Wood arrived last week, the blank is big enough to make a flying v! Today i traced a friends early 60's esquire, made a template, drew the outline on the wood, and decided on the modern callaham tele bridge based on my friends sound advice, experience, and smiler palm muting method.
No access to a digital camera yet.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
Gonna have to post some pics!
"I don't play no cords."
-B.B. King
Yeah I know... still no access to a digital camera, so NO PHTOTs yet. :bummer
However,
I will have access over the weekend when i go home for easter.
I cut it out today with the university's band saw, not precisely tele shaped but close enough for rock n' roll.
If it was not put side to side with another tele, you could not see a difference. And nobody can tell from the audience i'd bet, so I'm cool with it.
If I make another guitar, it will have my own shape but i decided on the tele for simplicities sake. Also cherry is really heavy.
huh.
Imagine that.
Don't think I'll use solid cherry next time either.
I feel like such ateasing you all with this info and having no phtots, but please bear with me.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
Man... :toobadOriginally Posted by Jonnda
I feel like such a
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
I'd consider a tummy cut and a forearm contour.Also cherry is really heavy.
"Go Team Venture!"
and a cup holder
Once you cut it down to Tele proportionsmaybe it won't be quite so bad.
Sounds like you have a big hunk of wood there.
Maybe a swimming pool rout?
Since you're building her from scratch, it should be a lifer. The swimming pool allows you any pickup option down through the years.
You could even fit a small digital camera in there...
Oh, that's right, you don't have one!
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
It is down to tele proportions, minus tummy cut and arm contour, routs. neck pocket area is still rough ect.
But i bet it went down from the original 13 pounds to what feels like about seven. Cherry is slightly lighter then maple but not by much.
I was not sure if i wanted to go the pool rout... I like the option of not having a pick guard because of the purdy cherry wood. But then again maybe it should be practicality over beauty. I will have space for a central single coil no matter what.
I could do the cup holder... :spin
Let me think about it all.
Last edited by Jonnda; 04-12-2006 at 05:33 AM.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
By poplar demand i have really big PHTOTS of my wood.
No Flash:
With the flash on:
Edit to add:
I fixed one of the phtots, but it isn't as big anymore
Last edited by Jonnda; 04-18-2006 at 04:11 PM.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
Causes a window to pop up asking for your password to that site. I edited the post for now to prevent that problem for others, but you can re-edit the post once you fix the links to something that allows cross-linking.
Oh--and you can't link to photos in your inbox. Doesn't work that way.
Sorry, I feel like a dumb bass.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
:yay
looks like she's coming along, in addition to the cup holder maybe you could add reclining seats and cruise control? :hee
but seriously lookin good.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
a port for an iPod?
That would be cool... uh huh huh huh.
Put of o' them built-in tuners in it.
A question: It's hard to tell from the pic. Is that a one-piece or two-piece billet? It almost looks one piece at the lower bout, but the grain difference in the top bout is substantial.
I'd go with a guard, it'd hide most of that grain change and leave the pretty stuff showing.
A friend in need is a good reason to screen your calls.
I don't own an iPod yet, please explain the functionality of the port.
Yeah this was cut out of a two piece slab of wood. I can see what you are getting at with the pick gaurd. I've been thinkin',
What if i trimmed the horn like:
...but didn't trim the left side much or at all. Would that look good? I'm trying to come up with simple little things that make my tele mine that are blatantly obvious but not outrageous; such as carving or painting a cherry blossom somewhere on the body or pick guard.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
Go here., click on the 'design your own dream guitar' link, choose Telecaster. They have pickguards similar to what you've shown. There's a very short learning curve, but you can put together a neat project there and see how it'll look.
If you look in the users reviews and designs, you'll find the Telebasterd. That was one of mine.
A friend in need is a good reason to screen your calls.
you mean like this?
As you can see i've specified both a dog ear-less p90 and a Cat ear pick up what ever that is.
the three main differences is that i will probably use the neck i have from a 70's strat, the body wood is cherry, and the guard will be cut to allow for the possibility for a center pup.
