveting for years, so all of the above may be on hold. 

Good luck with the build though.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Thanks ;-)

I was just in touch with Craig Vineham, and we're ironing out exactly what combo I want - I like staggered poles on a bridge, so I'm considering a combo of Texas Red and the Tele-S neck. Either that or the Nocaster/S combo. He's pretty sure he can get it in the mail to me within the next day or two.

Anyone try the Texas Red? I'd really like to nail this set, since I may well cancel the or for the Budz seeing as how they aren't even started yet anyway...

The pickguard is in the tea concoction again for the morning - if it takes as well as yesterday's dunk, this may be the last swing before it gets screwed on. I'm not looking for the faux, full-on green that most of the new mint guards have - I'm looking for imperfect aging as if from actual use, and this method seems to be achieving that.

I also noticed, while looking through the photos, that the gentleman who wired my controls (which I ordered reversed) took it one step further and mounted them upside down...not sure what benefit that has ;-) - swapped them around this morning. 

I found an old cheapo Affinity pickup dragging around town and tried it, and I'm not happy with the volume pot - the whole point of having it set up reversed is to make volume swells easier, but this pot has terrible taper. It's more like an on/off - nothing up until 10, then you have almost half volume once it's engaged. I may be sending this back and just wiring my own after all, or I'll replace that pot once I have better pickups and see how it works first.


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## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

This is not meant as a criticism in any way Brent and is merely an observation. My overall impression here is that the build seems a bit _rushed. _I wonder then if that's creating additional headaches, expenses, and perhaps ultimately further delays. If there's one thing I've learned about build projects, be it with guitars or amps, it's that investing the time to determine exactly what I want _before_ moving forward has always paid off in the end. That usually involves posing additional questions to others to ensure that what I end up with is just what I wanted & expected. Just a thought.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Thanks, Stevie. I do feel a certain sense of urgency by the fact that I am currently sans-Tele - a French disease otherwise known as not having a good Telecaster in the house ;-). There's also the matter of my returning to work in a couple weeks, and I would like to have this set up with some pickups before then so I can get some recordning projects I've been working at underway prior to jumping back in the work schedule.

In all honesty, the parts I need are all here except for the pickups, and the guitar is assembled and set up well. I will take the time to tinker with the set-up and fine-tune it once I have the pickups, and I don't think I'd be putting myself out any significant money since I get a pretty decent price from Budz, and Vinehams are a very well-priced set to begin with. If anything, it'll afford me the opportunity to try some pickups I hadn't before - being from the Labrador side, I'd certainly love to try out a set of pickups made by a fellow East Canadian.

This may seem rushed since I posted about 3 weeks of progress together in one night, but I've been using time to address some of the small issues in the set-up as well - things like the control plate pilot holes being shifted too far forward and the neck shim situation. The pickguard is a little project to see if I could get a result I'd be happy with before sinking a lot of money into a custom one - it's cost me $20 and some tea ;-)

Ultimately, since I'm still off work from the heart situation, I have lots of time to focus on it during the day, so so what may seem rushed is actually getting quite a bit of attention ;-).


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## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

b-nads said:


> Thanks, Stevie. I do feel a certain sense of urgency by the fact that I am currently sans-Tele - a French disease otherwise known as not having a good Telecaster in the house ;-). There's also the matter of my returning to work in a couple weeks, and I would like to have this set up with some pickups before then so I can get some recordning projects I've been working at underway prior to jumping back in the work schedule.
> 
> In all honesty, the parts I need are all here except for the pickups, and the guitar is assembled and set up well. I will take the time to tinker with the set-up and fine-tune it once I have the pickups, and I don't think I'd be putting myself out any significant money since I get a pretty decent price from Budz, and Vinehams are a very well-priced set to begin with. If anything, it'll afford me the opportunity to try some pickups I hadn't before - being from the Labrador side, I'd certainly love to try out a set of pickups made by a fellow East Canadian.
> 
> ...



Got it. The git 'er dun approach has it's place as well and this certainly sounds like one of those times. Looking forward to following this thread.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Well, it looks like the patience game was the way to go in the end, Stevie ;-).

I contacted Mr. Vineham, and would have happily bought a set to try out as well as get the guitar up and running, but he is pretty busy as well, so there was little doubt he would have gotten anything to me quicker. 

