USA Custom Guitars Tele-Style Body

Two Piece swamp ash Tele body, old school route. Asked for four pound body because that is what I wanted. USACG came within an ounce. Can't top that.
Callaham parts, Fred Stuart Black Guard pickups, four-way switch, one piece quarter-sawn maple, USACG manufactured, big fat asymetrical neck.

Sound? Sounds sensational. I'm just shocked. You can play anything on a great Tele with a four way switch. Anything.
This guitar is a ringer, good volume and sustain unplugged, always a good thing. Add Fred Stuart Blackguards to any Tele for true Tele enlightenment.

USACG knows their guitars, knows their wood, knows what they are doing. I've built a couple of guitars around their bodies and necks, and I don't bother looking elsewhere any more.
The neck/body joint on any bolt on is critical, and USACG's neck/body joint is as good as it is possible to get.

Fender style guitars are pretty tough. This one is no exception.

Read the reviews - the best in the business. If you can describe what you are looking for, USACG can help you find it.
Just exceptional.

I have played many years and owned many guitars. Some great, some stinkers - some now worth the price of a house (Wish I still had those). This guitar, and a strat that I built from USACG components are easily two of the best guitars I've ever owned.
This Tele is on a whole 'nother plateau from any I've encountered before. It just rules.

Probably made in late 2008. Purchased in early 2009. This is an unfinished 3-piece Swamp Ash body for a Keef-style Micawber instrument that I am making. It doesn't have many features just yet...

The only sound this slab of wood makes right now is a satisfying thump when I knock on it with my knuckles. It does seem pretty resonant, so it will be interesting to discover how it sounds with a neck, bridge, and strings attached...

All of the routing is very crisp and accurate, and the sanding job is so nice that it won't take much work to get ready for sealing and finishing. I specified a humbucker neck routing, standard T bridge, with strings-through body and top-mounted controls. The standard side-mounted jack is purposely made with a flat spot, like vintage instruments, which is kind of a cool feature.

In its current form, this solid slab of wood could be used by the Blues Brothers to safely deflect beer bottles thrown at the band by their appreciative audience at Bob's Country Bumpkin.

The staff was knowledgable, friendly and very helpful. Tommy made sure that he understood exactly what I was looking for before he created this body. The price was right and the turnaround time was very prompt. Five stars for Customer Service! *****

Been playing off and on for ~40 years. Mostly bass, but I do enjoy dabbling with simple Stones stuff on the guitar. Nothing more that I wish I had asked, as Tommy made sure that he understood my needs very well BEFORE making the body. I will definitely go back to USACG when the time comes to get a neck to go on this body. Must say that I appreciate the interesting grain that Tommy selected, when I told him that I'm finishing the wood in butterscotch. He chose something with a little bit of character that will show through this semi-opaque finish.

Unfinished one piece alder bodies (2)
Dark, beautifully grained heartwood, plenty of figure;
Traditional Tele routs, flattened jack cup area, vintage hole placement;
No unsightly aspects visually to any part of either body, front, side or back. Beautifully and thoroughly sanded.

The nitro is still drying, guitar not yet assembled.
We'll see how she sounds.

The ferrules holes are recessed (unlike Warmoth) and test fit fine, jack cup fine, routs perfectly placed, no butt-crack with a Callaham sized vintage plate, wire holes well placed, just need to drill a lil one for the ground to the bridge plate. Of course you will drill your own electrosocket drill holes, pickguard and control plate mount holes.
Flattened jack cup area easily disguised with a bit of sanding. No flaws, just beauty.
You'd have to be nuts not to do these bodies transparent.
I've chosen gloss nitro over a shellac sealer wash.

2 air dried solid one piece dark gorgeous alder bodies, what could break?
I don't think I'll have the inclination to drill for strap buttons, the pickguards will be Merle Haggard shaped or a bit smaller, perhaps none at all on one of the two.
If one cared to nitpick, one body is 4 pounds 12, the other 5 pounds 2 ounces, but I would be shocked if these bodies got in the way of great sound on these guitars I'm building. This is exactly what we are taught to look for.

Tommy could easily be the nicest guy you will ever deal with buying guitar stuff, spent plenty of time helping me, and given all the effort up front on the product, he won't need to remedy any problems with this body because there are none. Rob is great also.
Instead he can help me pick out a few more soon, I hope.

