My parts caster is a 1951 broadcaster with a 1954 telecaster neck on it' bought it in the summer of 1975 when I first moved to the US from China' it also came with the original broadcaster neck but for some reason' the frets had been removed from the 1'st fret to the 9'th fret. I'm thinking they were planning on installing new frets and decided to just change the neck.
I also have a self-assembled parts Tele that’s right up there. MJT 1 piece swamp ash body, a chunky Allparts maple neck and a set of Monty’s Retrowind pickups. Light, resonant and a joy to play. :-) And also has my own hand-drawn logo on the headstock.
Hi John, I have a Tele and a Strat that I purchased both guitars (Eart). The finishes, frets ( stainless), and wood (Mahogany and Maple) were really nice. I replaced everything else ( tuners, pickups,bridges, pots, and all wiring. They are both great guitars that I gig. Have $850.00 in them each but would cost me $2,000.00 to replace . I am sure that I would not get my money out of them, but that doesn’t matter , they are not for sale !!!! Thank you for the content on your channel!!!
My favorite telecaster is a partscaster. An old telecaster body from a kit I painted. I installed a Fender 3 saddle brass Bridge, a nice Chunky C-shaped neck with Fender modern style tuners, and a single double stack Billy Gibbons pearly Gates Bridge pickup. And no pickguard. The shop owner that assembled my pickup said it was a hella fun player and he's right. It's my favorite
I have a Les Paul kit I made with my dad. Used black ink to bring out the flames and blue to “gray” it a bit. Tru Oil finish and now it’s starting to age and yellow a bit.
I built a partscaster a few years ago with a double bound alder body from Eden Allen and a mighty mite neck. I love that neck - it's a C but a little thinner/flatter than classic, beautiful - almost bare wood - just sealed. I used a set of fender classic vibe pickups and a 4 ways switch and a Bigsby (with a vibramate, so I could convert back to a standard ashtray bridge if I ever wish) and hipshot locking tuners. Not a perfect guitar, a lot of learning along the way, my first complete build (although I have modded a lot over the years) and I really love playing it. It's a bit of yourself in that instrument , which is part of it - and there's the inherent nature of a good tele that is elegant in it's simplicity. It's vibrant. I string with 9's - the scale and the vibrato make those perfect for me. I play it at least weekly (even though I - perhaps like you - have far too many other guitars). I joked about it being a tobycaster after seeing a danocaster and a buddy dubbed that the correct name for it. Wouldn't sell it even if someone wanted to buy it . Your work here is great - big fan of your channel and your playing. I just bought a helix (late in the game - I started out many years ago with the original Pod, moved to HD500's for a long time) in no small part due to what you do here. Diving in with some enthusiasm. Thank you for what you do.
I've built three teles in the last few years. First was a mahogany body, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, two-humbucker thing that I call the "LP-Tele" (because it's kinda like the Les Paul formula applied to the Tele platform). The pickups were dirt cheap, but reviewed well on forums, and sound superb. Happy accident was that the neck (a random eBay thing) is very slim, and it's a sheer delight to play. I use it a lot! Buoyed up by the unexpected success of the LP-Tele, I made another. An ash body, maple neck with rosewood board (all cheap eBay finds), double P-90. Again, dirt cheap, but well reviewed pickups, and it's another success. Sounds great and is a joy to play. It's a tad heavy though. Lastly, I returned to the mahogany body, but with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard (again, cheap eBay finds). This time, I routed the cavities for Jazz Master pickups and installed some Mojo Jazz Master pickups, which were quite expensive. It's a sublime instrument! (I have a Jazzmaster, but don't get along with the body shape, and prefer the more compact Tele body shape) Of my seven guitars, five are telecasters of various kinds, and three are parts-casters. The parts-casters get the most use, and they're the ones I feel most attached to. They're scruffy, and rough around the edges, but they have a charm that means I always come back to them and reach for them over my Fenders. Didn't expect that to happen when I built them, but here we are.... I mostly play parts-casters.