Last edited by Jonnda; 04-19-2006 at 07:12 PM.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
OK so this is another picture that only works on my computer. anyone know how to convert a .tiff into a .jpg?
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
If using Wintel, open "Paint" in the accessories folder of most Wintel machines. If it opens the .tiff, choose "Save as..." and save it as a .jpg. Very simple.
If using a Mac, any graphics/photo program will do it, including iPhoto.
Last edited by pc; 04-19-2006 at 07:22 PM.
Thanks. Now how do i delete any evidence (posts) of my goof?
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
Easy there Nixon. :)
No need to delete posts that might also help other folks. :yay
oK nevermind, I just wanted this thread to stay focused.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
Just for the record, I carved the body contours with a rasp and a rabbit plane (for the arm curve) last Saturday.
Last edited by Jonnda; 04-24-2006 at 03:38 AM.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
4/29/2006
Sanded the edges round, and lightly sanded the faces with 60 grit to get rid of some scratches left by the board's last owner's thickness planer, which i think could use some matiaincebecause a part near the horn is obvious, by feel, not the same thickness as the rest of it.
Sadly, i have no picture for all you wonderful people in forum land who answer my guitar building questions.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
An "update" without phtots?
Isn't that grounds for a thread-lock, or some kind of harsh action by the mods?
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
Ok, Just to document everything and because i feeling like writing something in TFF; here is what my shopping-list is looking like for this ax. Should any of these items be considered unnecessary by the reader, speak up and say why. Also, is there anything i should add? I already have the pick guard and pots/knobs.
tools?
Seymour Duncan
SSL52-1 five-two............................................... ...............$70
The above is a pup that i hope to use one day but can't afford.
GFS pickups:
GFS P90 Black Soapbar Neck Position................................$33.95
Brass Bottom Strat Pickup............................................ .....$30.95
Repro 1960's HOT Alnico Tele Bridge Pickup...................... $32.95
hardware:
Stewmac Tele Bridge............................................ .........$26.70
Compensated Tele Saddles........................................... .$13.95
5-way strat switch............................................ ............$13.64
Guitar String Ferrules.......................................... ............$6.06
Electrosocket..................................... ............................ $8.63
Control Plate............................................. ....................$12.33
Neck Mounting Plate............................................. .......... $6.28
total for stewmac order: $87.59
TOTAL for things i've yet to buy without shipping: $185.44
And that don't include a re-fret
What did i get my self into? I can't even afford a digital camera.
Wait, maybe i can borrow one from the tech center...
But when I compare the price to other gutiars, it still is rather cheep and reasonable.
Last edited by Jonnda; 05-16-2006 at 08:18 PM.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
welcome to the "joys" of building and hotrodding. i always start a project and then realize it's going to cost more moola than i expected. you could always just get one of those stew mac three saddle old school bridges, i think they are something like 30 bucks or so. that'd save you about 50 odd on your total. i'd get the jack plate, hot dog plate, and switch from ole stew mac too, it'd save you on shipping.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
Template: Not sure how your set for tools, but templates are pretty easy to make out of a piece of wood.
A friend in need is a good reason to screen your calls.
chucko's right.
You could save quite a bit using stuff from Stewmac.
They carry a couple of options, even if you want compensated saddles.
Callaham's parts are top notch quality, and he's great with customer svc too.
I'm not so sure their heavier gage bridge plate is "better" than the traditional stamped steel though.
For the jack plate, I'd go w/an Electrosocket, fromStewMac. About $2 more than a regular jack cup. Easier to install and it just a nice, clean design.
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
I think as far as standard shop tools i am set, but i guess I wont know i need a tool till i need to do something i can't without it.
So how does one go about making an accurate neck template for routing?
Thanks for the suggestion Chuck, I don't know why i didn't think of getting the hardware at stewmac. About the bridge, while i willing to go for really cheap on everything else, I did kind have my heart set on a Callaham bridge because of the three saddle design on a modern bridge. I guess it really depends of availability of cash in the end of this summer, but it is just that I've been burned by a cheep strat bridge which severely reduced playability.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
Since you're building from scratch, why is that a factor?
