RFR Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Here is a Custom Tele I am building for my buddy Will Boggs of WB pickups. Specs; Chambered Ash core with Mahogany back and top. Double bound body with bound F hole 2 strat pickups with a Tele bridge pickup Koa neck with rosewood fingerboard This is super light, and will can experiment on different pickup combos More pics will come as it progresses. Cheers Roman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Ooh, that looks amazing! Love the mahogany! I've never seen that kind of color on a Tele shape, it looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X1TX Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Love it. And about 90% of the Tele's I see have the maple fretboards. So I always like a Tele with a rosewood or dark wood fretboard. And Tele's look great in natural wood tones (not painted). Me likey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted June 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Thanks guys. I am a big fan of natural wood.The combo of woods seem to compliment each other. I'll be putting on gold hardware and may leave it with out a pickgaurd as well. I love thinlines, but have never been fond of the way the pickgaurd "misses" the bottom horn. Right now I have a bunch of guitars in the works, so it might be a little bit before I do updates on this build. cheers, Roman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 I'll be putting on gold hardware and may leave it with out a pickgaurd as well. I love thinlines, but have never been fond of the way the pickgaurd "misses" the bottom horn. Wow, gold hardware will look amazing on that mahogany!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted July 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Hi Folks, nothing too earthshattering with the build but; The body is all sanded and I applied some tobacco stain and sealed up the body. I will put it aside while I work on the neck for now. I know it is probably just another boring tele, but I love them! Heck in the 80s I did enough wild body designs to last me a lifetime! cheers Roman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 (edited) Stunning guitar! A telecaster boring? NEVER! CMA Edited July 18, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpm99 Posted July 18, 2008 Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Roman, I think what I like most about your guitars is that they seem to always look just right. I mean, you'd think a middle pickup would look weird on a Tele, but somehow it looks like it belongs on that guitar. Well done, as always. -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted July 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2008 Roman, I think what I like most about your guitars is that they seem to always look just right. I mean, you'd think a middle pickup would look weird on a Tele, but somehow it looks like it belongs on that guitar. Well done, as always. -Dave Dave, thanks so much! more pics as we progress! Roman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 (edited) Time to get this one off of page 4. The thread has been buried! I have been working on the Koa neck. The blank has been rough shaped. the next step is to drill for the truss rod nut. I just find the center point and drill, nothing fancy. Now I remove the F/B which is just glued with a couple of drops of glue and break out my trusty truss rod jig. It is a very simple yet effective jig. It screws onto the neck with 2 screws and the router sits inside the walls, giving you a clean straight route every time. This neck is getting a simple double action truss rod that sits on a flat bottom. Edited July 30, 2008 by RFR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 (edited) Here we are doing the actual truss rod route. The tape on the jig is to show where you stop the route. Here is a shot of the completed route with the rod laid in. Edited July 30, 2008 by RFR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted July 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Here is the last for today. The neck is getting a soft V carve. Here is the initial rough carve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 I know it is probably just another boring tele, but I love them! No, that's lovely! The simplicity of that body is really beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted July 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 I know it is probably just another boring tele, but I love them! No, that's lovely! The simplicity of that body is really beautiful. You are a good man, Geo. Glad we see eye to eye! Roman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 Hi Folks, nothing too earthshattering with the build but; The body is all sanded and I applied some tobacco stain and sealed up the body. I will put it aside while I work on the neck for now. I know it is probably just another boring tele, but I love them! Heck in the 80s I did enough wild body designs to last me a lifetime! cheers Roman Wow, Wow and Wow! This is exactly the kind of project I'd like to do someday. I've got a bit of backlog though so it'll have to wait. Love the wood and binding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 I know it is probably just another boring tele, but I love them! No, that's lovely! The simplicity of that body is really beautiful. You are a good man, Geo. Glad we see eye to eye! There's a dang good reason that the same basic shapes have been selling consistently for the last 60 years. The simple, classic beauty of the Strat, LP, and Tele are undeniable. The PRS & SG are just