Love the tone hear. It doesn't sound at like what I think of as a tele tone, esp. with the neck pickup, which almost sounds like a humbucker with the patch you're using here. I'm not a tele fan (as a player), but I really enjoy what you're getting from your "Cordy". I have a partscaster Strat, but I'm still struggling to get it to sound and play in a way that really works for me. -Tom
I've been wondering if you were going to do a video on this guitar 'cos I went on a deep dive of the channel and kept seeing the Twatocaster pop up. Very cool, very sweet sounding guitar. Edit: new* video lol
Awsm n i Totally get it, ive got a Pelham blue custom aged vintage tele w/real fender custom neck med jumbos built by someone given to me by RFs sound guy, UNTIL i pulled the alum 50s style bridge off n stuck a MIM on, n sanded the slot on G string it was horrible, NOW..........action low no buzz, and it bends like a 59 les paul, its so slinky even at 440! A Lindy Fralin in neck n bridge, i pulled the fralin outa bridge n stuck a artec dual rail in, AMAZING sound if u shoot for EJ tones! Keppa twangin JC!
Example of using parts to make guitars.... Fender... with those Tele specials in the seventies just so they could use up the Tele bodies and Strat necks they had lying around even if it meant putting Tele and strat parts onto one guitar. They may have looked stupid, but probably played well, because unless I'm mistaken, Eric Clapton used one in the live outdoor gig he did with Blind faith.Beautiful playing to listen to anyway, John ( as usual, you've backed yourself into a corner by having to come up with new approaches every few days, luckily for the rest of us).
In 2006 I built a strat. No idea what I was doing, got the bridge off to one side, then the nitro went funny! Stripped it, took it apart, stuck it in a cupboard. Much nagging later from my son (now 21) I have just rebuilt it into a period correct 61 replica in Fiesta red with Texas specials. And the bridge is in the right place now. Lovely guitar and I’m more than proud. Except my son shreds on it but you can’t have everything😂
I have a guitar that has a few parts from a 1959 Telecaster I got in 1969 replacing parts as they wear out so the body, strap buttons, control plate and knobs and the string tree are original. When anyone asks I call it Bitsa, bits from this or that.
I have 2 Strat partscasters. Both are Fender bodies and necks. I like to use USA bodies and Mexican Maple necks. I have a mix of Eric Johnson, Seymour Duncan and Texas Special pickups. Both are great guitars and cost about $800 each because the necks are a wee bit cheaper.
Yeah, partscasters are funny. I've had a couple where I spared no expense when selecting the parts. And they turned out okay. And then I've used good, but nothing special parts, and that guitar is hands down my favorite. And that includes really nice custom shop guitars and a couple of vintage ones.
And K line started that way apparently to, there was an vintage one of his from about 2007 or so on Reverb, it was all Parts put together, Maybe literally parts by ALL PARTs, or Warmouth, But had one identifying K Line label on it, or Neck plate. Maybe one day it will be the ELODIEcaster, maybe her favorite.
My main tele is a parts caster that came in under $500 USD, yet somehow feels better than the 90s fender Custom shop tele my friend owns. Knowing how to do your own setups helps SO MUCH, it’s what makes a guitar go from okay to truly exceptional.
That’s indeed a fab guitar. The finish on the body looks great. Would you be able to break down the intro jam at some point? It seems to be c#m - g -c#m - a, I’d guess it’d be e major with the g being a borrowed chord, but you seem to be squeezing much more out of it. How do you think about approaching stuff like that?
I've got a Reissue Strat that I've modified so much because I became disappointed in, it might as well be a Partscaster. I love it now, and if I decide to change anything, I'm not concerned about it. I also built my own Classical Guitar with a Mentor when I was in my teens. 😎
That is a special guitar.... I have 4 parts casters, all have boutique pick ups and are light weight. Warmoth does a good job, but are pricey. Impossible to get your $ out of them if I sold. But, Like you say they have a special place in your heart. Cheers
I haven’t built a partscaster, but I’m interested. Every time I start to spec out parts, I find my desired specs and parts result in a pretty expensive guitar, which would be okay if there was a good chance that the guitar was going to play well and sound good.
