whoofnagle

Lp jr?? Wrap arounds seem to do okay for me at least. By the way the finish looks great. Would you care to detail the process you used. Bill

Drak - that one blows my mind everytime. Also, there is a custom builder in BC that makes some killer looking carved topped tele's. Heatley Guitar link another view one more

Here is a link to a discussion on another site. About 2/3rds the way down the thread there is a description of weight and sound of a cocobolo guitar. http://p213.ezboard.com/fthornnewsanddiscu...opicID=88.topic Bill

Well, I thought I would post a few pics of some work that I got done over the weekend. First, I finished sanding my mahogany/maple tele. I took it to a friend who builds guitars and asked him how it looked. He said "better than last time, but keep sanding!!" Well by the end of the day Friday he was satisfied . Here is a link to the front view. Next I did was mix up my first batches of dye (both black & blue) - taking Drak's advice. I have seen way too many cool blue guitars as of late . Here are a few shots of some scrap wood at various stages Black/Sand back First coat of blue A few more coats of blue The bottom of the two pices has a few coats of shellac as well. (Yes - the shellac looks bad - I did not do much initial sanding - I was looking for color only) My plan for this guitar is to put 2-3 coats of shellac on the sides and back. Then I will apply the dye to the top. Finally, I will put multiple coats of shellac over the whole body, hang to dry, sand smooth, add another coat of shellac, and polish. I also began work on a new Tele. This will be a mahogany body with a redwood top. As you can see I have routed out a good bit of the body as well as a channel for the neck pup. Red top Will be an all natural finish. Bill

Well I am about to begin work in the next week or so on my first finishing job. I have sanded to 220, but have a bit more to do around the horn and neck joint area. The guitar has a maple top and mahogany body. After I have sanded, wiped, and sanded again I plan on doing a clear finish on the binding (Faux). I was planning on spraying with cans, but as Myka suggests - a brush would work as well. I assume this will help protect (allow sanding) from potential over spray. Step 2: This is where my question comes in. SHould I do the top or body/sides first? Does it matter and if so why? Also, is reranch the best place to buy the spray cans or is there a better resource? For the top I am hoping to try the sundurst method described on the reranch website. Also, I might stain the mahogany just a tad because it is fairly light colored. Any advice on order would be appreciated. Bill

Yes, that seems like a good combo for a tele. As for building it - it is not that easy. Your questions/concerns are valid and a search of old posts on this site will give you many answers. Additionally, books by Hiscock and Koch on guitar building are must reads (IMHO). I am constantly rereading these. I would start there to address your first questions. Good luck and welcome, Bill

Drak, Again all I can say is wow. AS a fellow tele player and novice want to be builder I am floored. All of your pics show bodies and what appears to be the same or darn near the same neck. Do you build those as well or buy? Again speechless - I have been showing your work to my co-workers all day! Bill

Very nice looking. I am in the process of getting ready to paint my first guitar. It too has a maple top and mahogany back. I was trying to figure out what to do with the sides (maple portion). So if I understand you plan on taping the sides of your top, thus when the back and sides are painted you will have a faux binding look (the maple portion)? Is this as simple as taping the maple side? Will you have to apply a clear coat or something over the maple? Progress pictures would be helpful. Bill

Very profound comment. Seriously, you are right on, but this was the second top that I glued. I really had no idea I used that amount of glue until I cut it open. But I guess I know to use less next time. Bill

Well, I thought I would post a few pictures of my current project. I am working on a tele style body (template from guitarbuildingtemplates.com). The specs are as follows: - neck from an old fender tele -body: hollowed mahogany -top: maple pups: rio (muy grande) There is still work to be done: sanding, painting, mounting the pups (obvious from picture), making the control plate, string ferrules. A few more pics: back Another view Control Cavity

The neck is off an old telecaster. I will measure the neck and double check. Drak - that is what I plan to do. Just thought I would toss the question. I was very excited to see the strings line up over the pups ( very exciting-for the first time). I have been able to tune the guitar and play a few notes, but again it just seemed like the saddles were too high. Off to do some searching. If I find a good link I will post it. Bill

Well I am at a point now where I have a body that needs final prep before I begin to paint. However, I thought it might be worth while to string it up and see how she sounds with no electronics. Having never set up a guitar, I am not really sure if I have all of the saddles in the right position, but I do notice that I am having to raise the saddles higher than my store bought tele to get rid of the fret buzz. I have checked my neck depth (5/8"). Any thoughts on what is going wrong? Or is this wrong? Do I need to route a tad deeper? Also, is there a rule of thumb for the placement of each saadle- distance from the bridge ( I can always try and mirror the store bought tele)? Bill