David shipped the Budz set to me last week express post, so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll have them and have the build complete by the end of this week - I start back to work full-time next week, so this has dragged WAY longer than I wanted it to.


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## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

b-nads said:


> Well, it looks like the patience game was the way to go in the end, Stevie ;-).
> 
> I contacted Mr. Vineham, and would have happily bought a set to try out as well as get the guitar up and running, but he is pretty busy as well, so there was little doubt he would have gotten anything to me quicker.
> 
> David shipped the Budz set to me last week express post, so I'm crossing my fingers that I'll have them and have the build complete by the end of this week - I start back to work full-time next week, so this has dragged WAY longer than I wanted it to.



The good news being, the pickups that you _really_ wanted are now on their way to you. Please keep us posted on the completed build Brent.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

So the pickups finally arrived in Canada. After paying $50 for express shipping, they've been in Montreal an hour away from me for two days, and after paying the duties online (first time I've ever paid duties on pickups), I still won't have them until tomorrow by the end of the day at the earliest. 

Here endeth my cross-border shopping if it can be avoided. With some great pickup winders here in Canada, and some amazing pedal builders, I'm going to try and stick to a strict policicy of buying local - less frustration. This guitar has been ready for a month now, just waiting on pickups.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

...with that said, this set of pickups was worth the wait and frustration. They arrived Thursday evening, and after fighting with my old soldering gun and a subsequent trip to CT to buy a decent iron, I got these in and running.

The neck pickup is no stranger to me - I've had it in a couple guitars. While I think I still prefer the overall tone of a firebird pickup in the neck of a Tele, this is pretty amazing sounding. The open face gives it a clearer, bolder tone and response - much more like a Strat neck. This one is wound a little to match the voodoo in the bridge pup, but I've always loved David's Tall neck pup.

The bridge pickup is amazing. It's wound at 6.6k, but it's iron loaded and putting out something like 13 Henry's. Somehow or other, it's based off of a pedal steep pickup. It has this chirp on the initial attack that's hard to describe. Play it clean or with low drive and you have all the Tele twang your heart could desire. Crank the drive a bit with the volume wide open and it has more of a P90 feel - drop the tone a bit and it does a very convincing cop of a humbucker.

I'm still playing with the heights a little to fine-tune, and once I have it completely dialed in I'll post some soundfiles of the guitar.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Completed Build (mostly)...

After nearly a two month process, the Fiesta Tele build is complete (mostly). 

*Specs:*

Body - MJT Fiesta Red, light relic job, swamp ash
Neck - MJT Musikraft rosewood over maple, over 1" thick the whole length, 9.5" radius, stainless steel frets
Pickups - Budz Guitars iron loaded 6.6k bridge / Tall open cover neck 7.6k
Bridge / Saddles - Marc Rutters
Control Assembly - Pre-wired with treble-bleed circuit
Weight - 6lbs, 8oz

*Disliketh:*

So far, I have to say I'm beyond impressed. I had my concerns with some of the allignment and the neck fit - I was expecting to have to bring this to a more skilled set-up guy (and may yet), but with some attention and patience (and some refilling and re-drilling), I managed to get the assembly and allignment on spot - or as close as I can.

I'll start with the bumps in the road. Either the neck has contracted a little, or the pocket was cut a little wide, but there is more gap than I've ever experienced with other MJT finished parts. There's not fret sprout, so I don't think the neck has shrunk much, but it did make the set-up a little more challenging. Also, the break-angle was an issue. I shimmed it with some cardboard, but I have a set of wood shims on the way from StewMac...hence the "mostly" finished reference. The action is still a hint high above the 10th fret, so it will require more break since the saddles are as close to bottomed out as I want to go. The body also had some issues with the holes for the control plate and fret board - I had to plug and re-drill some new ones to make them fit properly. The bridge and neck are lined up well, but there is a slight offset between the recess in the pickguard for the bridge plate - usually the front of the bridge is centered - in this case, it cheats a little towards the top. Finally, the pre-wired control assembly has one frustrating issue - I had it wired in reverse specifically for doing volume swells, but the volume pot has a very poor taper - there's basically nothing until about 10o'clock, then it's an on/off switch with a gradual increase. I may try swapping it out for a new pot. Here endeth the negatives...most of which will be cleared up by a little more TLC.

