2nd homebrew telecaster build begun...or ordered, anyway

[LookerBob]

Ordered the body from Guitar Mill yesterday.

Standard style tele, routed for humbuckers, alder, double bound, finished in black nitro, a bit of tint to the clear coat.

I'm ordering the neck as soon as I can get Musikraft on the phone...

Neck specs:
Head Stock Orientation: Right for Right Handed Players
Scale: 25-1/2" Standard Fender
Number of Frets: 22 With FB Extenion
Nut Width: 1-11/16"
Heel Width: Standard Fender 2-3/16"
Neck Wood: Rock Maple
Finger Board Wood: Indian Rwd
Finger Board Style: Slab Style .25" Thick
Tuner Hole Size: Kluson 11/32"
Trussrod Option: Single Acting Adjust at Heel
Finger Board Radius: Compound 10-16
Finger Board Inlay Top: Real Aged Colored Clay
Finger Board Inlay Side Markers: Real Clay (Aged Color)
12th Dot Spacing: Wide 1.035 Pre 1964 Style
Fret Size and Type: Medium 6105 .095 X .047
Nut Style: Fender Style Flat Bottom
Back Profile Thickness @ the 1st and 12th Fret: Boat V .95 to .95
Custom Up-Charges: None
Finish: Gloss Dark Tint Lacquer
Additional Options: Heavy Rolled Finger Board Edges
Pre Slotted Bone Nut

I think I'll order most of the rest of the parts from Warmoth, except I'll probably order some Marshallheads w/ AII magnets from Wolfetone for the pickups.

Total cost, once I get a case on top of all that... looking at about $1500.

Gulp.

Though really, $1500 for something that is exactly what I want ain't half bad... about $1000 less than what I paid for my R8, and about $500 more than what I paid for my last warmoth parts telecaster deluxe...

[chuckocaster]

if it turns out anything like your last one i think you'll be alright. that last tele was bitchin! can't wait to see pics of the new one.

i always get astonished looks from people when i tell them how much money i have into a certain guitar. they ain't cheap, but who cares, when it's what you want it's worth it.

best of luck buddy!

[LookerBob]

Thanks, man! I will definitely post pictures.

[Frat Rettle]

LookerBob..hope it turns out well.
chucko...what else are we going to spend our money on? Music makes the world go round.

[chuckocaster]

exactly! i don't even care, i just want what i want and like what i like.

[LookerBob]

Thought I'd have a thread where I detail what I'm doing... some of the photos are a little blurry because I was shooting left handed as I was trying to get stuff done, so... apologies.

I did the bulk of the wiring a few weeks back. Unlike a normal telecaster with a master tone control and a master volume for both pickups, mine will utilize concentric pots to have an individual volume and tone for each of the two pickups, which, in another departure from 'normal' tele design will be humbuckers. So basically I'm making a Les Paul telecaster.



The really hard parts, building the body and neck, I've left to the professionals. Maybe I'll try it next time. Anyway, yesterday I got in the neck from Musikraft. It really looks fantastic, with a nice, even rosewood fretboard and a maple neck with a nice dark 50s/early 60s style tint to it.

First thing I'm going to do is level the frets... To do that, I start taping the neck off.



Here's the back.



I adjust the truss rod to pull the neck into complete straightness.




Next, I take a sharpie, and draw over the top of each fret.




Now I am going to level it. I made my leveling file (off of a tip by the awesome Ron Kirn) by taking a section of corian countertop that the local cabinet shop gave me for free, cutting it down to a 2 inch strip, and gluing 220 grit sandpaper to it w/ 3M 77 spray adhesive. Good enough for Kirn, it's good enough for me!




Filin'



A couple passes (maybe 10, max?) and we're done!



Crown it!




Sand it!

[LookerBob]

Now the frets are pretty smooth and nicely rounded again...




...but they aren't quite shiny enough for me, so I lube them up with some 3M Finesse-It II machine polish, and hit them with a buffing wheel on my drill for a nice shiny finish!




With that done, I take the tape off of the neck, because I'm not sure what polishing compound might do to blue painter's tape, so I want to get that off just to be safe. When I removed it, it flaked some finish off of the rosewood that passes on the other side of the nut, but it's no big deal, and gives it a little mojo, so I think I'll keep it... Maybe

Oh yeah, the headstock decal... this is just what looks 'right' to me, so... yeah.



Now I give the decal a good soak so that it will slide around. You can see the can of mineral spirits I used to clean any oil/dirt/grease off of the headstock face before I put the decal on (and before I put the finish over it).



And then I get it into place, and gently press the water out of it with a special tool called 'paper towels'.



And there we go!

After typing this up, everything seemed pretty dry, so I hit the decal/peghead with a misting coat of reranch lacquer. I'll do another couple light coats over the rest of the evening.