I've enjoyed modding dozens of name brand guitars, some pretty comprehensive transformations; I simply felt buying bodies was the next step, makes better sense than just spraying over a poly shell at some point.

I had just intended to buy some inexpensive bodies I could finish and sub out on some existing guitars; instead for the same money I end up with two pieces of fine art, fully functional and probably far too nice for some of the components they'll be hooked up to. Those other parts will simply have to be upgraded to belong with these gems.

This is a hollow body double F hole Tele from USA Customs. I went with Alder body W/5A flame maple top. Let me be clear........ the 5A top is unlike any I have ever seen! Even our famous PRS is kinda under par on this one. I finished the guitar myself useing progucts from re-ranch. I mixed blue and yellow dye to get a nice green for my top, I ended up doing 1 coat of very dark green in wich I mixed in a little black dye with the origonal green I had mage to bring out the flame. I also did a natural mask so that I had a beautifull wood binding. Beleive it or not it took me about 2 months to do this finish as I did everything by the book and allowed extra dry time along with alot of sanding. The body is rear routed as to not waist the $$$ spent on the top. People who have seen this swear it came from a factory due to the finish but I am telling ya if you take your time and put in alot of effort you will end up with a peice of art. The alder back of the body I did in a brick red dye. I combined red with black to get a very deep dark red kind like the Brian Moore look.I also had them do a neck contour wich was very nice when I finnaly put it together.

Ok, for sound I went with the prewired Lollar Charlie Christian set from Acme guitar. I did however tweek it with hardware from Callaham guitar parts. I guess the major differance is the quality you get and the metals used for the hardware parts. I play through a Carvin Belair that is a 2x12 with vintage 30 celestion speakers. It is a total tube amp with 50 watts wich is plenty and it sounds wonderfull miked. I also use a TC electronics Chorus pedal, TC Compressor, DoD Blues driver, Dunlop Wah and when I wanna freak out I plug in my MXR distortion plus but I usualy use my othe warmoth made guitar for that. Soun wise its hard to discribe. The pickups are so versatile it can so anything i want. Its got crisp tone and nice bass without mudd if that makes since. Sustain is insain as I can hit a note and hold it for about2-3 minutes without the feedback hitting. I pretty much play blues on this beast hence the hollowbody with twin F holes. acoustic sound is very nice on this as well. I think the combo of alder with the maple hits it just right.

I have been playing for about 26 years and have been doing setups for about 15. I say this humblely but I do consider myself in the pro range when setting up guitars as I have done it in my local guitar shop for 7 years and I do it on the side as well. The neck on the guitar was also built by USA customs and is a 3A flame maple W/ brazilian rosewood fretboard. I have 6mm paula dots and a graphtek nut. I also chose sprezel staggared locking tunners. I would recomend this to anyone building a dream guitar. Better uses for strat style W trem but is nice for any guitar. I play with super low actio and thats how I set up my guitar. Intonation and all has been set and it sounds like bliss. The neck fit into the pocket with pefect fit and it was so tight when set in you would have though you needed to shave it but I didn't. It just fit that snug.

This is a primary player and I think its gonna hold up just fine. I take care of my guitars and that all part of durability. The finish will probebly outlast me so no worries there,lol.........

Never had to use them but when your ordering these guys are 2nd to none.

When building your own guitar, do not go cheap on anything. I paid alot to make this but its so worth it in the end. There is no Gibson, fender, PRS out there that can touch the guitar I built and I am sure if you ask anyone who built there own they would tell you the same. Be patient, take your time and save up to build it. It took me about 1 year to buy and build this to the exact way I waed it. That 1 year of coarse was saveing up for parts, ahhhhh they joy of being married.

Light weight (3lb. 8oz.) one piece swamp ash Tele style body, finished in vintage two-tone sunburst. A channel was routed from the neck pickup cavity to the neck mounting cutout to allow for relatively easy neck adjustments. Just remove the pickguard to get at the truss rod adjusting screw. No need to remove the neck or your strings. Clear poly finish. Callaham vintage ?T? hardware. Fralin vintage Tele pickups.

USACG has many options available for their bodies. You can get it built just the way you want it. Check out their website for more info.

This was my first attempt at assembling an instrument from parts. I have done a review on the neck and body as stand alone entities. They are clinical (read as: dull)in nature. I have also done a review of the guitar assembled. That review has information on the sonic properties of the instrument and all of that emotional stuff we like to read about.

