We Start The Big Fun

Now we start takin' stuff off so we can put de new stuff on.

First order of business is the old bridge. A little background on the geetar. I bought the body and the neck on that well-known auction site where I have gotten so much (some would say TOO much...) junk. The guitar body started life as an "MIM" (aka "Made in Mexico") Fender Telecaster "60s" model. But the person who had it took the neck off and sold the body alone - to me. It was totally stock - pickups, bridge - the whole enchilada. (Get it? Enchilada? MIM?)

Soooo, I had a nice body with no neck. Back to the fammis E**y where I picked up a MIJ (made in Japan) Fender 60s neck. The MIJ models are known for high quality, and I *think* the neck is finished in nitrocelluose lacquer.


At any rate, I bolt zem together...and we have a CAR (Candy Apple Red...we're learning all these Telecaster slang terms today...) Internationalcaster!

It played pretty good and I liked it, even if it is about a pound too heavy for my taste. But naturally I couldn't leave well enough alone and hatched The Plot To Hot Rod It. Which brings us up to date, My Fthfl Rdr.

I snagged a 'Vintage Blackguard' bridge with compensated saddles from Glendale Guitars. That's what I'm gonna put on our vict...er...guitar.

I also have a set of way cool pickups from the fammis Don Mare. Those are gonna wind up here too.

So it's just a straighforward matter of taking off the strings, then the old Fender bridge and neck pickup and away we go. They pretty much just unscrew as illustrated in the pix-tures. I read recently where the Fender method of assembly was described as "automotive," and that's pretty accurate. It all bolts together, which is why Fenders have been modified so much by their owners - it's relatively easy to try new pickups, new wiring, whatever.