I decided to put together my own Telecaster over Christmas and here are the results 🙌

It was somewhat challenging (especially the sanding, filling, priming and staining/painting stage which took ages) and I hadn’t actually planned on giving it a relic/roadworn look but a few problems with the finishing forced me down that path. In for a penny and all that 😅

I switched out a lot of hardware along the way and added things like locking tuners (not the best quality), strap locks and completely new pickups, pots, ashtray bridge, switch plate, mismatched volume/tone knobs and fresh saddles. Those vintage style dual brass saddles are a pain to intonate and I should’ve changed the jack really. Finding out how stuff works (or doesn’t) was an eye-opener for someone who just occasionally plays guitars rather than really understanding their construction. I’m really glad I did it. Cheers to my brother for his soldering magic too⚡️

I really recommend Monty’s Guitars for their Instrument Food and Montypresso waxes. They’ve made the body, neck and fretboard feel luxuriously smooth. I will have to buy some of their pickups next time I’m taking it apart. 🔥

A good old Brother label printer supplied the headstock logo for custom build 001 – the LancasterCaster 👍

Biggest surprise is how good the pickups sound and how well they take some dirt. This quick video demos (via a series of terrible impromptu face-melting riffs) the biting bridge pickup first and then about halfway through switches to the warmer neck pickup. I still need to fiddle with the heights. For cranked single coils right next to the amp, they are pretty near noiseless 👌

Might make my own Strat next 🎸