*Liketh:*

I've owned a lot of Teles - MIM, MIA, varying price-points in each, custom builds, parts-builds, and boutique builders. I've built 2 other MJT's and a couple other various parts-casters myself, and have tried to combine the things I liked from all of these experiences into one guitar.

The neck on this guitar is beautiful. The necks I've enjoyed the most up to this point are the medium C on the Suhr Vintage Tele (roasted maple with light finish) and, most recenty, the neck on the Richie Kotzen. I seem to gravitate towards larger back profiles with very light finishes and flatter radii. This one has both - it's full, fast, and comfortable. I'm not nuts about the faux Fender decal, but I'm disinclined to remove it right now because I don't feel like doing more finishing work - rest assured should I ever opt to sell this guitar it will be on here and I will disclose its pedigree. 

My concerns over the allingment and fit seem to be unfounded - this thing resonates for days...won't stop...may name in KAREN! ;-) The weight worked out perfectly - I was aiming for sub 7lb, and all assembled it comes in at 6/8. It's a pleasure to play, and the pickups give such a broad range of tonal possibilities that this guitar can cover a lot of territory - as a gigging guitar, it has the Custom Shop / Vintage mojo without the anxiety of carrying around a multi-thousand dollar instrument to $100 pay-outs, and with proper amp and effects can cover beyond any style of music I play.

Final prognosis - there's still a little fine-tuning to be done, but every indication thus far suggests it will be well worth it. The total investment - $325 for the body, $500 for the neck with tuners, $200 for the pickups, $100 for the control assembly and plate (I already had the Rutters gear from a previous guitar and they cost me basically nothing). Subtract from that $130 for a set of pickups I had from a MIM tele that got invested towards this build and I have a total of right around $1000 into this guitar, which was my initial target.


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

That looks lovely. Hooray for Fiesta Red teles!
I had this toploader running for a couple of years before redistributing the parts across a few other guitars. Open neck pickup cover on a Budz as well. Fiesta Red body by Brian Monty. Mystery monster neck with no truss rod.
Ah, yes.....
_Memories
Light the corners of my mind
Misty watercolor memories
Of the way we were..._


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Was that the body that had all the figuring in it? I think that one was on the table with the vintage blonde one he built for me.


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Some sounds on the build...lots of clipping on the vocals since I only used the Yeti mic.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

b-nads said:


> Completed Build (mostly)...
> 
> After nearly a two month process, the Fiesta Tele build is complete (mostly).
> 
> ...


I like how you inverted the placement of the 3-way vs the vol & tone. Saw that for the first time a few years ago and thought, wow... that make a lot of sense. I will probably do that on a build I am planning.


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## Hammertone (Feb 3, 2006)

b-nads said:


> Was that the body that had all the figuring in it? I think that one was on the table with the vintage blonde one he built for me.


The Fiesta Red body is a different one from the spalted one on the table. The spalted one now looks like this (shown with seasonably-adjusted pickguards - I only use the white guard from June 1 to Labour Day).


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## b-nads (Apr 9, 2010)

Update to this forgotten thread. I took the plunge and brought the guitar to Ted Stevenson to do a proper set-up sing I didn't like the action height. He addressed the issue, which was the route of the neck pocket. He cut it properly with a little angle, and the the job was well worth the very reasonable price he charged - it sustains like crazy and plays on par with anything I've ever tried.


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## Roots-Picker (Dec 29, 2017)

I'm late to this thread, but wanted to compliment @b-nads on your tenaciousness in sweating the details and getting this build just right. (I also happen to have a Rutter switch tip, which I think adds a cool touch!...) I also enjoyed your rendition of 'Willing'...one of my favorite Little Feat tunes! 

Regarding the neck angle, I recently shimmed the neck on a J-bass clone for a buddy using some uber-thin maple veneer that I built up in the neck pocket to get the right angle. The result was a marked improvement to adjustable range of the BadAss bridge and the bass's overall playability. It was totally experimental on my part, but my friend was very happy and now has a serviceable back-up bass that (he says) plays as well as his vintage early-70's Fender P-bass.

It still blows my mind how much utility & value we musicians have derived from Leo Fender's circa 1950's designs!...


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