This is my little twang machine. It started out life as a Fender Highway 1 Telecaster. Some people do not like the thin finish on these guitars but I think it is a nice change from the guitars that look trapped behind a candy coating. It might look fairly stock but it has been modded quite a bit.
The first thing I did was replace the stock pickups which were okay with Fralin Blues Specials. Now I lean toward frugality normally but these things are worth every penny. While being more expensive than most other pickups there are more expensive boutique pickups out there so they are kind of a value. I do not think to many people would be disapointed. They are still very tele just but a little hotter being 5% overwound. They are bright with a little bit of edge. Very expressive pickups. I had to take the guitar in for a neck adjustment because the trust rod was stuck. I picked it up when the tech was out to lunch. He arrived just after I left and chased me down like I was a shoplifter. He just had to ask what pickups they were. They sound good. Fralin is a great little company were can actual talk to the guy that is going to wind your p/u's and it is one of the best purchases I have ever made. That being said other pickups using the similar magnets, wire, poles,and winding technique are going to well sound very similar. It is science not magic.
The grease bucket wiring that the guitar came with was OK but I wanted a little more. I added a four way switch so I could keep the three typical tele positions and add a fourth which is both coils in series. This is sometimes referred to a Haggard switch. I have heard people say this sounds like a humbucker witch makes sense being two coils in series but don't believe it. Maybe you could say it sounds more like a humbucker but it really sounds like a much fatter version of the middle position. You can get some nice fat twang out of it. I splurged on the tone control. It is a Stellartone ToneStyler. The tone control is usually a compromise and this time I did not want to compromise. It is pretty cool and very useful. It basically cap switching on massive scale. I know people might be put off by the tiny surface mounted components. Capacitors do make a big difference in tone...IN AMPS! At the miniscule voltages in a guitar they don't make a difference at least I can't hear one. Science again. I know it is a better tone circuit than the wiring I have used through a standard pot and a fancy NOS cap. I use my tone control a lot more now because it is more useful and even when I am not the true bypass makes a big difference in clarity. My only complain about the thing is the leads are pretty damn flimsy. The volume pot is a CTS pot because it has a good feel and I know it will last. I installed an electrosocket which is definite improvement over the original jack design.
I also did the Quieting the Beast Cousin mod. I got copper tape a pre-cut cooper sheet for cheap off of Ebay. Even in the single pickup positions where the RWRP is not employed it is dead quiet. This kind of thing is a good idea for any single coil guitar. Makers are getting better about shielding but I would imagine that the cooper works better than shielding paint.
The bridge is a Barden because I got a good deal on it. I have seen the Callaham bridge since and wished I got that. It was a impressively heavy hunk of metal. A brass nut really makes a difference in tone on an acoustic any difference in the sound of brass saddles is subtle at best. Hey, it is an electric guitar most of the sound comes from the electronics. But I like they way they look. There is good reason for a three saddles bridge though. Two strings force the saddle into the bridge with more force making for a better foundation and should translate into more sustain. I also added strap locks so after all this I will not drop the thing.
Blackbeard
Why Blackbeard? While being overrated as a pirate he has the coolest pirate flag. My wife Kelly Jean painted it on. If only Black Bart had a better flag. Sir Francis Drake was really the Man on the high sea although not technical a pirate(OK, the Spanish may disagree with that) but you can't call a guitar The Golden Hind. I think it a pretty freakin' cool guitar but I wish I knew Disney was going to COOP my fondness for pirates into mainstream banality. The severed head on the pickup selector is none other than Unofficial Mayor and town Mascot Alice Cooper. OK, enough with mascots and pirates.
It is a Jay Turser SG knock off. Yep, another Korean clone. This actually was set up great out of the box. Did not have to do a thing to the action. It sounds ok. Better than I would imagine for the price but I basically got it as a modding platform. Modding these cheap guitar is a great way to go. You can get exactly what you want for not a lot of money.
It has had a of pickups in it. Currently it has GFS Brooklyn's. I like them but they are not the greatest things in the world. Opinions greatly vary about GFS. I think that might be because some models are better than others. The Brooklyn's are not quite as Raunchy as I though but good none the less. For the price you can't beat it. I did have a Bare Knuckle War Pig in the bridge for a while. A great pickup but I decided I was not so heavy. I wish I could try more from Bare Knuckle but the exchange rate makes the price a little to high for me. It also has had a lot of different wiring. One of the better systems that is in right now is the original ordinal Les Paul wiring. You might want to give it a try though it does take some getting used to. Les thought of some great stuff. It was put in with humbuckers but I think it is good for P90's which is kind of what the Brooklyns are.
I got rid of the cheap plastic nut and the tuner also. The tuners were terrible. I just tap a key against the wall and it broke. I got some black Sperzel locking tuners. And it is a big improvement.
It is my other guitar and has been a lot of fun modding. I plan on taking advantage of more cheap Asian imports in the future.
Store Bought Unmodified Pedals
You can find my diy and modified pedals on the Pedal Page.
Bad Monkey
I read about a million times in forums that someone tried this pedal on a whim and they love it. Its only $40 so I final decided to give it a try. Its not just the praise it has received but more the way it was describe and what it reportedly did. I found as other did it actual did pretty much what Digitech claimed. I am completely on the band wagon now I really like this pedal. It is not just a matter of price either. It would be a good piece of gear at double the price. It is not amazing it is just an overdrive pedal. And a subtler one at that. It not over the top sound of a tube amp melting down but a some nice lower gain overdriven tube sound. Great for adding some nice tube amp hair when you have to play at low volumes(stupid neighbors) or to add that sound to a solid state. The high and low control really make this pedal excel. They real help you shape your tone to suit your needs. Its nice it is not trying to be a tube screamer clone with a some added bells and whistles or a swiss army knife does everything pedal. And it is not some expensive boutique pedal with some "magic" NOS chip. It just does what it is supposed to...well. I had preconceived notions about Digitech. I never imagined I would buy a pedal from them when I thought of them modeling metal pedals came to mind first. Something I don't really like. Shows what preconceived notions are worth.
Holy Grail
If you have an amp that doesn't have reverb like me this is a good answer. The spring reverb is fairly convincing. Maybe it does not sound exactly like tube driven spring reverb unit but it sounds good. Does not sound like a digital pedal at all. The hall setting is less impressive I have heard better hall emulations and the flerb is cool but not all that practical. It maybe not be the Holy Grail (how many supposed Holy Grails are there in guitar equipment anyway) but it is my favorite reverb effect. And being a single knob pedal it is brilliantly easy to use.
BASSBALLS
I don't even know what the hell it is but I use it with my bass. It weird and not something you would use all the time. I like it though it is different. You kind have to find the right spot with the sensitivity knob and then it is responds to how hard you pick. The you get kind of a vocally kind of envelopy filter effect. Good fun and definitely different.
Snarling Dogs Whine-O
This big ol' thing is a Wah with lots of bells and whistles. Maybe to many. The three different wah settings and volume control seemed like a good idea. It is really noisy and the using the pedal sweep is kind of hard the big foot part is heavy and does not stay put. I tried to get the best of all things and don't really care that much for the Cry Baby. There might just be a Clyde McCoy in my future. I should stick with the KISS method.
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