[jerryjg]

awesome work.mASTERFULL!

[phantomman]

Pretty informative series of pics, LB.

I always let a "neat headstock accessory" dry for 24 hours after application before overspraying wif lacquer though.

[cooltone]

Awesome post and pics. Thank you.

[juniorspecial]

Where does one get such a decal? I'd like to put one on my laptop.

[LookerBob]

Couldn't say.

[Fedora]

Nice work LookerBob! Appreciate you taking the time to shoot and post the pictures. Going to be killer guitar I'm sure.

[LookerBob]

Kept plugging throughout the weekend...

So the decal has dried, and the next step is to finish over the top of the decal with additional nitrocellulose lacquer. I need to build up enough lacquer that I can then sand the whole thing flat, hiding the edge of the decal. So that takes three days of spraying. I have a can of clear lacquer that I got from the Guitar ReRanch that I'll be using.




I put on three misting coats on Friday, each 1 hour apart. I start out with misting coats to slowly build up the film and bind the decal to the headstock slowly. I guess if you go to fast, they can crinkle and do all sorts of stuff you wish they wouldn't. After the first, it looks like this:




After the third, it looks like this.. not much difference... the edge is almost more prominent. After this coat, I let it dry all night.




The next day I put on three medium coats, which gets us to here... starting to become smoother.




And then today, three more wet coats. Now we're done. I hope. I'm starting to get a little nervous about the lacquer soaking through the painter's tape, so I want it off anyway. It turns out it is fine. As part of this, I've also re-hit the parts of the original lacquer that the tape pulled off of the rosewood that protrudes onto the headstock. Lookin' good.




Now, with the tape off, and the neck needing to sit around drying more completely for the next three days, I decide to oil the fretboard. So I break out the 'Fret Doctor'.




In this picture, I've just done the first few frets, but you can see the difference. It's still wet, so it won't be quite that dark, but it'll be nice.




All done up... I'll give that a few hours to soak in, then wipe the excess off. Meanwhile, the neck hangs out drying until Wednesday, when I start sanding!

[chuckocaster]

lookin nice. do you like that fret doctor stuff better than regular ole lemon oil? what's in it by the way?

[LookerBob]

I've never actually tried the lemon oil, but I read a lot about the different oils, and this one always got the nod. I've been using it for a while now w/ my les paul (once 4 - 6 months or so), and I've been very, very pleased with it.

I'm not sure what is in it... fancy stuff, I guess. :) You can read about it here:

http://www.beafifer.com/boredoctor.htm

[Don]

Fret doctor is really good stuff. I like it much better than lemon oil. It does a better job and lasts better. It's more expensive but a little goes a long way.

I don't know what it's in it though it smells like...

Baby Oil!

[LookerBob]

Okay, time to finish this sumbitch up!

Today I need to wet sand the headstock, including any overspray on the sides, down to where the finish on the top of the decal is even with the finish on top of the non-decal... once it's level, I need to wet sand it progressively until it is super smooth, then I need to buff it out. I need to make sure that I don't overdo it and sand so far that I sand into my decal!

I was on solo-dad duty tonight, so I did most of my work in the big room under the fluorescent lights... so everything looks green!

I start with 600 grit sandpaper. I've been soaking all of my grits of sandpaper in water since I got up this morning, so they are good and wet.




As I go, I dry the headstock off and look at it at an angle in the light to see how I'm progressing. The idea is to remove all of the shiny bits, which means that I've gotten down to the same level with everything. I'm kind of nervous about the amount of finish I have, and am worried about hitting the decal, so I check a lot.

Not yet!



Keep going!




Now it's all matte, so I start sanding again, but going up from 600 grit, to 800 grit, to 1000 grit, to 1200 grit, to 1500 grit, all the way to 2000 grit paper.




When I get to 2000 grit, it looks like this... not bad! You can't see any edge of the decal at all, even though under the finish that edge still exists... everything has melded together nicely!




So now I'm going to buff it... I use the same stuff I used to polish the frets, 3M Finesse-It II auto polish...




...and the trusty Dewalt. I have a second buffing wheel that I bought that is a little softer, and doesn't have the gray discoloration from the frets on it.

[LookerBob]

After literally about 5 minutes, we're done. This mofo is glassy.




You can see that the edge of the decal is practically invisible (I can actually make out some sections of it if I look *very* closely, but it's under the finish, not in the top, and only because the clearcoat is so nice and clear!) You can really see the gold ink in this shot.




One more, just because it's awesome.




Combined with my nicely oiled board, this thing is looking great...




...and is done!



Next installment requires the body... which ain't here yet... but it'll come! I might have an interim step where I put the tuners on before that... we'll see.

