Does a Jazzmaster pickup work in a Telecaster?
Does a ready-made Telecaster exist that has this configuration?
Indeed it does!
See the Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Special.
I have seen this in the guitar store but didn't try it because I thought there was a P90-style pickup there.
And by the way, yes it is a Jazzmaster neck. Even though this is a Telecaster, it states "Jazzmaster" right on the headstock, so the neck is probably taken right off the Vintage Modified Jazzmaster and put on this guitar...
...and that's not a bad thing because there's only one string tree, meaning far less "kink" noises when bending the G string.
Now that I know there's a Jazzmaster pickup in the front position, I'm hoping that guitar is still at the store so I can try it out.
A Jazz pickup in the front of a Tele doesn't sound Jazzmaster-like, but rather its own unique thing since it's such a huge single-coil that has way more output.
In other words, believe me when I say that a high-output Tele rear pickup + a high-output Jazz front pickup is a damned good combo.
How to build an electric guitar the easy way
The term "build a guitar" is a little bit weird because sometimes it involves actual woodworking and other times it does not, so I'm going to cover several build types here.
Build Type 1: Everything except the paint
A Les Paul style guitar kit is one I could find that contained everything and did not require any wood cutting afterward.
While true the top of the headstock is totally flat-shaped, the point is that you could put this whole thing together as-is without the need to do anything else.
This kit does have every single thing needed to put together a working electric guitar.
Build Type 2: Everything included, but wood cutting required
On a Stratocaster style guitar kit, the first thing you'll notice is that the headstock is a big plank. You could leave that as-is, but that would look stupid, so you're going to have to do some wood cutting here.
The advantage of this kit is that it's cheaper.
With a Telecaster style guitar kit, it's basically the same thing as the Strat kit in a Telecaster style.
A Telecaster-style kit is the easiest to put together because it has the least wiring involved. Two pickups and just two pots to install and wire up instead of 3 or 4. In addition, there is no vibrato/tremolo system to install either. It doesn't get much easier than a Tele.
Build Type 3: Nothing but upgrades
This is where you buy a complete guitar and simply upgrade the parts. The qualifies as a rebuild rather than a build, because you're not really building anything.
So if you bought Squier Surf Stratocaster, then bought a prewired pick guard and installed it, that's technically not a build, but rather just an upgrade/rebuild. And there's nothing wrong with doing just upgrades.
Build Type 4: Sourcing premium parts, prefabricated body and neck
This is the point where things start getting really expensive.
You can source a body and then source a neck, then source all your other hardware and electronics. But by the time you're done, you may have spent 500 bucks for it all.
Or you may spend so much that you ended up spending the same price on your premium woods/parts build as you would for an Fender American Stratocaster.
And I know a bunch of you just said "Screw that!" the moment you realized how much sourcing out premium woods and parts will cost you. That's okay because you have other options to keep it cheap but at the same time keep it good. Keep reading.
Build Type 5: Buying a cheap, used crappy guitar and completely rebuilding it
The thing that truly makes a guitar bad more than anything else is a bad neck. And what I mean by that is a neck with badly cut frets, a bad neck pocket connection where the neck meets the body, and a truss rod that just doesn't work at all.
If you spot a really cheap guitar where the neck is straight and the neck pocket connection is good, you can rebuild it. Yes, you can. It doesn't matter how bad the pickups and the rest of the electronics are, because that can all be replaced. What matters is the neck. If the neck checks out, you can make it better. A lot better.
What kind of crappy used guitar should you get that's the easiest to rebuild?
Used Squier Stratocaster or used Squier Telecaster. Even with the worst of neglect, those guitars can be completely rebuilt easily. Another reason to go Squier is because replacement Strat and Tele parts are widely available.
More often than not, crappy used Squier guitars only need a truss rod adjustment, a fret leveling (get a fret leveler kit for that), a new set of proper tuners, a new nut and a simple gut-and-rewire of the electronics and pickups.
You can, and this is no joke, get yourself a truly great-playing, great-sounding guitar for cheap if you're willing to put the work into it. And there's really not that much work involved.
