After watching the Ziltoid instructional video countless of times i have been really tempted to get a similar Tele with EMG's instead of the usual singlecoils. The easiest solution would probably be to get a Jim Root Signature Tele but i don't really like signature guitars. I am thinking of getting a grey Blacktop Tele and put some EMG's in it, probably one 81 in the bridge and one 85/60 in the neck. So do you guys have any suggestions?

This is the Tele by the way.

[swervedriver]

Are the pickups in the Blacktop active or passive ones? Because if they're passive and you're changing them with active pickups, you'll need some space for the battery. Which might not be there in the Blacktop, so you'll want to check that first. Other than that I hope you're handy with a soldering iron.

I ran into a similar problem when I considered putting active pickups in my Ibanez 7-string crapfest, but there simply wasn't any room available for the battery so decided on a set of passive DiMarzio D-Activators. Which are also pretty excellent I might add.

I prefer to play Telecasters that are modded to be most unlike Telecasters. I have a MIM with a Tone Zone T/Air Norton setup and a Warmoth Mahogany/Wenge Bodied Tele with a Wenge neck with a Crunch Lab/Liquifire setup. I used to love playing EMGs but find them to be too sterile for my liking. I'm also building a third Tele (again a Warmoth) over the next year or so.

After watching the Ziltoid instructional video countless of times i have been really tempted to get a similar Tele with EMG's instead of the usual singlecoils. The easiest solution would probably be to get a Jim Root Signature Tele but i don't really like signature guitars. I am thinking of getting a grey Blacktop Tele and put some EMG's in it, probably one 81 in the bridge and one 85/60 in the neck. So do you guys have any suggestions?

This is the Tele by the way.

The Blacktop has mini-humbuckers iirc, I tried it a few weeks ago. But it looks phat enough so you can scoop out a battery hole. I don't know about your budget but there is that Arctic White standard (or something) Tele, I wanted it, but then I got the other one. Fender's prices are ridiculous at the moment (in Norway at least) so I'd choose to go for that. With a maple neck. Le yum. Are you really set on the EMG pickups though?

Is it possible to order the same model at ESP custom shop ? Any guessing price ?


I'd rather buy it from Dev ... *sigh*

Before Dev had his last eBay "garage sale," he had mentioned possibly putting that tele up for auction. He didn't obviously, but I was hoping he would.

I am pretty sure he mentioned the next Peavey he is working on is a tele-style, although that would be a signature model so no use to you, of course.

Could you not get the Jim Root Tele and just have the guitar shop paint over the Jim Root bit so no-one would know it was a sig? It is a hell of a guitar. I had a serious play with one a couple of years back when I had fewer children and could still entertain the concept of buying new guitars, and loved it.

There's no signature visible on the front of a Jim Root Telecaster, so the real give-away is the control lay-out (no plate, no tone control, angled 3-way switch).

Also note that the Jim Root has a mahogany body and a rather flat fingerboard radius, and the white model has an ebony fretboard. These features make it notably different from any other telecaster, but it's a logical combination for a 'heavy' guitar. It's spec'd more like a stoptail Jackson/Schecter/Ibanez.

A Blacktop Tele has regular sized humbuckers actually, not minis. Apart from the humbuckers it's a fairly traditional Tele, so you could make it more of a 'wolf-in-sheep's-clothing'.

A lower-budget and slightly more adventurous option would be to mod a Squier Classic Vibe '50s Telecaster. I have the white one. It already has a humbucker routing at the neck position, but you would need to route out the humbucker space at the bridge, buy a different bridge and cut out the humbucker hole in the pickguard. I plan on doing something similar, but make it a Jeff Beck-style Tele-Gib with Seymour Duncan P-Rails.

Options aplenty... I think you shouldn't let a signature on a guitar influence your decision if it's the right instrument for you. Nobody else is going to care about that either.

Good luck!
Chris.