[Gris]

Suhweet! Very similar to my own ways.

[Timbo]

Great work LookerBob! Thanks for sharing the pics

[curtisstetka]

Wow. I am really enjoying this thread. Thank you for all the phtots.

[Fedora]

Again, stunning work!!
As an aside, what type of camera are you using. Are you using a tripod?
I can't seem to get decent closeup pics with the little $150.00 POS I have. The dang thing will go out of focus just as I'm ready to snap the picture.
Just wondering.

[LookerBob]

I'm using a Canon Powershot S3 IS, but it's the model from a few years ago (and apparently now quite expensive on amazon!) The current edition of this camera is the S10 IS. Looks like the S5 IS was in between. I've been very happy with mine - takes great pictures.

I'm not using a tripod... I just try to hold it super still. :)

It has both a macro mode for closeups (most of these pictures) and a super macro mode, which I used for the really close up pictures in this thread.

[LesPauloholic]

Nice work!! Is your fret file flat, or does it match the radius of your fretboard? If it matches, how did you get the radius in the corian stuff??

Greg

[LookerBob]

Flat.

Still waiting for the body. 10 weeks now. Ugh.

[Jonnda]

That's way more attention to detail then I care to spare at this point in my life as a beginning luthier. I'm more interested in getting it to the point of making music, then getting a logo right... BUT I commend your awesome efforts to do so. I found the process interesting and wonder if you know anything about fixing the finish on a 1979(?) strat headstock. it's got thick poly(?) on it and i am scared I will eventually loose my logo. also if i was to refinish the chipped neck for a refret (it's maple), how do i theoretically meld the new finish with the old on the headstock?

[thegeezer]

Cool pics and I feel you are taking the best route in making it yourself.

[LookerBob]

So... 5 months later... I *finally* got a shipment notice from guitar mill on the body.

I'm really, really disappointed in how long it took to get this thing (if it actually has been shipped). Today is SEVEN months since I ordered. I guess they had the guitar done once, but the finish had sunk into the wood grain in a few places, and they wanted to make sure they sent me a good one, which I appreciate... I just can't believe it took this long to cut out a telecaster and paint it black...

I will have more pictures of the rest of the process!

[Kris Ford]

Nice! I love threads like this!

[cherrick]

.... I just can't believe it took this long to cut out a telecaster and paint it black...

You did all that work on the neck and had someone else paint your body for you?

Why not do it yourself. Clearly, you have the skill set.

[LookerBob]

Next time... I'm working my way up to that. :)

[jerryjg]

Fret doctor is really good stuff. I like it much better than lemon oil. It does a better job and lasts better. It's more expensive but a little goes a long way.

I don't know what it's in it though it smells like...

Baby Oil!

I think waht makes it soak into the wood is the same stuff thats in the stuff I sometimes use for fretboards; Scotts Liquid Gold.

Soaks in like crazy- way more than Lemon Oil , especially on a dry fretboard.

[phantomman]

Lookin' mighty schweet, Bob.

I love what that fretboard treatment did to the rosewood too -- tres kewl!

[LookerBob]

Body showed up... build commencing momentarily...

Looks good.

GuitarMill threw in a $100 gift cert as an apology for the wait, so I guess that their efforts to make things right alleviates some of my displeasure at the wait time.

I'll post pics of the rest of the process.

[LookerBob]

With the body here, the work continues! Stay tuned for HORRIBLE DAMN NEWS!

So I did some more work a few months ago that I didn't post the pictures of - basically just installing tuners:

So I take a reamer and widen the front edge of each tuner hole so that the ferrule for each tuner can slide in w/o too much trouble about halfway:


Then I hammer them in a little with a rubber mallet. The cat thinks the banging noises are soothing:


Then I take a socket from a socket set that just fits over the ferrule and use it to drive each one down flat to the finish:


Flush!


Next, I insert each tuner and use a straight edge to make sure they are all lined up (these kind are semi-interlocking... each tuner shares 1 - 2 screws with its neighbors).


Then I drill the screw holes and screw them in. I was really careful with this part, as on a previous build I made the holes like 1/64th too small and I had a couple screws shear off, which meant I had to cut a hole around them, dig them out, fill it with a dowel, and redrill... it was thankfully all hidden by the tuning machines, but it sucked!


Installed!

[LookerBob]

So with the body here today, I moved on to that part of the build.

First I mocked everything up to see if it would fit... it did. I thought.


Since I'm not using a large telecaster style bridge w/ a big plate around the pickup that would provide ground (I guess), I needed to drill a hole that

would run a wire from the ground on the controls inside the control cavity up under the bridge to ground it. I had a drill bit I *thought* might reach. So

I used it to drill until my drill hit the body. My 'protect the guitar from my dumb ass' cover is over the control cavity in that picture.


