kickz28

I have a swamp ash Tele body that I am ready to start finishing. I want to dye it blue (so that I can see the grain) and then use a paint gun (used for cars) to make a black border (making a 2-tone "sunburst"...like fender except blue). Do I need to fill the grain first? What product do I use? Do I apply the dye by spraying it or with a rag? Do I want an alcohol based dye or water based? What kind of paint should I use for the black border? Will car paint work? What kind of clear coat should I use (I want a high-gloss finish like on an American Standard strat that I can see myself in the finish if I look at the correct angle)? Whats the difference between poly and nitro? Should I sand between coats, and how many coats do I apply (for everything: dye, black paint and clear coat). What is the difference between dye and stain?

Go listen to Iron Horse's tribute to Metallica Or is that what you were referring too?

After closer inspection, maybe I will be able to remove some wood from the top of the bridge, this would be easier. I'm only worried that I won't be able to get it smooth looking like it is now, but I gues if I start with a bigger grit paper and go smaller it should be fine? But I think I will have to remove a little bit from the bottom and a little bith from the top. I would take pictures but my batteries are ded in my camera.

Hi. I have a Ukulele. The action was very high so I decided to take off the nut and sand the bottom of it to make the action lower. My original plan was to do the same thing to the saddle (I don't know if thats how they call it on an acoustic, anyway its the white part of the bridge that can usually easily be removed on an acoustic because its not glued). I wasn't able to remove the saddle so I decided to put the strings back on to see what it would be like. The result was obvious: the action gets higher and higher as you go up the neck. Now this wouln't be that much of a problem. The new problem is that, even though the intonation wasn't great before, now it is aweful. On the top string, when played open and tuned to A perfectly, when playing at the 12th fret (which is the last fret of the instrument), the note, which should be A, is A#. I know by lowering the action at the bridge I most probably won't solve the problem completly, but for the string to be parallel to the neck, I need to lower the bridge approx. 3/32" (hmmm a little less than 1/8" but a little more than 1/16" anyway, I'm not very good with this system, I'm Canadian ). I can't sand the saddle down because I would have to sand it down completly and even then I wouldn't be low enough. Conclusion: I need to sand down the bridge, which is really thick (probably half an inch). So I need to remove it. How do I do this without damaging anything? Once I sand it down a bit and reglue it I think the action will be better and also the intonation. I would still need a compensated saddle but I will deal with that later if I can at least get the intonation as good as it was before I lowered the nut. Thanks, joe

Also, the dot markers (not the ones on the fretboard) but the ones on the side will be on the wrong side so you won't see them unless you make some new ones on the other side.

How much would you sell the OLP body and neck? I'm really not looking for a bass right now, but if the price is right, you never know.

Really? I was thinking the opposite. I could drill the string thru then I know exactly where to drill for the ferrule... I guess its part of what makes me a newbie

That works out good -- I'm in Canada I'm still wondering if I should go with a body blank or regular lumber. I know a body blank would be better but price is an issue and after all, body blanks are made of lumber, and I have access to a planer.

Has anybody got some from www.forloversofwood.com ? I can get the right amount for 55 + tax + shipping Canadian. Its 2 inches thick but I can plain it for free. If I plain an eight off each side it should be pretty good right? I'll find out how its dried. Does it have to be kiln-dried? What other types of drying is acceptable?

How much do you usually pay for a guitar amount of Swamp Ash? What is a fair price? Is $55-$65 expensive? Where do you usually buy your Swamp Ash?

The body blank is still $55 though. Isn't that expensive? Is swamp ash the only type of ash used to make guitars? Or do they also use white ash? I noticed on the Fender site that sometimes it says the guitar is made of "Premium Ash". This (http://www.fender.com/products/show.php?partno=0100202) '52RI Tele or simply "Ash" on this regular Tele (http://www.fender.com/products/show.php?partno=0118502). Does Ash or Swamp Ash make a difference at all? One other thing I just noticed, Warmoth (this page: http://www.warmoth.com/common/goodwood.htm) say they use both types of Ash for their body's. Their description brings me back to wanting "Swamp" Ash. Will I really have to pay $50+ for enough swamp ash to build a Tele body? Why can't I find this kind of wood at big lumber stores? Thanks, joe

I would like to buy swamp ash for my guitar but it seems most suppliers to refer to it as "swamp" ash. http://www.precisecut.com/materials/wood/ash.htm This site seems to give the different names for the same species of ash Fraxinus nigra*-American Black Ash, Basket Ash, Black Ash, Brown Ash, Canadian Ash, Hoop Ash, Splinter Ash, Swamp Ash, Water Ash I'm pretty sure this is the type of ash I want? So if a supplier only refers to it as Ash, what do I assume it to be? White ash? (which is not what I want(?)) Edit: Damnit! Fraxinus nigra is hard to find. Is white ash very different, for a guitar? What's the best place to get it, it must be cheaper to buy the wood than to order a body blank from Stewmac (100) or USACG (60) ?! Edit numer 2: A few places I called say they have brown ash, but they never have it 1 3/4 (or 2) inches thick. Where the hell am I going to find the proper wood for this project!?

