Tools of the trade… wood choices in Strat-land.

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Hugh H.

The two “chosen ones”.

After owning a few “uber” vintage Strats, I’ve found a couple of great guitars that sit with the “good ‘uns”, and I think that my ears have really become sensitive to the differences between individual guitars of this particular model – now that I’m a Strat Cat again. A big reason for the re-visiting of my once favourite model, is that I now have the tools in the amplification department to get good gain at lower volumes – pretty much any sound that I want (thank you, Two Notes Torpedo and QSC!) – handy, or even necessary, in a 3 piece setting.

I have owned a couple of real ’56 Strats in the last few years, and while both were magical guitars, they were a little strident – in fact, they could shatter glass if you cranked ’em up. My beloved 64/65 Strat, which now resides with my best pal Pete F., on the other hand, was balanced across the range. Why was this so?

The beloved 64/65 “Troiano” Strat

Well, the acoustic properties of an electric guitar are well known to us all – that’s why YOU could hear the difference between a guitar with a loose truss rod and the same guitar with a straight fingerboard and a tight truss rod – yes, you could! So to over-simplify a bit, maple board Strats are brighter and thinner sounding than rosewood board models… often clearer and more articulate too. Ash bodies are also brighter – and if they are light-weight – thinner sounding. An Alder body has a more even tone, with lots of mid-range and smooth highs and big smooth lows. Sure there are other woods, but these are the typical configurations.

Maple Neck / Alder Body

So what I didn’t like about the ’56 Strats was the ash body/maple neck combo. Not to run that sound down – a killer tone you’ll hear on many records – but not MY sound. And it certainly works for Teles!!! In early to mid ’56, the bodies changed to alder, and to me, the ’56s with an alder body and a maple neck sound killer! I have this combination in my current maple neck Strat – and while it’s articulate, it has a smooth top end. My LSL Rosewood board “Strat” is a bit different… it has a gorgeous rosewood neck with rolled edges – a very similar neck to the 64/65 – but a little bigger… however, it has a lightweight swamp ash body that helps give the guitar it’s 6.7lb weight. This guitar rings! I swear you can hear the trem cavity / springs / control and pickup routes … very nuanced, very lively… real “cluck” and just killer… and the rosewood neck tames it just enough! This guitar “talks”! I LOVE it!

LSL Saticoy “Strat” gut shot

One last thought… well, two actually… I’m a big fan of a slightly hotter bridge pickup in a Strat. It takes the edge off and balances well with lower output N and M pickups – 6.5k – 7.5k is ideal. The “Troiano” has that ( a lucky accident?) and so do my Strats featured here. Secondly, I always wire a tone control to the bridge pickup… like a Tele… and just as usable!

The Strat Whisperer?

Posted on January 22, 2016 by Hugh H.

Da New Acquisition

I’m a bit of a “punter” when it comes to guitar repair. Don’t let me touch your frets with a file… But I do have a good “feel”, as a player, for assessing a Stratocaster (I’m back into Strats in a big way!) very quickly, and with a bit of intuitive information becoming available to me. So today I got this 50s style Strat… rings really well with it’s Alder body and overall weight of just under 7-1/2 lbs. – a perfect weight for an Alder Strat. But more than that, this is a NICE piece of wood! With the right pickups (I haven’t plugged ‘er in yet) this will be a killer Strat!

So the next question is (here’s the voodoo): “how does the Tremolo WANT to be set up?”. I play the guitar – never plugged in at this stage – and try the Trem. It can feel stiff or loose, stay in tune or go out of tune… all relating to the type of bridge, action height, setup of 6 bridge screws, # of springs, lubrication, position of the Trem claw… this is all after I have lubed the nut and stretched the strings – the #1 cause of tuning issues for a Stratocaster. I play with these variables. Some guitars seem to play, sound and feel best with a floating bridge – and some are best with the bridge flat on the body. Sometimes I use 3 springs, often 4, and rarely, 5. There are different ways to set the springs on the claw. There are some different and unusual ways to set the depth of the 2 claw screws… it goes on and on! Of course these “best” ways for a particular instrument are just my opinions, and it’s really a subjective thing. But for sure, once I have set up a Strat the way that it feels right to me, I never seem to have to fight the guitar or the tuning when I play it live.