For those of you who have put together a parts guitar before, you probably don?t want to read any further. For those of you that have not, but are thinking about doing it, read on. You will get more than a general idea of what is involved. Even though there was some finish work involved, it was not difficult or unexpected. The project was rewarding.

Finishing done by USACG?s in house shop (Roxy). Two-tone sunburst finish. Flawless finish. The Callaham hardware fit like a glove.

The body was pre-drilled for the bridge, the string ferrules, and the neck plate. The ferrule holes were counterbored so that the ferrules would sit flush with the body. Not all aftermarket bodies are made that way.

Go out and buy yourself a small two-headed hammer. One head is hard plastic. The other is head is made of hard rubber. Most decent tool places will have them. You will be glad you have it when you try and firmly seat the string ferrules on the body and the bushings for the tuners on the neck.

Even though you will be chomping at the bit to get the pieces assembled, take your time and work carefully. Plan in what sequence to assemble the parts so everything fits together without a hitch. Items requiring particular attention on the Tele body were the location of the neck pick up in relation to the pickguard cutout and the control panel?s fit where it butts up against the pickguard.

My neck pick up is mounted in the cavity and not on the pickguard. Mounting it is not easy. There is no room in there to work. If you are going to mount the neck pickup into the body forget about using springs as tensioners. The magnets on the pickup will not allow the springs to be positioned properly. Use rubber tubing instead. If you want to take the easy way out, install a 60?s type pickguard.

Scraped clear coat out of the string ferrule holes with an E-xacto knife so the ferrules would seat properly. I still had to tap them in place with the aforementioned rubber headed hammer.

Had to drill pickguard and control panel mounting holes. Had to drill holes for the strap buttons. Had to drill holes to mount the jack cup. Had to sand excess clear coat out of the neck cavity. Not a whole lot was there but I wanted to have the neck cavity clean. The neck would not fit. Too tight. Did some more sanding. It still would not fit. Ended up sanding the clear coat finish off of the neck. That part of the neck doesn?t show so it?s not a real big deal. That is a tight fit. A point off for having to sand the finish off the neck.

This guitar will certainly withstand the rigors of the road. The Callaham hardware is top notch. Everything is solid and tight. You take care ot it. It will take care of you.

Since I was going with a transparent finish I wanted the body to have a nice grain pattern. I also wanted a fairly light weight body. I sent USACG a few pictures of bodies that had a grain pattern similar to what I was looking for and the weight range I was looking for. Steve at USACG sent me back a few pictures of smooth planed, uncut, unshaped body blanks so I could pick out the blank I wanted for the body. I liked that ! ! !

A First Class product. Would I do it again ? Yes. In fact my next project is on the drawing board.

Well, it's been three years since I put together this chambered, mahogany tele from USACG. Just wanted to follow up and state I'm even more thrilled with it today as I was when I first finished it.

It just gets better and better. I've had several nice guitars come and go since the birth of this one...some have stayed...some have gone....but this one has become my benchmark to measure all comers for tone and playability. So far, none have come close.

While I have gone through many differnt pickups in the last three years, the guitar has made each combo sound stellar. At present, I'm very happy with the combo of a Manlius humbucker in the neck and a Dimarzio VV Hot T in the bridge. This combo not only gives me killer tele spank and twang, but goes further into the blues/rock arena. The clean tones are stunning. With overdrive, it's so addicting, I can't stop playing.

While a chambered, mahogany body may not be the ticket for most tele players, for me it has been a revelation. The variety of tones available from this guitar are not only varied, but very inspiring. I can truly state I have never been so happy with one guitar in all my 50 years on this earth and 35 + of playing guitar. The fact that this one keeps several killer vintage pieces in their respective cases speaks volumes to me. I keep telling myself I'll bring and play a different guitar to the next gig, but in reality, I know it's going to be this one ( and it is ) that get's the nod.

I'm usually a fickle SOB and like the variety of playing different guitars. This one has such a pull on me though, that other guitars pale in comparison.

So, the crux is...if you are considering brewing your own guitar, start by calling USACG. As long as you have the specs you need nailed down, I'm certain you will wind up with an inspiring, killer sounding guitar.

I bought USA one piece unfinsihed swamp ash telecaster body configured to exactly match an 1950 Broadcasted approximately 6.5lbs. and Birdseye maple telecaster style neck blue print to a 50 Broad caster neck.

