This post was originally published on this site
Reader: Mark Shadle
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Guitar: dodeka
I’ve been a Telecaster guy from my very first electric guitar purchase, and I’ve since had many in addition to numerous T-style versions that I built myself. I do like variations on the original theme such as the Thinlines and models with humbuckers, but my heart lies mostly with the single-coil models. My second and current obsession is 12-string guitars which I got into around a year ago. And because I’ve practiced and played 12-strings almost exclusively since, I’ve had a difficult time enjoying playing 6-strings again. This led me to build what I consider the ultimate T-style guitar. I have seen a few 12-string Telecaster models before—the most recent being a Japanese Fender Flagship Store exclusive. But it was never imported to the United States, and while they are still available today, they exist in limited numbers on the used market, most appear to be in Japan, and they are expensive.
The body on dodeka is alder which is painted with a fiesta-red matte-nitro finish. The neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard and Gotoh machine heads. Taking inspiration from a Fender 1951 Precision Bass, the custom pickguard is single-ply Bakelite. Pickups are Fender American Vintage ’62 Custom single-coils with alnico 3 magnets in the neck and alnico 2’s in the bridge. The bridge is solid brass, which was CNC’d in a custom shape that mirrors a Telecaster’s lines. It also has grooved brass compensated saddles, which help keep all those strings aligned. Lower-octave strings are routed through the body and the high-octave and unison strings are top-loaded through the bridge. Intonation is surprisingly very good and close to spot-on with all strings.
I stuck to a traditional setup when it came to the electronics and control harness, utilizing a configuration with a 3-way switch, a .047 uF orange drop cap, and CTS 250k pots. I also added a .001 cap and 100k resistor to the volume control for more treble bleed when you reduce guitar volume. It’s all wired with vintage push-back wire and finished with a Switchcraft jack mounted in an Electrosocket plate. The name dodeka, by the way, comes from the ancient Greek word for 12, and I read somewhere that the word’s origins are rooted in a manner of saying “6 + 6,” which made it even more fitting.
When I first played the guitar, I was so pleased that it sounded so resonant—almost as if it had a hollow cavity in the body, which it most certainly does not. I often sit and play it without plugging it in as I enjoy the acoustic aspect of its sound. The sustain is fantastic and the guitar stays in tune nicely. It sounds extraordinary when plugged into my Vox AC30 with some added light compression and chorus, and can be very chimey, with a sound similar to a Rickenbacker 12. I am very pleased with the finished product and really glad that I pursued my 12-string Telecaster dream!
