Built my own Tele Partscaster over the summer using a Warmoth neck and body. I couldn’t have bought a custom one for the price of assembling one myself. I am super pleased with how it turned out, of course its the only one like it in the world.
I’ve built three, Two Strats and one Telecaster , relics with unique options that I wanted , I learned so much and they turned out to be great players. MJT is a great company , ( so is Warmoth ) worked with them on two guitars , now I’m doing a winter build PRS style where I’ll be finishing the neck and body 🤞and putting in Suhr Thornbuckers
I don't have the money to collect Pedigree guitars but I can build all the Fender guitars I want exactly how I want it for less than a thousand each and that includes a real Fender case. My favorite build is a superlight build it myself Paulownia or Sycamore body with an Allparts neck and genuine Fender hardware. I put the finish on them myself which is the fun part. All Fender makes is boat anchor weight bodies no matter what the price.
I've built 7 "partscasters" and had them setup by Joe Glaser in Nashville and they are phenomenal guitars. It allows me to create custom paint jobs. I can put whatever pickups I like in them. I have several vintage Fenders and these are just as good. In the hands of a pro, I doubt they could tell which ones are "partscasters". I find a neck I like and build from there.
Tad late to the comments party but... I've build 3 S-style, 3 T-style and 1 LP style parts guitars. After checking in with the "big brand" companies and finding out what it would cost to build to my specs, price was too great or so many road blocks (from The original company of Strats and Tele's, I decided to make my own. So much fun and now I have guitars the no one else in the world has a copy of.
I love my Strats. They are like old Chevys, infinitely customizable. I can make them exactly the way I want them for me rather than the way a factory decided to produce them. Some of my Strats have Fender bodies and aftermarket necks, others have aftermarket bodies and necks. They are so much better than the guitars being sold in guitar stores that I can no longer go into a guitar store and look at the guitars on the wall. They have no interest for me because they are so far from the guitars that I want for myself. Clapton's Blackie was a partscaster, Eddie Van Halen's first Frankenstrat was an aftermarket body and neck that he put together and then painted. Once you get into it it really isn't that hard to learn how to do most of the assembly and wiring yourself.
Using Fender license parts to me there's no difference if you put it together if they put it together so I would go parts caster all the way we build it to your spec
I wanted to go down this route for fun and learning but I realized a body is like $400-500 canadian and a neck is another $400-500. May as well just buy a MIM guitar no?
Those are top shelf prices. You can get bodies and necks WAY cheaper than that. Just type in “telecaster body“ or “Stratocaster body“ on eBay and you will see tons of options. That said, if you see a production guitar, whether MIM or otherwise, that is exactly what you want, then yes, that is the way to go.
If you want a decent cheap telecaster, I recommend the Harley Benton TE 62. I bought one as a back up for a 2nd hand US tele I bought years ago. Unbelievable value for money, only upgrades I’ve done is brass saddles and a tusq nut! Pickups sound good enough to me , and the neck is lovely.
