82cabby Posted January 17, 2011 Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 Hi gang! I am in the planning phase of my third build and my goal is to make a tele thinline inspired guitar with a bluesy-country sound. I would very much like to hear any input you might have: Here's what I'm thinking: 1/4" thick figured maple top on semi-hollow Ash body, Maple neck w/25.5" scale, Maple fretboard 12" radius (from stew-mac), Gotoh Modern Bridge for Tele (stew-mac), Fender Custom Shop Texas Special Pickups, Fender Deluxe Locking Machine Heads, medium/higher fret wire (stew-mac), hotrod truss rod (stew-mac). Design wise, I am thinking of a white or cream binding on the body, none on the neck. I am going to try my hand at a bit of inlay, nothing fancy, just something simple to get my feet wet. I am picturing a stained or dyed body and natural neck and I am leaning towards no pickguard. Where I am looking for the most guidance is the wood. I have ash and maple left over from a previous project so I am inclined to use that, but if there is a compelling reason to use something different it's not too late. Any hints, tips, suggestions or thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 17, 2011 Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 I am not a big fan of the fretwire from Stewmac. Look at allparts if you have not bought yet.They have SS wire in medium which is much,much better and will last literally forever.Also they have a truss rod(which i am using for the first time now)that is much smaller(it says 1/16" less height,but it is a hair more,which is huge in that application)and only requires a 1/4" router bit,rather than the oddball size the hotrod needs. I have used the hotrod for years,but I have grown weary of the bit expense and the deeper rout. Stewmac fretwire is good quality,but I prefer SS because of longevity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82cabby Posted January 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 I am not a big fan of the fretwire from Stewmac. Look at allparts if you have not bought yet.They have SS wire in medium which is much,much better and will last literally forever.Also they have a truss rod(which i am using for the first time now)that is much smaller(it says 1/16" less height,but it is a hair more,which is huge in that application)and only requires a 1/4" router bit,rather than the oddball size the hotrod needs. I have used the hotrod for years,but I have grown weary of the bit expense and the deeper rout. Stewmac fretwire is good quality,but I prefer SS because of longevity Thank you! I will look into both. Do you find the stainless hard to work with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted January 17, 2011 Report Share Posted January 17, 2011 Do you find the stainless hard to work with? Hard-"er"..but not difficult enough to matter to me.I really hate fret wear,so I use SS to minimize that and make my fret job last as long as possible.I have no idea how long it lasts because I have not had one wear down yet. It is harder on your tools,for sure...but I think it is worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wademeister Posted January 23, 2011 Report Share Posted January 23, 2011 You may also want to take a look at Luthier's Mercantile (google LMII). They have a great selection of fretwire including stainless and the gold "EVO" wire which I used on the bass I just finished up and I think that stuff is great. I like stainless strings and they can feel sort of grabby on the stainless frets but the evo frets are slick as can be. I also liked working with the evo wire. Where the stainless is very tough and wears tools quickly the evo seems to cut better and seems somewhat crunchy and may even have a harder surface than the stainless. I like LMII's trussrods better too, at least for bass. I have an Allparts rod left over from my last project that I didn't use because the LMII rod looked a bit nicer. Sorry, I don't remember specifically WHAT made it look better. Maybe it measured a little smaller or the welds were cleaner or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82cabby Posted January 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2011 Thanks for the feedback. I will check LMI also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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