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| Here's another example of an Aussie craftsman (or in this instance craftsmen) showing the world that we can do it as well as anyone! This stunning Telecaster® was made in 1986 by the then father-and-son team of Merv and Jim Cargill, here in Melbourne, Australia. At that stage Jim was serving his apprenticeship with his father, Merv. Merv these days takes much more of a backseat, enjoying his semi-retirement, but still does some specialist work such as the stunning sunburst finishes he is famous for (see the 1952 Gibson SJ-200 he did a top refinish on recently). Grouse Guitars uses Jim Cargill exclusively for all work, and I highly recommend him to anyone. This guitar bears the serial number 1156, which Jim verified as being a 1986 production guitar. It has a stunning body with figured American Rock Maple caps front and back on a West Australian Kauri core, beautifully bound, American Rock Maple neck with a truly gorgeous inky black and silky smooth Ebony fretboard. The Tele® body and neck from heaven! But check the neck-body join in the 'more pictures' link below. No bolt-on neck here - just the most beautifully made heel-less set neck I think I have ever seen or felt! It feels great, looks stunning, and most importantly of all, sustains superbly. This is a guitar that is very 'lively' and resonant when strummed acoustically, the sure sign of a great guitar when plugged in. It was fitted from new with EMG active pickups in the classic Strat® configuration, with each pickup having its own toggle switch. You can select one or any combination of the three pickups - a very versatile arrangement. I have, however, replaced the pickups and controls with my favourite pickups - Kinmans - and a modified Telecaster® control plate layout. The Kinmans I chose were Avn-59s in the neck and middle positions and an Avn-48b in the bridge position. I really love the 48b in my Gilet Tele®, and the Avn-49 Strat pickups were the best match, and gave a different voice to the Traditional MkIII Kinmans fitted to my Kinman Strat®. For the tone capacitor I used a genuine Sprague Orange Drop 223J, which JUST fitted neatly into the original routing. Rather than the three mini toggles of the original control plate, I elected to use Strat® 5-way switching, with the addition of a mini toggle to add the rear pickup when desired, meaning I can have the 5-way in the neck position and add the rear pickup just like a Telecaster®'s middle setting, or even all three pickups when the 5-way is switched the the neck/middle combination. I also reversed the control plate, leaving the volume knob (front position) and tone knob easily accessible when playing for volume swells and 'wah' effects. It also means I don't inadvertently knock the 5-way into an incorrect position when playing. I also replaced the bridge with a traditional style 3 brass saddle unit (but in black to match the original Cargill styling), as I simply prefer them for tone with a Telecaster®. All hardware is black, giving a very stunning appearance with the high-grade timbers in the body. The guitar has had minimal use by the original owner, who bought this and a high-grade acoustic back in the mid 1980s when he decided to learn guitar, but then who gave up after a short while, leaving the guitar virtually untouched for nearly 20 years until his friend purchased it from him (not long before I purchased the guitar from the friend). This will become one of my main gigging guitars, having sold my Gilet Tele®. You can hear this guitar in a recent (2009) live studio recording with my '66 Ultratone here with its original pickups. This is a long-term privately-owned instrument, and is not for sale.
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