Crusader

1 hour ago, avengers63 said:

When I did my experiments, I clamped it down flat

I've tried it that way but the router can tilt and dig into the middle of the neck. It might actually be a better way when doing a Fender style neck but I usually do Gibson style and do the profile before gluing the headstock ears on so I can take the router all the way through. Which leaves less to do with hand tools

9 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Thanks for showing your neck profiling router bit! I've often been wondering if something like that could be used. Now I know!

I used to use a 1 inch router bit which is good for the upper end but not for the 1st fret end. I had a couple of disasters so now I use ... I think its 5/8" ... 19mm

Either way there's still some shaping to do with hand tools. I aim to match my 59 reissue Les Paul but you could just leave it as it is

So when I saw the Ash on Stewmac I completely forgot about my desire to make a guitar out of this old timber I saved from going to the tip. So now it will become the Telecaster I didn't make with the Ash

And the Single Mens Quarters - these days I don't even have a garden shed!

The landlords daughter used to come over and look around and say "Doug and all his friends"

Well I've put my concerns about the body aside in the last couple of days and got some progress on the neck and the pictures tell the story

First up I have a photo of how I did the profile in the 1990's. Notice the skunk stripe is already done but now I do it afterwards in case the wood alters shape

I still have the router but that cordless drill with the red battery is long-gone

First I do the neck thickness. On this one I did 23mm at the first fret to 26 at the body join (16th fret) That will come down 1 or 2mm in the end

Then I did the transition from neck to headstock, a little bit tricky that part

These days for the profile I have a jig which fully supports the router

After the routing I get busy with a rasp. There's still a bit to go but looking good

It really helps a lot if you have an example to work from. I would fail miserably otherwise

8 hours ago, Professor Woozle said:

 - keep an eye out for second hand ones on Ebay, perhaps?

That's a good idea but I'm too impatient!

17 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

That said, I wonder if that idea would work in the other direction, hiding the cable eyelets:

Oh yes that would be great

You know what out of all the Parallel Universe variations this looks the most acceptable to me

https://musicplayers.com/2018/09/fender-releases-limited-edition-whiteguard-strat-parallel-universe-collection/

I think I mentioned this already, for a Gibson fan I have very strict ideas about Telecasters (even thought they're my least favourite of the most popular guitars) Things like "A middle pickup does not belong on a Tele"..."Humbuckers do not belong on a Tele"..."Binding does not belong on a Tele" and so forth. It just doesn't look right, its just wrong, there should be a law against it

In the link above the Strat has a Tele headstock which I usually dislike immensely but on that guitar it looks okay. A Strat headstock on a Tele however just looks wrong, it should never happen, there should be punishment for doing such an injustice!

6 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

The neck pickup cavity can be make quite snug, I've done that to both my Strat and Tele. You only need about 8 mm on the sides. On a Tele you only need to worry about the neck pickup anyway. A wooden or metal pickup ring may also be an option. Or, if you really want to tinker, make the pickup cavity snug on the top and carve it larger on the inside, leaving just enough space to access the screws! Like so:

Something like that has crossed my mind but how would you get the pickup in? I think I'm missing something from your suggestion. I could leave the bass side open for easy installation

3 hours ago, mistermikev said:

....I guess I'm just into wood more than plastic ...

To be honest so am I. Stratocasters look fabulous on the wall in a shop but when I play one and look down at the controls and see all that plastic it looks really cheap

I've just looked up hard tail bridges and the prices vary from $16 for a generic brand to $200 for a Gotoh super duper unit. (510FX-6 Hardtail Bridge)

Is something like this worth it?

When I decided to make a neck I just studied a guitar I had, taking measurements etc.

Searching through the forum might help you. I try to document everything I do but I lose track of it all by the time a guitar is finished

9 hours ago, mistermikev said:

is a really lovely piece of ash

Sure is!

So you reckon a maple scratch plate? I like the white Strat pick guard I think it makes it pop, but it is a shame to cover up the wood. I don't know but should have placed the controls on the tele mock up, makes it balance out a lot better. Photo posted now
 

9 hours ago, mistermikev said:

... or perhaps if you could make a veneer-thin piece of that neck wood and glue to the top of the pickup covers...

Can't really do that with Tele neck pickup...! but I have thought about making wooden pickup rings. Guitars that have no pick guard my fingers get caught in the gaps while playing

I have a Tele pick guard on order but it is still a month away but I have all sorts of options going through my head, the main two being;

1) I have the gear to make this a Strat so why not use it? I have a Dimarzio Fast Track 2, a SD little 59, pick guard and switch. I just need a Hard Tail Strat bridge

2) I could stay with the Tele theme and do a 1/4" round-over + no belly cut etc. Basically do everything like a Tele but shaped like a Strat

Either way I do like a pick guard but I don't like how the pickups are mounted onto plastic on a Strat. From experiments I've done I know what a difference it makes and after all thats the thing that sets Tele's apart

Just did a mock-up of what it might look like. I found a Strat scratch-plate in the shed so I might use that rather than the Tele one on order. In fact I might keep all the Tele stuff for another project, I have some wood I want to use. Another idea is no scratch-plate...looks a bit bare

I just found this Tele on Reverb and I had to share, look closely

https://reverb.com/au/item/46995546-2021-fender-namm-prestige-masterbuilt-nos-box-top-telecaster-todd-krause-josefina-brand-new-video?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=17998395011&utm_content=campaignid=17998395011_adgroupid=_productpartitionid==merchantid=239747027_productid=46995546_keyword=_device=c_adposition=_matchtype=_creative=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI85_E7qvQ-QIVFg4rCh0rnwnbEAQYCyABEgIYFvD_BwE

EDIT: I just saw the price....

