govtmule

Finally getting back to this tele. I've started building some coats of tru-oil and I think the walnut is starting to look pretty nice. I got so excited that when I went to turn off my work lamp I dropped the damn camera onto the body !! Walnut is pretty soft damnit !! Dented before it's done !!

Perry, Love this build ! Thanks a lot for all the great videos on this one out in youtube too ! Keep up the great work.

Yeah, in hindsight, especially given the extra fretboard real estate that I left, I should have made it a 25 fret board and split the 25th fret. That way I wouldn't have pretty much wasted a fret. I'm like you though Anderekel, I don't play up there much other than on the high E. Shoot.....since getting into building I don't play much at all anymore...on any fret or string. Shame really, I was pretty.............aweful

Thanks for the advice guys but the truth of the matter is that I planned from the beginning to have the access hole fall right in the 22nd fret and to split the fret into two pieces. I thought it would look interesting and be a little different. Judging from your reactions it must look more like a mistake.......well, that sucks for me huh ? Toss that idea out.

I thought that having the access to the spoke adjustment nut there and splitting a fret in half were interesting design ideas that I'd try out. I left the extended fretboard blank because I was toying with the idea of an inlay there but decided I like the look of the birdseye better.

The neck is installed and looking a bit better now....I think. On to routing for the PUP's and electronics.

Some progress finally.... Shim #1 glued in place Shim #2 being glued I've got them sanded down flush and after a little more sanding from the inside the neck fits pretty well. I'll post some more pictures soon.

I'm sort of doing that. I guess I'm a little confused as to what people have meant by "shims". If you are talking about putting in very thin strips of wood vaneer between the neck and side walls of the pocket to get the neck to fit snug and to center the neck on the center line then I agree with your post Mickguard, it would be better to rebuild the pocket first. I say this because with the shims I would still have the gap between the neck and pocket showing which is what I don't like in the first place. If by shims you mean very thin pieces placed between the neck and pocket side walls that match the wood and hopefully grain pattern of BOTH the maple back and walnut top...that's what I'm attempting to do. Turns out that not only is my pocket a bit too big but it is a bit off center as well.....nice one huh ? So by placing a 1/8" shim of maple with a walnut top in the bass side of the neck I'll be able to snug the neck up as well as center it on the body center line. I glued in my first attempt last night which is just maple. I plan to piece in slivers of walnut where needed. Good practice I guess.

Thanks, and as for the hole in the end of the neck, that's exactly what it is. It's a Hot Rod from Stew Mac with a spoke nut and access through the extended end of the fretboard.

I do have some left over. Last night I ligned up the walnut cutoff with the maple cutoff in the area of the neck pocket and glued the walnut to the maple. This way my shim(s) will match the grain pattern of the existing wood around the pocket....or as close as I can come I guess. I'll post a few pictures when I cut the shims.

I looked at my neck and body a bit closer tonight. If I put the neck in the center of the pocket I have about a 1/16" gap on BOTH the bass and treble side. From straight on this actually doesn't look too bad but when looking at the treble side especially it looks like crap because of the thin strip of body material left. Bass side gap with neck in center of pocket Treble side gap with neck in center of pocket If I move the neck all the way flush with the treble side of the pocket that looks better but my bass side gap is not 1/8" of course. Treble side gap with neck flush to the treble side Bass side gap with neck flush to the treble side I'm thinking that it may be easier to push the neck to the treble side and focus my shims or vaneer on one side. That way if my "fix" looks like crap at least it will only affect one side. Any ideas after seeing the situation ?

Interesting idea Muzz, thanks for the suggestion. I think it's a little beyond me right now, I'm not sure how to work with that kind of material.

And the top glued to the body and have the neck pocket routed - I have an issue with the neck pocket. Hopefully tonight I'll get some pictures up that will help with my question. basically the sucker is too big...the pocket that is. and I need input on how to deal with it. Get back to y'all soon.

I've got the neck carved - Neck Carve In Process And fretted - Fretted And tuners installed - "Finished" And finished, birdseye looks prettty good I think -

The plan is to build myself a tele with two P-90's, a TOM with string through body, and a reverse headstock. I've been working on this tele for a while now, off and on. I'd like to finish it this Spring....we'll see. I had some 6/4 maple left over from a lumber yard bargain: Maple Body I bought some birdseye maple online for the neck: Birdseye Maple Neck Blank I bought a birdseye maple fretboard blank online I bought a set of Searcy String Works V-90's that I can't wait to wire up....Thanks Clint !! I found an interesting looking piece of walnut in a cutoff bin for $5 and made my first attempt at resawing a top:

Both look great....keep it up !

Awesome !! Love the license plate details !!

Thanks guys. I'll try the shellac.

By all means give this a try for yourself....especially for that price, but I didn't have much success using the tip cleaners. The cleaners that I bought were not abrasive enough to really do much cutting on my bone nut blank. Plus they are pretty short. Probably about 3-4" so are hard to get a good grip on to use. Let me know if you have better results, maybe I need to look for a different set or be more patient.

Can anyone tell me the best way to strip a thin coat of Tru-Oil off of an already fretted fingerboard ? I am wrapping up finishing a birdseye maple neck and fretboard for my Tele build. I fretted the neck and planned to wipe on Tru-Oil to the entire thing. It turned out to be a big pain to wipe the oil on the fretted fretboard and get any kind of even coverage. So I opted to spray on the Tru-Oil with a Tru-Oil aresol rattle can. Well, I'm not sure if it was the remaining wiped on finish or my method of application but the sprayed on oil looked even worse than the initial attempt to wipe it on. I have some left over nitro clear in a rattle can that I'm going to try and use but want to know if I should try and strip the Tru-Oil off or just shoot over it. Any advice ? Thanks, Steve

Awesome ! Love the Bud cover !

Hey, thanks a lot ! I've made some progress since these pictures but it's been a bit slow lately. The walnut is actually from a short that I dug out of the junk bin of a local hardwood supply that I paid less than a happy meal for. I hope it turns out good. I've got a nice set of Clint Searcy P90's to drop in there so I can't wait to get back at it !

Imbedded Link Walnut body

Great to hear that they are nice. I have a headstock design that I want to start using that requires tuners like this. If I ever get back into the shop hopefully I can start making some progress.

Looks great !! Keep it up !! The black burst on the back of the neck looks great !!