The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Here is a funny little story...

I was taking a look at some local adds when I saw a small posting for some EMG active P-Bass pickups with all the pots and circuitry for dirt cheap... Having lots of projects, I could not pass up on the deal. Called the guy and went over... He had several postings for cabs and other but only the Pickups were of interest, once there, started to talk with the guy, he likes to change things on his instruments and starts to show me some stuff. He mostly has gibson and fender but the last guitar in his stand looks somewhat beat up, I ask the guy to see the beat up guitar and pulls out this refinished beat up Aria Telecaster.... He then starts to explain that he got it in a garage sale and has changed lots on it, he added new tuners, the neck pickup was replaced with a Fender and he slapped a humbucker to fill the bridge. Told me he used it several times for recording but was no longer using it.... After talking and negotiating, bought the Aria for 60.00$ with the original tuners and pickups in a bag since he kept them....

Here is what she looks like:











It is used and abused and has lots of mojo.... It was sanded down to wood and from what I can tell, finished with reg wood varnish... For the price paid, what the hell... I needed another project soon anyway.... The pickguard is home made, does anyone know if a real telecaster pickguard will fit?

So I decided after taking some pics to start cleaning her since as you can tell, she was very dirty. The freetboard was really in need of a scrubbing. After a quick wash down, decided to have a look under the pick guard since the bridge pick up seemed so familiar.

Here is what I found:





What are the odds of finding a MMK 53 Bridge pickup on a rebuild early Aria Telecaster !...

Not only do I have myself a nice little project for dirt cheap but I also have a nice MMK 53 bridge pickup for a pickupless VA900....

I did some searches on the board and not many telecasters posted? Are these somewhat not to common?....

I was thinking of redoing it in cherry red! what do you guys think?

P.

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MAA Member since June 29th 2009, taking one baby step at a time..... and failing miserably!

Interesting find Pierre. (I'm envious of your understanding wife!)
I'm sure it will sound good but I'm wondering if it'll sound anything like a Tele.

The pup cavities are pink/red so I'm guessing it may have been red originally? Or maybe that's just undercoating.
Yeah, I think deep cherry red might look really smokin'. It's not a colour you normally associate with Tele so it'll stand out! But what do you plan to do, just the font and back? I see the edge has that great dark/light inlay "sandwich". That would be tricky methinks, and you wouldn't stain them the same would you?

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"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
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Understanding... Yeah, right.... I dont leave them around and to her, they all look the same....



I was thinking going solid color.... After discussing it with others, I might just leave her the way she is... will fill in the missing varnish and wet sand her to even her out but the used and abused look is quite appealing..... Will get a new black pickguard for her and fix up the rest.....



Barry, If i have the proper pick ups in there, should it not sound like a Tele ?

P.

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MAA Member since June 29th 2009, taking one baby step at a time..... and failing miserably!

Where have I heard this before. . . ?

Don't know if a tele pickguard will fit but it's probably a good place to start. Is that the original bridge?

Hey I'm no expert on Teles but the Vintage model I have is based on Leo's original bridge design which features that metal "ashtray" shell around the pup. There are other versions from Fender but that is the one as far as I'm concerned, if you want that "vintage" Tele sound. And, of course, the original has single coil pups. You know you won't go wrong with an MMK53 in there but I kinda doubt it'll sound "authentic".

I don't leave them around either; they're nicely stacked in the music room (imagine that!) BUT she still freaked out on me yesterday because there was so much stuff in there! I ask you, if you can't put guitars in a music room then WHERE?! (sigh)
(She doesn't know about the AV310 that I just picked up today! Lord help me )

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

... and some of those metal bridge plated surrounding the bridge p'up were brass, some steel, IIRC, which makes a difference to the sound.



The Tele Custom had h/b's in there, though; remember Andy Summers one? I spent many hours trying to get that sound from my guitars!!

Regardless of all that, though, good catch!! These Matt Teles are really well regarded, eh, and it's just a shame that the Tele lends itself to easy modification!!

Barry, the MMK 53 is going on a VA900... the neck pickup is a Fender Authentic and I will be putting in a proper bridge pick up in there... I'm to cheap to buy a real Tele and I gambled this would be better then the Mex made ones... It's just to have some fun at a reasonable price....



As far as I can tell, Yes..... The reason why I've been searching hi and low for pictures of any Aria without the ashtray.....No luck at all... I am wondering what held the bridge pickup?... Any help would be apreciated...



Thanks, was wondering about that. I took a gamble that it would be worth it...

Still have to figure out how this bridge pickup was designed.....

P.

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MAA Member since June 29th 2009, taking one baby step at a time..... and failing miserably!

That's why I asked, I don't think I've ever seen that bridge. . .
You know, it almost looks like a cut down version of the original style.

That was a good catch indeed Frenchy.

I would leave it the nice color it is now and concentrate on getting the pickups/electronics straight.

A standard tele pick-guard will not fit without some modification. Read that somewhere.

Keep us posted how it comes out.

Hey, she's a Mats! No argument that this will sound terrific when she's all put together!
I think I might be tempted though to replace that bridge with a standard ashtray type if there's room in the cavity for the angled single coil...without having to rout anything...and it looks OK...and there's 'no left' over hole showing....and...

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com