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I recently had access to a variety of 1957-1974 Fender guitars, and I wanted to spotlight the change in finishes when Fender started using polyurethane on necks and bodies in mid-1968. That change did not mean the total elimination of lacquer/nitro finishes, it meant that nitro was used less, but at times was still used for topcoats, and it was nearly always used on the headstock after the CBS black logo was applied into the early 1980s.

Special thanks to Dan Strain for making his 1957 Telecaster, and 1972 Stratocaster available, and of course for the use of his workbench. 

#askzac #zacchilds #telecaster

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For my 50th birthday, my wonderful wife, Amy, took me on a surprise trip to New Orleans to go to Jazz Fest and see Mavis Staples.

Through a twist of fate, Mavis played 2 nights later in Nashville, and I was able to have breakfast with Rick. At my studio, he showed off the modified Broadcaster/Nocaster blend wiring he was using in his 56-mongrel Tele, and I asked if I could film it. He obliged and also talked a bit about the joy of working with Mavis, and the fun of working in a 3-piece rhythm section with two vocalists.

Wiring info
https://www.askzac.com/post/rick-holm...

Gear used:

2023 Headstrong Lil' King with 12" Eminence GA-SC64 speaker
https://headstrongamps.com/lil-king-amp

https://www.ronellispickups.com/

#askzac #rickholmstrom #mavisstaples

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

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My dear friend and mentor, Bill McCumber, contacted me a couple of weeks ago saying he wanted to give me his 1967 factory-equipped Bigsby Telecaster. I was blown away, not just by the gift, but also remembering the many kindnesses Bill had done for me through the years. I share about Bill and the modifications that he had done to the guitar since he bought it from Clawson's Music in Corpus Christi, Texas in the mid-1960s. Through the years, it received an electronics upgrade from Bill Lawrence, who did the modifications himself, and a neck change to a mid-70s model.

I also show how Bill's Tele has aged differently from my 1967 Telecaster, as his 1967 has much less wear, yet is much darker due to the number of gigs he played in the smoke-filled Honky Tonks and Dance Halls of South Texas.

Book Nook Amazon link - Fender The Inside Story by Forrest White
https://amzn.to/3MidRQQ

Gear used:

1967 factory Bigsby-equipped Fender Telecaster with Bill Lawrence pickups, and a mid-70s neck.

2023 Headstrong Lil' King with 12" Eminence GA-SC64 speaker
https://headstrongamps.com/lil-king-amp

Effects used:
Mad Professor Deep Blue Delay


#askzac #billlawrence #bigsbytelecaster

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

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One of my Patreon supporters started playing with a new group, and they wanted to add some Western Swing numbers and he wanted some pointers for playing in that style. I thought this would be the perfect topic for a video. Here, I share some do's and don'ts along with harmonic & tonal concepts for sounding legit when performing Western Swing.

Junior Barnard playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/11b...



Gear used:

2023 Headstrong Lil' King with 12" Eminence GA-SC64 speaker
https://headstrongamps.com/lil-king-amp

1957 Fender Esquire with a 1954 neck pickup, and original bridge pickup. Restoration and Aging on the Body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Refret by Nick at Glaser Instruments. Both pickups were rewound by Ron Ellis. Pickguard design by Jay & Kristi Smith of Juicebox Designs.

https://danocaster.com/

https://www.ronellispickups.com/

Strings:
D'Addario NYXL 95-44

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

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I have been struggling off and on with hand pain since 2019 but had been able to keep things under control until March 2023. Last month, my hand pain hit a new level, and I knew I needed to find out what was going on. Today's episode lays out my journey and my road forward.

FYI, I just played one of my gigs in Tulsa last night. All went well, just a bit sore, and going to ice it down some. Looking forward to the gig tonight, April 21, 2023.

Gear used:

2023 Headstrong Lil' King with 12" Eminence GA-SC64 speaker
https://headstrongamps.com/lil-king-amp

1957 Fender Esquire with a 1954 neck pickup, and original bridge pickup. Restoration and Aging on the Body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Refret by Nick at Glaser Instruments. Both pickups were rewound by Ron Ellis. Pickguard design by Jay & Kristi Smith of Juicebox Designs.

