Meet The Family: The Swamp Ash Tele
I bought this body on the same day I got the pine body. This one is two-piece, but Larry does such a beautiful job of hiding the join that you really can only see it in the end grain. This guitar uses many of the same basic parts as the pine guitar, but with a few notable differences.
That’s a Glendale cold-rolled steel bridge with both sides cut down, and a mix of his brass and aluminum saddles. The pickups are from Jimmy Wallace, and are his ’50’s set. These, however, have staggered magnets, which is not their usual spec. They are the best sounding vintage-type set I own, and suit this guitar very well. When I need to get to twangin’, this is the guitar I reach for. But these pickups will work for anything; they just sound great. They’re SO vintage, they aren’t hum-cancelling in the middle position…and I don’t mind!
You may have noticed that I flip the control plates on my Teles, and I will never go back! I like the volume control to be within easy reach, and I don’t adjust the tone knob much during a song. That’s why the tone control gets the cool red chicken head knob. I don’t mind reaching a little for the selector, so this definitely the best set-up for me.
I also shaped the hard corner on the bass side of the neck, near the heel. When I wrapped my thumb around it before, it was NOT comfortable. So, I filed and sanded it down, and now it is.
Next up: Catalpa!