ROCKETROB

Thanks for the replies.

The bridge pup ring is about as small as I could make it and still cover the shape of the tele style pickup route. The ring just covers the route to the neck side and is right up against the bridge. The spacing of the pickup to the bridge is the same as on a normal tele. It might not look like it but, the neck and bridge rings are the same width. The bridge ring could have been made about 1/4" narrower, but it looked even more unbalanced, at least to me, anyway. The top is too pretty to cover with a full pick guard; I made one of those too.

Rob.

Here's a couple more pics:

Well, Some of you may remember my last build; a double cut tele style. I'm back at it, this time with a different take on the same body shape. Tell me what you all thiink.

Specs:

Alder body

curly maple top

maple neck with rosewood fingerboard 12" radius

medium jumbo frets

grover mini rotomatic tuners

fender hardtail bridge

neck pup: seymour duncan 59n

bridge pup: custom wound vintage vibe guitars T90 (a p90 in tele clothing)

3-way switch

master volume, master tone (500k pots, 047 tone cap)

custom made pick up rings

The body, top, neck(excluding fretboard),and pup rings were all made from scratch.

I'm still sorting it out, but so far it plays well and has a great tone for blues, rock, and country. It's pretty bright with the 500K pots, I might change them to 300K (gibson pots) to see if I like that better. This thing will really twang if you want it to.

Rob.

Wood: There is a flat spot where the jack is located. Is that what you mean? The rest of the body is well sanded and looks smooth in person. Rob.

Congrats on finishing your project. I'm sure you learned alot even though you did not follow conventional wisdom, plus you'll be ready for the next one. You got it together and it plays well; and thats the primary function of any instrument. Hpoe you get a good grade. Rob.

Desopolis Posted Yesterday, 09:37 PM

what size binding is that? I plan on doing a bass and that looks just about perfect

The Binding is from Stewart-McDonald size .090 x .125. Go to www.stewmac .com and click on bindings. There is a lot of info there including size, color. material, special routing bits and a very good set of instructions on how to do it.

A flat top guitar is the easiest to put bindings on. Just be sure to keep the router perpendicular to the top and route the channel slightly shallow so that the binding is a little higher than the body on the top and sides. Then you can scrape or sand the binding to a perfect fit. Do the binding first then the finishing.

Rob

Hey Thanks for the nice comments. I appreciate it very much.

I drew the body shape myself. But...I'm not ready to give it away just yet. I have a few of these I plan on making. I've only played it live once so far and I thought it sounded great; very meaty and twangy at the same time. The fat neck really helps transfer the vibrations of the strings. Great sustain too. No sound clips yet. I'll post when I get some put together.

The pickups: Lindy Fralin Blues Special Neck. Seymour Duncan Jerry Donohue Bridge. These pups have a broad shoulder meaty sound with a little less twang than some other ones. I was suprised how high I could turn up the treble on my amp without getting too shrill. This gives a wide range of tones.

Thanks, Rob.

Here's a couple more pics

AND more:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b92/arrd...00_0742_web.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b92/arrd...00_0737_web.jpg

Just finished this one a few days ago. It took me forever but I think it turned out prett nice. I wanted a tele because I like that sound and I don't own one. So... I made one...that I can call my own.

Specs:

Custom made swamp ash double cut tele body with black top binding.

Custom made black pickguard.

Fender american standard six saddle bridge.

Fralin blues special neck pickup.

Seymore Duncan Jerry Donohue lead pickup.

Master volume, master tone, CTS 250K pots.

4-way switching includes pickups in series.

Neck from Musicraft ordered to my specs (12" radius, medium jumbo frets, 1-3/4" bone nut, fat back with very little taper from end to end)

Grover mini rotomatic tuners.

electrosocket jack.

Nitro finished body(Reranch butterscotch) and neck(Reranch fender neck amber).

I know it's not a traditional tele, but I wanted something a little different that still sounds like a tele; and it does.

Tell me what you all think.

Rob.

Here are some more pics:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b92/arrd...00_0736_web.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b92/arrd...00_0715_web.jpg

It's been cold here but nothing like the East Coast. Still too cold to shoot laquer outside. Lucky for me my employer has let me set up a small area for spraying inside an unused part of our building. They also give me access to a small wood shop. I get an hour for lunch so I often spend most of it working on my project. Way cool.

