Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Reader Guitar of the Month: Townshend Tribute

A reader gives a goldtop Schecter PT a new neck, hardware swaps, and two Duncan ’59 humbuckers wired for tonal variety.

Name: Richard Stevens
Location: Pottsdam, New York
Guitar: Schecter PT

Back in the '80s, I owned a U.S.-made, black Schecter PT “Pete Townshend" T-style. It was the one that got away—the one I regretted selling when real life, job, marriage, house, and kids pushed guitar playing out of my life.


The Who Tour 1982 The Final Show

Fast-forward 20 years. I had a little time and very little money to put into playing again. Real-deal PTs had gotten collectible and expensive. Besides, I was remembering fondly a different PT—the goldtop Schecter that Townshend played in the 1982 Toronto "Who's Last" (lol) concert video, and again at Live Aid. Though I'm not a Les Paul guy, I have a soft spot for goldtops, and always thought that was a really classy "Tele." I set out to build myself a tribute to Townshend's goldtop. Production Schecters at the time had flat, shredder-kinda necks that I didn't like, and a generic, lawsuit-proof peghead shape. Yes, I'm a Tele peghead snob—sue me.

So, I found a gold MIK Schecter PT and bought a used maple MIM Standard Telecaster neck. The Schecter had a curved, Strat-shaped neck pocket, so I had a local luthier square it up to Tele-shape with a router and template. I installed a Gotoh Humbucker Tele bridge, matching chrome neck pickup ring, and some aftermarket gold knobs.

Photo by Rudy Stroh Wellington Photography

After experimenting with pickups, I ended up with a Duncan '59 set and two volume controls. The bridge volume pot pulls up to split the bridge pickup to single-coil and to put the two pickups out-of-phase. This setup gives me much of the variety of Jimmy Page wiring, but with just two pots and a single switch.

The goldtop PT splits the difference between my standard Tele and my Gibby-scale Hamer Sunburst. It gives me the bigger humbucker sounds, a decent single-coil tone, with the feel and "snap" of the longer Fender scale length, which I much prefer. It's become my No. 1, and the go-to guitar for my old '80s, new-wavey band's occasional reunion shows (35 years and still going strong, if infrequently).

Send your guitar story to submissions@premierguitar.com.

[Updated 9/28/21]

Do you overuse vibrato? Could you survive without it?

Read MoreShow less

The author dials in one of his 20-watt Sonzera amps, with an extension cabinet.

Photo courtesy of PRS

Knowing how guitar amplifiers were developed and have evolved is important to understanding why they sound the way they do when you’re plugged in.

Read MoreShow less

Lenny Kravitz’s lead-guitar maestro shares how his scorching hit solo came together.

Read MoreShow less

Tobias bass guitars, beloved by bass players for nearly half a century, are back with the all-new Tobias Original Collection.

Read MoreShow less