Alright. I promised you I'd upload some pics as the work went and here they are. This is my "retro" baby here on the left. To refresh your memory (and for the benefit of new readers) I recently acquired a Squire Telecaster (made in China) with the plan to upgrade it with a better bridge and better electronics.

1. First thing I did was change the stock white pickguard to the lovely tortoise shell model you see here. I also upgraded the 3-way switch that came with the guitar. The original was 'spongy' and soft feeling.

2. Next I ordered a Wilkinson 3 saddle bridge (right) to replace the stock one. The stock one was fine but with the lovely "retro" colours of this guitar I wanted something more traditional. I also outfitted the guitar with two new DiMarzio pickups. For the 'neck' position I chose the famous Twang King pickup. It has the sound of an old vintage pickup and even came with vintage wire attached. The bridge position I installed is the Virtual T pickup. It is a stacked 'humbucking' pickup that keeps the traditional brige sound but does so with no hum.

3. First job was to fit the new bridge. Here you see my friend (and guitar guru) John Sharples drilling a pilot hole for the screw holes that will hold the new bridge down. The Wilkinson is a little smaller than the stock bridge so new holes had to be drilled and I'll be filling in the old holes soon. After temporarily mounting the new bridge and checking the string allignment, we marked and then drilled out the new screw holes. After the holes were drilled we test mounted the bridge and were satisfied that it was mounted correctly.