Just EB-ized my tele neck!

[Daggo]

I really love the neck on my Axis, and wish all my guitar necks were this smooth.

A few nights ago I noticed a sticky spot on my Squier tele and while I was trying to wipe it off, the finish started peeling away.

PERFECT! Now I had an excuse to try the oil/wax treatment on it! Last night I removed the neck, sanded off the old finish (this took about 30 seconds, since it was so thin), and applied one coat of the birchwood Casey oil. I finished off with a coat of wax, put the neck back on and re-strung.

Now it is totally smooth and ready to rock! I don't think I'd do this on an expensive piece, but the tele is my token "project" guitar. Over the years, I have put on Duncan pickups (a Lil' 59 and a vintage rhythm stack) and a fishman powerbridge. I have the pickups wired to a 5-way switch that gives me 4 combinations --the regular 3 tele sounds, single coil bridge, plus an "off" setting for quick silence.

It's no Axis, but I have learned a lot about guitar maintenance and repair by messing with it, and now it plays better than ever.

Daggo

 

[Estin]

nic job!!! i did the same on my MIM telecaster. cept i put a duncan hotrails in the bridge, removed the neck pup and switch and tone knob. obviously now a metal machine. i put hockey tape over the empty neck pup hole, but i'm gonna replace the pickguard with a diamond plate one with no neck pup hole cut. happy modding!

 

[art027]

It's the only thing i hate about EB guitars:
Since i started playing my Al, i really feel that other guitars play like ****.

Daggo, thanks for sharing your mod expierience, i've always loved Telecasters, i have a beautifull black double bound MIJ Tele.
Just like the '62 reissue except mine has a maple neck.

I haven't been playing it much since i have my Albert Lee, so just like you i got the idea to sand of the neck and give it the oil/wax treatment.
I had a hard time finding the Birchwood-Casey stuff here in Holland, i'm sure there must be a thousand different brands that would do the trick too but i didn't have the guts to try it
so finally i found it in the UK at some gun maintenance shop.
I'm still waiting for the bottles to arrive. In the meantime i also did some more modification, i replaced the neck pickup with a Gibson minihumbucker and the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan Antiquity. It now has a cream pearloid pickguard and i also replaced the saddles for compensated brass types.

I just hope the sanding didn't ruin the stability of the neck, maybe it'd be wise to start looking for a shop that sells arrows in case i did mess up

rock on,

Michell

 

[Estin]

hey nice to hear from another EBMM lover from holland! i've got a great long distance friend who also lives in holland. *also a avid EBMM user i might ad* one thing tho, i was under the impression there is no "right to bear arms" in that part of the world, is that true? you mentioned a gun maintanence shop....

 

[art027]

Hi Estin,

Yeah you're right, there's a strict law against carrying guns here in Holland.
It's forbidden for civilians to carry a gun except:

When you are a member of a shooting sports club for at least a year. Only then you have the right to get a permit. Till then you're only allowed to practise under supervision.
When you get your permit the police will check your past first.

Also, when you have your permit you have to prove once a year that you are still a member of a club.

For hunting purposes i guess it requieres similar permits,

I think it's the same in other European countries. The gun maintenance store i mentioned is not really a 'gun specialized' maintenance shop, they offer a lot of different services as well.

Michell

 

[marc_odijk]

hey nice to hear from another EBMM lover from holland! i've got a great long distance friend who also lives in holland. *also a avid EBMM user i might ad* one thing tho, i was under the impression there is no "right to bear arms" in that part of the world, is that true? you mentioned a gun maintanence shop....

And here I finally am, my long distance friend!

 

[Estin]

marc you should start by posting some pics of your EBMM's. especially the green EVH, we eat that stuff up.

 

[marc_odijk]

marc you should start by posting some pics of your EBMM's. especially the green EVH, we eat that stuff up.

I will do that very soon, I made a small lame-ass site but shut it down this week...I made another one at webshots where you can see all my stuff.

Why is there no amp-forum here?

 

[Estin]

i think if musicman still made the amps there'd be a amp forum, but since they don't, no amp forum!

 

[Daggo]

Thanks for the encouragement Michell and Estin,

Michell, I wouldn't worry too much about stability of the neck unless you kept sanding for days. I sanded just enough to get the old finish off. The oil/wax finish should keep the moisture out. I'll let you know how it survives the rest of the incredibly dry winter and our horrendously humid summer here in Southwestern Ontario.

Cheers,

Daggo