Build Type 6: Cigar box guitar
I only list this one to answer the question of, "What is the cheapest NEW guitar build there is?" Answer: Cigar box guitar. That's the cheapest it gets.
Build Type 7: Cutting and shaping your own body and neck
This is the last build type I will mention. It's not the most expensive, but it is the most time-consuming.
Cutting a body is actually not that difficult. The body is the larger part of the guitar where you've got room to work and you're allowed to make a few mistakes that you can cover up, should you make any.
Technically, if you wanted to, all you need for a body is a block-of-wood style thing, kind of like a Bo Diddley guitar.
So if you wanted nothing but a big rectangle, yeah, you can do that.
Cutting and shaping a neck is the hard part. It's not easy and never has been. There's a good amount of math involved, a lot of trial-and-error getting the rear and front curves just right, and even if you have the proper machines to shape a guitar neck, it can still come out wrong.
I can't tell you how to shape a neck, because I'm not a luthier. But there are tons of YouTube videos on the subject of how to do that.
What I can say is this concerning guitar neck fabrication: Expect your first one to be totally awful. You will have to build at least 4 necks before you start getting an understanding of how it's done right, but even then it is going to take you a good long while to really get the gist of it.
When it comes to guitar electronics, that you learn quickly. When you know how to do proper soldering, proper shielding, proper wiring and learn the basics of how to read an electrical diagram, it's really not that difficult to figure out because there's really not much to it on simple passive setups.
Luthiery is not something you can learn in a week. Or a month. Or a year. It takes years of practice to really know how to shape a piece of wood correctly from a wood blank. I'm not saying this to scare you. I'm saying it because there is no magic button you can push and them claim "Yep. I'm a luthier now!", because that's just not the way it works.
What's the best build type for most players?
"Nothing but upgrades" listed above is what most players are comfortable with. You stand the most chance of being successful with your mods with the nothing-but-upgrades approach.
The way I suggest going about that is to either buy a crappy used guitar with a good neck on it, or buy a new cheap guitar. I don't suggest modding your existing guitar, because if you break it, then you have no guitar.
Start off with something as cheap as you can get it, hack it up and see what you can do with it. If you're successful, then you can move on to modding your main guitar. If unsuccessful, no big deal because even though you can't get the money back that you spent, you did buy something - knowledge and experience.
The knowledge and experience gained from a failed build is valuable, so don't be afraid to make mistakes.
Now you know it all (or at least have a good idea of where to start)
There are many ways to build and rebuild guitars. Some are really easy and some are really hard.
Most players are "modders" and not builders. And that's fine. You're a guitar player first, so you want playable instruments. If you have to stick to modding-only territory to do that, that's okay.
On a final note, the one thing about guitar building that nobody seems to mention is time. If you were to construct a complete guitar from wood blanks start-to-finish, that's not a weekend project. That's a several-months project. Do you have that kind of time to dedicate to building a guitar? Probably not.
Mods, on the other hand, can be done in a weekend or even just a day. Go do your mods and play happy, but just remember to start your first mods with a "throwaway" guitar. Not only will you be more comfortable modding a throwaway guitar, but you'll also be willing to take more risks and learn more in the process.
Thin vs. thick electric guitar necks
I've talked about scale lengths before. Now it's time to talk about neck thickness.
One of the coolest guitars ever is the Fender '70s Stratocaster in Natural finish. It looks like something Ritchie Blackmore would play. Old-style 21-fret neck, 6-screw bridge, big headstock with big Fender logo and "swoop" STRATOCASTER, and of course the bullet truss rod cover...
...but I'd never own one. Why? The big-ass "U" shape neck.
This is also the reason I'd never want a '59 Les Paul whether it's the real thing or a reproduction. More on that in a moment.
Knowing your letter shapes
In the world of electric guitars, there are 4 types of neck shape designations. C, D, U and V. These are all references to the literal shape of the back of the neck, as in C looks like the shape of a letter C, D looks like the shape of a letter D, and so on.
Which are the thickest?
The two thickest types of electric guitar necks that are chunky in shape where you really notice it are late-1970s-style Fender U and a late-1950s-style Gibson D.
Which are the thinnest?