Strings:
D'Addario NYXL 95-44
https://amzn.to/41rnl0V

Pick:
Blue Chip TPR 35

#askzac #zacchilds #arthritis

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In today’s Zac’s Hacks, I demonstrate the old-timey “bend the saddle screw” solution for better intonation using vintage saddles. To do this, one bends the long screw that attaches the saddle to the bridge. Also, I tell the story of how I learned how to do the modification while watching Joe Glaser work on Vince Gill’s prized 1953 Telecaster.

Saddle Driver
https://musiccitybridge.com/products/...

Book: Fender The Golden Age

https://amzn.to/43FGkXm



#askzac #telecaster #compensatedsaddles

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I have bought and sold at least 10 Princeton Reverb-style amps over the last 30 years. I want to love them, but I hate the way most of them sound really small when dialed in clean with a Telecaster's bridge pickup. And as much as I love my old 1965 Deluxe Reverb amp, there are many times when I wish I had an amp that would hit the sweet spot at a lower volume, and be a bit easier to tote around.

Earlier this year, I was at JD Simo's studio, and he encouraged me to play through his Headstrong Lil' King. I was blown away and ordered one the next day. It arrived a couple of weeks later, handbuilt by Wayne, and it was no less stellar than Simo's amp. I took the amp on a gig 2-days later, and I kept looking back at it during the gig. I played at least half the time on the bridge pickup with a cleaner tone, and the Lil' King produced wonderfully fat tones. After many years of searching, I found my Princeton.

Gear used:

2023 Headstrong Lil' King with 12" Eminence GA-SC64 speaker
https://headstrongamps.com/lil-king-amp

1957 Fender Esquire with a 1954 neck pickup, and original bridge pickup. Restoration and Aging on the Body by Dan "Danocaster" Strain. Refret by Nick at Glaser Instruments. Both pickups were rewound by Ron Ellis. Pickguard design by Jay & Kristi Smith of Juicebox Designs.

Strings:
D'Addarion NYXL 95-44

Pick:
Blue Chip TPR 35

#askzac #princetonreverb #headstrongamps

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The bane of most Telecaster players is getting both the neck and bridge pickups to sound their best. It seems when you get the neck pickup sounding right, the bridge is too bright, or if reversed, the bridge sounds great, and the neck pickup is just too dark to cut through. The bridge pickup needs the amp to be set darker, and the neck pickup requires a brighter amp tone. After struggling with this for years, I decided to try wiring the tone pot to only the bridge pickup on my Telecaster. This was a total game-changer. Now I could set my amp's tone controls for a clear yet fat tone on the neck pickup, then move to the bridge setting and tone down the treble, to get it sounding twangy yet without any icepick-like highs.

Wiring Schematic
https://www.askzac.com/post/no-tone-o...

Note on the Bill Carson book. Unfortunately, this is another title that has drifted out-of-print and is hard to find. Perhaps Willie Moseley, Vintage Guitar Magazine, and Hal Leonard will bring it back in some form.

#askzac #zacchilds #telecastermods

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Truefire Link  https://prf.hn/l/LbY3nGL

Enter promo code "ASKZAC30" to save 30%

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Many know Merle Travis simply as the name behind "Travis Picking," yet are unaware of his influence as a performer and songwriter. Perhaps even less known, is how in the late 40s he was one of the architects of the solid body guitar. It seems almost a deep dark secret that his Bigsby-made guitar was borrowed by Leo Fender in 1948, and it set the course for the Telecaster and Stratocaster. Today, we seek to spotlight this overlooked contribution by Merle and Paul Bigsby and to spotlight the incredible musical works of the great Merle Travis.


Sixteen Tons: The Merle Travis Story - By Merle Travis & Deke Dickerson
https://amzn.to/3YtybBl

To buy a copy autographed by Deke
https://dekedickerson.com/merch/sixte...

The Merle Travis Guitar Album
https://open.spotify.com/album/6Nq6eD...

#askzac #merletravis #bigsbyguitar

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

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Mike Eli LoPinto along with Derek Mixon, J.T. Cure, and Paul Franklin make up the stellar backing band for superstar Chris Stapleton. LoPinto stopped by for a hang, and he was kind enough to oblige me with a bit of playing and Q&A.

#askzac #mikelopinto #chrisstapleton

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