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Charlie Christian played an arch top Gibson guitar. But I am a Telecaster guy and no Jazz player. Not calling this a tribute, but Charlie Christian was one of the most important and influential guitarist of all time. I always wanted to try out a Telecaster with these Charlie Christian pickups. Love the look of them and the sounds I have heard on YouTube. See the entire build for this project here.

I used a Chambered swamp ash body with high grade quilted maple top from Warmoth. They now offer routing and pre-cut pickguards for the Lollar Charlie Christian pickups. This made the build much easier and faster.

Parts used: Jason Lollar’s hand wound Charlie Christian neck and B.S. Telecaster bridge pickups. The neck is Fender American Deluxe Telecaster neck that is tinted maple with rosewood fingerboard, modern “C” shape, 22 medium jumbo frets, compound radius 9.5″-14″ and has pearloid inlays. Fender/Schaller Elite Gold Tuners with pearloid buttons. Warmoth 4-layer pearl custom pickguard. Gold Gotoh Gold Modern Bridge, Q-Parts Gold Dome knobs with “mother-of-pearl” and Dunlop strap locks. Wiring used was vintage cloth covered wire with CTS 500K pots and Bumble Bee .15 capacitor. Picked up a nice Fender G&G Tweed case off of eBay to protect it from greasy hands.

Arm contour

Arm contour

Dark rosewood fingerboard

Dark rosewood fingerboard

Body is highly contoured with arm, tummy and neck heal contours. Makes for a comfortable guitar to play. Weighs in at a bit over 7-lbs 10-ozs.

Lollar Charlie Christian pickups

Lollar Charlie Christian pickups

Genuine Fender neck

Genuine Fender neck with Gold Elite Tuners

Q-parts gold knobs with MOP

Q-parts gold knobs with MOP

Neck and tummy contours - Swamp Ash body

Neck and tummy contours – Swamp Ash body

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Quilted high grade maple top

Quilted high grade maple top

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Warmoth body and pickguard

Warmoth body and pickguard

Gotoh Telecaster bridge

Gotoh Telecaster bridge

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Tim Lerch Lollar Charlie Christian pickup demos gives you an great idea what these sound like: