Tele upgrades???

[D-Nastee11]

SO I picked up a Left Handed 52 reissue Japanese Tele off Ebay. Besides the obvious setup and probably pickups what else would anyone suggest for improving tone AND playability. I would like to turn this into a main workhorse type guitar.

 

[John4021]

If the intonation is an issue( always is with 3 barrel style saddles)
look up Callaham Vintage Compensated brass saddles.
$40.00 is a cheap investment.

There is a way to bend the intonation screws(the 3 with the springs) that helps with intonation
but it's tricky to get it correct and time consuming.
This was the only way to get it close before someone got smart and started making the compensating saddles.

 

[SFW]

Play it for a while before doing anything. A good setup will never hurt. Teles are not perfect guitars. But then that is their charm. They make you work a little harder, but when you work them right, they will deliver just about any thing you ask of it.

 

[Shawn Lutz]

brass compensated saddles...I have the Fender ones on a CS tele and they work out great.

 

[daveyisgreatmkii]

A good setup is a must. It can make all the difference in making a tele that can be difficult to play into a tele that's a breeze to fly around on.

Also compensated saddles are cool. And I've found that a good fuzz pedal and a tele can go a long way.

 

[Spaceboy]

It's perfectly fine as is

 

[D-Nastee11]

Wouldn't it be better for intonation to upgrade to a 6 saddle bridge?

 

[paulyc]

You lose the Tele twang doing that

 

[paulyc]

I have an ESP Tele that I put a set of Lindy Fralin pickups in and vintage style compensated saddles. My next upgrade will be an overwound bridge single coil ( sort of P90ish) with a tap at the half way point and a smart 5 way switch so the last position is the full output and the 4th position is the tapped point. I'll also replace the tone control with a toggle switch to reverse phase on the bridge pickup and en EVH 500K ohm volume pot.