Newly Completed: Steve Cropper Tribute

[stephenT]

The client wanted his new t90 to a be a tribute to one of Cropper's early teles with a slightly cream top w/ white pickguard and a rosewood f'board. Then wanted to go fancy w/ a flamed maple neck. W/ flame I prefer torrified maple for it's stability. BTW , no stain on the neck. The deep flamed maple necks tend to be a darker color than straight grained torrified maple.

Chambered alder body, Budz custom t90 set, 1 & 3/4ths nut, 12" radius neck. And to the pics!

[raysachs]

That's a beautiful guitar, one I'd love to own. But I don't think I ever saw Cropper play a P90 in the neck and he's famously said he basically ALWAYS left his tele in the middle position with both pickups engaged. So a true Cropper tribute probably wouldn't even need a selector switch! And tele's with P90s in the neck tend to not be great in the combined position because the P90 has a habit of overwhelming the single coil bridge, even one with the muscle of a tele bridge pickup.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound snarky - that's an amazing guitar and your client has the right to ask for anything he wants and I can't imagine a nicer version of that guitar. I'm just always aware of those little details and they stand out to me when you say it's a Cropper tribute. I'd just see it as an amazing tele with a P-90 in the neck.

So nice that now I'm gonna have to think about asking you to build one for me some day...

-Ray

[stephenT]

Thanks!

No p90s on Croppers Tele for sure. No flamed neck, actually the only similarities are the body, pickguard colors and general shape. And only the top is white, back and sides are clear amber over natural alder. Maybe “tip o’ the hat” to Cropper is better than tribute.

Although,.. I'd have to add, this guitar may have more in common w/ Cropper's original than the Peavey signature Steve Cropper model.

And snarky is fine!

[guitararmy]

That neck looks absolutely scrumptious!!

Nice guitar, very tasteful.

[stephenT]

Originally Posted by raysachs

And tele's with P90s in the neck tend to not be great in the combined position because the P90 has a habit of overwhelming the single coil bridge, even one with the muscle of a tele bridge pickup.

Well,.. yes and NO. If you use a typical p90, it is difficult to mate it with a standard tele bridge. Often you'll see the p90 jacked way down in an attempt to match it w/ a "t" bridge pickup. Notice mine is not.

My pickups are custom made as a set by David Budz. I've been using this custom set since 2007 with minor changes, we now use alnico3 and alnico5 magnets but since my first t90 model the pickups have been perfectly matched.

Believe me, this guy wouldn't be smiling if his pickups were unmatched or the p90 overwhelmed.

[Dru Edwards]

Stephen, you make amazing guitars! Beautiful. 1 3/4" nut width is not common on electrics but there are a few players who ask for them and can't find anything.

I just checked out your website (again), http://www.talkovichguitars.com/. Some beautiful guitars in the photo gallery!

[stephenT]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Stephen, you make amazing guitars! Beautiful. 1 3/4" nut width is not common on electrics but there are a few players who ask for them and can't find anything.

I just checked out your website (again), http://www.talkovichguitars.com/. Some beautiful guitars in the photo gallery!

Thanks Dru, appreciate the kind words. My inspiration comes from the acoustics I’ve enjoyed. Wider nuts, wide string spacing, flatter radius, chunkier necks,.. it’s fun working with a traditional color pallet and coming up with something a little different.

[BoneDigger]

Very nice guitar!

[rcolosi]

Wow! I never get tired of looking at these. Absolutely beautiful.

[stephenT]

Originally Posted by rcolosi

Wow! I never get tired of looking at these. Absolutely beautiful.

Thanks Bob! And thanks for the great products, every guitar I've built has a bone nut made from bone I've gotten from you.

[stevecuss]

What a beautiful tele! Wonderful workmanship there.

I used to have a Mexican tele, the Nashville style with the 3 pickups. I switched them out for some Bill Lawrence pickups, which included the obligatory 1 hour phone call with Bill, may he Rest In Peace. He was such a character. Anyway, we went with a P90 in the bridge, under wound to keep it manageable with the bridge. And an extra switch to keep the bridge ‘always on’ so I could get a tele bridge/p90 combo sound.

Loved that guitar, love a P90 in a tele. Great stuff.

[stephenT]

another view,..

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by stephenT

Thanks Bob! And thanks for the great products, every guitar I've built has a bone nut made from bone I've gotten from you.

I have a couple of bone nuts I ordered from Bob as well.

A great shot of the Cropper Tribute!