I haven't played it yet but expect it to sound like or better than the real thing.

Excellent quality woods. The Body is perfectly cut to the specifications of a 1950 broadcaster roughly sanded and ready to seal and paint. The neck was fretted and leveled perfectly, no over hanging fret wire. The body and neck reired very little prep to seal and sand. I would like to challege the Fender custom shop to build a better guitar.

The body was sprayed 1 translucent coatof butterscotch blond and 19 coats of clear nitro laquer and sprayed clear coats for the neck.
The parts will stand the test of time.

No one is beter than Tommy when it come to customer service. He promply returned phone calls. Tommy selected the best woods he had and matched the neck and body perfectly.

I've been playing for 10 years. I have a Strat, Les Paul, martin and
Brain More. After four guitars, The only way I could bring home a new guitar is if I builtit myself. This was the best way to avoid the wife factor. I suggest that if you really love guitars like I do try building one. It was not as hard as I thought and it came out better than I expected. Anyone starting out should read about guitar building, know exactly what you want, have a few months & patience to spray paint and have sufficient funds to purchase other parts.
Figure saving about 20-25% on the purchase price of high end manufactured guitar ($1500-$2500). There is no saving if you try to build a manufacture guitar costing $400.

2003 "Tele" body and neck made by Tommy at USA Custom Guitars in Seattle. Body is lightly flamed Mahogany which I finished in Tung oil. With 5 coats of Tung oil it's taken on a..burnt Amber color. Beautiful! Reminds one of the color of Pumpkin pie filling. The flame is attractive and tasteful.(For me, this is such a thing as too much flame.)The back has a "tummy-cut", which adds comfort and shaves of a couple of ounces.Two-piece slab-body.
Controls layout is typical Tele. Neck is Maple w/ Rosewood fingerboard; a lovely compliment to the burnt-amber slightly orange Mahogany body.Off-white Fender pickguard. Bridge is Fender '52 RI,tuners by Schaller, old style brass saddles (3) are compensated and from Stewart-McDonald. Neck scale is 25.5
The neck shape is USACG's own style; feels just right. The frets needed some work, though according to the tech who assembled this beauty.Medium-jumbo frets. (In hindsight, I wish I'd gone with thin frets.)
Pickups: DiMarzio Twang Kings.Relatively mild w/ Alnico 5 magnets. I give it a 7, but it's got all the features I want from a Tele.

Played mostly through a late 60's Fender Vibro-Champ, and a Super 112 (1991. Yes, it's got red knobs-and a great clean tone, thank you.)Occaisionally through my old Deluxe Reverb as well.
OK, now for the good part. My Mahogany bodied Tele sounds great!Through my 60 watt Fender Super 112 it's nice and sparkely. One doesn't notice the subtle tonal differences from the Mahogany body with an amp having that much "headroom".Of course the biggest factor regarding tone is the pickups, then the amp and of course the guitarist. The body wood imparts tonal subtleties that experienced ears can notice (YMMV). I've been playing for 25 years and I can tell how meaty the tone is, especially through a lower watt amp.
Through my Vibro-Champ with the volume on 6 or 7 this baby really comes into her own! Instant "Get yer Ya-Ya's out"! Think "Midnight Rambler" off that album; it nails that middle part where Keith plays a slow "Bad to the Bone" riff.
The tone is big and full when cranked through my Chmp or Deluxe Reverb. So much fun!The Mahogany filters out some of the shrill highs associated with Tele p/u's.On the down side, it's a tad heavy, but only a bit more so than my alder bodied Tele.

Tech said the neck didn't fit the body as well as it fit into a Warmoth!Of course the fretts were a bit rough and needed some TLC.
The Body looked beautiful! After the Tung oil, she was a real knock out.Pickups, tuners and bridge where fine. Bridge intonates "good enough for Rock 'n Roll".

It's a "Tele" basically. Toughest guitar ever made. Of course this lovely guitar won't be going into any smokey road side bars any time soon'!Everyone should bring a back up guitar!I break strings as much as my hero-Keith Richards.

Tommy's a great guy; I'm sure he'd want to satisfy his customers. He's treated me well. That body is beautiful.

