Greg Castillo built both of these Telecasters, one with a maple reverse neck, Texas Special pickups, a 4-way switch, and red and blue Sperzel tuners with pearl knobs. “I also had the custom headstock decal made backwards,” he says.
The darker green Tele is a bit more complex. Its Seymour Duncan Little ’59 bridge pickup is wired to a 3-way switch, which allows the pickup to function as a full humbucker, two single-coils, or even work with the neck pickup to provide three coils wired in series. The pot closest to the switch is the bridge volume. The neck pickup is wired to the bridge pot, and it can either be blended with the bridge pickup or played by itself when the bridge pickup is switched off.
Throughout the year we collect stories and photos of guitar-mod projects created by you, our beloved readers. Some of these guitars are so inspiring we’re compelled to share them with everyone in this annual Hot Rod issue. As always, you don’t disappoint. And by using fetching racecar flame designs, several readers even revealed their devotion to the original “hot rod” culture!
We couldn’t fit all of your mod submissions here, but look for more stories in our “Hot-Rod Gallery – Reader’s Edition” online next month.
