Telecaster (First project)

[MurphC]

Pardon my Italian. I'm new here, and I have some questions about the first project I'm starting, which will be a telecaster with a bolt on neck. Anyway here are my questions:

Which wood would be suited better for this project, Ash or Alder? I am more concerned about the look than the tone and I want to give it a bright stain.

Also, How difficult would it be to inlay my name on the fretboard? This being my first and all.

Thanks!

[skibum5545]

Ash is the traditional wood for telecasters, as it has a sharp, twangy tone to it that gives it its standard appeal. Alder is a good tonewood too, though.

Looks-wise, ash will have a much more open grain. If it is painted withought the grain filled, it can look very nice. Alder has a significantly less defined grain, but would also look nice under a stain.

My vote would be for ash, both in terms of tone and stained beauty. Good luck!

[Meegs666]

to tell you the truth inlaying isnt at all as hard as it seems. the real problems come when you dont plan ahead and when you get tired or excited during the rough process of taking the wood out of the fingerboard. i'd say if it is your first time that you should have a few extra fretboards laying around just in case and remember that if you get tired to stop and come back when youre up to the work of using the routing tools.

[MurphC]

Thanks, I am cutting out some rough templates from plywood just to get a feel for my saw. Don't want to mess up too much on a $65 blank, lol. For my fretboard, I am going to use rosewood and I will try and inlay my name. It will be one kickin guitar.

[Meegs666]

65$ for a rosewood fingerboard blank??????? is it high quality rosewood or something, because im not even paying that much for a huge frickin slab of ebony for a seven string project?

[Devon Headen]

He's talking about the body blank

[Devon Headen]

Get "The Art of Inlay", by Larry Robinson. He has a section on inlaying a signature. For inlaying, especially a signature, ebony is going to be a much better wood for a first timer.

[Meegs666]

sorry dude, misread

[ThePlague]

what tools are needed for inlaying? i've seen projects online where they used a dremel tool. i don't have a dremel tool, so i'm wondering what the usual tools are.

[MurphC]

Yeah, the Ash body blanks cost $65 (Or at least that's the cheapest I've found so far) I wonder if ebony will look as good on a telecaster? Oh well, the fretboards are pretty inexpensive so I will try a couple and use the extra one for another project.

[hy_dro66]

Definately use ebony for the fingerboard if you want your inlay to look great. If you do rosewood all your mistakes will stick out like a sore thumb. With ebony you can glue the inlay in and fill all the cracks with epoxy(mixed with ebony dust to make it pitch black). When it drys just sand it down. Lemon oil the board and nobody will be able to tell it's not perfect except people who know about inalying. It looks very profession when it's finished.

[Brian]

what tools are needed for inlaying? i've seen projects online where they used a dremel tool. i don't have a dremel tool, so i'm wondering what the usual tools are.

Now days that is concidered the standard tool but if you want to go the old tried and true method you could grab yourself a set of fine tipped wood carving knifes and chisles.

Other then that a sanding block and a file plus a jewelers saw and you should be good to go.

[Alchool]

Hahaha, benvenuto MurphC.

Da dove stai prendendo il legno?

[erikbojerik]

Yeah, the Ash body blanks cost $65 (Or at least that's the cheapest I've found so far) I wonder if ebony will look as good on a telecaster? Oh well, the fretboards are pretty inexpensive so I will try a couple and use the extra one for another project.

An ash body coupled with an ebony fingerboard will be too bright in my opinion; if you end up going with classic Tele-type pickups you'll get a thin sound that you may not be happy with. Ebony adds a lot of attack to the tone, and ash is a pretty bright wood. I'd have a spare neck with rosewood on hand before trying the ash+ebony combo.

[Hardtailed]

Yeah, the Ash body blanks cost $65 (Or at least that's the cheapest I've found so far) I wonder if ebony will look as good on a telecaster? Oh well, the fretboards are pretty inexpensive so I will try a couple and use the extra one for another project.

An ash body coupled with an ebony fingerboard will be too bright in my opinion; if you end up going with classic Tele-type pickups you'll get a thin sound that you may not be happy with. Ebony adds a lot of attack to the tone, and ash is a pretty bright wood. I'd have a spare neck with rosewood on hand before trying the ash+ebony combo.

You could always cheat an tint your rosewood black

Some big name companies (Gibson for once) do so to be able to use cheaper species of ebony (which aren't as dark).

[weezerboy]

Hahaha, benvenuto MurphC.

Da dove stai prendendo il legno?

probabilmente dagli alberi

[hy_dro66]

If you choose to go with ash and ebony you'll be able to find pickups that will suite that wood combination. There are so many options now that it's hard not to find what your looking for.

[MurphC]

Hahaha, benvenuto MurphC.

Da dove stai prendendo il legno?

Capisco un po, lo parlo poco italiano

I asked one of my friends who works in the mill to see if they have anything, but it's mostly pine and oak. I bought the Ash blank from warmoth, it should be here Friday along with some books I ordered from Amazon. I plan on getting Rio Grande Muy grandes (If I remember correctly, that's what the single coils were called) My current guitar is good for almost everything but a telecaster would probably give me that edge for those country licks.

[Alchool]

You should try to buy it from woodyards. StewMac and Warmoth are too expensive.

Weezerboy:

[MurphC]

Too late now! Oh well, maybe I'll do some more looking next time. I got the StewMac catalouge today and they want almost 100 bucks for the same ash blank!