The thinnest type of electric guitar neck are the kind that are on modern "shredder" guitars (specifically from ESP and Ibanez) which are usually U-shaped, and best described as a very-squashed U where the edges are pronounced and can be seen by the naked eye easily.
Demystifying the Fender shapes
Fender has bounced around a lot over the decades with its neck shapes. While these days the shapes are very consistent from model to model, that wasn't the case for a very long time.
I can't go through all the neck changes because that would take forever to write out, so I'll concentrate on the most-known types.
Most-known Fender thick shapes
The shapes here are V, C and U.
50s-style models will either have a V (pronounced physical centerline on the back of the neck) or a Soft V (centerline is still very pronounced but slightly rounder).
60s-style models will usually have a "Big C", which is a fat neck but significantly rounder than the V is.
70s-style models have the large-and-in-charge U shape. To the best of my knowledge, you can't get any thicker nor chunkier than the 70s U shape on a Fender electric guitar.
Most-known Fender thinner shape
This is fortunately easy to figure out as it's just called the Modern C, which is a flat oval shape. This neck shape as far as I know was standardized in the early 1990s (possibly late 80s), stayed that way for a good long while and is still in use today.
Demystifying the Gibson neck shapes
Gibson shapes are a lot easier to figure out than Fender shapes because there aren't as many - depending on which model you're talking about. I'm going to talk about the Les Paul since that's the most famous Gibson electric.
On Les Pauls you've got basically got 1 neck shape and 3 neck thicknesses. The shape is D. The thicknesses are slim taper, '59, and "early 50s".
The early 50s profile is one seriously chunky piece of wood. The '59 profile is slightly less chunky. The slim taper is the thinner shape that most players today are familiar with.
Modern slim "shredder" U and D
On shredder-style necks made for fast playing, you'll find the slim U shape most of the time. When you play Ibanez or ESP/LTD with the really slim boards, the U is there.
When you want the slim D, which is slightly rounder on the back, very few guitar companies make these. One of these few is Dean and only as a "Dean Custom Run" model.
At the time I write this, a Dean with the slim D is ML Switchblade #8 model. These are available, but will probably sell out quick.
The guitar only comes in transparent blue or transparent black and that's it. But it has the slim D neck shape.
Does that slim D really make a difference compared to a slim U? For many players, including myself, yes it does.
I don't shred. But if I were in the market for a super-slim profile neck, I would take the slim D over the slim U. The slim U to me feels way too paper-thin. The slim D on the other hand is really slim, but has just enough roundness so I'm not pinching the back of the neck all the time, saving a lot of wear and tear on my fret hand.
Should Dean make more guitars with slim D neck profiles on them? Yes, they should. They would convert a lot of hardcore Ibanez and ESP shredder players over to the brand once they experience how much better just a little more roundness on the back of the neck can feel.
Most guys who like vintage electrics prefer big-ass chunky necks
Older Fender electrics are either lightweight guitars with chunky C necks (60s) or ridiculously heavy guitars with chunky U necks (70s).
Older Gibson electrics - specifically the Les Pauls of the 1950s - are ridiculously heavy guitars with chunky necks ('59 profile) or ridiculously chunky necks (early 50s profile).
Note on guitar weight: Most modern guitars are between 7.5 to 8.5 pounds. Many Fenders of the 60s were under the 7.5lb mark at around 7.2 to 7.4lbs. Many Gibsons of the 50s were over 10lbs, as were several Fender guitars of the 70s. When you go over 10lbs, that qualifies as "ridiculously heavy", because the weight of the guitar hurts your leg when playing it sitting, and hurts your shoulder when playing strapped on and standing.
Most players who like shredder guitars prefer paper-thin U-shape necks
I don't mean "paper-thin" literally. But you know those necks are ridiculously slim.
When you go into shredder guitar territory, that's dominated by super-slim necks, and that's a huge reason why shredders hate Fender and Gibson guitars so much.
A slim-taper Gibson or a modern C Fender neck feels like a tree trunk to a shredder, as those guys are totally used to the "crab-claw" way of playing where you're almost pinching to play each note on a neck. And you can't exactly play crab-claw style on modern Fender or Gibson necks. Not without buzzing all over the place, anyway.