Oh that's sweet!

I can't explain what made me change from a Telecaster to a Strat. When I bought the wood it had a Strat chalked on it and the thought crossed my mind "its an omen" but I was adamant that I was going to make a Tele.

This is wading in deeper into my memory but it was something about the preference for the larger headstock of the 70's Strats and how I messed that up on the one I made in the 90's and this time want to get it right, and incidentally I got that wrong anyway. It turned out 10% smaller and @Bizman62that idea of making the whole instrument smaller was given great consideration!

In my Googling lately I found there are people who don't like the large headstock of the 70's Strats and after some consideration I can see what they mean, so I'm happy with the slightly smaller one

Thank you all for your comments, it helps keep the chin up!

I managed to get the patch done today and I'm very happy with the result, have to share

The best patch would be from an offcut right next to where the mistake is, but I want to make some sort of over-sized Strat so I took it from the end. The end grain still runs the same way so its all good

Positioned the template to run the router around, and the deviation from the original shape is about 1.5 mm

Turned out quite nice I think, and the little nick from the fretsaw is just a little bonus

Just thought I would add...

The patch is in a place where you're least likely to notice and I deliberately started the routing there in case of something going wrong

46 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

...thickness of a Fender Strat can vary between 1.5" and 1.77" (6.9 mm) honing 4 mm off the width doesn't sound much. The variations must have been even larger in the early days

Oh yeah forgot to mention. I made a Strat in 1999 from a Strat Copy (Hurricane by Morris) and my copy of a copy is virtually identical to my Template except the lower horn is about 6mm longer

59 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

All that said, I've seen the photos of your previous patches or should I rather say I haven't seen the patches in the photos...

Ha ha, thank you

59 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

That's whopping! I wonder if anyone would notice if the outlines of a Strat type body were reduced by that much...

Yes this is the thing, if it would be noticeable. Its a matter of weighing it all up. If I reduced the size where the mistake is I would have to do it the other side to keep it in balance. I can't do the design that I made myself because the lower mid section of the Strat is narrower. I would have to do a complete redesign and it might end up looking odd. Its a safer bet just to do the patch because I'm Bob The Builder

I went through the vacuum bag last night, I didn't find any plectrums but I found 3 buttons off my Doona cover! ......So what's happened to all my plectrums?!!!!!

Well I'm going out there now to have a go at the patch, wish me luck!

On 8/11/2022 at 3:03 AM, Bizman62 said:

You can patch the template for future use

That is now In The Bin and I've made the trip to Bunnings and bought another sheet of 18mm MDF like I should have in the first place. If I'd done that it wouldn't matter if the guide wheel moved

Yes 1/16th deviation is no big deal but this is 4mm at the deepest point so I think I will go for patching, I've done it before a million times. Its just that I was aiming to have no mistakes with this guitar but I'm jinxed. I simply can't do anything without stuffing something up

I need to go do the vacuuming, suck some plectrums up the pipe

Keeping track of how long things take is one reason why I take so many photos. I never tally things up but its there if I want to later on

On 8/9/2022 at 4:08 AM, ScottR said:

Almost innocent even.

SR

and when you start working on them the stuff-ups start to happen and they become horrible little children!

Working out where the bridge will go. This was interesting, I always thought the first pole piece was 1/16th of the scale from the bridge but turns out its the centre of the pickup and same goes for a Tele, first photo. Second photo - ready to router the edge

Then tragedy! The router guide wheel slipped up

I've never had this happen before but even so, I should have had the wheel further over the template

So what do I do? reshape the body or patch it?

Years ago I spent a lot of time creating my own design but later on I found loads of other people have come up with the same basic shape, like a slender Strat

I could go with something like this to fix my problem, it would be unique. I'm so sick of patching!

Another thing I did is radius the Oversized LP which originally had a flat fretboard. It was built before I had the Stewmac radius beam. That thing was expensive but can't do without it

The Les Paul Copy 3

I played it in church on Sunday and it went well, played quite nicely, sounded good. I have an AT-1 Dimarzio in the Bridge and PAF in the Neck. I showed the neck repair to someone and it was really hard to find. Over time the lacquer will darken and it will be even harder to see

21 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Have you ever wondered why many Gibsons have a black burst in the heel and volute areas? Especially mandolins...

I had an ES-137 with something like that, it was a "Light Burst" finish