Tele Humbucker Bridge

[dasbeef]

I'm looking to get a Telecaster bridge that will take a full size humbucker, but only has 3 mounting screws. I want to be able to fit it directly onto my mexican Tele, without having to drill new holes or anything.
Can anyone tell me where to aquire such an item?

[UnklMickey]

hey Keith,

i see this one hasn't gotten any responses for a couple days.

i don't know much about the variations in Tele bridges.

when you say only 3 mounting screws, are you talking about the 3 between the saddles and the tail of the assembly?

like this one:

us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-50206111187217_1899_4309926


or did you mean something else?




unk

[dasbeef]

Hi, cheers for the response. I shall hopefully demonstrate graphically.

Here is a pic of the bridge that is currently on my guitar. You'll see two mounting screws at each side, and one in the middle, just under the saddles.



I tried this hardtail bridge. I'm not sure of my options here. The center screw is common, but the two outside screws are in a slightly different place. I think this would be an easy bridge to fit as id use the common center screw, and then I'd just need to square up the bridge. I am unsure of the options I then have for fitting the humbucker at the bridge. Here's a pic...



I'm not sure if I could use a pickup surround, or if I'd need to extend the scratch plate. I really am unsure of this and need help.

I maybe should have posted this in with the rest of my project, but I figured that someone would have a quick answer, and it's got nothing to do with wiring.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated....

[UnklMickey]

hi Keith,

pictures do speak a thousand words.

i looked at the pictures of the tele bridges for HBs on the GFS site:

store.guitarfetish.com/chhubrforteg.html

it looks like the ones that have 3 holes, have a different spacing.

i still think that a HB / bridge plate will work best here.

if the screw spacing is identical, that would be easy.

but i suspect you won't be lucky enough to for it to be that easy.

if the holes are close, but not exact, that's the worst case.

if they are very different, you can drill new holes in the guitar OR,

drill additional holes in the new bridge, that line up with the existing holes in the guitar.


as far as getting a bridge with the exact spacing as your existing one,

ChrisK might have some suggestions on where to start your search.

he seems to know the right folks at Fender.

i might guess if you got in touch with the right person there, with model and serial # of your guitar, maybe they will have a source for a drop in replacement.

i don't think Fender has any models with a HB at the bridge, that mounts on the bridge plate.

i'm fairly certain they mount their bridge HBs directly to the (larger) pickguard.

in any case, maybe Chris or someone else, more tele-knowledgeable might be able to help.


unk

[ux4484]

unklmickey said:

i don't think Fender has any models with a HB at the bridge, that mounts on the bridge plate.

i'm fairly certain they mount their bridge HBs directly to the (larger) pickguard.

unk

When I saw this post, I seemed to recall spotting a Tele with a HB in the bridge last time I was at GC. It looks almost exactly like the one unk posted.

Here 'tis

The models at guitarfetish, are the same bridges sold by Southeast music and reliable fender on ebay (I'm almost positive).
If for no other reason, go to one of their ebay stores, as they have a technical drawing of the bridges they sell, so you can get an exact measurement.

[ChrisK]

I'm not really aware of any three-hole /tele humbucker bridges.

The info on the John5 Tele does not indicate whether it is a three-hole or four-hole screw mount. Go to Guitar Center and find out!

(This IS a homework assignment!)

OOPS, sorry, I just realized that you're on a different planet from Guitar Center. I'll go and check this weekend.


I've used the Gotoh (methinks) from Warmoth and the Twangbucker from Rio Grande, but these are four-hole.

In ANY case, even if you find a bridge that fits, you'll need to route the body for the larger pickup.

One just might want to consider the single coil sized four-wire humbuckers available for a Tele from many sources.


Now, that John5 slot-less control plate IS interesting, eh!

[dasbeef]

Yes!!! The slotless control plate is interesting. I am after one. I tried e-mailing Fender UK a couple of weeks back concerning spares for the J5 tele (bridge and control plate), but they said there were none available.

I shall have to try Fender US and maybe try the US eBay as well. So far all the UK sites, official and otherwise, have not provided any solution.

All your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks very, very much guys!!!!

[UnklMickey]

being a blade fan, i think the LP toggle on the upper bout is sort of limiting.

for many of us, the lack of a slot on the control plate, is just un-realized, real-estate.

but for guys who have a drawer full of rotary switches...

[vonFrenchie]

This bridge looks like it would fit. Im judging based on the two outer screw holes.
www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges_tailpieces/Electric_guitar_non-trem_bridges/1/Modern_Tele_Bridge_for_Humbucking_Pickup/Pictures.html

Sorry the link is too long. In my opinion I'd go with the GuitarFetish bridge. Putting a few small holes in your guitar is worth it if your saving 35 bucks.

This is what it looks like and you can compare for yourself.


Unk.... you dont realize that some of us have guitars that dont have pickguards or have guitars with metal pickguards. Yes, it's hard to make a thin slot in a metal pickguard... Ive tried.

Chris... the Twangbucker is one of the greatest pickups ever. It just looks so cool.

[ux4484]

I was on ebay today, cruising Souteast music's store, they have a BT4 Tele bridge that clearly has three rear mounting screws. The picture that shows the mounting is for the gold model "GOLD Telecaster HUMBUCKER BRIDGE for Fender Guitar BT4" but they have the same model in chrome.
Here's the pic:

[ChrisK]

Well, it's a fine mess you've made now....(Laural and Hardy).

I went to Guitar Center and left more confused. Many Tele single coil bridges have three hole mounting. Some have the holes behind the saddles and some have them in front.

I guess that the best thing to do is to start posting links to Tele bridge data sheets in the fond hope that you can find something close to what you need.


I'll start with Warmoth:

Narrow spaced Strat
www.warmoth.com/hardware/bridges/pdf/Vintage_Narrow_Diagram.pdf

Gotoh standard Tele
www.warmoth.com/hardware/bridges/pdf/Gotoh_Standard_Tele_Diagram.pdf

Gotoh humbucker Tele
www.warmoth.com/hardware/bridges/pdf/Gotoh_Tele_Humbucker_Diagram.pdf


StewMac, copy the entire link, remove the space, and paste in yer browser:

Modern Tele
www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges_tailpieces/Electric_guitar_non-trem_bridges/1/Modern_Tele_Bridges/Details.html#details

Modern Tele humbucker
www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges_tailpieces/Electric_guitar_non-trem_bridges/Modern_Tele_Bridge_for_Humbucking_Pickup.html

[dasbeef]

I'm not winning with this at all. Fender USA gave me a pretty crappy response saying they don't make 3 mount humbucker bridges, and to try stewmac, or some other place I'd already tried. Never even mentioned the J5 plate which I did also ask about. The email response was 1 sentence!!!!
Shall have too rethink. Some of the bridges suggested look pretty good, so thanks for that!!!

[ChrisK]

Best of luck!

[ux4484]

dasbeef,

After replacing the bridge and tuners on my '79 Cortez Tele copy, I've started playing it a bit more, which has made me recall how lackluster the pickups are. I thought about this thread, and decided to stop by GuitarFetish. I really don't want to replace the bridge again, so I opted for the "modern vintage" mini humbucker drop-in replacement pups and a push pull pot to split the bridge pup coil. I noticed they also have a drop in "hot lead" mini HB available.

Would you consider one of those....a lot less work...and no routing required.

have you taken the project any further?