Been playing for 25 years. This is my favorite solid body. It's my favorite Fender style guitar I've ever owned. DiMarzio diserves alot of credit,too.It's tone is so full and meaty, and it's cut plenty of definition with those Tele p/u's.I tried a Warmoth semi-hollow body first, but the notes decayed almost immediately. It was made of Korina and I was dissatisfied. In frustration, I ordered a solid Mahogany body(lovely flame)so that THIS time it would sustain. And sustain she does.Plenty!I give USA Custom Guitars two thumbs up. Tommy will procure some beautiful wood if you ask.

Stunning 2 piece swamp ash. The finest quality money can buy. Early 50's style. Mine is a 4.0 lb vintage per 1952 as close as can be.

Perfect tonal balance. I wish all guitars were this good. The folks at USA Customs are the best team to provide a precisely crafted body and wood with the finest tonal qualities.I play mostly blues and rock, and it is versatile enough to span from country to jazz.

Astonishing with the USA Custom maple t-style neck. Absolutely perfect in form, function, and finish. Precise machining, and superb fretwork. Rolled edges on the necks. All details are top notch.

Built better than all of the originals made by Leo himself, will outlive me.

Here is the icing on the cake. Tommy and crew are no holds barred for the player/customers out there. They get off on building the finest crafted guitars in the world at an amazing price. They will make it right for you no matter what.

I currently own six of their guitars, and average buying another neck and body from them for my own collection every three months! I have been playing and building guitars for 31 years, and use an Allen old Flame amp, and a Pearce G2R. no other guitar comes close. I have played them all,rare Fenders, Gibsons, etc. and still own some of these, but USA Customs are better than all of them combined! It is rare to see this much TLC and attention to detail in this present day messed up world of ours. I am proud to say I have gotten rid of most of my "real Fenders" and replaced them with USA Customs. If there were a rating of 100, I would give it to these guys. Once you build and play one, you will never play anything else.

Brand spank'n new mahogony semi-hollow tele body with no F-hole. Tommy went out of his way to pick an incredibly nice piece of mahogony to make this body for me. The look of this body is 3 dimensional. I finished it with many thin coats of Birchwood-Casey (gun stock oil )Tru-Oil. This finish let's the beauty (and tone) of the wood shine through. I've taken my time putting this together as it will be my #1. In the past, I may have been in too much of a hurry and went for the "instant gratifacation" thing in my building foray's. That is not to say I was not happy with the results, it's just that this one is special! I can not possibly tell you how happy I am with the job Tommy and staff did for me on this body and the neck. The neck is a rosewood board tele neck. Nothing fancy, but the craftsmanship that went into building this is second to none. Incredible soft V with a 12" radius and 6150 frets for big ol Albert type bends. I used tru-oil for the neck also. Kluson tuners. Bone nut. THe body has a celuloid pearl hybrid pickguard. I have a Seth lover in the neck and a Van Zandt True Vintage Flat Pole pickup in the bridge. It's wired with a standard three way. The tone control is a push pull that goes between standard tone & mid boost/cut. I have a mini switch to put the pups in or out of phase.

Wow...Wow...Wow...everything I ever wanted in a tele and more. The Seth is an awesome sounding pickup for the neck and the Van Zandt is simply smoking tele tone all the way. The combo of the two is instant Albert Collins! The versitility of the the phase switch and the mid cut/boost really adds to the flavor. A nice, almost acoustic quality can be conjered up with the twist of a knob.

The fit between the body and neck is the tightest I have ever seen! I actually had to sand a bit of finish off the neck as it would not go together!! Everything about the fit, workmanship and quality of the body and neck a first class all the way. USACG is the ONLY place I will ever buy a body and neck from again.

Mahogony is a very soft wood. I suspect she'll have a few bumps along the way. That said, I take very, very good care of my guitars and I do not forsee any problems. I put a thin finish on for the tone enhancement, so If anything happens, it's my own fault...not USACG.

Tommy & co at USACG are far and away the best in the business IMHO. Tommy took time out of his busy day to give me a tour of the shop, show me how they make bodies & necks, hand select the wood for my body, let me handle 20- 30 necks to find the style I was happy with... it goes on and on!! I was impressed with the service before the sale, I was impressed with finished product, and I was very impressed with the follow up to make sure I was satisfied with the product. I really do not know what the warranty is, but I have no doubt that USACG will stand behind everything they sell. If you are considering building you own guitar, do youeself a favor and give Tommy a call. You will not be sorry!! Does this catagory go to 20!!??

Simply the best.