Need tips for assembling a cheap tele with good sound ....

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by soumyaranjan, Jul 15, 2012.

  1. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    Ok, guys, i throw a question at you guys over there .... i took my guitar to my work place, and now at home i am out of guitars.... But, my budget is really really dirt bottom .... i was wondering if i buy a squire affinity telecaster and replace the bridge pickup with a humbucker ... my choice is dimarzio super distortion T. Now, checking in bajaao/furtados, they quote something like 12k for the guitar, and the pickup is like 6k, which makes a total of about 18k. But the output of the superdistortion seems to be very high, wouldnt there be a disparity between the sound output of the stock tele neck pickup and the dimarzio bridge? other option i was wondering are the dimarzio area T or the seymour duncan hot rails for both bridge and neck/just the bridge (but then i get the fat sound everywhere and oose the tele sound altogether which i donot want and cost is a limiter to replace both) how about that? i want to retain the beautiful tele sound too, for the clean tones. I was also wondering about the dimarzio twangs, but they are single coil right? will they handel heavy distortion?

    I also wish to replace the stock strings with 10s. My sound would be ranging from jeff buckley/pearl jam ish .... very sweet twangy clean, and sometimes a bit overdriven, and in heavy distortion from rob zombie to alice in chains to arctic monkeys. I would also like to detune often but not more than 1 and 1/2 steps. I believe the tele bridge is good enough for that right? i donot use tremolo.

    John 5 uses a black tele with dimarzio d activator neck and bridge .... how about that in squire affinity bridge keeping the stock neck pickup? I am wondering about the sound output difference bewteen neck and bridge.

    By the way, the best for me would be to keep the total expense within 15k, in that case i can afford a amp in the near future .... please give me your comments.

    P.S. If someone is selling their old tele please let me know, better if its in kolkata .... i would like to buy one .... in that case maybe i can get one better than affinity tele, maybe a classic vibe even for dirt cheap :))))

    Sorry the question is too big, but i believe i said everything i wanted. Keep your comments coming. Thanks guys and gals.
     
  2. henrynh

    henrynh New Member

    A Yamaha Pacifica 012 would be better to get then the Bullet or Affinity Tele/Strat. They are in 9-10k range.

    I have the DiMarzio Super D. It's output used to be highest when it was first released in 70's or 80's, but now there are alot more higher output humbuckers available if you need more output. You don't have to worry about it sounding fat & overpowering, lowering the height will reduce the output. It has a tendency to blend well with other pickups & it won't take away the twang sound from a Tele/Strat. It also sounds unique in comparison to others.

    You may want to consider Duncans though since they can be had cheaper than the DiM. A used Classic Vibe would have been a better option if you could find one.

    Can't tell you which pickups to get, how they end up sounding will depend on the individual guitar & amplification. Good luck.
     
  3. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    Ok, so here´s what i come up with :

    1. squier affinity tele 11,000 (bro, the yamaha 012 i checked, i am not for 3 pickup assembly) - 11000 (furtados - 12300)
    2. Dimarzio d-activator/superdistortion (bridge pup) -5000-5400 (neck pup i will replace later, as well as the actual bridge, but when i have some more money) (bajaao - 5800)
    3. Fender mustang I 20W or peavey vypyr 15 (i included the amp, yeaah) - 7500-8000 (more towards mustang) (bajaao 8400-10000)

    Makes a total of about 24k (max i could stretch at this moment). What do you say, guys?

    N.B. The prices i have assumed (buying from the shop rather than bajaao/furtadosonline). Are they more or less correct? what do you say?
     
  4. henrynh

    henrynh New Member

    Well, to be brutally honest & hopefully you won't find it offensive, the whole plan stinks from the beginning.:eek::

    I noticed now that you are the guy that had posted the review of the SE Tremonti lately. Just bring it back from the work place & leave it at home and get a cheap acoustic & leave that at the work place. Buy a new amp worth 24k. Probably look into BE3 amps, cheaper yet quality workmanship & build. Or just buy/order a Yamaha THR10 from a Yamaha dealer.

    Your idea involves basically getting a kids/starter/learner electric at that price range & replacing the p-ups with new ones worth about the value of the guitar itself. That's like trying to turn a lemon into a melon. The results will be poor.

