I came across this Tele Body on the GFS website and a familiar bubbling started. I could potentially build a quality yet affordable Tele to my specs more cheaply than just modding a Fender product (or a Squire), and I could improve my tech skills (which are close to nil) in the process. So add to the body the following . . .

Neck in maple or rosewood? I think the rosewood would look good with the green, but I like the 50's Tele aesthetic.

Mint Green Pickguard

B-16 Bigsby

And set of Golden Age pickups

I'll spare you all of the links to various hardware and whatnot (unless you have any questions about those items). I can to the whole thing to about $614, and maybe a bit cheaper, as it looks like there are quite a few B-16's out there for around 150.00. I want go for quality but keep it affordable . . . I'm going cheap in some areas but some areas not so much . . . like with the pickups.

Opinions? Suggestions?

You can get pretty decent necks for cheap on ebay from China otherwise it will cost between $100 - 200 for a good neck from a domestic company. I feel you should splurge for electronics and hardware like CTS pots or similar quality, good pickups and a decent bridge and tuners. Even good pots are relatively inexpensive and it will be worth it to get the best. You can get most of the parts you need from GFS and it will save you on the shipping if you get them all at once. I did have a bad experience with their 3 way switch once but they have a really good return policy. I ended up buying an American Fender Tele switch and it was worth it. They feel better than the GFS version anyway. Plus all of the online wiring diagrams seem to use the Fender switch. The GFS switch is laid out a little differently.

Building parts guitars is also a new passion of mine. I'm working on getting all the parts for two right now, a Strat build for my brother and a Tele build for my friend.

Agreed, buddy . . .

The Stewie Mac neck seemed a good bridge between cheap yet quality. Regarding some of the other items, here is what is on my list . . .

Wilkinson Tuners

Vintage Tele Wiring Kit

Are these up to snuff?

well i have some American fender tuners you can have Andy , save you a few bucks

Dang, Anne. That's mighty generous. I'll let know know when this build takes wings, as I'm in the ruminating stages. If you still have them by then, I just might take them off your hands.

So what do you think for the neck: Maple or Rosewood fretboard?

Maple necks are more in keeping with the original Teleness of the design, and will make the tone more distinctively different from guitars with rosewood or ebony fingerboards.

you're right i'm also disapointed with the quality of the products from GFS. i've buy pickups for my gretsch 5120 and now i'm waiting to found money to removed it.

I have those Wilkinson tuners on my Strat build and they are great.

maple neck on a tele , always , imo

its funny your looking at that tele body Andy , yesterday i was looking at them , the price sure is right ,,,,,, but not sure how many more holes i can put in my head

I'm usually all about the maple, but for the green body, I see rosewood maybe looking better. I dunno . . .

Make sure you understand the B-16 is a pain in the ass!

maple neck on a tele , always , imo

For a 'regular' tele i agree. But I built myself one with Supertrons and changed to rosewood. Much better combination for this project.

Make sure you understand the B-16 is a pain in the ass!

I understand it needs a neck shim . . .TK Smith B-16 Neck Shim

I like the green---reminds me of my TR4. Make sure you don't use any electrics from Lucas. I think a maple fingerboard would look good with that as well as having that "snap". With parts, as with most everything else, you get what you pay for. GFS parts, for the cost, are fine. If you want to keep costs down, buy a Squier. It sounds like you're going for more than that. Have fun---get exactly what you want.

I replaced everything on my buddy's plank LP with GFS parts for $114. That was everything but the body and neck. It's a killer guitar, and still holding strong 3 years later. The hardware was as good or better than most of the $500-$700 guitars that come through my store. The electronics aren't anything special, but they work. The hardware I got was better than average.

I've installed or owned about a dozen sets of GFS pups and haven't had a problem yet. The one thing I did have an issue with was a pedal tuner, which they refunded me for without question. They would have replaced it, but it was out of stock for a while after I bought mine.

I hear what you're both saying, wabash slim and Ripley . . . I think I found a happy medium.

I'm mainly going to GFS for the more "inert" items: body, pickguard, and hardware (neck and control plates, jack cup, ferrules, string retainer, and knobs). For the more "load-bearing" parts: the neck, p'ups, wire harness, bigsby, and tuners (Wilkinsons bought through GFS), I plan on spending a little more money.

Edit: It's debatable if the body can be considered "inert". But I dig the color and the price, so we'll see what kind of tone wood paulownia turns out to be. It's touted as lightweight, so it may not produce the same snap as ash, alder, mahogany, or pine. I'm hoping the weight of the B-16 might help in that area.

my fretless Tele is a partscaster...Warmoth has great prices on some of their parts and hardware, so shop and compare.

One thing to not skimp on is the bridge, its a big link in the sound chain.. I had a cheapo one for a while and im really glad i upgraded it later.

The Bigsby aluminum compensated bridge will come with the B-16. A few fellas have used Tru-Arcs instead.