AL HS – Tele mod

…here’s the ‘secret project’ I’ve been hinting at… the Bebop AL Tele!!

So I’ve had this idea rolling around in my head for a few years. I can’t imagine I’m the first to actually do this, but I couldn’t find any evidence of another on the web. (???)
I realized that there were many ways this project could be approached & executed, and this is the design I decided on.
I spent some time comparing my American Std Tele with my Richie Kotzen Tele.
Since I’m way more rock n roll than country, I decided to model this after the Kotzen Tele.

I’m using the same pick-ups (Dimarzio Chopper T bridge & Twang King neck), plus I added some extra switching. It’s set up with a Tele 4-way blade switch, wired- Bridge; bridge + neck parallel; bridge + neck series; neck. Then I added a push/pull tone pot for the bridge humbucker. It’s wired for; down = parallel / up = series. This is going to give a lot of versatility with just 2 pups. I’m sticking with the stock bridge and pick guard & controls layout.

So what you see here is a VERY rough template/test bed pick guard just to see if it’s even worth pursuing any further. If it seems like a winning idea, I’ll make a proper p/g and transfer the electronics over. I did have to remove a little wood from the bridge pup route to fit the tele pup in there, but it’s covered by the p/g and I could easily just screw the original SSS p/g back on (which I kept intact…).
I’ll post an update report soon….