    In short, drop the idea.;)
     
  5. rickkkyrich

    rickkkyrich Guest

    Very bad plan indeed. I agree with Henry.
     
  6. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    Haah haah well said henryh dude, "turning lemon into melon" !!! btw they were asking 13k for that guitar now, and d'marzios not available !!!! incredible, what a mess we are in, in calcutta !!! asked two prominent shops, and now they say that the mexi strat would cost 45k, sucker ... anyway all plans shelved sans the amp i got the mustang I for 7.5k, i needed one not too powerful to play a bit in my apartment in my work place. The cleans in this amp are very neat, also the metal 2000 settings rock for distortion mode, but i hate the presets.

    Btw i am really intersted in the classic vibe series especially the classic vibe tele 50s, if anyone is selling one within 15k, i would be really interested. Also, can any of you guys give me some idea about purchasing from amazon? specifically did someone buy a guitar from amazon? what about the customs? thanks.
     
  7. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    Haah haah well said henryh dude, "turning lemon into melon" !!! btw they were asking 13k for that guitar now, and d'marzios not available !!!! incredible, what a mess we are in, in calcutta !!! asked two prominent shops, and now they say that the mexi strat would cost 45k, sucker ... anyway all plans shelved sans the amp i got the mustang I for 7.5k, i needed one not too powerful to play a bit in my apartment in my work place. The cleans in this amp are very neat, also the metal 2000 settings rock for distortion mode, but i hate the presets.

    Btw i am really interested in the classic vibe series especially the classic vibe tele 50s, if anyone is selling one within 15k, i would be really interested. Also, can any of you guys give me some idea about purchasing from amazon? specifically did someone buy a guitar from amazon? what about the customs? thanks.
     
  8. henrynh

    henrynh New Member

    I haven't bought a guitar online internationally but I've gotten other stuff related to it from USA. Normally it's something like this:
    Online Price + 32.5%(inclusive of tax,duty,customs) for musical instrument equipment(non-string), shipping extra and varies with weight & mode.

    If you are buying the same thing from a dealer here then usually its:
    List Price/MSRP + 12.5% tax

    Those mexican strats/teles used to be around 25~28k during early 2005, it's surprising what they retail for now in 2012.
    I've gotten Dimarzios for about ~4.8-5.25k directly from US, that was last year though, currency conversion rates are different now.:cry1::giveup:

    It's very unlikely to get a used CV strat/tele at 15k these days considering they retail for ~28k now, depends entirely on your luck. Ordering one from US/UK has a potential risk of it being damaged during shipping unless it's shipped in a robust hard-shell/flight case. That will raise the shipping rates due to the added weight of the case.

    Well, the prices are pretty bad lately on anything new, hope you find something used that works out for ya. Goodluck.
     
  9. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    If you are after the tele sound, why don't you buy the Tele pickups specially made for their bridges?
    If you intend to replace it with humbuckers, you gotta replace the entire bridge setup of the affinity tele, remove the chrome cover and all...

    If you use normal single coils, the pickup won't be aligned to the strings and you will face problems tonally... The pickups won't sound at all as they should... The tele pickups are made to retain the vintage "twang" and according to the model you choose, specialize in what kind of sound you're after..
     
  10. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    Thanks dude for the reply. I was wondering did you buy the d'marzios directly from some webstore in us, or did you buy them in person? if you bought it from webstore, which one was it, and did they include the customs, delivery charge when they billed you ?

    What is strange is that the classic vibe series is not even available in calcutta, atleast not in those stores that i called up !!! there is a new mystery exclusive fender store that has come up in calcutta ( i am yet to visit that one), where it might be available but if you search the web, even their telephone no. is not available (only there is an address), so you cannot even call them up for enquiry !!!
     
  11. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    @tirtha dude,thanks for your comments. The d'marzio bridge pickup super distortion T (DP 318 if i am not wrong) is intended for the teles, specifically. I think you can also find some p90 flavours intended specifically for tele bridge and are ment to fit in into the bridge slot without any superficial modifications. Also for the neck i was interested in the twang king which has a very beautiful single coil twang to it (indeed, its single coil). I intended to use it on a affinity tele because its cheap, 25.5 inch scale length, and alder body, but now the price they are asking is just too much. And as for my original choice, the classic vibe series ( the 50's tele specifically, pine body for bright tones) it is not available in calcutta ( i wonder about its availability in other states) and price is just too high for me to buy a new one now.
     
