72RI Tele Deluxe Re-wire/Upgrade project.

[warwick.hoy]

I felt like my modification desires for this guitar might derail the Show Your Guitar thread; so I though I'd go ahead and start a thread that documents the mods and solicits input on bringing this guitar into prefect running condition.

So phase one was to get the guitar,....and this occurred over the weekend and my initial reaction after a decent cleaning and a restring was how solid the guitar felt and how nice of a player it was. Action is a little high but I'm mainly a rhythm player so no big deal.

If you frequent the SYG thread then you've no doubt seen the guitar but for the benefit,....and because what's the point of discussion forums then to shamelessly spam photos of your crap:







You'll notice that the pickgaurd has taken some abuse,...my intention is to replace it all together but in an attempt to clean it up,...I used some homemade polish made out of baking soda, coconut oil (which is solid at room temp and melts at around body temperature). Got some swirl marks as a result but it seems to look a little better now.

Compare and contrast.



Still probably need to hit it up with a milder abrasive like Nu Finish. I'm not putting a ton of effort into it as ultimately I'd like to replace the PG all together.

I also took the opportunity to take the top hats off; loosen up all the pot and switch nuts and pup screws and fish out all the crusty plastic left over from the factory pickgaurd protector. The top hats were making contact with the PG and binding up so I left a gap when I tightened down the set screws (simply no brainer right? Apparently not).

So that is all for the pics for this installment.

Here are my main issues.

Buzzes and Hums,....Oh man does this thing buzz. I don't even know if Fender bothered to properly ground this thing but it's a noisy bitch. I even made a recording to document all it's "character". Please note that my shop does have a giant fluorescent light over the bench as well as CFL for the lighting the remainder of the room.

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/effectsjunkie/72ri-tele-deluxe-touch-toggle[/soundcloud]

Anytime I touch the PUP selector toggle I get that way louder Buzz. That switch will be 86'd

I'm also told it is quite a mess in there and I'd love to clean it up

The plan is to completely shield the pool and the pickgaurd with copper shielding tape and rewire with shielded cable and also replace the Right Angle Switch.

There are reports that Neck pup is pretty muddy and I've seen all manner of mods to alleviate this ranging from replacing the 250k pots on the Neck Volume and Tone with 500k and popping in some .022uf Orange Drop caps,...to replacing all the pots with 500k. I am undecided if I'm just going to do the Neck pup or if I'm going to do the whole thing. I'm also a little hesitant to drop $8.50 a piece on the Orange Drop Caps and I'm wondering if polycaps from Mammoth would suffice(?). Does the hype of the Orange Drop Caps justify the price?

I did put together a shopping list and was hoping that I could get confirmation if everything looks good and also any suggestion on who to get a replacement Pickgaurd from.

Toggle: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics ... witch.html

Shielding Tape: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics ... ?itmsuf=e1

CTS Pots (gotta get the Solid Shaft 500k): http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics ... _Pots.html

Shielded Wire (a little confused as to if I should just get the 4 conductor stuff or if I should get the single conductor stuff and shrink wrap/cable tie it all together):http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups/Supplies:_Wire,_cables/4-Conductor_Circuit_Wire_-_25_feet.html

Electrosocket (thanks Zounds Perspex): http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Hardware,_p ... Mount.html

Might as well replace the output jack as well: http://www.mammothelectronics.com/4SJK1 ... 0-1000.htm

or pay a premium for actual Switchcraft?: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics ... _Jack.html

.022uf Caps (is there any reason to splurge on the Orange Drop caps?): http://www.mammothelectronics.com/Panas ... cq-v1h.htm

I haven't included a PG yet as I'm still undecided who I want to go with (Opinions?).

I realize I'm about to drop $100 bucks on modding this guitar and I could cut back on some of the supplies but I figure If I stock up and am successful I can help some buddies in quieting their guitars down. I think it's worth it. It will probably be a moment before I place my orders and I'll wait until then to pop the hood.

Until then any helpful hints, tricks, criticisms and corrections are greatly appreciated.

PS: This seems to be the most legit wiring diagram I've come across (it's a biggun).

[LaoWiz]

Awesome post! I have the exact same guitar. I switched out the pots to 500k and they do sound better than the 250's. I have tried several different tone cap. Not sure what values I have in now. I have the same hum/buzz problem that I tried to solve but shielding the cavity. Apparently, the wire to the output jack is not shielded. I have read that this will get rid of the buzz. When I change my strings I plan replacing that wire and should probably get one of those stewmac switches. The switch is shit. I'll post back when I finish my mods , although you may beat me to it. I love the guitar and it will be a great guitar someday. I set it up myself but should probably take it in
to a pro.

