This is one I built about 10 years ago but have never been fully happy with.  I used modern acrylic paint but without baking facilities it took about 5 years to properly cure!  10 years down the line it’s got some dings and scratches and actually looks great.

The biggest problem was the sound though.  Although they’re Fender custom shop specials the neck pickup was always rather weak.  I could never get a balanced setup, even with the neck pickup so high it was almost touching the strings and the bridge pickup as low as it would go I still had to adjust the volume when switching between them.

So I pulled them both out and sent them off to the guys at Radio Shop Pickups.

I’ve always been happy with the bridge pickup so I wanted them to re-wind the neck pickup to better complement it.

At their suggestion I’ve also got it wired in with a fourth position, so now in addition the standard single pickup or both in parallel I’ve got both in series.

While the strings were off I gave the fretboard a good clean and oil.

The setup was about right, I’ve changed to better strings so it’s always worth a check of the truss-rod.

I love this one, so easy to get too…  

A quick check on the action at the bridge as well.  Note the replacement compensated bridge saddles, an excellent upgrade for any Telecaster.

There it is, all back together.

Ready to Rock and now sounding as fantastic as it looks!

To hear what it sounds like then click here to see a quick YouTube video of the finished Guitar.  For anything else you might want go to www.guitar-george.co.uk.  Also follow the link here for Radio Shop Pickups.