Telecaster – Rat Bait Guitars

Humbucker Telecaster For Sale

One-Off Barnwood Guitar – Salvaged, Rewired, Reborn

This is no factory clone. It’s a one-off resurrection: a Telecaster silhouette with guts, built from salvaged roofing timber, an Ikea bookcase panel, and even a strip of painted skirting board. A true Rat Bait Guitars creation—raw, unrepeatable, and full of soul.

Specs & Features

Body: Tele-style, hand-built from reclaimed barnwood and salvaged materials
Neck: 22-fret maple, old-school profile, lightly nitro-finished for a broken-in vintage feel
Electronics: Tele bridge pickup (Fender Squier) + neck humbucker, 3-way switch, tortoise shell scratchplate
Hardware: Brand new 10mm machine heads, strap buttons
Dimensions:
- Scale length: 25.5″
- Nut width: 42mm (1.656″)
- Body thickness: approx. 44mm (±0.5mm)

Build Notes

Hand-assembled from recycled timber and new old stock parts
Mid-range pickups that punch above their weight—expect vintage twang with grit, not sterile polish
Natural barnwood finish: imperfect, honest, and full of character
Traces of old paintwork and light nitrocellulose highlights for added texture
Built for players who value soul over symmetry

Who’s Played Telecasters with Humbuckers?

The neck humbucker Tele isn’t just a mod—it’s a movement. Since the 1970s, this configuration has attracted players who crave warmth without sacrificing bite. Here are a few legends who’ve made it sing:

Keith Richards: Famously wielded a Telecaster Custom with a neck humbucker, using it to drive the Rolling Stones’ swaggering rhythm tone.
Jim Root (Slipknot): His signature Fender Telecaster features dual humbuckers, built for heavy riffing and brutal clarity.
John 5: Known for his eclectic style, John 5’s signature Telecasters often include humbuckers to handle everything from country twang to metal shred.
Andy Summers (The Police): While best known for his modified Telecaster with effects built in, Summers also explored humbucker configurations for added tonal depth.

This setup bridges the gap between classic Tele twang and the fuller, rounder tones of a humbucker—ideal for players who want expressive dynamics without switching guitars.

Handbuilt in North Devon | Tele-Strat Hybrid | Raw Tone & Rebellion

Telecaster Type Body – Barnwood Guitar

Telecaster Guitar Body – Routed for Standard Tele Hardware

Handcrafted by Rat Bait Guitars | October 2025 | North Devon

This isn’t just a guitar body—it’s a relic with attitude. Built from salvaged materials and shaped in a rat-infested shed in North Devon, this Rat Bait original channels the spirit of 1960s–70s Woolworths guitars: quirky, Japanese-made and unapologetically budget-born. Now reborn as a one-off Telecaster-style body, it’s ready to carry your build with soul and scars intact.

Please note: Hardware shown in photos (pickups, neck, etc.) is for example only and not included. This listing is for the body alone.

Materials & Origin

1970s Austrian furniture
Old roofing timber
Sections of an Ikea bookcase
Part of the Rat Bait shed
All reclaimed and reimagined in the UK
Finished with a slight nitrocellulose tint

Specifications

Telecaster-style body
Routed for standard Tele neck pickup and Tele bridge pickup
Approximate thickness: 43mm
Neck pocket width: 56mm
Weight: 2.39kg
Finish: Beeswax and oil – ready for your fettling and final touches

Condition & Character

This body wears its past proudly. Expect visible dents, scratches, nail holes, and even flush-set nail heads—each mark a chapter in its reclaimed story. It’s raw, rugged, and intentionally imperfect. See photos for close-up texture and detail. All measurements are approximate.

Why Choose This Body?

This isn’t a sterile factory blank—it’s a piece of reclaimed history with bite. Ideal for a Partscaster build that values sustainability, individuality, and punk and Barncaster ethos over polish. Whether you’re a luthier or a player chasing tone with character, this body offers a versatile, hardware-ready canvas with grit, soul, and a story to tell.

Humbuckers in Telecasters

“Here is one I began a few months ago, still need to finish it off as a complete, finished, guitar. Nails and nail holes – proper barnwood tele, having several bits from my shed in its DNA.”

Telecasters Reimagined: From Humbucker Hybrids to Exmoor Spruce Originals

Few guitars have worn as many disguises as the Fender Telecaster. Born in the early 1950s as a no-nonsense workhorse, the Tele has since been reinterpreted in countless ways—each variation adding a new voice to its already versatile character.

One of the most enduring twists is the Telecaster with a humbucker in the neck position. This configuration, popularised in the 1970s with models like the Fender Telecaster Custom, gave players the best of both worlds: the Tele’s trademark bite from the bridge single-coil, paired with the warmth and fullness of a humbucker at the neck. Keith Richards famously wielded such a setup, using it to drive the Rolling Stones’ swaggering rhythm sound. The combination has since become a staple for players who want grit and clarity in equal measure.

But the Telecaster’s story doesn’t stop with factory models. A thriving sub genre has emerged—independent, reclaimed, and reimagined Tele-style builds that carry as much history in their wood as they do in their tone.

The Exmoor Spruce Example

Take the recent Rat Bait Guitars Telecaster-style bodies, crafted in North Devon from salvaged materials and finished in natural beeswax. Among the timbers used is Exmoor Spruce, a native softwood shaped by the harsh uplands of Exmoor National Park. Its tight grain and wild tonal character make it a striking alternative to the more predictable commercial spruces.

