MacGyver It

Guitarists have a propensity for tinkering with their instruments. They are wood, so modifying can be relativly easy. Not that it always ends well, but cutting a deeper channel to accomodate a larger switch is not beyond most guitarists.

We need to remember that attitiude when other pieces in our chain fail or break.
Last night I took home a 51 Squier. Set up, changed the strings and then decided it was time to try 'er out.
I powered up the amp and pedal board and then reached across to power up my recorder - a Fostex 16 HD.

I depress the switch, the lights come on, the switch makes a snapping noise ...the unit powers down (it never really powered up as you need to hold the switch for a good 15 seconds). The switch fell partially inside the recorder.
Sigh...look at the ceiling...sigh again.

Get out the tools and unhook the cables to the recorder...drag it into the kitchen - better lighting, more room.
Fifteen screws later,  a few twist tabs and one cable unplugged and the top and bottom separate for me.
Sigh...look at the ceiling...wipe my brow.

The two tabs on the right side had snapped. The long leg is to depress the actual power switch imbedded inside the chassis. I understand why Fostex engineering did this, but on a $400 peice of recording equipment it should be rated for millions of clicks - heck, my mouse is and I paid much less for the mouse. ;)
Sigh...look at the ceiling again.

I put on my Einstein beenie...went deep, deep into thought. And I came up with this inspired solution!

A Q-Tip jammed into the opening does the trick.
Naturally, I forgot several screws while reassmbling, so that made it a longer journey than necessary, but I got the bugger working!
Remember - some duct tape, a rubber band and thou.
This too, shall pass.

Sigh

Wood

Look at the neck towards the left side of the picture. The neck was cut against the grain for some reason. At the top of the shot is the nut of the guitar...this is the first three frets. The swirl along the side continues down the neck...like a serpent.




Here are the first two frets, the nut (which needs to be replaced) and the truss rod hole. The pattern in the wood is almost psychedelic and will age nicely if the poly wears off...or if I sand it off.
Sometimes, instruments have souls of their own  Independent of you, the player. They have personality and style. Not always...Some have a mass produced cookie cutter look to them. And then we modify them to further make them our own...as in my case with the knob swap.

Even the plain Jane body, which is a slab of pine, just as Leo made them in the early 1950s, has a simple grace to it. (Would they be so crass as to make a veneer for this...?)

These are supposed to be tools really. Do violinists sit and admire the grain? I have not seen piano players do this. French horn players comparing who got the better shade of brass coloring?
And especially in the case of this particular guitar - a relatively cheap iteration of the Telecaster line.
It was made in China in 2009.
Beats the pants off the Indian Strat as far as fit and finish - there really isn't much of either here.
It's.a.tele.
It's wood.
It has a soul...

Needs a name.

Right click any photo and select "Open In A New Tab" to see the shot full sized and in all its glory.

It's A Sign - Baby Needs A New Pair Of Shoes

My picks are purple 2 millimeter Dunlop Stubbies.
My phone has a purple case, which I bought because it spoke to me...not having made the connection to the picks until later.
Pick and Phone

Now I have a 50s vibe Tele - which is "Vanilla" with a blackguard - to be 1950s accurate -& a button selector switch, also to be historically accurate. It came with the de rigueur chrome, knurled knobs that were Leo's choice in 1952. The knobs are tall and thick, so when the pickup selector switch is in the bridge position it becomes difficult to slide a finger in there and move the switch.

I decide to look at alternative knobs. I know Lou has a collection in a dusty box. (STYLES MUSIC POMONA) I see some pearloid topping a chrome rounded knobs. The pickguard would have to be pearl for it to work. Okay, the choices are becoming more clear. The guitar is an off white and the pickguard is black.

I need a black knob, now the pearl might work as it would more or less match the body color.
They are too white. He also has some very striking red pearloid/black metal knobs...red?
Then they wink at me.

I don't know what it is...I must be channeling Jimi Hendrix. I have been feeling flamboyant. No, don't ask.
I buy them...$16. They are also a pearloid and tend to shift a bit as the light changes.
They are purple. And I do not make the connection until I get them on the guitar. The color is deep and the tone knob - the lower knob - is more pastel, whereas the volume knob on top is crisp and very sharp.
Then I laid the guitar on it's back...I wanted to lay a pick between the knobs - a partial connection had been made...I knew something was up.

The pick and the tone knob were identical and I knew what why I had bought them. But the volume knob had taken on a completely different hue.
I'm a Gemini...this makes sense - twins that change depending on how the light strikes them?!

"Yeah, well...you know, only cowboys stay in tune..."
J. Hendrix 12/67