I am about to cut the holes for my tone/volume and three-way switch for a tele style body. What is the best method for cutting the slot for the three way switch? Thanks for help with the simple question, Bill

Well, I tried, Drak's idea of the string as well as the laser line(forgot I had it) suggested by lmmr . I found them both to be very helpful. Thank you very much. Here are a few pics. I was doing some house cleaning and had to take a few pictures with a playable guitar (i did not build). Again, thanks for the help!! Bill http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v403/who...letele04001.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v403/who...letele04005.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v403/who...letele04009.jpg

Thanks for the responses. Drak - I like the two strings from the outside nut positions. I will give that a shot. Bill

I was wondering how you guys go about lining up your neck prior to routing the body on a fender style neck (ie-not set, but screwed in). i have read many different ways. The reason I ask is I get very nervous each time i go to route the pocket. I have the dimensions drawn on the center line, I use a template, but it just seems to scare the hell out of me that I am going to be off. Thought some of the more experienced folks might have a solid way of ensuring success. Bill

Simply put - "NICE"

Agree - very nice looking finish!!!!!!!! Bill

Thanks for the responses. I have removed the picture (initial post) and inserted a hyperlink to the same picture-it was too big and I got sick of scrolling over when I opened the post. Regarding the center line, I will go back and doublee check. I see what you are saying in the pictures. Lex, which direction does it look to you? If it is off, hopefully it can be recovered. If not-s___, and I will try again. You guys have taught me a ton! Thanks, Bill

Drak, I thought about the weakening of the neck as well, but a guy I know has done this on multiple guitars with good luck - so hopefully I will have some as well. If not it was worth the try . Bill

Well I had a little bit of time today to do some more work on this project. I have posted a few extra pictures to the website below. Today, I worked on routing the neck pu. As previously noted, my hope is to mount the pu from the rear, thus limiting the amount of routing on the front (I do not want a pick guard). Therefore, I flipped the pu over and traced the top of it onto the front of the guitar. From there, I used my plunge router to cut a hole all of the way through the body. After this was completed, I flipped the guitar over and taped a template on the back and began to route the back. I routed this to the point wheere the pu could sit flush with the body. I will finish the routing once I have strung the guitar to decide the correct height. The last thing I did was take two long drill bits (1/8 then a 3/16) and drill from the control cavity to the neck pu. As the pictures show, I have made some mess ups along the way, but most should be sanded out or covered with a little bit of filler. So far I am happy with my progress. Bill My Webpage

Here is a picture of my Black Limba Tele. Specs: The body: Black Limba Neck: Taken from an old Tele that I have at home PU: Rio Grande (Muy Grande) both Neck and Bridge Scale: 25.5 Front fiew-brdge route I am finally making some progress. I have had the body sitting around the house for about a month or so- no time to do work. Today I was able to mount the bridge, route the bridge pu and the control cavity on the back. I plan on routing the neck tomorrow if time permits. I plan to mount the neck pickup from the rear. Has anyone done this? Any war stories? I want to do this so that the ears of the pu do not show. I plan to trace the top of the pu on the front of the body. I will then route all the way through. Once completed and the correct height is decided, I will route from the back using a template from stew mack. More pictures to follow. Also here is the link to the picture of the back. My Webpage As you can see I was a bit undecided on the shape for the control cavity. Oh well, the cover will hide the mess (I hope ). I have a Koa/mahog body that is collecting dust, but this is my first attempt to complete a project. Figured I would be more upset if I screwed the koa project Bill

Well after reading through old posts (forgot to go back greater than 30 days). It seems as if the question of depth has been debated multiple times and the the answer has been between 3/8 and 3/4. I will go back and check the depth of my screws to better guage the route depth, but the positioning is still of interest. Bill

Okay, I am about to start the routing of my pickups. The guitar is a tele style with two single coil rio grande pu's. I have three questions that I want to clarify before the wood starts flying. 1. What is the correct/typical depth of these routes?- Yes, I have done my reading, ut I feel like I have seen some folks say 5/8 (like the neck) and I have also read 3/4. Is one better from the other? 2. The distance from the neck to the first pu? I believe Hiscock says 1/2" on one of his guitars, but he is using Hums. I think I also read it should be positioned at the 24 fret (if memory serves me right)? 3. The bridge pu. I assume this is more dictated by the laction of the tele bridge plate (with the saddles forward- to hit the 25.5 mark). Again, I thought I read this is typically around the 43 fret? Thanks in advance Bill

Jim is a class act. I have spoken with him several times via email, and have even bought some wood from him (nice piece of Koa). Super guy and great guitars. Bill