Hi. Ordered my first Fender... sort of...

[LookerBob]

My first post! So... Hi!

I've always been a Gibson guy (sorry, don't beat me!), but in looking for a solid 2nd guitar to back up my R8, I got kind of infatuated with the '72 Deluxe telecaster. I went through a few different other Gibson backup guitars and wasn't too impressed with any of the non-custom shop stuff anyway, and thought that the current fender 72 reissue tele just wasn't quite 'there' for me after playing a few, so I decided to go the warmoth route.

In 6 - 10 weeks, and believe me, the waiting is murder, I should be assembling the following:

telecaster deluxe body, swamp ash, trans white
cbs strat neck, 1/4 sawn maple, vintage tint, 'boat' profile
3 bolt micro tilt, standard flat bridge, gotoh kluson tuners, other various parts...

Pretty much just a telecaster deluxe with a few small changes - I'm getting the pickguard cut for gibson style humbuckers and I'm going to start out w/ the burstbuckers that came out of my R8 (Dr. Vs are going in), and see if I want to change from there. I also didn't get the belly cut, because I wasn't really into it.

I even got some fender telecaster deluxe waterslide decals, and a clear nitro aerosol on the way from reranch to put over the decal, because I decided it just was going to look plumb wrong any other way.

So how happy am I going to be?

Second question... anyone know if I'll have issues clearcoating the warmoth finished headstock with a light coat of the reranch nitro, just to protect the decal? I figure it should be fine, but if it's going to burst into flames or undo the space time continuum or something, I figured I should ask...

[LookerBob]

Oh yeah, and how are these things usually grounded?

[hippiebob01]

Ahhhh....another Fender decal story...

[Sage]

So how happy am I going to be?

There is something immensely satisfying about having a guitar built to your exact specifications. I love my Warmoth Strat.

Second question... anyone know if I'll have issues clearcoating the warmoth finished headstock with a light coat of the reranch nitro, just to protect the decal? I figure it should be fine, but if it's going to burst into flames or undo the space time continuum or something, I figured I should ask...

Nitro does not adhere well to polyurethane. You might be able to pull it off, but I don't recommend it. A better idea would be to get some Minwax polyurethane. You can buy it in a spray can, or you can get the wipe-on version, which several of us (including me) have been very happy with as a finish. But be careful -- it may be tinted differently than the finish on your neck, so make sure to test it on the part that fits into the body before you try to use it. And be sure to tape off everything but the face of the headstock before you apply it -- unlike nitro, it is extremely difficult to blend a new layer of polyurethane into an old one.

[LookerBob]

Thanks, sage. I will do that instead!

hippiebob... ?

I suppose I'm offending Fender purists worldwide or something... oh well.

[rudutch]

we are not as 'anal' as you might believe.. well most of us

[Power_13]

hippiebob... ?
I suppose I'm offending Fender purists worldwide or something... oh well.

Legal issues related to the decal thing. I think the mdos might be ok with it since you're not asking for a source, and it's not something you're selling on, but it has caused problems before.

Though I do understand what you mean...a headstock looks empty without something there.

Either way, don't worry about offending pursits with the decal. You've already offended us by favouring a Telecaster with humbuckers, a Strat headstock and 3-bolt neck.

[sting7777]

3 bolt neck is not something I would do... Good luck though - I love my warmoth strats..

[LookerBob]

Yeah, I went back and forth on the 3 bolt/4 bolt thing and eventually decided to go with what was more accurate... hopefully I won't regret it... I'm guessing I won't. Of course, then I went and did some other stuff that isn't accurate at all... so... oh well. :)

I'm not worried about offending anyone... for me it's just cosmetic.

I saw a thread on the LPF about those hipshot fixed bridges, and I think I'm going to have to get one of those... they look terrific! I was a little leery of the vintage style... it should fit the same holes, right?

[hippiebob01]

Naw, I've just had personal experience with a fake Fender before. It had the decal and the guy I bought it from said it was real. I looked it up and had him give me my money back. So I'm just saying...

As long as you don't try to sell it as the real thing it's cool.

[elicross]

I don't know why you'd want to put a Fender logo on a guitar you know isn't a Fender -- especially if you put a lot of work into building it yourself.

But hey -- that's why we have horse races. As long as you don't try to sell it as a Fender somewhere down the road....

[LookerBob]

Because it needs *something*, and I don't like the warmoth decals at all :)

Anyone do custom decals?

And to me screwing a few things together and soldering a couple wires doesn't really count as me 'building' it... they are doing all the cool parts.

[LookerBob]

Naw, I've just had personal experience with a fake Fender before. It had the decal and the guy I bought it from said it was real. I looked it up and had him give me my money back. So I'm just saying...

As long as you don't try to sell it as the real thing it's cool.

From what I understand it should be better than what I could get as the 'real thing' from fender, so I would definitely not sell it as such... I hope to not want to ever sell it at all!