Players who are all about the shred simply don't do Fender or Gibson and never will. They are dedicated to brands like Ibanez, ESP and Jackson because they have the super-slim neck profiles shredders prefer.
I'll put it another way. Let's say I dumped a set of active EMG hot-output humbuckers in a Stratocaster. The shredder would still hate it because the guitar has a modern C neck, and his response would be "scallop this neck and then I can play it", because that's usually the only way a shredder can shred on a Strat. That's just how they prefer guitar necks, meaning super-thin or scalloped.
Fender modern C and Gibson slim taper D are what most players prefer
Since the 1990s, the majority of Fender electrics were made with a modern C neck and Gibsons with a slim taper D.
How to get these neck shapes cheap?
The Fender modern C is used on nearly all Squier models, with the only thing to know being the nut width is slightly narrower at 1.650-inch instead of American Standard 1.685-inch.
An advantage with Squier is being able to get a specific look without that big-ass chunky neck, such as the Squier '70s Stratocaster. That has the 70's look with modern feel to it.
On the Gibson side of things, you go Epiphone - but not the Les Paul model. The model that has the slim taper D neck is the Epiphone G-400 PRO, an SG model. If you want to go cheaper, the regular G-400 non-PRO model also has the slim taper D.
Does this mean you prefer modern C or slim taper D?
Not necessarily. Maybe you like the big-ass chunky necks, or maybe you prefer the super-slim type instead. You won't know until you try them out first.
My personal preference is Fender modern C mounted on an offset body (meaning Jazzmaster or Jaguar).
Most players, even if they don't know it yet, want a Telecaster. I wrote about that recently for the metal player crowd, but it applies to any music style. Sometimes just having a plain-jane 2-pickup anti-complicated guitar with a comfy neck is all you need. I owned a Telecaster myself at one point, even if just briefly. But that was before I discovered the Jazzmaster. If I weren't playing a Jazzmaster however, I'd be playing a Telecaster.
Best cheap electric guitars for 2014
My definition of cheap concerning an electric guitar is under $300, and that's in US dollars. When you go over $300, there's not much left to spend on other things (like amps and effects among other things) if you are on a tight budget.
Before starting this, two things:
First, Fender brands pretty much own the sub-$300 price point, namely with their Squier and Jackson brands. Why? Largest selection. There are a ridiculous amount of sub-$300 guitars if you stick to those two.
Second, I don't know what's going to happen later in 2014. Every guitar I list here should continue to have an under-$300 price, but the prices may go up slightly in the later half of this year.
Okay, on to the guitars.
I've seen this guitar listed as low as $249. Obviously, this is meant to be a "metal" guitar as this is Jackson's take on an Explorer shape. However, as far as metal axes go, this is one of the best budget 24-fret neck guitars. It has the look and style of what a metal guitar should be, keeps it basic with no vibrato system and should stay in tune well.
Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Custom
This guitar has a ridiculous amount of good hardware for under $300. Separate volume/tone controls for each pickup and a 3-way toggle on top, much like an SG. The knobs are the "witch hat" Fender amp style, and I know from experience that those have a good, solid feel to them.
What's not said about this guitar anywhere is for that all intents and purposes, this is a Squier version of a Pawn Shop Telecaster. The from-the-factory mods done to this guitar are pretty much exactly what guys with Telecasters would have done back in the day in the 1970s.
On top of all that, the guitar just looks cool. This is one of the very few cheap axes that impresses both musicians and non-musicians at the same time.
"Gee, I wish Squier made something that was exactly like an American Standard Stratocaster..."
The Squier Deluxe Stratocaster is very, very close to an American Standard. In fact, if it were any closer it would be an American Standard, spec-wise.
You never see Squier Deluxe Strats in guitar stores because the moment they're in stock, they sell out quickly. Why? Because it has nearly every appointment that an American Standard Stratocaster does. Players that know what the Deluxe has purposely seek these out because they know it's really close to American Standard specs.
This guitar should be $400. But it's under $300.
Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar and Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster
No, these two guitars are not the same. Not at all. The Jag is a short 24-inch scale with skinny pickups controlled by on/off toggle switches on the bottom. The Jazz is a standard 25.5-inch scale with large pickups controlled by a 3-way toggle on the bottom.
Whichever you decide to go with, Squier brought back two of the coolest electric guitars ever made at an under-$300 price point - which never happened before Squier did it.
Jazzes and Jags are love-'em-or-hate-'em guitars. I love 'em. Some hate 'em, and that's fine because it takes a certain kind of player to appreciate one. The point is that Squier makes them and they can be bought real cheap, and that's great.
Epiphone Nighthawk Custom Reissue
This is a guitar where a lot of players get turned off by the oddball pickup styling. Technically, this guitar is an HSH configuration. Slanted full humbucker in the rear, single-coil in the middle, mini-humbucker in the front. And yes the rear humbucker has coil tap via a push/pull knob.
Epiphone has tried, several times, to get people to like this guitar. They've bounced around with price points, and at the moment it's under $300, although you may find it for slightly high at $335-ish or so. Still, that's cheap.
If you want a Gibson style guitar is that not a Les Paul nor an SG and has features neither of them have, the Nighthawk is a good buy.
The Nighthawk is, once again, being phased out. It was originally released in '93, then retired. It was brought back in its current form as a reissue, and now it's about to be retired again. If you want one, get it now because the value of it will most likely go up sharply the moment it isn't available in major retailers anymore.
The LP-100 is your basic Les Paul guitar that's not missing anything. It has a full control set, which means separate volume/tone controls for each pickup and a 3-way toggle on top. It also has a pick guard. If you're thinking, "Yeah, so?", there are many Les Paul guitars that don't include the guard - even on Gibson models. The LP-100 does have it as every Les Paul should whether you elect to use it or not.
I specifically recommend getting this guitar in black (which Epiphone calls ebony) as shown above, because the sunburst versions of the LP-100 aren't that good and tend to make the guitar appear a bit toy-like. Being there is no body binding and cheaper dot inlays instead of trapezoid, the solid black color just works much better whether seen up close or from a distance.
The best part about the LP-100 is that it fits almost any music style. Rock, metal, country, blues, jazz, etc.
While this isn't the lowest-priced electric, it is the lowest-priced on this list (under $200!)
Last year, Squier did something small that really made a difference with this guitar, looks-wise. The headstock logo was changed. Instead of the plain black Squier logo, that was changed to a gold logo with black outline. You wouldn't think this makes much of a difference, but believe me, it does. Looks a lot nicer.
The Affinity Tele has been a good player for a few years now. I have played one personally. The neck feels amazing on it, the pickups are "spanky" and good and the construction overall is solid.
What will probably amaze you about Affinity Teles more than anything else is how good the tuners are. You simply don't expect smooth tuners on a guitar that sells for under 200 bucks, but this Tele has 'em. A standard thing most guys who buy cheap guitars do is junk the tuners first for a better set. Not necessary on the Affinity Tele.
As for the rest of the guitar, it's typical Telecaster simplicity. The only main drawback is that it's a top-loader. No string-through-body here, and that matters to some people. However, given the price it sells for, one really can't complain about that.
In case you're wondering, yes, maple fretboard versions are available, but they don't come in the cooler body colors like Lake Placid Blue or Gun Metal Grey. The Brown Sunburst one linked above is my personal favorite because yeah, the thing just looks good and works with the rosewood board well.
You really can't go wrong with a Squier Affinity Telecaster. Looks good, plays good, sounds good, it's stupidly easy to set up and play, and anyone can play it whether you just started playing last week or have been playing for 20 years or more.
Oh, and the best part: Cheap. Dirt cheap.
2014 is a good year to go cheap with the guitar and put your money towards other stuff instead
A lot of players concentrate way too much on the guitar itself and forget that you need an amp and some effects too. With the cash you save on the guitar, you can then buy a better amp.
Let's say for the moment you decided to get the Affinity Telecaster noted above. What would be the best amp for that? Fender Mustang II V2. Why? It's almost the same price as the guitar (slightly higher) and has a bunch of cool effects in it like reverb, delay, amp modeling, pitch shifting and so on. It also has USB for computer connectivity.
