Charlie Christian Custom Telecaster

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.