Drak Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Looks great so far, I like the originality of the design, and anything remotely Tele I keep an open mind on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Thanks Drak.. I too share a love of teles.. I just prefer a neck HB and a different control config. i'll get that korina one finished as soon as this one is out the door. Just have to make a neck for it. The body is ready to finish. It's regular tele pups too.. it'll have a good vintage tone pup-wise and i'm hoping that korina will warm it up just a tad to tone down the quack.. Speaking of neck carving, I kept dreading the neck process but that is absolutely the coolest part of the whole deal. I'm almost finished with the thing and have done it all with a scraper as my spokeshave is not with me at the moment.. took about an hr to get 80% done but it's smooth as glass and the flame is coming out super. I'll get pick of the progress up later today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Glued the fretboard onto the flame maple blank. Blank was profiled and the headstock was thicknessed. Also a lovely view of the tile in my bathroom lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 After shaving the fingerboard flush with my scrapers and sanding block, i started carving. like I said, i'm about 80% done and it's all with scraper and sand paper so it takes a while! but the feel is supurb and the figure is coming out nicely. Looks much more "flamy" in purson. Not the best picture but you can see the general shape and grain of the neck. I'm doing kind of a reverse taper.. a chunky V at the low end for chording and digging into those bends and such, and a thinner flatter profile up top for easier fret access and finger speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Here is a closeup of the heel where you can better see the woods. The ziricote fretboard is very nice looking, i'm really liking that wood a lot. Items left to do are trim the nut end of the FB, drill tuner holes and press the frets. I'm thinking about an oil finish on the neck. I don't want to mess up how nice that maple feels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 And lastly (whew) here is the whole thing fit together. Here is a closeup of the neck joint. Getting exciting to see it all coming together. Hopefully i can get started on the blueburst next week. edit... yes there is a gap you see under the FB.. it's where the neck isn't attached and is leaning back against the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Definitely unique guitar, I like it.. good work man, especially going back and repairing things about the guitar you wasn't happy with, that shows you are patient and have pride in your work.. that's a good sign... More pics please.. haha.. oh yeah and sound clips.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 yeah i'll definnitely do some cound clips when it's done. i'm using GFS pickups and several folks wanted to know how they sounded. This one will have his 8.2k tele bridge pup in it, total vintage with cord wrap and everything. thing is heavy as hell. Will have the liverpool alnico filtertron pup in the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 Nothing more going on with this guitar? I keep coming back to see if there's any new news and there never is I love the body shape, like a siren it calls me back every time. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanter Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 wow, that fretboard is.....phew...damn...nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 The one and only thing that I think would make it look better is binding the fretboard. Especially since the body is bound, I think it would look more 'finished' if the fretboard was bound, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted September 19, 2005 Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 I like the pickup config. The right sounds there for sure! I would drop a 59 in the neck and a hot tele for the bridge -Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted September 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2005 The one and only thing that I think would make it look better is binding the fretboard. Especially since the body is bound, I think it would look more 'finished' if the fretboard was bound, too. ← one thing at a time dude Never did any binding before so I stuck to the body for now. Other issue is I did a fender style neck and the binding can't follow the whole neck profile.. you have to stop it at the interface curve.. just keeping this one plain and simple. As to status.. I just moved took a job in nashville and had to leave my family in east tennessee.. I haven't gotten set up here yet but I am getting hooked up with some good woodshops to let me have some shop time and getting my own space set up where I staying, to do all my non-power stuff and my spraying. Thanks for the interest fellas.. Hadn't looked in a while. I promise i'll get back on it real soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted January 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 I have FINALLY gotten to get back to this thing. It's been so hectic here in nashvegas i haven't had much time.. I commute 4 hrs home every weekend to see my fam so i'm pretty much brain dead every evening. Anyway, since i last typed the neck has been carved and fitted with SS frets.. They look killer on the ziricote board. Anxious to get the neck finished and the final level done. My headstock was a bit too thin so I laminated a piece of ziricote on the back to add about 1/8 thickness to it. It's coming along real nicely. A little more shaping to blend it in and that'll be done. I did screw up the freatboard at the nut end, where it chipped out on me. So instead of a fender style nut, i'll have to file the whole bed flat and put in a gibson style.. shouldn't be too big a deal. Just one of those things.. seems half of this job is problem solving little things like that.. The body: The back will be black and I have to shoot it still.. but the top is just about ready to clear. This is a dark blue on flamed with a black burst, and the flast lit it up a bit. It's a little darker than that in person which is the desired effect.. have to scrape the binding still.. if you're wondering where it went.. it has paint on it.. Other pics.. Body CloseupGrain CloseupWhole GuitarThat's it for now. My father in law had a spare Nitrogen rig laying around so that's what I am spraying with. it's nice, pure propellant.. not moisture to mess with.. Expensive to get started with but he has extra regulators and stuff so it's not bad.. Just don't want to be around if the head ever breaks off one of those things I've got my bottle tightly secured to the wall.. it's a 3500 lb bottle so it's not something to be taken lightly.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted January 20, 2006 Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 Looks nice I would either stain or paint the headstock to make it darker so it matches the body better. Other than that I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted January 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2006 I was really fighting doing that, but you're not the first person to suggest it.. so I might just do it. I still have some black mixed too so I could even burst it to match if I really wanted to dial it in. It's a flamed neck so it would certainy bring out the fig. Looks nice I would either stain or paint the headstock to make it darker so it matches the body better. Other than that I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaxination Posted August 3, 2006 Report Share Posted August 3, 2006 i was cruising some old posts to get my fix and i thought i would bump this up to see if we can a get an update pic of the axe in its full glory with its finish and final assembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted January 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Some time I could post more of the progress shots - but the last post was Jan of 2006 and I'm just now getting it finished!! Honestly, i've moved a couple of times, changed jobs several times - this thing has sat in a box for years. Took some dings and scratches, so I sanded off the blue and went with an amber. This was my first actual build that I started and i wanted to get it finished - so i certainly accepted some imperfections, but I learned a lot and it really plays pretty well. It SOUNDS incredible.. The vintage style tele bridge is would pretty hot. In combination with the warm neck pickup, it really rings clear as a bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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