There are a few other things I do with a Strat – even a vintage guitar. One trick is that I always flip one wire on the switch so that the 2 Tone controls function on the neck pickup and the bridge pickup. The middle pickup is straight through, with no Tone control. I used to hook it up with the second Tone control functioning on both the middle and bridge pickups, but now I like the middle pickup to be straight through – it works really well when you use the notch position between the middle/bridge pickups. PF and I did a Strat shootout recently and we found that the Tone control on the bridge pickup in some configuration is really a “must” when you get used to having one and hearing the strident tone of even the best Strat bridge pickups when played straight through.

Flip that Middle Pickup Tone to the Bridge Pickup!

Since I am a bit of a “hack”, if I detect some binding in the nut after I have properly lubed it, I take it to a luthier. Same with fret issues…

Here’s some eye candy for you… David W.’s ’65 Strat that I owned for many years…

The Mexican and the Fishman… A Proverb

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Hugh H.

Fishman Fluence Single Width

It’s been a while since I have been so “chuffed” (if you’re not English, look it up!) with a guitar, and I haven’t been able to put this guitar down over the holidays! You may know the Strat – a Mexican Stratocaster that was re-fretted in stainless 6100 wire by Ronnie D. – and generously passed on to me as he continues to engage in Grissomesque PRS tones. I loved the Mojotone Steel Pole pickup assembly (with Blender pot) that Ronnie had in there, so I have left it intact for future use. Added was a gold anodized aluminum pickguard with the new FISHMAN FLUENCE SINGLE WIDTH pickups. I first heard these pickups when the wonderful Greg Koch did a clinic in our town (yes, Greg, you did make a splash in Barrie, Ontario!!!). GK pretty much uses these pickups exclusively, and there’s good reason. For one, they are completely silent – NO NOISE! Another fab thing is that they have a pull pot that changes the pickup voicing – not just superficially – but by accessing a different wind in the coils. You get a very natural Strat tone, and then a beefier, more mid-rangey tone when you pull the bottom tone pot. The magnets are “normal” Alnico IV, but the coils are printed on multi-layered circuit boards that give a very consistent result from pickup to pickup, as well as many tonal possibilities. I found that wiring these pickups was pretty easy when I allowed lots of time and followed the YouTube video step-by-step. I wired the Tone controls with one on the neck pickup and one on the bridge pickup – as I always do. I also employed the 250 hour battery backplate that you charge with your computer (or into the wall) … these pickups are “active” – although you’d never know it!

Da Battery Pack

So how do these pickups sound? Well, I compared this guitar to the “gold standard” – my 64/65 Troiano Stratocaster. Tonally, I found the “Mexican” to be very much in the same park – and that’s saying a lot! The pull pot to fatten up the pickup tone added even more color. I’d have to say that the Fluence pickups hang very well with the vintage Strat. The Fluence bridge pickup has a tad more highs, but this can be useful… and that’s why I have moved the tone control to the bridge pickup from the middle pickup. The straight Voice 1 sound is VERY vintage, very “Stratty”, and the notch positions just sing a little more than with conventional pickups. I almost tend to forget the added bonus that these pickups are dead quiet. So here we have a rainbow of wonderful Stratocaster tones, all with no noise, it’s just a revelation! Through my Friedman Smallbox 50, it’s devastating!!!

I really don’t see myself moving off these great pickups… really! The Fluence pickups come in several flavours – including a 2 voice PAF that I think sounds amazing – as well as a Tele set that was developed with the input of the Gristle King himself (no, I don’t sell these pickups or work for the company!!!). I bought my set at a “show special price”, but they are very reasonably priced anyway. They come with pots, extra color coded wires, etc. The Battery Pack – which I really recommend over 9V battery operation – just for convenience – can be purchased separately.

Twang on!!!

The “Offender”… Mex Fluence Stratocaster

Can a $479 PRS Kick a 10k Historic Les Paul to the Curb???

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Hugh H.

The Korean PRS SE Custom

Sometimes it’s unclear about what makes a great sounding guitar and sometimes we “listen with our eyes”, as my friend PF has become fond of saying…

So the back-story here is that I bought a cool little Korean PRS hollobody a few years back (now long gone), and after a re-fret and a few boo-teek pickup changes (I ultimately chose the stock Korean made pickups as best thing in that geetar!), I had a marvellous sounding and playing axe! The thing about these guitars is that they are built a little bit like a 335 – with a FLAT plywood top and a solid centre block… this gave it a unique and wonderful punchy tone… the guitar was small and lightweight, with a big neck too! Anyway, as I said, that guitar is long gone. When I saw another on ebay, I grabbed it. $479.00 US greenbacks. I tried to live with the frets, but ultimately I had the guitar re-fretted with jumbos (thanks, Russ), put Grovers on, and threw in a set of ’61 model Jim Rolph pickups that I had in the parts bin.

Yup, made in Korea,,,

There are clearly some “offshore” aspects to the guitar… I didn’t trust the tuners, the bridge needed shimming so it wouldn’t wobble, the nut material was soft and rubbery (clearly not the “unotainium” material that Paul uses in his US made guitars)… But all stuff that I may change at some point. The effect on the playability was insignificant, in any case. But in a tone test, with the Jim Rolph pickups, this guitar sounded HUGE! Very lively. Big, tight bottom end. Smooth aggressive top end. I particularly noticed how percussive and “round” that the single note lines sounded. But “we have a problem, Houston”… rolling back the volume knob produced almost immediate “mud”. Problem #2: changing the offshore pots meant re-drilling the holes in the top of the guitar – since offshore pots have smaller shafts – a big hassle! Checking the wiring, I noticed that there was already a treble bleed cap, so this in itself should stop the volume pot from getting muddy, but it clearly wasn’t doing what I thought it might. At that point, my madcap brain remembered a small seemingly insignificant fact – that it was the recommendation of my late pal (and wiring genius… well, just GENIUS, period), Brian Miller, that a small bleed cap PLUS A SMALL RESISTOR in parallel was that best way to do this. In fact, I had a few of these parts that Brian had given me. So I soldered in the tiny resistor with the existing cap and VOILA! clear and beautiful all the way up and down the volume range. This was a bit astounding to me, but hey, I am thankful for small mercies! I plugged the guitar in… OMG, I’VE CREATED A MONSTER!!!

The Beast! Lightweight and Savage!

Now this guitar sounded so good… that I did an A/B with a $10,000 Historic Les Paul that I had laying around (well, not actually laying around) and, oh my! Blind-folded I might actually choose the PRS… The guitar was more lively, smoother, had more bottom end. It was punchier. It had more “bloom”. The Jim Rolph pickups in the cheap PRS – VERY highly regarded with those “in the know” (and rather expensive too) – obviously didn’t hurt the outcome either. Anyway, if you see one of these guitars around for sale used (they don’t make them with the flat top anymore), I highly recommend them as a great “project” guitar. And the stock pickups do sound excellent!

Da ‘Cheap n Cheerful’ Mexican Strat… no ’55 Tele Content!

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Hugh H.

Heavily Modded Strat from South of the Border (2 borders, actually)

I just couldn’t resist when my pal Ronnie Dee offered me this Mexican Strat that he modded with 6100 SS frets, Mojotone steel pole pickups, new pots, blender wired, and locking Gotohs. Just a great axe! In fact, I’ll set up a 2nd pickguard so that I can use this guitar as a platform for my Fishman Fluence pickups. I heard Greg Koch play the Fishmans in a very intimate 20 person demo, and aside from his astounding playing and marvellous/gentlemanly personality, these pickups rocked… plus there was an absurdly low “show special price”… heck I woulda bought them anyway at twice the price!

But for me, there was a “deal-breaker” with this Strat… the impossible orange Urethane neck just felt horrible… sticky, and very unfriendly. Now, being a plastic finish, the only way to deal with it is to get out the sandpaper! So I started with the 100 grit and after 2 hours and 1 water blister later, I was down to a light sanding with 400 grit. So what we have here, if I may jump the gun a bit, is a pretty authentic looking – and feeling (smooth as a baby’s bum and really fast and friendly) “aged” neck. How did I do that?…

The Impossibly orange Urethane Neck Gets a Makeover

So here’s what I did to finish the back of the neck… I went out to the “back 40” with the Strat, and grabbed some wet earth… rubbed it into the neck… then I got some dirty grease from my garage door rollers (no word of a lie!) and rubbed it in… next, a single drop of brown Stew Mac stain… all massaged into the neck. For finish, I used Tung & Teak oil from Home Depot… being careful to let it dry… and then lightly steel wooling (#0000) and polishing between each of the 5 coats. And that’s it! I think it looks pretty authentic… but more importantly… it FEELS great!!!

So My Accountant says: “It’s called a ‘hobby’, not a ‘business’ when you don’t make any money!!!”

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Hugh H.

Pete, Chris & Hugh sharing the love1

Having a site to buy and sell guitars has always been a labour of love for me. I’ve met some really cool people and had a chance to lay my hands on some pretty cool geetars and amplificators, for sure. First and foremost, I have always tried to facilitate the deal – to make it happen! I experience these acquisitions vicariously through these deals… and maybe I make a little “scratch” along the way. But the big problem with this is that I love the guitars, the people, and the music they make… too much! And I just love to play…

So I just haven’t made any money for my time and effort!

For Those Who Like To Rock…

Anyway, I’d just love to stop and tell you about a new/old “game changer” for me, my recent acquisition, my all original 1955 Fender Telecaster, but we’ll do that in the next post. Where was I?… So anyway, once I buy boxes and pay for the website updates, and pay all the costs… ebay, pay pal, Brokerage fees, etc., I found that the balance sheet… well, had NO balance at all!!! And that doesn’t even include my time!!! So I’ve decided to pack in the sales portion of Blue Hugh Music and to expand the Vintage Gallery and Blog over the coming months… so I can still share the love! And, by the way, the email will remain active and you can still contact me at hugh@bluehughmusic.com

In winding down the sales portion of the site, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank a few people: Pete F. for the great logo, Robbie F. at Positive E (and the whole gang at Positive E Solutions) for helping me to make this site a reality… and all the “horse traders” who have made it fun… I can’t name ’em all, but I can name a few… PF, Johnny R. from the windswept prairie as of late, Nige, Ronnie D., Tony F., Chris A., Stephen S., Steve “Rigbyburst” R., Mike B. Tony F., Brian and Richard from the sandbar, Jason “Lemmy” L., Todd L’E., AD, Bill MacM., Brent B., Peeter K., Chad Underwood, Dave C., Esse, Gary C., Jordan J., Kim Lafleur, Mark G., Mike Turk, Peter Swanick, Russ L., Ron Ellis, Steve P S, Ed P., Tony B., Charlie Gelber, Matte H., Walter MacM., Claude on GC, and to James N. for that 55 Tele (I did re-fret and pot the neck pickup, Jim), and to anyone I carelessly left out: Thanks, A. Nonymous!

Now on to geetars! … I always wonder about the comparison between great old vintage guitars and amps and the quality new stuff. We are definitely in a Renaissance period with respect to “new builds” – what with all the introspection regarding pickup construction, wood and design analysis, aging techniques, etc. But, dang!, it’s hard to equal a great – should I say “magical” – old vintage guitar for the tones they create. My personal collection is about 1/2 and 1/2 vintage to newer builds. And just in case I have to hit you with a ballpeen hammer to point you back to the top of this Blog entry to figure it out… I have recently acquired a stunning 1955 Telecaster that plays 10/10 and sounds 11/10!!! Here’s a little eye candy… and I’ll see you on the next post…

Da ’55 Telecaster

Nice wiring there, Gloria!

The Railways Guitar Festival … Top 3 Funny Comments from “Lookers”

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Hugh H.

A few rarified geetars at the Railways Guitar Fest

One of the fun things about this little hobby is when I get asked to do a mini guitar show and sale. My pal Robin Munroe – who set up the Railways Guitar Festival in Barrie, Ontario – allowed me to have a booth. Given that it was Promenade Days, there was A LOT of traffic, but the level of inside knowledge of vintage guitars was, understandably, low… of course! – just like I am lost at a car show – and I certainly can’t fault the “lookers” for their sometimes unintentionally hilarious comments.

One of the “litmus tests” that my booth secretly presented to me, was that there was a very pretty Gibson Custom Shop Reissue Aged Sunburst Les Paul that was worth a few thousand… but right there… being constantly over-looked… there was a REAL vintage 1956 Les Paul Gold Top “Conversion” with real 50+ year old PAF humbucking pickups… worth about $25,000. Only, one person recognized the REAL gold and went straight to the Gold Top that day!

1956 Les Paul Gold Top “Conversion”

So let’s get to the top 3 comments “Letterman” style… I might add that all three of these folks looked supremely thoughtful and pensive and intelligent as they made their comments – as if these pearls of wisdom deserved a lot of weight (and maybe they do – but not for the reasons intended!).

#3 Funniest Comment: A young lady walked up and stared at my Funk Farm “Hughbie” amplifier – an amp brand that my pal Pete Medvick came up with a couple of years ago for his custom made creations – just to give them a name – anyway, as she stared at the amp, she said longingly: “Funk Farm… I haven’t seen one of those in years!”. Ha! Ha! OK…

Da Funk Farm

2. OK.. comment #2 in the list of funniest comments. A young man looked at my ’64 Stratocaster and said: “Those are worth a lot of money because they have a Jamaican Redwood neck!” I said: “You mean Brazilian Rosewood?” He thought hard for an inordinately long and awkward moment and replied: “No, it’s Jamaican Redwood..” and then walked away… Hilarious!

1. And finally, the #1 comment at the booth… Two guys about age 30 were looking at my 1956 Gibson Les Paul Special in TV yellow finish… the guitar was clearly and boldly labelled “1956” and I made a point of re-iterating it a couple of times. Now I should give you the background that I am aged 50 something… and I’ve been told that I look young for my chronological age… SO… The comment from one of the guys? With a straight face… “Did you buy it new?” Ouch!!!!!!! It’s the only time I made a comment back to someone else’s comment that day – because I could tell he was serious – so I actually said … “jeeze, man, I wasn’t even born when this guitar was made!”. But a very funny comment!!!

The “older than me” 1956 Special!

The ’59 Gibson ES-345 Mod… Deja Vu All Over Again

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Hugh H.

This is my third kick at the 1959 Gibson ES-345 in only the last half dozen years. I had one that reputedly belonged to Duane Allman – and I had a letter from Greg Allman’s record producer to prove it… he even said he had the original case, totally beat to uselessness… and I could have it for the cost of shipping… which I never got around to… but that’s another story!

In the later part of 1959, the necks on these beasts changed from a whopper to a more sedate “60s slim rounded profile”, and the ES-345 that I have now (courtesy of my pal Stephen S.) has the smallest profile of the 3. That may be why I just had it re-fretted in jumbo 6100 frets. “I don’t usually comment on my own fret work” said luthier Russ L., “but this one came out particularly well!”. Indeed it did! And the lack of girth is not missed as a result.

These guitars typically come from the factory both “stereo” and with a somewhat lame (at least by modern standards) Varitone with 6 different tonal positions. What I did here – and what I usually do with these guitars, at least eventually – is to take the guts out, lose the Varitone, save all the wiring, pots, caps, etc. intact (in case any future owner wants to restore the guitar to original) – and then to install a new, vintage inspired set of pots, caps, etc. This means the guitar is now in mono – thank goodness – and the Varitone is just a dummy switch (for cosmetics). What we also do here, is to save about a pound or so in weight – “light” being “right” here. This ES-345 is around 7.65lbs… and she rings like a bell – very woody!

One of the other ES-345s I owned – a particularly nice guitar that did have the whopper neck – had a particularly nasty hole cut under (and beyond) the Varitone switch. I say this to illustrate my tendency towards “guitar rescue”. Doris Day would be proud! (you may not get the reference, that’s OK). Here are before and after pics of the rescue on that other guitar:

AFTER

BEFORE

So back to this year’s project… the current ES-345 had replaced pickups – the PAFs were long gone – and for some reason, although this is an original “stop tail”, there was a long tailpiece on it for a while… leaving some extra holes in the top… these two issues got me this beauty at less than 1/2 it’s book value. She’s a “player’s guitar” now! I ended up putting in a real PAF that I had in my stash (although nickel covered and from 1962 rather than 1959), and it’s THE MAGIC in the bridge position – aggressive, woody, open… The Voodoo pickup that I threw in the neck position, while a killer pickup, turned out to be the wrong pickup for this guitar – a brighter, more open sounding pickup being, IMHO, more appropriate. I found a very cool aged gold covered Duncan Antiquity on ebay, and it’s the tone of the Antiquity that my friend Pete F. thought would work best – and I agree. We’ll see when it gets here…

Duncan Antiquity Pickup

I’m also a huge proponent of “paper-in-oil” caps or anything but those ceramic disk caps! The paper-in-oil caps have a much smoother taper and a transparent tone that has a broader, wider sweep – very useful – and we now have them in this 345!!!

