I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a builder in the same sense that y'all are. While I have the desire, I don't have the money to invest in the necessary tools & equipment. Also, while I could experiment and learn, I really don't feel that one semister of wood shop in high school 20 years ago gives me more than a rudimentary knowledge of woodworking. So, all in all, I'm just not a luthier.
But there's still plenty I CAN do. Please note that throuhg out this w-i-p and plea for suggestions, when I use the term "build", I really mean "assemble". I do not consider myself a builder, but that is the common terminology, so I will use it with impunity.
Anyway, I have had it in my head for a while to build a telecaster from exotic woods. I wanted as much wood on the thing as possible, and it couldn't be "normal" wood. I was open to just about anything but the normal figured maple tops over ash, alder, basswood, etc. That's just boring & common. Likewise, I would rather lovingly embrace my ex-wife than have a maple neck & rosewood fretboard. (Insert retching sounds here) Without the opportunity to manufacture it by hand, I'm left with no other options than buying the pieces. Having a limited budget, where did I turn? eBay, of course.
Here's the body I just bought. Maple core, padouk stripes, and mahogany wings. The wings are topped with spalted maple laminated with paduok for a pinstriping effect.
At this stage, I have a question and need an opinion or seven.
When it's time to finish the wood, I'm going for a glass-smooth natural finish. From what I've read, tung oil is pretty easy to use, but I'm not positive it'll get the depth & polish I'm looking for. My real question for the finish is in filling the grain. I know the mahogany will need filling, but will the spalted wings, paduok stripes, and maple core need it?
The opinion I need is about the pickguard. I found a dude that'll make one out of pretty much whatever I want. My issue is that the body is so stunning that I don't want to cover it up, but I really want a pickguard. As we all know, a tele p/g takes up a lot of real estate. I'm feeling like I want to compliment the body & neck, but I don't want it to be too busy & have too many different types of wood on it. As a former art major, I completely understand overwhelming the eye. While I want to compliment the neck, I don't have it yet, so that's basically impossible. A plain maple p/g would compliment the core nicely and wouldn't be busy at all. It would actually peel it all back a bit. If I go with a maple p/g, it couldn't have any figuring because the core doesn't. But maple is so boring...
FWYW: I'm trying to get a paduok or bloodwood neck with a zebrawood f/b. The red tones will blend with the stripes. I don't thing the zebrawood will compete too much with the spalting, considering the same tones and themes are repeated, even though the pattern is not exactly duplicated. I'll have spalted knobs, which will compliment the wings.
For tuners, I want the Steinberger gearless tuners. I'm thinking either black or chrome hardware. Gold is not only more expensive, but with so much brown tone over the piece already, the gold would blend in too much. I'm leaning towards black, but I'm not positive yet.
Anyway, I'd really appreciate any thoughts & opinions y'all have.