Drak - Rising Sun Steerhead Telecaster

[Drak]

Here is another Roundup/Steerhead Tele I'm building.

These are my absolute favorite guitars ergonomically, looks-wise, electronics-wise, just all around.

I have found my Guitar Nirvana, and see no need to leave the Promised Land .

These guitars can pretty much do any kind of music you care to play on them, from the cleanest jazz you can imagine to ~just this side of Metal, and everything you can imagine in-between. World-pop, .alt country (really perfect), hard rock, Beatles tunes, you name it, they'll pull it off.

True Versatility.

Exactly what I had always imagined many many years ago when I started building, this is what I always had in mind, it took me many years to truly realize that dream, but these guitars hit it right on the head.

The point where the strap attaches puts the neck Right There for me, just perfect hang.

That's why my only other builds right now are the double-cuts, because the neck attachment point is exactly at the same place.

So here's the latest (5th) one, Rising Sun.

This one was actually started back when I was building the others, about 3-5 years ago,

it got to a finished and sanded raw body, and that is where I picked it up this Spring.

Black Limba body

Figured Maple top

Warmoth 'Fatback' Mahogany/Rosewood neck

EMG active control harness

Lace Hot Gold pickups

Let's get started!

[Drak]

[Drak]

The rear of the body has been filled with CYA glue, sanded flat and levelled.

I love that stuff.

[Drak]

On to the FUN part!

[Drak]

Everything you see above was either wiped on or sprayed directly onto the raw wood.

Now we get to some lacquer finishing.

Clear coats, let dry for a few weeks, sand level, then apply tinted toner coats, then more clear.

The back has not been addressed yet, it's still clear.

[Drak]

Now on to blackening out the pickup cavities and the steerhead inside edge.

The interior of the steerhead cutout is masked off, I didn't want the black to cover the inside, just to blacken the edge of the cutout, and leave the clear Limba look if you happen to peek inside.

[Drak]

I don't bother whipping out the spray gun to do this part, I always keep a few rattle cans of black lacquer around the house for stuff like this and other things, it's just quick and easy, down and dirty, no guns to clean, no mixes to make.

[ScottR]

Dude, that scroll saw of yours must have some real balls!

I'm glad to see you add another one to this series. I got here too late to see the earlier ones, other than a few tantalizing glimpses that got tossed up in other threads. This is remarkably good looking of course.

Do I understand correctly that you use med CYA (or was it thin) and a couple of dozen foam brushes to spread it? How many coats do you normally take to get a complete grain fill?

SR

[Drak]

Let's leave the body front for a few minutes and back up to the neck.

It's a Warmoth Fatback Mahogany/Rosewood neck, and here is my typical headstock veneer process.

Maple veneer is rough cut to shape, glued on, drilled out and shape-sanded.

Then dye is applied, clearcoated, left to dry for a few weeks, sanded flat, edge-bursted, then cleared over again.

[Drak]

Dude, that scroll saw of yours must have some real balls!

It does indeed, I have been touting the benefits of my Delta scrollsaw around here for many years.

My first one broke after a few years (it was actually a small part that did it in, I couldn't find a replacement part for it, but the unit itself was still fine)

Anyway, I bought some other unit to take it's place and it was a complete joke, I couldn't cut a piece of balsa wood with it, so I immediately returned it and went online to find another beloved Delta scrollsaw, they are tough indeed.

I'm glad to see you add another one to this series.

I got here too late to see the earlier ones, other than a few tantalizing glimpses that got tossed up in other threads.

This is remarkably good looking of course.

Thank You very much, I'm glad you like it!

Do I understand correctly that you use med CYA (or was it thin) and a couple of dozen foam brushes to spread it?

How many coats do you normally take to get a complete grain fill?

Yes, I use both medium and water-thin, just depends on the wood and my mood that day, they both work well, but yes, usually it's the medium viscosity that gets used.

The black foam brushes, I might go through 3 for an application.

The glue will start to smoke up and dry on the foam after about 1.5 minutes, so what I usually do, since I know it's going to happen, is prepare well, act quick, and once it smokes, I take a pair of scissors and cut the brush in half, which gives me a new 'face' to use for another 1.5 minutes.

They're less than .50/each, so it doesn't bother me to go through a few as the results are great, I love using that stuff now.

