Post by fussel62 on Oct 8, 2011 4:43:13 GMT -5
This is my 2010 Affinity Tele I bought second-hand half a year ago.
It had already a Fender decal on the headstock when it arrived.
Sorry for that.
All the visual and cosmetic mods are the following ones:
- 3-ply pickguard
- two roller string trees
- chrome jack-plate
- Fender strap, straplocks and switchtip
- better bridge saddles
- Schaller chrome hat knobs (which are beautiful IMO)
It was a nice player from the beginning, but also a good basis for mods.
Especially I love the maple neck, it's the best I've ever played.
Tuners and pots are OK as well. And I really like the tone of the stock ceramic pups.
I was disappointed when I put in a Fender neck PU instead. Sounded muddy and weak.
I used that one as a third pup in the middle with a 17-tone wiring.
As I found out in this forum the Mike Richardson wiring schemes
are quite popular and frequently used by guitar-modders.
I used one of Mike's SSS Strat wirings as a basis for my project.
But when I looked at it closer, I noticed that it isn't a real Strat wiring, but more a kind of Tele wiring with the Strat's positions
2 and 4 added, missing the state of the middle pup alone:
So I decided to replace the push/pull Mr Richardson uses by an on/on/on mini toggle switch to get a third possible throw with
each of the three pups alone.
The push/pull pot I then used for the middle pup in order to get
six additional out-off-phase combos.
Why I like this mod:
Mini-switch in position 1:
- I get the normal Tele sounds on 1, 3 and 5 of the 5-way.
- I've got the two Strat-like combos in position 2 and 4.
Mini-switch in mid-position (2):
- I've got B, M or N pup alone. I didn't want to miss the Middle pup
sound when I added the pup to my guitar.
Mini-switch in position 3:
- I get all three pups in parallel and four combos in series,
which sounds really fat with less treble, more like a Gibson ES imo.
The six out-off-phase combos are completely different in sound and very interesting which I haven't thought before, very suitable for early Who stuff e.g.
I think the switching is quite self-explaining now. I got used to it very fast.
Here is a soundfile which I did before finishing the oop switching.
picosong.com/tNb
Please don't wonder what I am playing there. It's just a sketch of an intro for a new song for the girls of my students band at school. Not finished yet, just an idea.
I just played the same stuff 12 times according to the 12 switching positions the guitar had at that time, without changing anything else with the amp or the guitar. I used my Vox VT40+ with gain in mid position and a bit of reverb.
The twelve parts come up as follows:
1. bridge
2. bridge and neck in parallel (the 3 original Tele sounds)
3. neck
4. middle (the added Fender pup)
5. bridge and middle in parallel
6. middle and neck in parallel
7. bridge, middle and neck in parallel
8. bridge in parallel with middle and neck in series
9. bridge and middle in series
10. bridge and neck in series
11. middle and neck in series
12. bridge, middle and neck in series
(I'll add the missing 6 oop tones soon.)
I hope you like it though.
It had already a Fender decal on the headstock when it arrived.
Sorry for that.
All the visual and cosmetic mods are the following ones:
- 3-ply pickguard
- two roller string trees
- chrome jack-plate
- Fender strap, straplocks and switchtip
- better bridge saddles
- Schaller chrome hat knobs (which are beautiful IMO)
It was a nice player from the beginning, but also a good basis for mods.
Especially I love the maple neck, it's the best I've ever played.
Tuners and pots are OK as well. And I really like the tone of the stock ceramic pups.
I was disappointed when I put in a Fender neck PU instead. Sounded muddy and weak.
I used that one as a third pup in the middle with a 17-tone wiring.
As I found out in this forum the Mike Richardson wiring schemes
are quite popular and frequently used by guitar-modders.
I used one of Mike's SSS Strat wirings as a basis for my project.
But when I looked at it closer, I noticed that it isn't a real Strat wiring, but more a kind of Tele wiring with the Strat's positions
2 and 4 added, missing the state of the middle pup alone:
So I decided to replace the push/pull Mr Richardson uses by an on/on/on mini toggle switch to get a third possible throw with
each of the three pups alone.
The push/pull pot I then used for the middle pup in order to get
six additional out-off-phase combos.
Why I like this mod:
Mini-switch in position 1:
- I get the normal Tele sounds on 1, 3 and 5 of the 5-way.
- I've got the two Strat-like combos in position 2 and 4.
Mini-switch in mid-position (2):
- I've got B, M or N pup alone. I didn't want to miss the Middle pup
sound when I added the pup to my guitar.
Mini-switch in position 3:
- I get all three pups in parallel and four combos in series,
which sounds really fat with less treble, more like a Gibson ES imo.
The six out-off-phase combos are completely different in sound and very interesting which I haven't thought before, very suitable for early Who stuff e.g.
I think the switching is quite self-explaining now. I got used to it very fast.
Here is a soundfile which I did before finishing the oop switching.
picosong.com/tNb
Please don't wonder what I am playing there. It's just a sketch of an intro for a new song for the girls of my students band at school. Not finished yet, just an idea.
I just played the same stuff 12 times according to the 12 switching positions the guitar had at that time, without changing anything else with the amp or the guitar. I used my Vox VT40+ with gain in mid position and a bit of reverb.
The twelve parts come up as follows:
1. bridge
2. bridge and neck in parallel (the 3 original Tele sounds)
3. neck
4. middle (the added Fender pup)
5. bridge and middle in parallel
6. middle and neck in parallel
7. bridge, middle and neck in parallel
8. bridge in parallel with middle and neck in series
9. bridge and middle in series
10. bridge and neck in series
11. middle and neck in series
12. bridge, middle and neck in series
(I'll add the missing 6 oop tones soon.)
I hope you like it though.