Using my trusty protractor, I determined that I had a 30 degree angle on the hole... which was too steep and would come out low in the cavity, but

whatever... using some bastardized geometry, I figured out the horizontal distance I had covered (I marked the bit at the body w/ a sharpie)...


...and realized that I was pretty far from breaking through.


So then off camera I did some things I'm not proud of, and that didn't work anyway, and involved hammers... then I went to Ace and bought a 6 inch 1/16th

bit, and redrilled a hole from inside the first hole with a shallower angle that went all the way through. So yeah, I've got one extra 7/64ths inch by 2

inch cavity in this body. We'll call it a 'semi-acoustic'.


I discovered that my super sweet wire routing on the controls from the very first picture in this thread wouldn't allow the controls to slip into the

control cavity - these things are very tight! How many times have I gotten to say that? So I moved that one wire you see going from the switch to the pot,

and got ready to run a wire from the switch to the input jack of the guitar (the one there covered w/ shrink tubing to prevent a ground loop).


In this picture, you can see that I've covered most of the guitar with this great foam fabric that they wrap the guitar bodies in when they ship them. You

can tear it into whatever shape, and it keeps me from messing up the finish. Anyway, I got a little further, and you can see that wire now running from the

switch to the back pot, where it is soldered for a ground, and then running off to the input jack. You can also see the small silver bus wire running from

the back of the front pot into the hole I drilled to ground the bridge. If you are really on your game, you will see that I soldered the pickup leads to

the tone pots. This did not work.


So I rewired it properly.


Then I plugged the guitar in and made sure that all of my controls seemed to be doing what I wanted them to do. They were!


So then I installed the 'electro socket' for the input. Very fancy.

[LookerBob]

The controls were such a tight fit that they literally had no play... they were going to be exactly where they were, so I went ahead and screwed them down. I masked off the bit at the correct depth for the screws I was using.


With the controls in place, the pickguard would only go on a certain way (because of the place where the pickguard is cut out to go around the control plate), so I didn't have much fudge room with it, and it kept falling off as I tried to work on things, so I put the neck on, got everything aligned, and sunk two pickguard screws (by the control plate, and the one you see here by the neck pocket). With the pickguard in place and aligned on the sides of the neck, it protruded into the neck cavity just a little bit, which didn't surprise me since I was dealing with a different vendor than the body maker. So I took my pocketknife and scraped it away until it was flush with the back of the neck pocket. I sanded it a little, but since this 22 fret fretboard overhangs the pickguard, you will never see it, so I didn't make it super pretty.


Then I realized that I hadn't installed the string ferrules in the back of the guitar. I should've done this first... but I am dumb. Using another trick I learned from a Ron Kirn tutorial, I pulled a hinge pin out of my office door, and used it to seat each ferrule against the finish. It is a perfect fit! Prior to this, I took my 5/16ths drill bit and used it w/ just my fingers to clean out the finish and polishing compound that had collected around the edges of each hole.


In another Kirn move, I heated up each ferrule for 8 seconds w/ my soldering iron and then using the hinge pin, I gave each one a few more whacks w/ the mallet to drive them down into the (briefly) melted finish.


I got nervous, so I didn't go flush (and one seemed to be causing a small crack)... but I still think it's pretty sweet... they are half buried.


Then I put on the bridge... it was pretty thrilling. I drilled some holes into the starter holes that were already conveniently there, then screwed screws into them.


Aside from the pickguard screws, which I'll finish putting in once the neck is on, everything is done, and looking good, back...


...and front!


So now it's time to put the neck on when... what the hell? The holes in the neck and the holes in the body don't line up. They are 3/32nds off. I have confirmed that this is not due to my own stupidity... they just flat out don't line up, and aren't going to. You can see where I dropped a bit down through the hole in the body and gave it a twist. We got problems.


So I could peg the holes with a dowel and drill my own, but I'm going to give it some thought, talk to some folks, decide if that's the best thing to do, and figure out the best way to do it. I'm pretty bummed.

I had ordered the neck with NO holes, because I wondered if sourcing parts from different vendors might lead to issues like this, but I was assured at the time that these things tend to line up and it isn't an issue, and even found other instances of people using parts from these vendors and not having problems... so I didn't return the neck. Now, because the body has taken SO incredibly long to get here, the warranty period on the neck has expired... so I can't return it...

Additionally, the guy who was buying my white tele paid me off today and took it... so I'm telecasterless... boo! Guess I'll be playing the les paul...

Stay tuned!

[phantomman]

RK himself would tell you to dowel the neck holes, re-drill, and get on with the build, LB.

HTH

[LookerBob]

Yeah, I'll go dowel shopping today... I wonder if I can find the proper size and material here... I'm guessing not.