I’m really pleased with the changes in this vintage 345 so far… there’s a total 10/10 tone from the bridge pickup (and I can see the possibilities for the neck pickup), uber playability, lightweight ergonomics… tone that you’ll rarely find in a newer ES guitar – all good!!! I might even keep this one for a while!!!

ES-345 – Guts… Varitone, Pots, Caps, n Wire

Letters From The Tonal Edge – Two “Babes” Get A Makeover

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Hugh H.

My friend Pete and I just had two Gibson CC#3 Les Pauls made over by Historic Makeovers – in very different ways – here’s our email exchange, with a little Tele love thrown in (Pete traded me a “69” Masterbuilt Paisley Tele with a real ’68 neck that he had installed)…

Two Babes on a bench!

Hey Hugh, A quick review….

Plugged into the Medvick modded Keil.

Looks and finish…..perfect. Nothing much more to say than perfect. This is exactly what I wanted. And it’s got that greenish tinge in person.

Playability……like an old glove…superb !!!! Very similar neck to the Rigby burst but slightly larger…maybe more like the 56′ conversion in size but the carve is the R-B. The action is low and completely even with no buzzing anywhere. It’s so easy to play.

Definitely a big change to the original feel. Not that I didn’t like the original, I just prefer this.

Sound…. Here’s the best part….they don’t sound like Throbak’s. They don’t have that grainy-ness that I’ve heard before. These Throbak/richards pickups are complex. I definitely do not have a set like them. While the readings are 8.0 and 8.3, they sound lower output than that. They have a more low 7’s sort of vibe. And they have their own thing going on. Which is something I like when pickups have a definitive/original signature sound. Their low output allows for sweet chording. And for soloing, they are right on the edge with the Keil turned up to 12 o’clock. You can hear their microphonic nature which allows you to sustain just about any note but, they didn’t squeal. Really nice.

Here’s the rub…..after playing the LP for a while, I plugged in the Lonnie V….I had not plugged it in since getting it back. I was completely bowled over. Why did I ever sell that guitar before ?!?!?! Still has the Sheptone BK’s in it.

Then I plugged the historic Explorer…..I was maybe even MORE knocked out.

So those pickups may not last long in there. I’ll use it (along with the V) tonight and maybe think about alternatives.

Interesting to note the original pickups from the Babe have no markings at all on the bottom. But their propaganda on the Gibson site says they are custom buckers….

“Gibson Custom has accurately recorded the specs of the original PAF humbucking pickups on ‘The Babe,’ and used them to recreate a pair of Custom Buckers used on Collector’s Choice™ #3 1960 Les Paul ‘The Babe’ “.

“Made with Alnico III magnets and accurate numbers of turns of period-correct coil wire, these pickups meticulously recreate the specifications, look, and—most importantly—the tone of the original late-’59 PAF pickups, offering all the characteristic warmth, depth, edge and clarity of some of the greatest pickups ever created.”

Pete’s Babe with Horseshoe Bigsby

Here’s my response:

Hey Pete,

Thanks for the review… Here’s mine…

Well, the first thing I have to say is that I can’t put the Paisley Masterbuilt with the real ’68 neck down! The choice of 6100 frets was definitely the way to go! And Russ has created an uber playable neck! I was a little hesitant to put the Duncan Tapped ’53 in the bridge position of the Paisley, but it was definitely the right move! The 5.53k Abby wound pickup had a great Tele twang, but now I have the 6k and 9k bridge – which would sound stellar even with one sound – it’s the Shiznitz! Jeff Beck used that pickup on Guitar Shop – so there’s an endorsement!

The Abby neck pickup is clear and yet punchy, and it works well with the Tapped ’53 – plus it was in phase! Bonus! No work necessary at the pickup wires.

The RS kit with POI cap and great pots gives a nice gradual tone spectrum – a no brainer. Why do they use a crappy ceramic “on/off” sounding cap and a treble bleed cap originally in a very expensive Masterbuilt guitar? But I digress… This is supposed to be about CC#3 “The Babe”.

As you can tell, due to my Tele interest, it’s been tough for me to get to the Historic Makeovers “Babe” RDS Les Paul.

