CrazyManAndy Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 Yay! Finally, I'm starting my first build! I knew for sometime that I wanted to build a Telecaster, I just wasn't sure exactly what type I wanted to build. I eventually decided on this design: Tonal objective: I going for something that can do classic country, hard rock, and everything in between. Hopefully, this'll get me close... Wood: Body is Alder. Neck is flamed maple/flamed maple. Color scheme: Black body with white binding on the top. No pickguard. The neck is flamed maple on flamed maple. I want to keep the maple very light in color to contrast the black, but I still want to give it some subtle character. Shellac + Clear Coat is my current weapon of choice, but I'll decide for sure when I get to the testing stage. All of the hardware is going to be black. I'll probably have black dot inlays, but I may go with no inlays. Electronics: I'm using a three pickup design with a special wiring scheme. The pickups are a custom set from Tonerider. A Telecaster "Hot Classics" bridge pickup, "Hybrid 90" neck P90 for the middle pickup, and a Telecaster "Vintage Plus" neck pickup. The set was custom wound to be RWRP like a Stratocaster, and the P90 was slightly underwound. You can check out tonerider.com for more info. I highly recommend them; great prices, great pickups, and great customer service. A+++ As far as the control scheme goes, my objective is to have as many useful options as possible while making the controls intuitive and easy to use. Thankfully, I found a design JohnH came up with that uses an On/On/On DPDT switch and a 3-way Megaswitch (T-model). It gives me these options: toggle up, T-switch selects B+M, M+N, N+B toggle in center position, T-switch selects B, M, N toggle down, T-switch selects BxM, M, NxM Other specs: It's going to be rear routed, to eliminate the pickguard. Standard twenty-one frets. I'm going to do an AANJ type thing on the heel, basically just recessing it. I'm currently debating whether or not to do a belly contour (any opinions on this is more than welcome). I'm also considering making my own compensated nut. Hmmm...well, that's all the important stuff. I'll make a more detailed spec list later. Onto the build... That there is the wood. The contrasting color of the two maple pieces may pose a slight issue at the finishing stage, but we'll see. The first thing I have to do is make the templates... Template Making 1 - Here we have a piece of 3/4" MDF with the plan glued to it. I used 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to do this. It works extremely well for this task. Template Making 2 - I'm drilling "pilot holes" to make the job a little easier on myself and the jigsaw. Less chance of screwing something up. Template Making 3 - Cut through the left side. The jigsaw is really aggressive on this stuff, so you have to take it easy. Template Making 4 - Repeated the above process on the right side and I now have the template roughed out. Template Making 5 - Here I'm about to clean up the edges with the Microplane rotary shaper. It's a neat little device. Be careful, it'll chomp right through that MDF if you underestimate it. Using the shaper without a guide bearing is more an art than a science. It takes a little warming up to. BTW, I didn't go all the way to the edge. I left a little meat on it for the final bit of hand sanding. I basically just repeated the above steps for the neck template and then went on to hand sanding.... Template Making 6 - Using a normal sanding block to finish the edges is somewhat challenging. The material is relatively thin, so the block wants to lean side to side preventing me from getting nice flat edges. So I used this method to get a flat, smooth edge. It's pretty self explanatory. You can see the various items in the background that I used to sand in the tighter radiuses. (note to self: I love double sided tape!) Template Making 7 - Here is the same method on the neck template. I actually did something a little different on this template. I clamped it down to the edge of the table so I could really go at the two long stretches. Template Making 8 - The finished templates! Onto the body... The Body 1 - Shape traced onto the body blank. The Body 2 - I drilled out all of the pilot holes. Before drilling the hole on the centerline, the body moved and I went in on the line a little bit. Nothing to worry about though. I didn't go deep, and it won't matter once I route the channel for the binding. The Body 3 - Body nearly cut out. The jigsaw is much more controllable on wood than on MDF, I noticed. The Body 4 - The body has been cut out and now needs to be brought closer to the line. The Body 5 - Aligned the template onto the body and attached it with double sided tape. The Body 6 - Time to clean up the edge with the rotary shaper. Unfortunately, I ran into a few issues here. First, the guide bearing attachment is undersized. I've heard of these things being oversized but never under. In any case, I decided to wrap some duct tape around the bearing to solve the issue. I put on two laps of tape which was just perfect. And here I ran into a second issue. The shaper doesn't leave a flat surface on wood, but rather little hills and valleys. I realized I would have to sand these out, so I added two more laps of tape giving it a slight oversize. This left enough room to sand out any imperfections. The Body 7 - Ok, I'm done with the rotary shaper, now I just have to remove the template and finish up with hand sanding... The Body 8 - Ahh...it doesn't get much better than good ole' fashioned hand sanding...anyway, I finished sanding down the edges. The area between the neck pocket and the upper horn still needs a little work, but other than that it's lookin' pretty good. I also started marking out some of the measurements, neck pocket, bridge placement, and what not. Well, that's where I'm at right now. Hopefully I'll get something done on it tomorrow. Until then... CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oblaty Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 Looking forward to see more progress.. Teles are my favourite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb guitars Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 (edited) wow, ive never seen a jigsaw used in a build yet--btw:im a second project builder, that was taught differently. this was sooooooooo helpful-i now just need a drill press-relitively speaking. im so glad i saw your thread. Edited October 7, 2007 by sb guitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 (edited) Yay! Finally, I'm starting my first build! >snip< CMA Looking good so far Andy. MK Edited October 7, 2007 by MiKro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 (edited) wow, ive never seen a jigsaw used in a build yet I use a jigsaw. It works okay, although it requires a lot of clean up. If you're on a budget, I don't see why a jigsaw couldn't do an adequate job. "I'm currently debating whether or not to do a belly contour (any opinions on this is more than welcome). I'm also considering making my own compensated nut. " I recommend the belly contour. Anything that makes the guitar more comfortable to play is good, in my opinion. As to the compensated nut... I suggest you save that for another project and make a "standard" nut for your first. Of course, if you're careful, I'm sure you could do a great job of it. Me personally, I would be worried about attempting that. Just my 2 cents. Edited October 8, 2007 by Geo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zyonsdream Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Really nice work! Can’t wait to see it completed. I also really like the Telecaster shape (much better than the Stratocaster.) I never used a jig saw simply due to the damage the base plate could do to the face of the wood. On hard exotic woods it might not be an issue but on softer woods you could really cause a lot of pitting with a jig saw. I’ve cut a lot of bodies out on a 9” Ryobi table top bandsaw and it only costs $99.99 (or lower.) not much cash for the insurance. All you have to do is relief cut it and use the right blade and you’re home free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Belly cuts - I like. As for compensated nuts: why not? Worst thing that can happen is that you need to make a new one, and you're out a few bucks and some time. www.mimf.com/nutcomp outlines the how-to. Jigsaw: all I've ever used to cut out bodies. Didn't have the bandsaw until recently, see, so I haven't even been able to use that yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoCaster Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 I agree there's no such thing as too many tele's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 I never used a jig saw simply due to the damage the base plate could do to the face of the wood. On hard exotic woods it might not be an issue but on softer woods you could really cause a lot of pitting with a jig saw. Good point. The base definitely roughs up the wood. It's not an issue on a carved top, but could be on a flat top. Or you could just allow for a lot of sanding after cutting out the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTU 7's. Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 It goes very good. That neck will look nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted October 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 (edited) Thanks for the compliments! The jigsaw actually worked much better than I anticipated. I suppose the faceplate could cause some damage (compression) to the wood, if it were a very soft wood, but it didn't do much to the alder. If it did do that, you could probably just steam it out. I think I will go with the belly cut. Do you guys know how deep a belly carve usually is? By that I mean, how deep into the side (the 1 3/4"). I'm in agreement with Mattia on the compensated nut. It's not really a major expense if I screw it up. Worth a shot, anyway. Thanks for the link, that's actually the page that inspired me to consider one. Oh, and I forgot to mention in my first post, be careful when removing double-sided tape! It's super strong, and it managed to take a few splinters of wood with it... CMA Edited October 9, 2007 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Oh, and I forgot to mention in my first post, be careful when removing double-sided tape! It's super strong, and it managed to take a few splinters of wood with it... CMA I had this issues the first couple times I used it, the tape I got was ridiculously strong and I quickly understood how it could replace clamps in certain routing situations. Anyhow, something I've been doing to avoid ripping wood away is by pulling it off in the same direction that the grain goes. In one of my first double sided tape experiences I had pulled a couple pieces off some wood and one came off clean as a whistle and the other took some wood with it. I figured out that I had pulled them from different directions, so the next time I looked to see which direction the wood felt smoothest and looked lightest and pulled it that way and bingo, no more wood at all, aside from dust that would be hiding in the zebrawood pores. I don't know this methods validity, but it seems to work great for me, haven't had a single piece tear out since I figure this out. Just something to try if your problems persist. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydrogeoman Posted December 8, 2007 Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 Andy, Glad to see you are moving forward with your build. With that, I am reviving your thread to find out if you have any more progress to post. I can't wait to see your neck finished. That fretboard is going to look sweet. Oh by the way, can you tell me where you got your tele drawings? Keep up the good work! Cheers, Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibanezcollector Posted December 8, 2007 Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 nice work, im def subscribed.. Where did you get the templates? did you make them yourself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killemall8 Posted December 8, 2007 Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 nice work, im def subscribed.. Where did you get the templates? did you make them yourself? look at the first post. then look at the 8 links that say: template making 1-8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted December 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 Hehe, thanks for bumping my thread Greg! I really am trying to get some work done on it. I finally get the chance to start the build, and shortly thereafter I find myself too busy to mess with it! But things are calming down now, so I hope to get some serious work done very soon. Starting work on the neck is actually what I plan to do next. As for the templates, the body drawing was created by Terry Downs, a veteran member of TDPRI, and the neck drawing was put together by another member of TDPRI, Andre Ripoll. If any of you guys would like to have the drawings, I would be more than happy to provide them. Just shoot me a PM! CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted December 8, 2007 Report Share Posted December 8, 2007 I dig your method for going about building, CMA. Very methodical and planned out..... Nothing like myself I had a question/suggestion, depending on how you take it. Would it be easier to drill the holes through the template and then use the template as a kind of drill press jig to do the actual drilling into the body? I don't know how/if it would help or not, just throwing that out there. And interesting rotary shaper you've got there, looks like a beast! It'd eat my mahogany body for lunch! I'm glad it worked for you, I'm investing in a robosander myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RjY Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Smooth work CMA, looks good, clean and methodical.... i think we could all take a lesson or two from that................................. RjY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted February 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 (edited) New update! Yee-haw! Here I have drawn the shape onto the maple, as well as the center line and nut position: First thing to do is route the slot for the truss rod! The Neck 1 - I started off by drilling two pilots holes with a 1/4" bit in the drill press. I used tape on the bit to know when I drilled to the desired depth (7/16"). The Neck 2 - Close up, Point A The Neck 3 - Close up, Point B The Neck 4 - Another view The Neck 5 - Here you can see the guide setup I used to keep the router centered on the center line. Pretty self-explanatory. The Neck 6 - The truss rod route is complete! I made two passes total, a 1/4" pass followed by a 3/16" pass. Worked like a charm! The adjustment nut is wider than the rest of the rod, so some of the wood had to be chiseled out to make room. Not too pretty, but it won't matter since the fretboard will cover it up. Also, the brass block at Point B was sitting slightly proud, so I chiseled off just a bit of the wood under it so the block would sit flush. The Neck 7 - Close up, Point A The Neck 8 - Close up, Point B That was my first time using a router! A fun tool, and a slightly scary one too! I have to say, I am extremely impressed with the Hitachi router (KM12VC). It has very solid construction, and comes packed with many nice accessories. The motor is extremely smooth (and powerful), the variable speed is awesome, and it was pretty darn quiet, overall. It's very easy to adjust the height on the fixed base, smooth as a baby's bottom. I haven't used the plunge base yet, but, toying around with it, seems pretty nice as well. Using a slow, steady pace, and the nice bit I got from Stew-Mac, it sailed right through the figured maple with no problem. To bring it all home, it also has an excellent price for routers in this range. Great job, Hitachi! A+ Xanthus: Good idea, using the template to drill the tuner holes! I think you made a good call getting the robosander. As time goes by, I am less and less impressed by the rotary shaper. The robosander just seems like it would work better for most things and the replacement sleeves are much cheaper than those for the rotary shaper. Dust issues can be minimized significantly, if not eliminated, with a shop-vac. I'm sure I'll get a robosander before too long, I'll do a side-by-side comparison then. Anyway, that's all for now! I'll probably be busy the rest of the week, so I may not get much done until next week. Plus, I'll be getting a band saw then! That'll be fun. CMA Edited February 19, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Good to see some work on this one! And always good to see wood that you can get two blanks out of. Now there's no excuse NOT to do a second one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 Just a note on Robosanders: the finish you get with a template bit and a router is much smoother and more accurate with respect to the template you've made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiki Posted February 7, 2008 Report Share Posted February 7, 2008 (edited) Well, I built a tele in the last year. I'm not a luthier, it was my first try. the photos are on my site (www.kiyoto.xpg.com.br/telecaster/). the text is in portuguese, sorry, but I think the photos can help you. if you need to understand something, just ask me and I'll try to help you! Edited February 7, 2008 by kiki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted April 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 (edited) Finally! An update! I meant to post a quick note some time back but never got the chance. Out of the blue, I had to go out of town for a month which is the reason for the long silence. However, I'm back now, so I can resume progress on the build. Good to see some work on this one! And always good to see wood that you can get two blanks out of. Now there's no excuse NOT to do a second one You bet! I'll definitely make another neck with it eventually. I'm going to wait until I finish this one, just in case I screw it up and need to make another. Just a note on Robosanders: the finish you get with a template bit and a router is much smoother and more accurate with respect to the template you've