These bodies aren’t polished showroom pieces—they’re raw artefacts of survival and reinvention. Each carries scars and stories, transformed into instruments that embody the spirit of punk, blues, and DIY rock. They nod to the quirky Woolworths imports of the 1960s and ’70s, guitars once dismissed as cheap knock-offs but now celebrated as cult classics.

Why Collectors Should Pay Attention

For serious players and collectors, this sub-genre of reclaimed Telecasters is more than a curiosity. They represent:

Authenticity – Every scratch and knot in the wood is part of its history.
Defiance – Built outside the factory system, they reject sterile perfection.
Cultural Continuity – They echo the DIY ethos that has always fuelled music at the margins.
Unique Tonality – Woods like Exmoor Spruce bring a voice you won’t find in mass-produced instruments.

A Must-Have Sub-Genre

Just as the Telecaster Custom with its neck humbucker carved out a permanent place in rock history, these reclaimed builds demand recognition as a category in their own right. They’re not just guitars they’re statements. To own one is to hold a piece of rebellion, resilience, and reinvention in your hands.

For collectors looking to expand beyond the predictable, adding an Rat Bait Guitars Tele-style body to the lineup isn’t just desirable—it’s essential.

Mythology and Wood

Rat Bait Guitars: Two Telecaster‑Style Bodies Born from Salvage and Spirit

Bodies in the North Devon workshop, waiting for their final touch. Soon they’ll be finished off, waxed, and dropped onto eBay—two Telecaster‑style bodies are more than wood, they bring history to the party. These aren’t factory‑fresh slabs of tonewood; they’re fragments of forgotten lives, reshaped and reimagined into instruments with battle scars, and soul.

Each body is a genuine Rat Bait Guitar Body, built in October 2025 from salvaged materials and shaped in a rat‑infested shed in North Devon. They’re not showroom pieces—they’re artefacts of survival and reinvention. Their silhouette nods to the quirky Woolworths guitars of the 1960s and ’70s: Japanese‑made, budget‑friendly instruments that were once dismissed as cheap knock‑offs, only to become cult classics decades later.

This is the same spirit—taking what the world throws away and turning it into something that screams.

Materials & Origin

Every body carries its own layered history:

1970s Austrian dining table – once a place of family meals, now a resonant slab of tone.
Old roofing timber – beams that sheltered lives, now reborn as the backbone of sound.
Exmoor Spruce – local wood with a wild edge, grounding the build in Devon’s landscape.
Sections of an Ikea bookcase – mass‑produced flatpack, now carved into something utterly unique.

All reclaimed. All reimagined. All finished in natural beeswax, giving the wood a warm, tactile glow that honours its scars rather than hiding them.

What Is Exmoor Spruce?

Exmoor Spruce is a native softwood found in the rugged uplands of Exmoor National Park, known for its resilience and character. Grown in harsh, wind‑beaten conditions, it develops tight grain patterns and a distinctive tonal quality that makes it ideal for musical instruments. Unlike commercial spruce varieties, Exmoor Spruce carries the imprint of its wild environment—each piece tells a story of survival, shaped by the moor’s unpredictable weather and ancient soil. It’s wood with attitude, and it fits the Rat Bait ethos perfectly.

More than just a local material, Exmoor Spruce is a statement. It’s the sound of wind through trees, the weight of rain on gorse, the echo of hooves and history. When carved into a guitar body, it doesn’t just resonate—it growls. It’s not about purity or polish; it’s about presence. And in the hands of a player, it becomes a voice for the untamed.

The mythology of Exmoor runs deep—feral, windswept, and defiant. These bodies channel that outsider energy: rough silhouettes, raw finishes, and a stance that feels more like a weathered figure on a moor than a polished showroom piece. They wear the look of the land—scarred, elemental, and proud of it. The guitars don’t just echo the landscape; they embody its folklore.

The Beast of Exmoor

Lurking in the shadows of local legend, the Beast of Exmoor is said to roam the hills—a phantom predator with glowing eyes and a taste for livestock. Descriptions vary: a black panther, a spectral hound, a creature born of fog and fear. Whether myth or misidentification, its presence haunts the moor’s psyche. These guitar bodies carry a whisper of that gothic energy—feral outlines, claw‑like grain, and a sense that something untamed lives within the wood. They’re not just shaped by tools, but by stories. By the idea that even in the age of algorithms, something wild still watches from the bracken.

Specifications:

Style: Telecaster Type
Routing: Standard Tele neck pickup + Tele bridge pickup
Finish: Hand‑waxed, raw, and ready for players who want character over perfection

Why Rat Bait?

Because these guitars aren’t about sterile precision. They’re about defiance. About taking discarded scraps and proving they still have a purpose. About building in a shed where the rats scuttle in the corners, and still managing to carve something that can make you look good on stage.

Each body is a reminder that music has always thrived on the margins—punk, blues, garage rock, DIY scenes. These guitars belong there too.

Two bodies. Two chances to own a piece of reclaimed chaos. They’ll be up on eBay soon—raw, handmade, and unapologetically imperfect.

Bargain Barnwood Telecaster Body

Telecaster Body – Routed for Standard Tele Hardware

This is a genuine Rat Bait Guitar body, built in October 2025 from salvaged materials and shaped in a rat‑infested shed in North Devon. Its silhouette nods to the quirky Woolworths guitars of the 1960s and ’70s—Japanese‑made, budget‑friendly instruments that have since become cult classics. Hardware (pickups / neck etc.) shown in images are for example and not included in the sale – the item is the body only.

The body carries a raw, rugged finish with visible dents, scratches, and scars from its past life. Every mark is part of its story. Please see the photographs for detail on its texture and character.