I just received my first electric in the mail yesterday. Its a tele copy that was purchased as a kit and assembled by the seller. I know that on a real tele the strings are anchored through the body beneath the bridge but on my copy they anchor to the bridge itself.
Is it feasible for me to drill the six string holes through the body (the holes are in the bridge already) and just add the ferrules that actually make contact with the string balls? Is there more to it than just the holes?
Also, the body is not finished. Its finish sanded so its very smooth but I'd like to stain it. The grain is nice enough to warrant stain (its a one piece body) but I'm not sure what to use. My first thought was a polyeurathane so that it would add a bit of a protective finish to the body. Is that going to cause any problems? I'm thinking of a darker stain to get close to the rosewood of the fretboard.
Thanks.
Tom
If the six holes are already in the bridge then it should be just a matter of lining them up and drilling through, then adding the ferrules. The ferrules I think require a slightly larger diameter hole along their length, but I'm not sure. Some of the older style Tele bridges (top load, I think) didn't have those holes. Yours is probably modeled after the newer ones.
As far as the finishing; there's a bunch of people here who have done amazing finishes. Perchance they'll chime in.
Thanks. Thats what I figured and its what I've noticed on teles in the store. I think the ferrule just requires a countersink to seat into.
Yah it's just a tiny bit wider, and they're tapped in and fit tight that way. I'm surprised nobody's answered about the finishing though. There are some really good woodworkers around here. Maybe in awhile.
While you're waiting, you might check out Guitar ReRanch. http://home.flash.net/~guitars/
Take care.
Thanks for the link. I had actually been there. The reason I was thinking a poly finish was because I'm hoping to avoid a sprayed finish. I have no where convenient to spray so that would be a hassle. I was hoping I could carefully apply a poly stain instead.
You might want to consider a Tung oil finish (sometimes just called an oil finish), it will give a beautiful finish if the wood is prepared well, is very thin so will have less effect on the tonal properties of the wood, is reletively easy to apply, is nearly as protective as a poly finish without that plastic look, and is easy to renew later if it looks a bit worn. I've only seen pictures of custom guitars with this finish but I have seen nice guitar necks done in oil. It might not give as complete a barrier to moisture, so potentially the guitar might move a bit more with the weather, but this shouldn't matter much if the grain runs lenghtwise, as it should.
Oh, I like the oil finish idea! I don't know why I didn't think of that.
Tom-
Which kit is it? Been thinking about getting a DIY Tele myself.
There are (at least) two types of ferrules: one with a lip that doesn't completely countersink and one without the lip that sinks in completely. I have guitars with each type and the completely countersunk seem nicer.
Tung oil can turn out really well, but you may wish to do some web searches about brands and types as not all yield the same results.
I recently saw a homemade Tele done in what appeared to be a satin Minwax finish over walnut stain. It looked very good, and Minwax is pretty easy to find and use. If I can find the link, I'll post it.
-Greg
-=tension & release=-
I have no idea which kit it is because it came built up. I can tell you its a lefty though and not many companies make lefty kits. The body came finished sanded really smooth. The previous owner did nothing to finish the body so it remains bare.
I'm leaning towards finishing the body with Minwax Wood Finish to get the color I want then finishing with the Minwax Tung Oil to seal it. It should be easy to find/use.
This is a guitar I bought for $56 so I'm not going to spend a huge amount of time or money finishing it off.
(Its the guitar in my avatar by the way)
Thx for the reply. Can't beat $56 if it works. Figured it would be a lefty from your avatar and "sinister." Saga seems the most popular of these kits -- dhodge has a Saga lefty. Just wondering if there are other low-cost alternatives to Warmouth and the like.
Post a picture when you finish it.
-G
-=tension & release=-
I will definitely post a shot when I'm done. I'm hoping to do it this weekend.
I emailed Saga who told me they do not make left handed kits at this time. Really makes me wonder where this guy got this one. If you're looking for a right handed kit, I have heard nothing bad about Saga's kits. I think they save a bunch in cheesy electronics and paint ready bodies (as opposed to the pretty grained stainable bodies in expensive kits).
What I like about this cheap guitar is that I don't have any fears of working on it. If I snap a neck or screw up the body I know I didn't invest much to start with and that I can just replace it. I doubt I'd feel the same way if I spent $300 on a kit.
You might want to consider a stain with a "matte" clearcoat over it. That way you get the natural look and have the beneficial protection of the clearcoat.
If you're not confident, get a hunk of scrap wood, the same that your guitar body is made of. Cut it into chunks and do some testing to see what works best.
-Metaellihead
-=tension & release=-
Greg, that's almost exactly the look I'm going for except maybe a little lighter.
Metaellihead, the Tung Oil should work well to protect the body. Plus, you can always add more later.
As promised, here are the photos of the finished (for now) guitar. The stain didn't quite work out as dark as I had originally planned but the finished colored turnout out to match the neck finish really well so I kept it. Three coats of stain and two coats of tung oil later its done.
The headstock was really hacked by the previous owner. I'm guessing he too a standard cross cut saw to it and really fouled it up. I used a Fender tele headstock template to cut it out on the bandsaw at work. There was just barely enough material left. I made up my own little "Faker Bellycaster" logo in Illustrator and printed it out adhesive backed transparency on a color laser printer. After it was finished I sprayed it with a few coats of clear laquer.
The pickguard is temporary until I find a left handed black one. I had this one made at the shop at work out of acrylic (all we had).
So here's the shots before and after:
Here's the full guitar before
After
Shot of the body before
The finished body
The horror show of a neck before