The Affinity Tele + Mustang II amp is a damned fine combo. Arguably, is the most bang-for-your-buck combo that exists which has the most usable stuff that's fun to use. The only way to go cheaper would be to get the Mustang I amp instead - but bear in mind that's practice-amp-only territory. The Mustang II has enough grunt for band practice and small gigs while the Mustang I doesn't.
Ibanez RC365H Roadcore = Cool
The Roadcore Series from Ibanez is a back-to-basics guitar that, amazingly, doesn't look like anything else out there right now. And that's not an easy thing to do, especially when it comes to mass-produced electric guitars.
Generally speaking, most electric guitars either look like Strats, Les Pauls, Explorers or Flying Vs. Any electric guitar that goes outside of those standard shapes is usually something really wacky. An example of wacky is any Schecter Synyster Gates model. Those are some seriously wacky guitars. Wacky shape, wacky fret inlays with skulls and batwings (yes, really), a headstock shape that doesn't match the body shape at all... it's just wacky.
This is not to say Ibanez doesn't have stupid guitars of their own, like the JEM with that "monkey grip" hole in the body.
However, sometimes something comes along that's really good where it's new, but not wacky nor stupid. Ibanez Roadcore is it.
The Ibanez RC365H in Light Violin Sunburst is nice. Yes, it is a semi-hollow body as the f-hole seen on it suggests. It's a true hardtail with no vibrato and borrows from Fender designs, but not so much that you'd mistake this for a Fender.
I can only see two things with this design that some players may not like. One is a potential design flaw and the other a visual thing.
First is the position of the pickup selector switch. While the volume knob position is perfect as it's nowhere near the rear pickup (a common complaint of Strat owners), the pickup selector is in a spot where someone who picks with long strokes may hit that switch accidentally.
Second, and this is a nitpick but I noticed it, the truss rod hole isn't colored black, and that looks cheap. On sub-$400 guitars I expect this as a cost-cutter maneuver, but not on something like the Roadcore.
The scale of the neck is 25.5-inch, which is Fender standard. However, the mild offset shape of the body means the higher frets are within easier access for most players; it should be an excellent guitar for playing sitting or standing.
The radius is, interestingly, slightly rounder than Fender modern spec at 9.45-inch (Fender modern is 9.5-inch).
According to Ibanez, the guitar is meant to "feel vintage" and most likely sound vintage. Frets are medium jumbo, both pickups have alnico magnets in them, the hardware is chrome, fretboard is traditional rosewood.
This Roadcore is not a "shredder" guitar. Not at all. That's a good thing, because any shredder guitar is junk.
This also means a Roadcore will last a really long time; it's a guitar that will break in nicely over time and not end up in the dumpster in less than 5 years (as most shredder guitars do).
The body is listed as a maple/mahogany combo. That probably means a mahogany body with a thin maple cap.
The neck, however, is definitely maple.
On the back of the guitar are a few nice surprises, and one weird thing. There is body binding, a bolt-on neck, string-through construction, and the oddball here is an accessible control cavity in the rear.
What's the rear control cavity for? I don't know. Ibanez lists the guitar as having passive pickups, meaning not active, meaning no 9-volt battery required.
I even went to the Ibanez web site and downloaded the manual; it didn't say what that cavity is for either.
So... I'm forced to guess. And my guess is that under that plate is easy-access wiring for the output jack, as it's set too far back to have anything to do with the control knobs. Bear in mind I am guessing, so I could be totally wrong.
Aside from that mystery cavity, the guitar is just plain cool. Not overstyled, not understyled, has a really nice combo of retro and modern, and its configuration makes it ridiculously easy to set up and play.
Ibanez RC365H Roadcore is a cool guitar. Fits just about any genre, looks classy, sounds good.
How do I know it sounds good? There are YouTube videos of other Roadcores being played, and yeah, the pickups are definitely voiced right. The only difference with this one is the Telecaster-style single-coil on the front position that adds in the "spank" this guitar so desperately needed. And now it has it.
Great guitar if you were looking for something different that captures a good vintage vibe while still staying modern.