DIY Andy Summers Telecaster - help needed!

[mrmorrison]

All,

Ever since I saw the youtube video for the Fender Custom Shop Andy Summers Telecaster, I've wanted it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vzStQpEXHQ

But it's $10k, and I'm not spending that kind of dough on a guitar. So my plan is to buy an Fender American Standard Telecaster and mod the ever-living hell out of it. Here's what I've found so far on the net:

- Brass bridge
- Schaller Tuner
- Mint Green Pickguard
- Gibson '57 Classic Plus Humbucker

I'm still kind of lost on what preamp/overdrive to use. I found the EMG Afterburner, but I don't know if this will provide the sound I'm looking for. Any ideas? Any input is appreciated!

[SemperFi]

Yeah, that's a bad *** guitar! Tho I'll never buy a new guitar that is trashed before it leaves the factory. If I want a new guitar that looks well used, I'd buy a Highway 1 Tele and modify and thrash it myself.
Since you are probably a DIY'er buy what you need at either Allparts or Warmoth and build it yourself. I've got a Allparts Tele and it's at least as good as my Fender US Strat.

[vorlon]

sorry i can't be more help but i can say, my '57 classic plus sounds sweet in my squire tele!

[mrmorrison]

Thanks guys! I'll take your advice!

[leadbelly]

Originally posted by mrmorrison
Any ideas? Any input is appreciated!

This topic interested me very much, so I did a bit of searching. Whatever the preamp circuit is, it certainly seems to be a well kept secret. If I were to take a wild guess, I would say it's some kind of circuit using germanium transistors or diodes. I say this because I'm thinking about how it sounds on The Police tunes, and it still retains the Telecaster brightness and twang, and germanium clipping is a noticeably brighter sound than silicon. In the absence of any better information I would try a single JFET opamp with germanium diodes in the feedback path, switchable in/out.

This topic is dear to me because I'm just embarking on my own. I was going to clone the original EVH Frankenstein (black & white), but I'm chickening out because the body came with such a beautiful finish I can't bring myself to take a spray can to it

[unclejed613]

if you need germanium transistors, NTE still makes them.

http://www.nteinc.com/Web_pgs/Germanium.html


you'll probably notice that the Hfe is quite low on these.

[prorms]

the preamp sounds like opamp overdrive circuit
custom shop are beautiful guitar aaaa grade wood
i dont think thier germanium transistor opamp try 741

[unclejed613]

germanium diodes and transistors have a "mushy" conduction curve, and so they sound different than silicon devices.

last year i built an onboard preamp for somebody who was building a guitar. it used a SPDT-Center Off switch as a mode switch with 3 modes, 1>gain of 2, 2> gain of 10, and 3> Fuzz (gain of 10 with a pair of 1n34 diodes across the output). it was really a simple design and worked well. if i get some time, i'll look for a copy of it and post it.

[mrmorrison]

Originally posted by leadbelly


This topic interested me very much, so I did a bit of searching. Whatever the preamp circuit is, it certainly seems to be a well kept secret. If I were to take a wild guess, I would say it's some kind of circuit using germanium transistors or diodes. I say this because I'm thinking about how it sounds on The Police tunes, and it still retains the Telecaster brightness and twang, and germanium clipping is a noticeably brighter sound than silicon. In the absence of any better information I would try a single JFET opamp with germanium diodes in the feedback path, switchable in/out.

This topic is dear to me because I'm just embarking on my own. I was going to clone the original EVH Frankenstein (black & white), but I'm chickening out because the body came with such a beautiful finish I can't bring myself to take a spray can to it

Thanks so much, that's really helpful! You should spray paint it, it'll be like tearing off a band-aid!

So far, I have most of the parts compiled for the guitar. I still don't know where to find the specific switches for it, though. I was thinking about trying Radio Shack, but I'm firmly against putting poor quality parts on this guitar, so I'm still searching. I also don't know where to find a mint green pickguard with a humbucker cutout. I'm thinking perhaps Sam Ash can make the cut out with their own tools.

My ETA for the project to be complete is end of this year of the beginning of next, depending on how much it costs.

[dmw]

Could the preamp be from an old MXR Micro Amp? I've known of guitar and bass players installing those into their instruments to use as buffer amps.

New MXR Micro Amps are available today.