I don't usually like quilted maple. I think this one is beautiful!

Here is what I'm looking for: -Pickguard: White, Black or Aged White (I don't know what color I will be using yet but at a good price, I'll take any of these) -Pickups: I want real Fender Tele pickups (I will consider other companies as long as they are Tele pickups. Tell me what you have, I'll do my homework and get back to you) -Bridge: Standard Tele bridge (3 compensated brass saddles, not interested in 6 saddles). -Bigsby B5 or B50 (Tell me what you have, not quite sure which one I want/need yet as I don't really know the difference) -Locking tuners Anything else you think I might be interested in, just let me know. kilbride AT cgocable.ca Thanks, joe!

Thanks for the offer! But I'm in Canada and after looking at the DFX file, I think it would be useless as a plan because it dosen't have the cavities. I did order the Tele plans from MIMF.com and I heard on other forums that they were good. I should be getting them this week, I'll let you guys know! Thanks, joe

Their is also a price difference though...although its only $33 US, that still makes like 45 CAD

I DO want to build a Tele. I want one just as much as I want a LP . Sorry that was misunderstood. And If I were to build a LP, I would want it with a carved top and set neck and all that good stuff! My JEM is made of Basswood and my Strat of Alder. I already decided to build my Tele out of Ash...actually, whats the difference between Ash and Swamp Ash? I also decided all my options: Neck: Maple Fretboard: Maple ($190 at USACG and $157 at Warmoth) Body: Ash Pickguard: White or black depending on finish I choose. Pickups: Fender vintage tele pickups (129.99 for Originals and 174.99 for Texas) Neckplate: Chrome (4 bolts) Control plate: Chrome Strap buttons: Chrome strap-lock type String retainer: Chrome String ferrules: Chrome Knobs: Chrome Jack socket: Chrome Bridge: Traditional chrome stamped steel bridge w/ 3 old style threaded barrel saddles ($60 from Fender) String nut: Bone Tuners: Chrome (undecided if locking or not) Switch: 4-way -- Neck, Bridge, Neck+Bridge(series), Neck+Bridge(parallel) Finish: Blue sunburst or Butterscotch Here are pictures of the two possible final products: I can't decide which of these two I like the best. Again with the simple/hard, the burst would be a lot more work and harder to doo and I don't think I can pull of a nice burst . Who makes better necks, Warmoth or USACG?

I haden't refreshed the thread when I replied so I hadn't seen your post until after I replied

Thanks for your help! Do you know if their are any good plans in the download section? So I guess this CAD file is not useful for me. And to answer your Strat/Tele question, I already own a Strat and a JEM. So I decided for my third guitar, that I wanted to build my own. Two guitars I really like that I don't have already are Teles and Les Pauls. I figured since its my first guitar building experience, a Tele would be MUCH easier to build than a LP. LP dosen't have a bolt-on neck, and it has a carved top. Tele has a bolt on neck and a flat top. I'm going to be ordering the neck from Warmoth OR USACG (which one is best?), I just don't think I can pull off building my own neck. Thanks, joe

I downloaded TurboCAD from your link. I still don't understand how can remove the hardware to obtain only the body. And how do I get dimensions? Its supposed to be a plan, but the way I see it, its only a drawing of Tele.

Well I was able to open the file "Able Graphic Manager" but I can only view it with that. I don't think I can edit anything. Thats why I know the neck and pickups and pickguard and control plate etc are there. But I can't move the model, so I don't know if its flat or if the thickness of the body is modeled. I don't know if I'm explaining myself clearly. Thanks, joe

I have an AutoCAD file that is supposed to be a plan for a Telecaster. The problem is that I know 100% nothing about AutoCAD and it will not run on my machine (350mhz running Win98). What I want to know is, in these 3d models, can I remove parts of the guitar (neck, pickguard, pickups) so that I can see the cavities? Can I get dimensions from this file. If so, how. If it is possible, I will go to a friends house and try it, otherwise, well this file is useless to me. If it turns out to be useless, does anyone know where I can find plans for a Telecaster? I'm currently not a supporting member but if their are good plans with dimensions and all that stuff in the downloading section of this site, I will become a supporting member. I can't find on this site where it says whats in the download section. Here is a link to the DXF file: http://www.guitarbuild.com/modules/mydownl...=titleA&show=10 5th file on the page. Thanks, joe