Rob

Thanks for the replies.

Wes: I'm not sure I can measure that 1mm thickness easily; but I can estimate it pretty well. That gives me something to go by.

ibnaz: your reply is along the lines I was thinking. I want the neck protected, but not too thick. Thanks for your take on the finishing schedule. Good advise there. I have done a couple of bodies in nitro before so I am familiar with the general process. I always have to remind myself to GO SLOW and have patience.

I'll get some pics up when this project is completed; about 6 weeks to go. (including hardening time)

Rob

I'm finishing a Tele style neck; maple with rosewood board. How many coats of clear nitro is correct? I'm thinking about 9 or 10. It shouldn't be as thick as the body right?

I sealed the bare maple with a couple of light coats of clear, then a few coats of Fender Amber Neck Dye (reranch). Now I'm ready for the top coats. How many do some of you use?

Thanks, Rob.

Well, the body blank showed up this morning. Arrived in good condition, packed in styrofoam "peanuts". Nice tight center join; sanded both sides to 120 grit. The grain pattern is about average; not a stunner, but interesting. The two pieces are very different, but I found a spot where the body layout looks good.

Sorry no pics at this time

I would use this supplier again. 1 week from order to received goods is OK by me. Also I noticed on their site that you can ship two blanks for just 50 cents more than what I paid for one

Well, I've got work to get on to now. Rob.

I got an email Fri. 10-06-06 letting me know that my order has shipped via FedEX and included tracking information. Good service so far.

Last time I bought some Alder I paid about $60.00 from a local lumber supplier and got enough wood for 3 bodies; but I had to make it into body blanks. This time I couldn't find any good swamp ash, so I ordered a blank pre made. I think $62.00 for a swamp ash blank is pretty reasonable. Like Crafty said, if you pay someone else to do the work it's going to cost you. If I wanted Pine I'ld just do it myself. Rob.

I called them today to confirm my order. They said they have it and I should get the blank around 10-13-06. Not bad ; if works out that way. Rob

I came across this web site a couple of days ago. Pretty good price on body blanks. I bought a swamp ash blank. We'll see how it goes.

Here's a link:

Guitar Mill

Rob

Thanks for the help. I'll try to get the fill done this week and let you know how it turned out. Rob.

yes, that makes sense. I was just thinking about cleaning/sanding the grain filler off of the binding. Should I tape it off to protect the binding? Rob.

Well this is something that may seem simple to some but has me a bit confused. I'm on my third build, an ash bodied double cut away tele with black binding, butterscotch finish and standard tele style pickups. I know I have to fill the grain before finishing, but do I put the binding on first? Or fill first? The binding channel is routed already and the body is well sanded.

My first build had binding and alder body that turned out well, but did not need to be grain filled. Your thoughts please. Rob.

Very nice! Unusual choice of woods; very distintive. Did you have to angle the neck? The bridge looks almost low enough to allow no angle.

Great job, Robert.

Wow ...that top is way cool. The dark figuring makes it really interesting. Don't cover it with something too dark. Nice shape on the body too.

Nice job!! Really like the bound neck and inlays. The cherry over mahogany gives it a classic kind of look; very cool. How about a concentric pot for volume and tone with only one hole to drill?

Thanks again!

The Ghostcaster? Thats pretty good. I don't think I've ever seen an Ibanez Ghostrider.

Unfortunately I cannot take any credit( or blame?) for the neck. It's a licensed by Fender unit from WD. Inexpensive, but the frets needed some work to make it play well. This being my first attempt I did not want to try to make a neck. I'm working on some drawings for a neck that I can make for my next build.

The finishing was by far the hardest and most time consumming part for me. I even had to sand it down to bare wood after sealing and priming because I used a primer that was incompatible with my color paint. Read the labels carefuly!

GOTM? I don't think so. Too many incredible builders here; putting out some fantastic instruments. RD.

Thanks for the nice comments.

No construction pics - I had enough to do just trying to make it. I'm kinda slow sometimes. Maybe the next one.

I like the vintage look so thats what I went for. My wife couldn't believe that after all that time and effort it looked "kind of plain and unexciting"... oh well. Rob.