I went on a build journey. I think every guitar player would learn a lot and appreciate what makes or breaks a guitar. Something to consider is that it’s hit and miss as to whether the neck and body are a good tonal match. The rest of the build is generally more a consistent dynamic. I’d be nervous at recommending someone spend tons of cash at a typical neck and body maker . And have a holy grail expectation etc. Whilst the quality may be there . They just may not be a good match. I got to have look around the Corona factory in the US back in 2010. Kind of a Willy Wonka experience . I did not see anyone picking up body’s and necks and assessing tonal values. Maybe the Relic stuff is treated differently ? But I learnt that even at £1000 it’s hit and miss. I guess that’s why brands like Suhr are asking for the money they are. Your tele sounds really good . Pleased for you . Buts it’s a lottery .
Hi John. I've bought your POD GO patches pack some time ago. Mostly, it's great and very usefull. But some patches sound very muddy. Do you know what could the reason for that?
I keep all the original parts from an upgraded guitar to reinstall before selling. Its much better to sell the parts seperatly or keep them for your next project.
I have a tele parts caster. Paulownia body so it's super light. The worst paint job in the world. But it plays great. Seymour Duncan hot rails in it. It's more like a super tele than a tele really
My parts caster is a 1951 broadcaster with a 1954 telecaster neck on it' bought it in the summer of 1975 when I first moved to the US from China' it also came with the original broadcaster neck but for some reason' the frets had been removed from the 1'st fret to the 9'th fret.
I'm thinking they were planning on installing new frets and decided to just change the neck.
I also have a self-assembled parts Tele that’s right up there. MJT 1 piece swamp ash body, a chunky Allparts maple neck and a set of Monty’s Retrowind pickups. Light, resonant and a joy to play. :-)
And also has my own hand-drawn logo on the headstock.
That is a special guitar. It doesn't seem to have any wrong notes built into it.
This one goes into my notebook.
Gotta pay extra for the outside notes.
I must have defective guitars. All of mine have a lot of wrong notes in them.😂
Haha
I want one of those!
Hi John, I have a Tele and a Strat that I purchased both guitars (Eart). The finishes, frets ( stainless), and wood (Mahogany and Maple) were really nice. I replaced everything else ( tuners, pickups,bridges, pots, and all wiring. They are both great guitars that I gig. Have $850.00 in them each but would cost me $2,000.00 to replace . I am sure that I would not get my money out of them, but that doesn’t matter , they are not for sale !!!! Thank you for the content on your channel!!!
My favorite telecaster is a partscaster. An old telecaster body from a kit I painted. I installed a Fender 3 saddle brass Bridge, a nice Chunky C-shaped neck with Fender modern style tuners, and a single double stack Billy Gibbons pearly Gates Bridge pickup. And no pickguard. The shop owner that assembled my pickup said it was a hella fun player and he's right. It's my favorite
i have two warmoth strats. love 'em both.one has the wizard neck, thin, flat, which i thought i would hate but it's my favorite now.
I have a Les Paul kit I made with my dad. Used black ink to bring out the flames and blue to “gray” it a bit. Tru Oil finish and now it’s starting to age and yellow a bit.
I built a partscaster a few years ago with a double bound alder body from Eden Allen and a mighty mite neck. I love that neck - it's a C but a little thinner/flatter than classic, beautiful - almost bare wood - just sealed. I used a set of fender classic vibe pickups and a 4 ways switch and a Bigsby (with a vibramate, so I could convert back to a standard ashtray bridge if I ever wish) and hipshot locking tuners. Not a perfect guitar, a lot of learning along the way, my first complete build (although I have modded a lot over the years) and I really love playing it. It's a bit of yourself in that instrument , which is part of it - and there's the inherent nature of a good tele that is elegant in it's simplicity. It's vibrant. I string with 9's - the scale and the vibrato make those perfect for me. I play it at least weekly (even though I - perhaps like you - have far too many other guitars). I joked about it being a tobycaster after seeing a danocaster and a buddy dubbed that the correct name for it. Wouldn't sell it even if someone wanted to buy it .