[warwick.hoy]

This is my first undertaking with modding an electric instrument,...but I feel like I've got the soldering chops to undertake it.

I may not place my order until the beginning of the year. So this thread ought to be latent for a few weeks,...but I figured it would be fun to share my plans and also committing it to "paper" sp to speak will help me to make sure I've got all my ducks in a row.

I want to completely replace wiring with shielded stuff so I'll make sure that the output jack get's rewired. May have to get the Single Conductor stuff as well. I am a little confused as to what to do with the shielding on that wire. Does it need to grounded? Or can I just cut down to the conductor and leave the shielding free.

I've seen where some people have rewired with Cloth Braided wire,...but that seems unnecessary to me. If I'm not gonna get original spec Wide Range Humbuckers,...what's the point of using cloth braided wire.

I've also seen where people have "rewaxed" the WRHBs to get rid of squeal,...I don't really detect any of that,...but to be honest,....as a noise lover,....any feedback from the guitar is welcome feedback.

There are a few replacement pickups out there as well including the Telenator CuNiFe pickups,...but those seemingly run $450 a piece. Yeah no. I have seen some Alnico PUPs for around $200 a pop from Novak. I might consider those. I'm not sure what Fender used for the magnets in these but I'm assuming ceramic.

[Zounds Perspex]

super super cool!

I'm planning to bring mine to my excellent tech to do the work, but I think I'm going to steal your diagram to bring to him.

What do you think of the tuners? I knew after about 2 minutes with one that they would have to go, but I'm picky about tuners.

[Zounds Perspex]

on the replacement pickup tip, if you're going to wait to place an order,
you can have Telenator rewind your pickups for less than $100 each.

I'm going to drop Lollars in this one, then have the RI pickups rewound by Telenator or Novak...haven't decided yet.

[Disarm D'arcy]

[warwick.hoy]

The tuners seem like that could use some 3-n-1. They are kinda cheap and I don't really care for the buttons. I do like the Split Shaft but I'm also finding that the .48 E string is a little too wide to fit down the hole of the shaft. I'm sure I could widen it slightly,...but I need to get a proper drill bit set and a drill press (I have other needs for a drill press).

Gotoh Klusons got a mention in the TDPRI thread that I'm culling most of my research from which may be what I go with ultimately. They've got the right vibe for the guitar for sure with the oval concave buttons (as opposed to the stealth fighter angle buttons that come stock).

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaster-d ... ation.html

I could also potentially replace with Sperzel Locking tuners as I like those but as far a drop in replacement,....I don't know if there will be any difficulties in that.

[warwick.hoy]

Also,....here are some soundclips I made as it sits in it's current state.

Note that this is played through my pedalboard with a FEA Labs OptiFET Compressor into a Solid State Fender Frontman 15r (looking into a cheap Gorilla G40V Tube amp as a potential replacement for the 15r). I also recorded this with my iPod Touch through the Soundcloud App and directly uploaded. Please forgive my crappy riff. I'm a bassist 1st and foremost. Everything to Ten

Bridge Pup Clean:
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/effectsjunkie/72ri-tele-deluxe-bridge-pickup[/soundcloud]

Bridge Pup Fuzz (Earthbound Audio Supercollider):
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/effectsjunkie/72ri-tele-deluxe-bridge[/soundcloud]

Neck Pup Clean:
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/effectsjunkie/72ri-tele-deluxe-neck-pickup[/soundcloud]

Neck Pup Fuzz:
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/effectsjunkie/72ri-tele-deluxe-neck-pickup-1[/soundcloud]

[Achtane]

Sweet, it's a nice looking guitar. I'm also wondering about the Orange Drop thing. I'm leaning towards it being mostly hype though.

[Zounds Perspex]

yep, I got those Gotohs, too. these, yeah?

http://www.allparts.com/Gotoh-6-in-line ... 80-001.htm

you gotta get the bushings for these, too.

I bought Orange Drops, just because...why not? It's $8.50 for 3, I can swing that.

[warwick.hoy]

Yes,...those tuner look the same.

You need the "Adaptor Bushings" listed on that page?

[Zounds Perspex]

yep, that's my understanding. those tuners are meant to drop in to vintage guitars, that are drilled to a different spec.

[jumbo_steelie]

I'm so sad my guitarist buddy traded away his 72 RI. Nice axe hoy....look forward to the upgrades....

[Haki]

Still probably need to hit it up with a milder abrasive like Nu Finish. I'm not putting a ton of effort into it as ultimately I'd like to replace the PG all together.

Do you want a unscratched guard or looking at different shape/colour?

[warwick.hoy]

Just a new one that isn't abused,....not that I mind,...I just prefer to put the abuse on my self and this one has someone else' abuse.