This Telecaster features an Ash body and 22-fret maple neck with Ebony fingerboard. It was originally going to be a flame maple veneer but some unsightly holes were left by a misplaced pick guard. The veneer was stripped and an oak bur laid in its place. The pick guard was swapped for a simple neck plate to hold the top-loaded pickup.
The body and neck were oiled with a single bottle of Crimson Guitars penetrating oil with a light sanding with 1200, 1500 and 2000-grit sandpaper between the last few coats.
The bridge is a modern 6-saddle bridge for better intonation. When I drilled the string ferrule holes through the body, I failed to notice that my failing drill press had wondered, putting the holes out of alignment. The issue couldn’t be corrected by simply filling the holes and re-drilling. so a maple triangle was inlayed, the drill press fixed and fresh holes re-drilled.
The Wilkinson pickups are faithful replicas of the original ‘60s pickups with raised Alnico V pole pieces in the bridge to give an authentic Tele “Quack” and a covered neck pickup producing a classic warm bluesy tone. They give a lovely crisp clean response yet when pushed with overdrive offer a smooth creamy tone. They’re versatile enough to handle all music styles including Country, Blues, Rock and even Jazz and are awesome even before you consider their relatively low price.
The pickups are wired in standard Tele configuration to 250K pots, a single tone capacitor and a three-way selector. The tuners are high-ratio non-locking tuners with solid brass gears and a high tuning ratio.
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