Built My First Partscaster

[LucSulla]

Had a 50th Anniversary American Strat Neck and a Jerry Donahue pickup lying around. Bought some more parts and went with a tele body. Only way to use the neck and the pickups. Pitbull Audio had a Classic Series alder body on sale for $225, so away I went. 

Pretty happy with how it all came together. I am going to have to cut the pickguard back a little around the control panel to account for the offset from the round neck heel. Would have been easier to do that under the fretboard overhang, but I already drilled the holes when I thought about that. 

Otherwise, was fun to finally build a guitar. 

Edited August 12, 2025 by LucSulla
Typos & Clarity

[specialk]

Great, that's one to be proud of. 

[Saul Goodman]

Very cool. Where did you get your control kit? I have a tele build going on myself and am very happy with the RS Guitarworks kit I got for the LP but it takes so long for them to solder a few joints. I've had this thing going since January though so I should have ordered it already. 

[LucSulla]

32 minutes ago, Saul Goodman said:

Very cool. Where did you get your control kit? I have a tele build going on myself and am very happy with the RS Guitarworks kit I got for the LP but it takes so long for them to solder a few joints. I've had this thing going since January though so I should have ordered it already. 

Picked this up, jack, and some 250k pots. I soldered it up myself. Had an orange drop cap from a previous pot replacement. 

https://reverb.com/item/35774575-fender-wilkinson-telecaster-chrome-body-hardware-set-vintage-3-saddle-compensated-bridge-tb-5129-001

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

2 hours ago, LucSulla said:

Had a 50th Anniversary American Strat Neck and a Jerry Donahue pickup lying around. Bought some more parts and went with a tele body. Only way to use the neck and the pickups. Pitbull Audio had a Classic Series alder body on sale for $225, so away I went. 

Pretty happy with how it all came together. I am going to have to cut the pickguard back a little around the control panel to account for the offset from the round neck heel. Would have been easier to do that under the fretboard overhang, but I already drilled the holes when I thought about that. 

Otherwise, was fun to finally build a guitar. 

eh, pickguards are cheap. You could re-accomplish that the way you wanted to.

[LucSulla]

8 minutes ago, Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame said:

eh, pickguards are cheap. You could re-accomplish that the way you wanted to.

Not as cheap as me!

But I'm committed either way. Cutting it for the neck heel would mean moving it up too, which would mean having to re-drill the body. I think a Dremel and some patience should work out OK. 

[G Man]

Fair warning, building teles can be addictive.  Nice job on your first build, looks like a great guitar.

 

Saul, Mojotone makes good wiring kits and they don't take nearly as long to ship.  I find the four way switch option a versatile way to go.  https://mojotone.com/products/pre-wired-tele-4-way-mod-guitar-wiring-harness?variant=41689792774240

[cmatthes]

That's awesome!  More pics are always cool.  Starting your next build soon? 😉

Some of my favorite guitars/basses are built from parts.

Just got a super cool one in from Stike in time for a gig last weekend, and it rawked:

 

[Dave Scepter]

2 hours ago, LucSulla said:

Not as cheap as me!

But I'm committed either way. Cutting it for the neck heel would mean moving it up too, which would mean having to re-drill the body. I think a Dremel and some patience should work out OK. 

You might have to dremel the neck pickup as well or?

[LucSulla]

1 hour ago, Dave Scepter said:

You might have to dremel the neck pickup as well or?

Just the arch in the pickguard where it should fit around the control plate. It overhangs just a tad. There was enough play in the neck pickup that it would have worked whether I had shaved down the pickguard a bit for the round neck heel or what I am going to do now. The upside of shaving it at the neck heel is that the 22 fret overhangs where the guard and neck meet. I would have a little more room to botch it and still hide it. But I drilled holes in the body for where it is now with the overhang of the plate, so that's what has to get shaved. 

[Kerry Marchman]

7 hours ago, LucSulla said:

Had a 50th Anniversary American Strat Neck and a Jerry Donahue pickup lying around. Bought some more parts and went with a tele body. Only way to use the neck and the pickups. Pitbull Audio had a Classic Series alder body on sale for $225, so away I went. 

Pretty happy with how it all came together. I am going to have to cut the pickguard back a little around the control panel to account for the offset from the round neck heel. Would have been easier to do that under the fretboard overhang, but I already drilled the holes when I thought about that. 

Otherwise, was fun to finally build a guitar. 

Excellent job. There's something about putting one together yourself. They truly feel like  a part of you. Enjoy!

[LucSulla]

17 hours ago, G Man said:

Fair warning, building teles can be addictive.  Nice job on your first build, looks like a great guitar.

 

Saul, Mojotone makes good wiring kits and they don't take nearly as long to ship.  I find the four way switch option a versatile way to go.  https://mojotone.com/products/pre-wired-tele-4-way-mod-guitar-wiring-harness?variant=41689792774240

I didn't really look at these much, but I'm surprised how close they are to the raw parts. Just using the normal old Fender 3-way, CTS pots, a generic jack, and an orange drop cap was about $50. 

[G Man]

26 minutes ago, LucSulla said:

I didn't really look at these much, but I'm surprised how close they are to the raw parts. Just using the normal old Fender 3-way, CTS pots, a generic jack, and an orange drop cap was about $50. 

Agreed, which is why I've never bought a pre-wired assembly.

[velorush]

3 hours ago, G Man said:

Agreed, which is why I've never bought a pre-wired assembly.

That and I'm geek enough to find soldering up my own harness to be entertaining. 🤔

[JohnZ]

Diys are my favorite every day players. You never know what you get on stage and tweak along.

[Jakeboy]

The Donahue pickup is a flat-out rocker.

[LucSulla]

On 8/13/2025 at 3:33 PM, velorush said:

That and I'm geek enough to find soldering up my own harness to be entertaining. 🤔

I finally bought a good soldering iron with a temperature control and a soldering station. What a difference that makes!

 

2 hours ago, Jakeboy said:

The Donahue pickup is a flat-out rocker.

I've been dying to throw it in something else. 

[LucSulla]

OK, this was supposed to be a bit of a country fiddle, but that Jerry Donahue pickup paired with the Alnico II Pro in the neck will frikin eat, man!

I've inadvertently built a rock machine. 

[mrjamiam]

11 hours ago, LucSulla said:

OK, this was supposed to be a bit of a country fiddle, but that Jerry Donahue pickup paired with the Alnico II Pro in the neck will frikin eat, man!

I've inadvertently built a rock machine. 

Dang, I guess you'll have to build another one now.

[Biz Prof]

Partscasters really are fun. I'm still enjoying this one.

 

[LucSulla]

On 8/16/2025 at 9:00 PM, Biz Prof said:

Partscasters really are fun. I'm still enjoying this one.

 

Take all that Ford bullshit off, and that would be super cool.  

(Sorry, had to, lol.)

[Biz Prof]

7 hours ago, LucSulla said:

Take all that Ford bullshit off, and that would be super cool.  

(Sorry, had to, lol.)

Excuse me, Professor. These fine gentlemen would like a word...

Edited August 19, 2025 by Biz Prof

[LucSulla]

1 hour ago, Biz Prof said:

Excuse me, Professor. These fine gentlemen would like a word...

I didn't know The King ever drove a Torino. Interesting. 

Still, they weren't at D Day. 

Edited August 19, 2025 by LucSulla