Like your Babe, Pete, the neck on mine really has a silky playability. I did not have the neck carve altered, so it’s the original fatty neck carve – with shoulders – and I love it! – supposedly an accurate repro of the original – so they did make a few fatties for the late 50s Lesters!

The finish and aging are spot on – I’m still fresh from assessing my pal’s REAL ’59 Les Paul, and comparing the two, they have similar vibes. Nice to see an original “in the flesh”. It’s been a while!

I find the Custom Buckers that Gibson put in this Babe to be superb. Of course, I’d heard them prior to sending my guitar to HM, and they seem even more percussive and clear in the newly made over Babe. Like the “Beast” there’s something about the bridge pickup that will do Tele tones, and yet nasty and aggressive ZZish sounds are all there too. Great pickups!

I absolutely love the guitar – Kim and the boys at HM keep up-leveling their game – but you know that!

Since we’ve completely modded these guitars, I figured I’d add a 5 latch repro Caligirl brown case – with the lovely faded pink lining – and I’ll sell the 6 latch custom shop brown case with the hot pink lining!

I have a second Caligirl case for you, Pete, if you want to flip me your custom shop case?

Hugh’s finished Babe

Detail 1

Detail 2

Detail 3

Detail 4

That’s all folks… a tale of 2 Babes!

The 1968 Fender Telecaster Un-wrapped.

Posted on December 15, 2013 by Hugh H.

: Close up and personal ’68 Tele

: Full view of the glorious ’68 Tele

I took a flyer on a 1968 maple necked Telecaster that was on ebay. It’s “all there” (including the original case) … nice vibe… pretty worn. Just a REAL relic in spades! There’s 50s-like neck wear on the nitro fingerboard. A very cool nicotine orange to yellow to white to blonde body. This was a somewhat unexpected purchase… I threw in a low $4500 offer and it was accepted! I received the guitar a couple of days ago, and I must say that this seller should have been a little more careful in his description. There were a few undisclosed issues. The neck pickup was wired out of phase and had a 2.5k DC resistance – indicating a potentially broken/shorted out pickup. The frets didn’t seem like the stated “original frets”…but that’s OK, the slightly larger than stock size wire and perfect condition just saved me a re-fret! I plugged in my “Bri approved” Weller WESD51 soldering station, reheated the neck pickup wires at the pickup… and low and behold, the pickup was fixed!

This guitar, despite my initial disappointment, turned out to be a great Tele! Plugged in, the 7.2k bridge pickup really rocks! Lots of metallic clang and twang, with plenty of output… just fabulous! A winner. The neck plays smoothly due to 45 years of love. The guitar weighs 7.3 lbs – nice and light. The 5.5k neck pickup sounds musical, but it doesn’t seem like the best match for the bridge pickup – a little weak. And it therefore doesn’t give us the best middle position sound either. I’m not opposed to reversible mods – so I took note of the this issue.

It’s interesting how after a while playing around with guitars you sometimes get an intuition about what changes might work, and I immediately thought of the Fralin wound Jim Weider “Big T” neck pickup. It’s got bigger magnets and a moderately low wind for a nice clear, but robust, punchy, and slightly dark tone (at least darker than all those other “tall” neck pickups like the Twisted Tele pickup that Fender makes). So the Big T went in the guitar and it’s “the magic”, the “Shiznitz”! I also replaced the severely corroded switch while I was at it. The ceramic .05mF disk cap was really “on / off”… no taper at all… so given the fact that I’d already done some (reversible) mods to the guitar, I threw in a paper and oil cap of the same value – one of those big, fat gold cylinders. I think they call it a “guitar cap” or something. Wow! Don’t let anyone tell you that all caps of the same value sound the same. The new cap had a very gradual tone roll off with numerous very musical tones built in – a whole rainbow of sounds!

So there you have it! I put ‘er all back together and I’ve been playing this great ‘ole Tele for the last day or so non-stop! Don’t let anyone tell you that great Fender guitars stopped in 1965 when Leo sold the company! This is one GREAT Tele! Compared to my favorite Tele (and I’ve compared my favorite, “keeper” to many others) – a lightweight knockoff Top Loader with a fatty neck – this ‘68 is at least it’s equal… maybe better. Mission accomplished.

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