Your work here is great - big fan of your channel and your playing. I just bought a helix (late in the game - I started out many years ago with the original Pod, moved to HD500's for a long time) in no small part due to what you do here. Diving in with some enthusiasm. Thank you for what you do.
I've built three teles in the last few years. First was a mahogany body, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, two-humbucker thing that I call the "LP-Tele" (because it's kinda like the Les Paul formula applied to the Tele platform). The pickups were dirt cheap, but reviewed well on forums, and sound superb. Happy accident was that the neck (a random eBay thing) is very slim, and it's a sheer delight to play. I use it a lot!
Buoyed up by the unexpected success of the LP-Tele, I made another. An ash body, maple neck with rosewood board (all cheap eBay finds), double P-90. Again, dirt cheap, but well reviewed pickups, and it's another success. Sounds great and is a joy to play. It's a tad heavy though.
Lastly, I returned to the mahogany body, but with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard (again, cheap eBay finds). This time, I routed the cavities for Jazz Master pickups and installed some Mojo Jazz Master pickups, which were quite expensive. It's a sublime instrument! (I have a Jazzmaster, but don't get along with the body shape, and prefer the more compact Tele body shape)
Of my seven guitars, five are telecasters of various kinds, and three are parts-casters. The parts-casters get the most use, and they're the ones I feel most attached to. They're scruffy, and rough around the edges, but they have a charm that means I always come back to them and reach for them over my Fenders. Didn't expect that to happen when I built them, but here we are.... I mostly play parts-casters.
Love the tone hear. It doesn't sound at like what I think of as a tele tone, esp. with the neck pickup, which almost sounds like a humbucker with the patch you're using here. I'm not a tele fan (as a player), but I really enjoy what you're getting from your "Cordy". I have a partscaster Strat, but I'm still struggling to get it to sound and play in a way that really works for me. -Tom
I agree I first started watching you playing that guitar it just has the balanced tone that cuts through and speaks to me
Love that it’s YOUR guitar. Something is conjured by putting build energy into an instrument isn’t it. Lovely work old chap.
I've been wondering if you were going to do a video on this guitar 'cos I went on a deep dive of the channel and kept seeing the Twatocaster pop up. Very cool, very sweet sounding guitar.
Edit: new* video lol
Awsm n i Totally get it, ive got a Pelham blue custom aged vintage tele w/real fender custom neck med jumbos built by someone given to me by RFs sound guy, UNTIL i pulled the alum 50s style bridge off n stuck a MIM on, n sanded the slot on G string it was horrible, NOW..........action low no buzz, and it bends like a 59 les paul, its so slinky even at 440! A Lindy Fralin in neck n bridge, i pulled the fralin outa bridge n stuck a artec dual rail in, AMAZING sound if u shoot for EJ tones! Keppa twangin JC!
Example of using parts to make guitars.... Fender... with those Tele specials in the seventies just so they could use up the Tele bodies and Strat necks they had lying around even if it meant putting Tele and strat parts onto one guitar. They may have looked stupid, but probably played well, because unless I'm mistaken, Eric Clapton used one in the live outdoor gig he did with Blind faith.Beautiful playing to listen to anyway, John ( as usual, you've backed yourself into a corner by having to come up with new approaches every few days, luckily for the rest of us).
In 2006 I built a strat. No idea what I was doing, got the bridge off to one side, then the nitro went funny! Stripped it, took it apart, stuck it in a cupboard. Much nagging later from my son (now 21) I have just rebuilt it into a period correct 61 replica in Fiesta red with Texas specials. And the bridge is in the right place now. Lovely guitar and I’m more than proud. Except my son shreds on it but you can’t have everything😂
Marvellous title for this upload. I still giggle a the Tourpaedo scandal. You’re a breath of fresh air in the overly cautious TH-cam guitar community.
I have had the same guitar for over 20 years. It had 5 different necks and 3 different bodies.
I named it Trigger.
I have a guitar that has a few parts from a 1959 Telecaster I got in 1969 replacing parts as they wear out so the body, strap buttons, control plate and knobs and the string tree are original. When anyone asks I call it Bitsa, bits from this or that.