  12. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    Nothing is available in Calcutta... I have been madly searching for Duncan humbuckers for the past 3 months... Those aren't even available in this bloody country due to the rupee weakening... Same story with Dimarzio... If you wanna specially import, they'll charge sky high prices for that, like those quoted in bajaao... Furtados, Saptaswara and Gear Habitat have stopped stocking pickups... The only thing you get everywhere are EMGs....
     
  13. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    @Tirtha You are right dude, it really sucks in here, but the last time i called up braganzas to mod the tele (that i was supposed to buy), they told me d'marzios are not available, so i might make some choice of duncans. So, maybe they have some duncans on them. Btw, if you are from calcutta, have you visited the fender store in tollygaunge, how is it?
     
  14. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    I didn't hear about a fender store in Tollygunge but Mushtaque Khan (the guy who owned Roland Pro Music Tollygunge earlier) opened a new store called Music Kafe near the Tollygunge local railway station... If this is the one you are talking about, it's a pretty good shop, good stock and reasonable prices... I visited there a month ago and got my Boss ME 70 from there...

    Just one tip, never visit any Roland store be it Tollygunge or Lake Town or Khidderpore... They are big time robbers and they will loot whatever cash you have in your wallet.. The prices there are 20-30% more the the usual range...
     
  15. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    Yeah, that is why i call it the mystery fender store, no body seems to know about that and also none mentions it anywhere,in any forum. But its supposed to be located at 74a, deshapran sashmal rd., here are some links to the store opening in dec, 2011 -- God of the guitar for tomorrow’s guitar gods, Fender store - Calcutta! | Facebook . this guy mustaque khan is supposed to be somebody associated with this store, but last time i managed to locate a ph.no. of this guy and actually reached this "music kafe", when i called him; and came to know that he is no longer associated with the fender store !!! so what happened to it? strange.
     
  16. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    and bro, regarding the looting thing, may i also add musik messe near chandni, they rob you, if you are not careful !!!
     
  17. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    This IS the roland pro music tollygunge shop... Its just that they are authorised and reconized fender dealers now... I tried the Ehsaan Noorani strat next to the very week it was launched on from another Roland pro music shop in lake town which has the same seal over its windows too..
    never been to the musik messe, thanks for the info...

    And getting back to the Mustaque guy, he earlier was a luthier in the Roland Pro Music shop in tollygunge and owned it (or most part of it, I guess)... It was a favourite among the pros (namely Amyt Dutt, Ehsaan, Alan, Ratul, Kabir Suman, and so on) and that shop was your destination for the right stuff and real good prices, no matter where people lived in Calcutta, this is where most of the guys went to check out stuff even if they didn't wish to buy coz they had a massive stock and the right prices..

    Turns out earlier this year, the guy had a rift with the Roland guys over some reason... He left it and opened his own shop Music Kafe a few months back and he is still the favorite among pros.. Talking about the old pro music shop which you mentioned earlier, it's run by thieves now...
     
  18. soumyaranjan

    soumyaranjan New Member

    ah thanks for this useful bit of info man !!! cheers
     
  19. henrynh

    henrynh New Member

    I use 20north to shop from US, I've gotten dimarzios from musiciansfriend through them.

    I haven't bothered changing the pickups on my CV strat yet since hearing one with aftermarket p'ups & it sounded better but felt lifeless & flat to play as usual. These may have better quality control in the production phase but they damn sure don't have any mid quality tone wood being used in them. Think of these as bridging the gap between a beginner & semi-pro guitar. I use it mostly for practicing at home, it helps to keep the wear n' tear down on my other expensive guitars. It's fine to play on, a step up from the squier bullet/affinity series but nothing worth treasuring for me personally anyways. YMMV
     
  20. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    What? How? Is it safe to buy from abroad via online? Less or more expensive? Can I get Duncans too?
     

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