# three tele variants...



## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

So, ive been working on a few guitars i plan to try and sell in a local music store. Been trying to keep my costs down, in order to be competitive with the imported stuff that fills most of the store.

I decided that a tele style is the easiest (and less hours mean cheaper cost) so I did three various styles.

#1 is a telecaster neck, ebony fretboard on maple neck. 12" radius, 21 jumbo frets, dual action rod. Side inlays only. Satin lacquer finish. Alder jag style body, with tele bridge & controls/electronics. 

#2 is a dual P90 tele, with a maple/RW neck same specs as #1. Semi pickguard in white/black/white. string through body bridge. no contours on the alder body but a larger radius on the top & back.

#3 is a dual HB, with tele bridge. Alder body with strat style contours. black/white/black pickguard. same neck as #2 but thinner profile. Kind of like a metal/hard rockin' tele.

got the bodies and necks mated, and some hardware on today.

some quick cell phone pics..


































The mindset (well to me anyhow) trying to keep costs down as low as possible is a new one. I am used to basically picking out whatever hardware, pickups and so forth I want in a guitar and not really thinking about costs, when I make a guitar for myself.

Since these are hopefully going to compete with the mid line stuff (but are basically a custom, hand made guitar with playability and fretwork, etc far better than the stuff I see hanging in the shops) I went with imported hardware - which saves a LOT of money... and a plain gloss black lacquer finish, no bindings, no fancy inlays etc. Pickups are also not small, boutique brands which I like to use. Big savings for a $30 pup VS a $230 one, especially when there are two!

Same with stuff like tuners ($30 vs $90), etc. But, I wont let them out of my shop unless they stay in tune, and are every bit as playable as my usual stuff.

I will be interested in seeing what the locals think of my guitars, once they are in the store and available to play.

AJC


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

Very Nice, it seems a little strange seeing them hanging in a paint booth with pickguards and pups. lol I've had trouble with cheaper tuners and had to replace a few guitars worth. However I've had good satisfaction with the $60 dollar variety from Gotoh. As for pickups the only cheap ones I have used were a set of EMG Select (Korean I believe)for a jazz Bass. Only $50 and they are awesome. I think your guitars will probably move quite quickly.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

well, its a fairly small market here so I dont expect them to be gone quickly. I bought some Wilkinson tuners, and a set of gotohs so I know they will be fine. I dont mean the $8.99 no name brand 

if I dont like the pickups, well, I will see what else is available, but I am interested to see what these sound like.

AJC


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## Guest (Jun 1, 2011)

The first and the last one are looking AWESOME to me!


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

mmmm Ebony .... mmmmm in my best Homer voice


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## Jocko (May 17, 2010)

Love the TeleJag.


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## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Look great. Are those filtertrons in the the last one, or are they just humbuckers with a cosmetic shell? Dual Filtertron teles rock. That last one with no contours would rock (for my tastes).

As far as pickup and hardware choices, 2 of my main guitars still have the stock imported hardware and pickups in them. In fact, I love the pickups in my Schecter and Squire Classic Vibe custom, and have no plans to change them whatsoever. So decent imported hardware isn't a huge downside IMO. Especially in a mid-range priced guitar. If you want a guitar with US Fender hardware and pickups, then you buy a US Fender or high end custom.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

torndownunit said:


> Look great. Are those filtertrons in the the last one, or are they just humbuckers with a cosmetic shell?


No they are humbuckers with two rows of adjustment screws. I bought the set from Bezdez on ebay. They look very well made, ie, the metal stamping is nice, plated well and even the soldering of the covers is neat and tidy. We will see how they sound though... soon enough.

AJC


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

I love the offset one. I bet that will be very comfortable to pay. I bet that if it's priced below 1000 bucks someone will snap it up quickly.

It's tough to get a name in retail. Have you thought about selling online? You've already got a bunch of potential customers who know the kind of work you do right here.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

For the offset one, i think the target selling price after store markup will be about $800. The other two will be less.

I dont want to get into trying to sell too many guitars, i just wanted to see how this will go, and i know theowner well enough for him to do this for me. 

I like trying new things, this is sort of an experiment. But if the offset one doesnt sell it will stay at my place


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I like the tele-jag variant.


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## Guest (Jun 2, 2011)

Robert1950 said:


> I like the tele-jag variant.


+1 and I like it even MORE now that I know the target price!


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

well they are done...

Here is the dual HB tele... it actually plays very well. The pickups sound good, very chimy. A comfortable guitar. The wife likes it!


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

The dual P90 one... sounds like a P90 guitar  Fatter neck on this one. Not as chimy, more fat/warm sounding, even unplugged.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

and the Tele-master. This one sounds more like a Tele. Go figure since it has Fender Tele pickups, and bridge, etc like a Tele.

The offset body is VERY comfortable, and I like it! Medium neck feels great. I did a satin lacquer on all the necks instead of a polished gloss. Seems to be a trend, it does make for a less-sticky feeling neck.

I also contoured the heel on this one.

AJC


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Nice touch with the contoured neck .... beauty way to go eh ...


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## dsazz (Jul 13, 2006)

Why no "AC" on the headstock ?? Hope all is well brother, it's been a while.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

All 3 look very nice ...................& neither one is your typical pickup configuration ,which i like 
Damn.. I'm starting to crave an Offset now -it must be the Tortoise Shell 
Black & Tortoise or White or Cream & Tortoise really looks good together


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Gorgeous! I just wish they weren't all black


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## jimi (Feb 10, 2010)

liking that telejag body ,must have been hard to do the back contours


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

$800 after markup seems cheap!!!

these look great.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

Thanks.. Replied to your pm, i am currently in Vegas, will talk when i get back home.


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## kencole (Jul 21, 2011)

Very nice. I'm sure what you are doing is the dream of most hobby guitar builders. I know it's mine. I am slowly working at building a decent guitar at a reasonable price that I could market locally. I have bought parts from Bezdez in the past and for the money they are ok. Have you ever used GFS pickups? I am thinking about order a p-90 for a project I am working on.
Ken


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