I have 2 Strat partscasters. Both are Fender bodies and necks. I like to use USA bodies and Mexican Maple necks. I have a mix of Eric Johnson, Seymour Duncan and Texas Special pickups. Both are great guitars and cost about $800 each because the necks are a wee bit cheaper.
That jam at the end was epic!
Wonderful sounding guitar. Looks great too!
You seem to get phenomenal sound no matter what guitar is in your hands...... Must be the pick you use...... Sounds amazing as always.
as ever - love the playing - guitar's cool too. It's special because it's you - and not a factory spec.
Yeah, partscasters are funny. I've had a couple where I spared no expense when selecting the parts. And they turned out okay. And then I've used good, but nothing special parts, and that guitar is hands down my favorite. And that includes really nice custom shop guitars and a couple of vintage ones.
My No1. Strat is a partscaster. Its changed alot over the 25years Ive had it.
It’s perfect. Home.
And K line started that way apparently to, there was an vintage one of his from about 2007 or so on Reverb, it was all Parts put together, Maybe literally parts by ALL PARTs, or Warmouth, But had one identifying K Line label on it, or Neck plate. Maybe one day it will be the ELODIEcaster, maybe her favorite.
Wow that thing sounds amazing!
My main tele is a parts caster that came in under $500 USD, yet somehow feels better than the 90s fender Custom shop tele my friend owns. Knowing how to do your own setups helps SO MUCH, it’s what makes a guitar go from okay to truly exceptional.
That’s indeed a fab guitar. The finish on the body looks great. Would you be able to break down the intro jam at some point? It seems to be c#m - g -c#m - a, I’d guess it’d be e major with the g being a borrowed chord, but you seem to be squeezing much more out of it. How do you think about approaching stuff like that?
That guitar sounds amazing!!
I've got a Reissue Strat that I've modified so much because I became disappointed in, it might as well be a Partscaster. I love it now, and if I decide to change anything, I'm not concerned about it.
I also built my own Classical Guitar with a Mentor when I was in my teens. 😎
He went home to get it.. Grab me one to J. Awesome!!
That is a special guitar.... I have 4 parts casters, all have boutique pick ups and are light weight. Warmoth does a good job, but are pricey. Impossible to get your $ out of them if I sold. But, Like you say they have a special place in your heart. Cheers
Opening chord progression reminds me of Nick Johnston
I haven’t built a partscaster, but I’m interested. Every time I start to spec out parts, I find my desired specs and parts result in a pretty expensive guitar, which would be okay if there was a good chance that the guitar was going to play well and sound good.
Haven't watched the video but I'm liking it just for twatocaster.
I went on a build journey. I think every guitar player would learn a lot and appreciate what makes or breaks a guitar. Something to consider is that it’s hit and miss as to whether the neck and body are a good tonal match. The rest of the build is generally more a consistent dynamic. I’d be nervous at recommending someone spend tons of cash at a typical neck and body maker . And have a holy grail expectation etc. Whilst the quality may be there . They just may not be a good match. I got to have look around the Corona factory in the US back in 2010. Kind of a Willy Wonka experience . I did not see anyone picking up body’s and necks and assessing tonal values. Maybe the Relic stuff is treated differently ? But I learnt that even at £1000 it’s hit and miss. I guess that’s why brands like Suhr are asking for the money they are. Your tele sounds really good . Pleased for you . Buts it’s a lottery .
Intro sounding Nick Johnston-esque.
Great name!
Hi John. I've bought your POD GO patches pack some time ago. Mostly, it's great and very usefull. But some patches sound very muddy. Do you know what could the reason for that?
If I had to guess, I'd presume that your pickups are hotter than mine. For my lead tones I'm generally using my bridge pickup.
I keep all the original parts from an upgraded guitar to reinstall before selling. Its much better to sell the parts seperatly or keep them for your next project.
very cool
Those "not cheap" pickups look like Fender CuNiFe. Is that correct?
I have a tele parts caster. Paulownia body so it's super light. The worst paint job in the world. But it plays great. Seymour Duncan hot rails in it. It's more like a super tele than a tele really
Get a setup from luthier
I've kept guitars a long time
They're so awful nobody would take them off me
love it