(i.e. New 1/2 Guitar Day)
I'll be putting together a new tele-type guitar soon (from parts, because I'm not a wood working wizard), just done finishing the body:
The finish looks a bit flat here, I had to take these pictures before packing it up (might go into that story later...), it does actually have some nice flame.
I'm trying to come up with a name, my guitars to date haven't needed them since someone has been good enough to name them already. Since the finish is called 'burning sun' I was thinking of something sun-themed. Possibly Hyperion, though it's not a woman's name.
Oh I like the finish on that!!!!
I can make out the grain, and Im sure it looks sweet in person. What kind of wood is it made out of?
Keep us posted. Id like to see how it comes together.
Paul B
Oh I like the finish on that!!!!
I can make out the grain, and Im sure it looks sweet in person. What kind of wood is it made out of?
Keep us posted. Id like to see how it comes together.
There were a a few reasons for trying to build rather than buying one, one of those was I don't really like the finish on any tele up to Mexican (the squier classic vibes are nice, but butterscotch blonde isn't my thing). It's Alder, a 3-piece body, but quite light. Leaving the finish for another day of curing before I start trying to put it together. In the meantime some pictures of assembled parts...
Well, that was a bit of a saga. I didn't get much time playing it in the end, since it's going to live with my parents (saves me flying with a guitar when I visit them).
Things started off okay,
However when I got to fitting the bridge pickup the slot in the bridge was a bit tight (and had a rough edge) and caught the pickup tape. Result dead pickup and a morning winding back wire,
After much cursing I wound off about 2.5k of wire, taking a 16.1k pickup (they're tapped at 10k) down to 13.6k. Since I believed the break was at the edge, and therefore near the surface (wrong, I took off 8 layers and there were 3 breaks), I hadn't tried to do it in a way that I could wind it back on and it was too tangled to rewind. So the pickup was soldered back up and I set about punishing the bridge plate with a set of files and sandpaper. To anyone else fitting a tele bridge I would say if you have any doubt about the pickup fit then put the pickup down and use files, grinders, dynamite, whatever it takes to make the slot a comfortable fit and save yourself a lot of pain later.
With the bridge suitably chastened and the neck fitted I put on some shielding and then set about the pickguard.
No photographs of this, but the overhang on a 22 fret telecaster neck makes it difficult to fit the scratchplate with pickup attached and the neck on. Having already shown the bridge plate who was in charge I wasn't prepared to take any nonsense from a piece of vinyl. So I cut more neck room into the scratch plate. The difference is only noticeable very close up inspecting the overhang and life is simpler.
Looking like a guitar, but not electric yet. Pickups and jack are wired to small barrier strip terminals, so wiring up the control plate is fairly simple. Tried a 33nF tone capacitor, which turns out more subtle than the 47nF I'm used to. Maybe I should have used a few more wire colours for future reference...
Gratuitous close up shot of the finished item, I'll claim this is to illustrate the intonation is a little off since the nut isn't cut quite right, a job for the summer:
And the finished item:
There are a few more pictures in the same flickr set if you follow any of those links.
As I said, didn't actually get much time playing it, and it's the first time I've tried using my camera for recording, but here's a rough sample on soundcloud.
Looks nice!
Paul B
Looks nice!
Thanks!