That bridge is designed as a vintage style retrofit for American Std bridges.
Is that you don't like the "box" aspect of the bridge?
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
I don't like the box but i like the saddels, while i haven't tried the vintage bridge i have tried my guitar teachers 62 ex-esquire that has a modern tele bridge. He said the original bridge hindered his palm muting, and since he is one of my guitar teacher's and i've pick up similar habits, odds are i won't like it much either. But I do like the idea of a three saddle bridge. It's simple, and it is more "tele" in my book.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
What if i made my own bridge, http://www.angelfire.com/music2/construct/page1E.html
The metal stock would cost $18.92 without shiping.
Then, if I were to buy Compensated Tele Saddles from stewmac that would be another $13.95.
if i could pull it off it would cost me $32.87 sans shipping
Good idea or bad idea?
Last edited by Jonnda; 05-01-2006 at 09:41 AM.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
All templates are about the same. I start with a piece of paper or cardstock, trace and/or cut to shape (you'd need an existing Fender neck pocket for this step), stick it to a piece of wood with some spray adhesive, carefully cut it out with a jigsaw, file/sand so it's perfect, done.
I like to use 1/2" wood when I can, 3/4" when I can't, and 1/4" only for specific things. If you use plywood, make sure to fill any voids and sand smooth because the router might dive into a void. Leave plenty of wood around the template for the router base to sit on, and it also helps to draw some witness lines on it for alignment.
BTW: Get a good sized roll of two-sided carpet tape. It holds as well as clamping or screws, doesn't get in the way, and you don't have to worry about drilling holes or marring the wood. Carpet tape is your friend.
A friend in need is a good reason to screen your calls.
OK, thanks for deleting $20 from my projected expenditures Telecast. I was worried for a moment that I didn't have an existing neck pocket, and then I rememebred I have that $90 plywood squier bullet.
All Fender neck pockets are created equal right? So the pocket traced from a 2003 guitar fits like a glove on a 70's strat neck.
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
It should, but you can easily check that by setting the Strat neck in the pocket.
The thing is, $20 ain't squat by itself. But I've been making and keeping templates for so long I can cut just about any pickup you want, both the body and the pickguard. I can cut a neck pocket, pickguards for Strats, Teles, Duo Sonic, Coronado, Les Paul, etc. etc. and it's all from scrap wood that I had laying around.
Make sure to store the template in a safe place for next time!
A friend in need is a good reason to screen your calls.
telecast as usual has some great tips. one more thing i would add is to be sure and mark what template is what...it'll help later as opposed to guessing.
if you have your heart set on the callaham then go for it. i'm sure i don't play like you so you've got to go with what feels comfortable.
one suggestion though is to grind down the sides on a regular box style bridge i've done this in the past. my problem with a bow bridge is not the palm muting part, but that my pick hits the sides of the box. i just took a grinder with a sanding wheel and carved the sides down.
"don't worry, i'm a professional!"
Ya know, I think I could live with that if the corners were not as sharp and maybe grinding a diagonal from the guitar side corner of where your grind stops to where the top of the saddles start. I'd also have to grind down those height adjustment screws (after it is where I want it). The thing is I am used to strat and 335 style bridges, which have nothing but string there to rest ones hand on.
Would there be any loss of structural integrity with grinding like that?
"The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauvy shade of pinky-russet."
"there's NOTHING WRONG with a live penguin, but...I expected a hamburger!"
The effect you want is done like this:
Shim the neck to get the bridge higher. The screws will not poke through the saddles, and your bridge will be higher making the feeling closer to what you are more familiar with.
Ditto that advice. I tend to heavily shim most of my bolt neck guitars so I can raise the saddles up and get a good break angle over both the bridge and the nut.The effect you want is done like this:
Shim the neck to get the bridge higher. The screws will not poke through the saddles, and your bridge will be higher making the feeling closer to what you are more familiar with.
"Go Team Venture!"
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