more variations on a theme. Even in many of the BC Rich bodies, you can see a Strat or Tele. No, you can never go worng with something that's been proven to stand the test of time. On a different note, Strats & Teles are kinda like a VW bug. I know... I've said this before, but it's still true. You can paint those shapes however you like and it'll still look right. VW in lime green with purple racing stripes? Looks great. Strat in the same scheme? Yep. On the other hand, try and make a Les Paul in fuscha with a H-S-S setup & a Floyd Rose. While the color might be garish, it'd be OK on a strat, but not a LP. That makes a Strat or Tele a LOT more universal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted July 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 I know it is probably just another boring tele, but I love them! No, that's lovely! The simplicity of that body is really beautiful. You are a good man, Geo. Glad we see eye to eye! There's a dang good reason that the same basic shapes have been selling consistently for the last 60 years. The simple, classic beauty of the Strat, LP, and Tele are undeniable. The PRS & SG are just more variations on a theme. Even in many of the BC Rich bodies, you can see a Strat or Tele. No, you can never go worng with something that's been proven to stand the test of time. How true. They just work! Speaking of work, to me a Good Tele is truly the work horse of guitars. Whereas a nice Les Paul or PRS are The high maintenance "beauty Queens" A good Tele is like an old Timex watch, " takes a licking and keeps on ticking". Teles, I love them. Roman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X1TX Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 How true. They just work! Speaking of work, to me a Good Tele is truly the work horse of guitars. Whereas a nice Les Paul or PRS are The high maintenance "beauty Queens" A good Tele is like an old Timex watch, " takes a licking and keeps on ticking". Teles, I love them. Roman Just about everyone I know that has a 'real job' as a musician has a Tele that looks like it was brought to work by dragging it down the street. They all manage to get great tone out of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dudz Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 How true. They just work! Speaking of work, to me a Good Tele is truly the work horse of guitars. Whereas a nice Les Paul or PRS are The high maintenance "beauty Queens" A good Tele is like an old Timex watch, " takes a licking and keeps on ticking". Teles, I love them. Roman Just about everyone I know that has a 'real job' as a musician has a Tele that looks like it was brought to work by dragging it down the street. They all manage to get great tone out of them. Really! I only know two people in my area who own telecasters one is an idiot friend who used his fathers credit card to buy a $900 tele because he liked the neck and the other assembled his from various parts. The first has been playing since Christmas and the other is a proffessional musician. One plays classic rock and the other plays pop rock with completely different tones and similar guitars and each is beaten one from idiot abuse and one from road wear but they still work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted August 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 (edited) I often times asemmble a guitar I am building before doing the finish. There are a couple of reasons. a) I like to do a final neck carve with strings on. No matter how they feel when you carve them they feel different once the strings go on. this also gives me a chance to work out any minor bugs in the build. This one passed all tests with flying colors! I have enjoyed playing it. Edited August 12, 2008 by RFR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted August 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 (edited) Should any one care to follow along, here is a link to the original build thread. http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/luthiers-c...ups-dilema.html Here is the Koa Neck after a coat of nitro. Edited August 12, 2008 by RFR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted August 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 (edited) Here is the headstock with the rist decal in place. I was going to do an inlay at first, but couldn't bear to hide the figure in the Koa under black paint. I am sure there are guys that could actually inlay my logo without any filler. but........................I'm not one of them! So, I did a decal. Edited August 12, 2008 by RFR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avengers63 Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 Why would you need to paint the headstock just because you inlaid the logo? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RFR Posted August 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 (edited) Why would you need to paint the headstock just because you inlaid the logo? I guess you missed this in the last post. I am sure there are guys that could actually inlay my logo without any filler. but........................I'm not one of them! For me, that would be real tricky to do a gap less inlay of my name by hand. I build guitars. I am not an inlay artist. maybe you are but I'm not. Edited August 12, 2008 by RFR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Traveler Posted August 12, 2008 Report Share Posted August 12, 2008 beautiful work, looking forward to my own tele build this fall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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