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I agree with you about the hardware, I especially do not like the old bridges with the barrel saddles for two strings at a time. I don't even like gold hardware as a general rule.......but this top... in this color....is just begging for it. SR

Bonus today, I designed a jig to drill the cable channels... Only the diagonal channel made but got the concept down. The right part of the code is the block builder. The left creates the right lines to create the drill tube and then extend it drill tool side.... I will cnc the jig as a 2 parts flat vice that fits in the cavity with the hole predilled (ball mill). This way I dont need a jig to do the jig...

I really like the pickup choice actually. I think it's a nice combination. I just have never been a fan of the classical tele hardware, I think it hides too much of the top. Just a matter of taste really, some people swear by that. The gold in on point with the stain though, so hats off for that!

Thanks Asdrael! It does indeed have personality.....junkyard dog maybe? I'm presuming the choices you'd had made differently are the pickups and tele hardware? The P-rails are nice, quite good even. I like different aspects of them than I expected to. I like them in humbucker mode more than either single coil. The humbucker in series is hot and will push the amp nicely, and in parallel it is sweet and clean with some nice growl with a heavy attack. The P-90 and rail are fine but I've heard better. The green one I just built for example. As far as all the combinations you can get out of both pickups at the same time, I just don't hear enough differences between any of them to make it worth the effort. SR

Here's my 3rd carved body. Finally up to speck.

No, not how I figured in the previous post! You were chopping firewood when you suddenly realized the gorgeousness of a couple of pieces but some damage had already been done which you cleverly fixed by putting the cracks on opposite bouts.

Great work (and nice pictures to boot!). Two thumbs up, and that's only because I only have two hands. There are some choices that I would not have made but that makes it even more of a personal instrument and the end result looks awesome so that's what counts. It oozes personality (Side note: how are you liking the p-rails? I am tempted to have a build around those at some point...)

Haha, didn't notice that! Now it's time to change the explanation: You must have noticed the cracks (caused by an axe) and stabilized them by putting a solid piece on the opposide face.

An axe maybe? If you take another look, you might notice that your images are from opposite edges of the body, which would take be an even larger mishap to create. SR

Ahh... I was wondering how a crack like that would be possible in a dual layer body.

Aw Biz. These first shots were taken on my back patio table under the umbrella. What you are seeing is the reflection of one of the ribs of the umbrella. No worries and no cracks. SR

The huge crack in the upper lower bout looks frightening but apparently you've stabilized it with epoxy or CA. This one:

And these are noticeably in direct sunlight. SR

Older brother got dragged into the situation. The tops on both of these came from the same board. The bodies are cut from the same pattern. Any subtle differences beyond that are due to the needs of the hardware and the fact that they are hand carved and sanded, so every thing is slightly unique. These shots were taken in full shade, but obviously with plenty of reflected light around. SR

I got my final pix taken. I'm going to post a ridiculous amount, because we are all acting bored and there needs to be more pictures to look at. I'm doing my part dammit! SR

Cheers Scott! The initial verdict is WOWZER! I went very unconventional here, and I guess a bit of an explanation is in order. My original intention was to go with a combo I had tried and liked in the past. Klein fat tele in the bridge and high wind P-90 in the neck. I'd gone to a Steel Woods concert whilst mentally designing this thing and they play a lot of teles with P-90s in one or the other or both positions and I was really enjoying the tone. My nephew now owns my Les Tele I built with that combination, so I no longer had one of my own. I placed my order on line with Klein and they accepted my money. But I never heard back. The website was active and my order is registered with a not shipped yet status. Email inquiries went unanswered, except there is a blurb on the website describing lead times with a notation the multiple emails inquiring will cause the address to be flagged as spam. To be fair, Klein has always had a long lead time, but also has been responsive to email inquiries. And the pick-ups have always been worth the wait,,,,even if the wait caused a several month delay in my build. I've come to the conclusion that the dude succumbed to covid and no one remained that could run his business or manage the website, and it was just functioning on auto pilot. Eventually I gave up and explored Lollar pick-ups, having noted that some of the artists I follow that use Kleins, also use Lollar. Staying with my original plan I put a Lollar tele J street bridge in it https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-telecaster-pickups/tele-j-street-bridge And a Lollar P-90 high wind soapbar bridge in the neck. That is the closest thing to the Klein I had ordered, and I did say unconventional https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-p-90-pickups/p-90-soapbar-high-wind-bridge-only The P-90 is fat warm and punchy and pushes the amp pretty good. That's a pretty good description of the tele bridge as well except it doesn't push the amp quite as hard and high attack brings out the tele twang while high attack on the P-90 makes you think more of a vintage PAF tone with P-90 bite. Together in series they really push the amp into a great sounding overdrive. I have an Oak Grigsby four way switch in it so the fourth position is together in parallel which doesn't sound all that different than the bridge alone to be honest. Of course with both pups wound in the same direction/polarity, the humbucking ability is lost (but not that I notice) and supposedly they are out of phase, and so the series/parallel aspect may be all out of whack too. I like what I hear so far, but that hasn't been extensive yet. I could discover something I don't like and replace the neck with a conventionally would neck instead..... I do so enjoy being unconventional though! SR

Thanks guys, @Andyjr1515and @ScottR. The thing for me is that I can use this base for painting car wheels and what not. The part that guitar bodies really need, is a subset of this thing. And even that part can be simplified a lot. Using brass bushings instead of bearings and stuff like that this could probably be made to a niche product.

looks great Scott! Whats the verdict on the Lollar? Which p90 wind did you go with? and maybe I missed it- whats the bridge pickup?

I built all of my T and S-type neck with the 2-way rod upside-down. Not a single guitar has ever come back with a broken neck or even a complaint from the buyer because the rod had to be adjusted "the wrong way." I never had to force a rod to straighten a bow or even go too far off slack to get the job done. So, to me, the issue of right or wrong is moot. Just put it in the user manual which way the adjustment goes; that's all it takes.

I agree with @Andyjr1515! SR

Thanks, there not much more about the jig in this thread. I can take a few pictures, but like said I didn't plan much ahead, so not everything is how I would make them if I was to build a second one. I think it could be simplified here and there without sacrificing anything.

That man knows what he's talking about.

For the last 20+ years I've been a member of another, most American forum. Our Finnish community has been holding (semi-)annual meetings and of course it involves posting pictures of the event or it doesn't happen. Sauna... Need I say more?

I would not recommend taping over a colour coat, I have pulled paint off before doing that, the colour is always very delicate - it's not the end of the world if it's a solid colour because you can touch it up but if it's a cherry shader etc, you are never hiding that without stripping it all and doing it again. I tend to tape off the edge of the top if that is going to be natural, spray the colour coat on the back/side then pull the tape and tidy up edges before spraying clear. There is a bit of a ridge to begin with but if you spray a couple of coats, do some levelling and spray a couple more, the ridge should disappear.

I had seen youtube videos of guitars being painted with a jig like that, and figured that that is very handy indeed, you built one (which looks better and is more compact!)! Looks great, will need to read the rest of the thread to see if you've posted more info, but if not, please do