On to the rear.

The body is Black Limba, the neck Mahogany.

I'm going to shoot both with a toner coat to make them appear similar and match, and the color will match the color used on the front as well.

Here we go!

[Drak]

I wanted to bring up a feature about my builds that I really love, the ability to have interior chambers AND a rear belly route.

It just takes some careful measuring to be able to achieve this, here are some example pics to show.

I do this before the top goes on, I measure everything out so once it's all glued up, I already have the measurement I need when tearing into the back route that I won't hit the chamber and destroy the build.

This is actually a pic of Prairie Dust before the top went on, you can see everything measured out, I really just need a measurement from the centerline out to know what my limitation is when coming in from the back.

Just thought I'd share on that.

[mwcarl]

That burst looks fantastic. Not sure I like the red for the back and neck though, but I'd have to see it alongside the bursted front.

[Drak]

Thanks!

I wanted to add a note about the pickup routes.

If you notice, they're a straight cut, not the standard 'V' shape as seen in front-mount drop-ins.

There are a few pickups out there that have the contact points underneath the pickup, not the typical Fender V layout where the leads are soldered in front.

Bardens, Lace's, and EMG's are all like this, and I already know what pickups I'm using in this, which are a set of Lace Hot Golds I've had sitting here for a few years I've been dying to get into something.

I wanted to keep the pickup 'footprint' as small as possible, so I used a standard pickguard routing template, and lengthened it to suit the length of the pickup base for a drop-in application.

Just thought I'd throw that in.

[Drak]

Not sure I like the red for the back and neck though

...I didn't care for the difference between the Limba and the Mahogany when seen from the rear, both clearcoated.

If I left them clear, they wouldn't look like they 'matched', two different woods and colors and all that...

Also, I have always thought Black Limba, although nicely figured...has sort of a weird color to it...can't say if it's grey-ish or green-ish, it's just an odd 'hue', it's not brown, it's something else... that I don't particularly care for, so although I like the tone of Black Limba a lot, I don't care for the look of it cleared too much, I would always tint or color it, even a little bit...

And I do like the red, and they now match!

Just sayin...

[Drak]

I wanted to add a note about the pickup routes.

If you notice, they're a straight cut, not the standard 'V' shape as seen in front-mount drop-ins.

Just wanted to add I did the same thing to Coco-Loco too, since it's getting EMG's or Bardens.

[FireFly]

I missed those sexy figured tops you do!

[flanders7423]

Just found this thread and I gotta tell ya this is BEAUTIFUL work Drak. I am so impressed! I'll be checking in on this.

[Drak]

I missed those sexy figured tops you do!

Thank You.

Just found this thread and I gotta tell ya this is BEAUTIFUL work Drak.

I am so impressed! I'll be checking in on this.

And Thank You.

Well, she's pert 'near finished up now, just letting the finish dry then it's on to finishing the finish, assembly, and e.n.j.o.y.

Here's a few shots I took in the 'setting' ( ) sun today, she's put away and resting comfortably now.

[Drak]

The final front shots for awhile.

[Quarter]

Love the coloring / shading

[Kammo1]

Drak beautiful job there bro what colour solar lux stain is that ? looks like maybe a red mahogany ?? The Uk distributor for all Behlen stuff is literally 3 mins away from where I live might call in and pick me some of that stain

[Drak]

Sorry, but there is no 'one' dye I used, that is a 7-layered burst, 4 layers onto wood, 3 layers of toner coats, and I mix a lot of those colors right on the spot as I'm shooting, and don't really take notes as to amounts and such.

I can tell you the ones (Solar Lux) I usually use...but there are others I use too at the same time, just all depends.

Blood Red

Nutmeg

Med. Brown Mahogany

Med. Red Mahogany

Med. Brown Walnut

Lemon Yellow

Jet Black

[jessejames]

That is the most beautiful telecaster I have ever seen.

[IPA or death]

So that long route on top that runs below the pickups coincides with the control cavity route to give you more than just a drilled hole to run wires through? Genius.

I like telecasters a lot myself but usually keep it pretty basic. You've given me some good ideas thanks to your thinking outside the box. Which reminded me of this cat:

[ScottR]

There used to be a cat like that at my house....

SR