made. You are correct, my good sir. I've taken your advice of using the robo-sander to bring the edge close to the line and finishing the edge with the router. More on that below. I'm going to use the band saw to cut the shape out. The Neck 9 - Another view of the neck blank before cutting. The Neck 10 - I've taken one side off. This was only my second time using the band saw, so I didn't want to chance it and get too close to the line (nothing the robo-sander can't handle, in any case). The Neck 11 - Finished cutting out the shape. Starting to look like a neck now. The Neck 12 - Another view. The Neck 13 - Another view. The Neck 14 - Another view. The Neck 15 - Now it's time to drill the tuner holes. I'm going to do as Xanthus suggested and drill them into the template first and then use that as a guide. My dad devised this method of drilling consistent tuner holes. Note the straight edge. The flat side of the headstock is pressed up against the straight edge, and the small tick mark on the bottom of the headstock is lined up with one of the arrows marked onto the table. The arrows are evenly spaced so the distance between the holes is consistent. The Neck 16 - I marked each hole with the tip of the bit to make sure the setup was accurate. The Neck 17 - Another view. The Neck 18 - The tuner holes are drilled. Not bad. The tuners are supposed to require a 13/32" hole, but the first hole was a little too large, so I switched to a slightly smaller bit, 3/8". I don't know if it was the bit, the tuners, or maybe run-out from the drill press that caused the oversize hole. The tuners fit snuggly into place after switching to the 3/8" bit. The Neck 19 - I reattached the template and drilled the tuner holes into the actual neck. I drilled from behind so that all of the splintering occurs on the face of the headstock. When I remove a 1/4" from the face, the tuner holes will be clean and crisp. The Neck 20 - Tuner holes done. The Neck 21 - I used the robo-sander to bring the edges down as much as possible, leaving only a little bit for the router to remove. I also did a little hand sanding after finishing with the robo-sander, using the same method I used on the template. The Neck 22 - Finished sanding. Note the lamp attached to the left side of the drill press. Great shop lamp! I picked it up on one my visits to the Woodcraft store. It has a magnetic base, so you can attach it to a variety of things and move it to wherever it's needed. It also comes with a couple of nice accessories. I think they were on sale too, so I got a great deal. The Neck 23 - Considering what tools I had available to me, I decided that the best way to get a good edge would be with a router and a template bit. You can see here the setup I used to route the edge. Looks simple, yeah? Well, it was probably the most aggravating few hours of the build so far. I'm not going to bother re-telling the whole story, but lets just say I made some stupid mistakes. Thankfully, I managed to avoid screwing up the neck. Toward the end of the ordeal, I had streamlined the process quite a bit, so if I ever have to do it again, it won't be nearly as difficult. I'll go over the basic procedure. I did three passes total with the 3/8" template bit I got from Stew-mac. For the first pass, I attached the template, then removed it for the final two passes. As you can see in the picture, I basically clamp one end of the neck down and route the edge of the free end. Turn it around 180, clamp it again, and route the other side. The Neck 24 - Another view. The thin strip of wood on the bottom will be taken off on the third pass. The Neck 25 - Here is the neck as it is now. Looking pretty good so far. I feel I may have placed the truss rod route a little too close to the end of the neck. I don't know. If I think it might be an issue, I can always fill it in a little. The Neck 26 - Another view. The Neck 27 - Another view. Everyday I learn something new. Today, I learned how valuable a router table really is. CMA Edited April 14, 2008 by CrazyManAndy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 Looking good! Necks are cool because you end using so many different tools to build them, it can be a pain, but I just enjoy figuring it all out. That is a nice piece of maple you got, I didn't quite notice the figure until the neck was closer to shape. I saw some figure in the blank, but maybe the angle took away much of what it actually looked like. Anyhow, your tools and process seemed to work out well enough. Just like you I did my neck without a router table and ended up using a table saw table and fence and still needed all types of clamps and straight edges it was a pain, now I have a table, lol. In the pictures when you were cutting the neck, did you have the bearings closer to the cutting surface than the pictures show? I can't remember where, maybe in the manual of the saw, it suggests keeping the length of exposed blade within an inch of your woods thickness. This helps avoid poor cuts, deflection, and so on. I was wanted to mention that just in case, as it can help to improve cuts. I still catch myself once in a while forgetting to adjust the cutting height. Anyhow, can't wait to see how this turns out, nice work. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanthus Posted April 14, 2008 Report Share Posted April 14, 2008 Talk about a resurrection! Good to see this one back on the boards, CMA. I'd say that truss channel is a little close to the edge. Does the rod really take up all that length? If not, I might want to fill it, especially since you don't want the rod sliding back and forth. I found another interesting way to go about finishing the neck. It involves, well... just click the link! With a finished fretboard, you can glue it and use it to run your router bearing up against. Or, if you're not planning on gluing the board on yet, make a template and save the board for gluing later. Streamlining is key Every time I go down the basement, I spend 3/4 of my time planning and constructing jigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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