Telecaster Build

[Shawn Pixley]

A while ago I got the itch to make a Telecaster. I've got the body mostly done (cut to shape, top cap of spalted maple over an ash body, neck fitted, routs done, sockets cut, etc...). There will be no pickguard. Instead I will back mount the controls. I am using a Fender neck that my son bought when he thought he wanted to make a guitar. He didn't really like the hours he had to put into one that only needed refinishing, so I'll put the neck to use. Pi, the deaf shop dog helps. I went back through SMC builds of John, Julie, and others to pick up what tips I could. I also asked their thoughts on the distance between the neck and the humbucker rout.

Thank you John and Julie!

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I am planning to add a black binding front and back on the guitar. This is where I am at a stopping point. I have two issues. I routed the bindings on the acoustic I built with the dremel and the offset guide. The tele's a different beast though. At a few spots there isn't enough wood around the neck pocket and cutaway to rest the base of the dremel router on to get proper registration. I have ordered a router bit with bearings to use in the router.

I was also going to do the binding in solid ebony. The bend is really too tight at the horn for bending ebony of the thickness needed, so I am falling back to the plastic bindings. Maybe, I'll get ambitious enough to mill very thin strips of ebony and laminate them together for the sharp curves. I haven't yet determined what tone / color to make the ash potion of the body. The hardware will be all black. I'll swap out the tuners with black Sperzel, Grover, or Schaller models.

[Julie Moriarty]

Sounds like this is going to be a great build Shawn! So far, I like what I'm seeing. You have an eye for beauty.

If you remember, I was toying with ebony binding on the bass. I steamed a 1/8 x 1/4 piece of Gabon ebony but it didn't make it around the tight curves. I too was thinking of laminating but was leaning toward ebony/maple laminate. Being one who likes to make her life easier, I figured I'd do that only if I had or could make something like the MacRostie binding trimmer. It was just too dangerous or time consuming to do it with what I have. I also knew I had to discover if real wood would work as well as plastic for the MacRostie setup. Maybe next build. With your spalted top, I'm thinking solid black would look best on the binding but if you go ebony, you'll probably have to laminate it to shape.

Looking forward to seeing your progress, Shawn! I'm living vicariously until I get things unpacked and in place again so I need a fix. :)

[Shawn Pixley]

I made some progress on the guitar last week. My binding material came earlier than expected and I needed to juggle a couple other projects around it. The binding ledges were cut well. I used shallow climb cuts on the uphill sides and then a complete pass in the "proper " direction.

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I pre-curved using a heat gun and then glued up the back binding. The sharp curves of the Horn and around the neck pocket are a pain. Definitely more difficult than the acoustic binding even though that was laminated. The binding cured for 24 hours before removing the tape and scraping.

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The front went the same way. After an initial scraping, I put on the magnifiers and touched up any defects with binding material dissolved in acetone. I originally was going to do a laminated binding (60-10-20 BWB) but it looked too busy with the spalted top.

So now the binding is done. The next decision is finish color. I like the spalted maple against the Fender Honey maple neck (maybe I should build an Ebony fingerboard neck next). I like the ash back but LOML thinks it should be darker. I need to find some scrap ash to test finishes colors. I am leaning towards a lemon or orange shellac under the Nitro Lacquer. The hardware will all be black to accentuate the spalt. Below are shots taken with MS on the body except for the one with the neck. Any opinions?

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Pi, the deaf shop dog helped as usual (after he got his morning walk).

[John Coloccia]

I think that's quite nice, Shawn! The simple black binding sets off the top very nicely. Just strictly as a personal preference, I might have left the binding off the back, but again that's just my own personal preference. I think you're on the right track with just a very subtle color, but I don't think you need shellac to do it, unless you just happen to find that convenient. I would personally just maybe spray a coat or two of lacquer tinted very weakly with an amber, the idea being that I don't really want to cover anything up but I do need to kill some of that whiteness from the spalted maple, and it will give the entire body a nice, subtle, warm glow to it. Again, that's just my personal opinion.

How did you drill the holes for the through hole bushings? That seems to give a lot of people trouble.

[Julie Moriarty]

Yes, the all black binding was the way to go, Shawn. I like it on the back too. That you were able to wrap it around the upper neck pocket is pretty cool and something I've never seen done. :)

If you were ever going to make a neck with an ebony fretboard, I'd temper the amber toning on the body a bit. With the neck you have, a good amber tone is pretty much a necessity, but if you went the custom neck route, you could laminate some spalt on the headstock and maybe even bind the neck with it, if you did a Gabon ebony fretboard.

To take that a step further, you might consider a maple-ebony-maple laminated neck. The binding on the back would blend in nicely with the ebony stripe.

Okay, I need to stop creating work for you. I know all too well what it's like being on the receiving end of that. :o

[Shawn Pixley]

Julie,

Thanks. The problem I have is I would like to explore many different ideas. But unfortunately I can't do them all on a single guitar build.

[John Coloccia]

Julie,

Thanks. The problem I have is I would like to explore many different ideas. But unfortunately I can't do them all on a single guitar build.

Well, like I told Julie there are two kinds of builders....people who never finish their first guitar, and people who never stop building guitars. I believe you're a repeat offender now, aren't you?

[Shawn Pixley]

Thank you John!

I debated about the double binding. If I hadn't done the back binding, I would have contoured the back. If I countoured the back, I would have carved the front like a Les Paul or a PRS. But I though I was doing enough with this build (rear mount controls, humbucker in the neck, 4-way switching, and no pick guard. Besides, I always like Andy Summers double bound Tele.

Thanks for the compliment on the string through and ferule work. I shamelessly found your post about the registration pin on a block on the drill press and stole the technique. I layed out the location and reference lines prior to drilling the first hole. Only one would have been off if I followed your technique slavishly. But because I had the reference line, I could re-sight it prior to drilling. I didn't drill the holes in order but did either end first and then the two center holes. The remaining holes can be sighted to ensure it looks even and consistant. Thanks again for you past post / tutorial.

[Shawn Pixley]

You two are a bad influence on me aren't you?

[Julie Moriarty]

Julie,

Thanks. The problem I have is I would like to explore many different ideas. But unfortunately I can't do them all on a single guitar build.

Sorry, I'm living vicariously Shawn. SOMEBODY has to be working on a build or I'll be lost. :rolleyes: That unfinished bass yells at me every day to finish it. Thankfully, my SO finally decided on the inlays and ordered the materials. Then I can quit creating work for you and just pester you about how to do inlays. :D

[Shawn Pixley]

Feel free. Pester away!

[Shawn Pixley]

So I have been perseverating on what "color" to take the ash back of the guitar. We mocked these out in Photoshop. I have two color schemes for consideration:

The Safe Scheme - Butterscotch. Keep the whole guitar in the butterscotch family. The back would be a darker butterscotch than the neck. I'd try to keep it from being too orange. The spalted maple top would float above the back and black binding.

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The Bolder Scheme - Black/Red. The back would be a dark contrast to the top and neck. I envision a Black/Red color (dyed). Without being a sunburst, it could evoke that aesthetic. I think the photo shop is still a little too red. I would probably add a touch of butterscotch and black to it. The bindings are a bit more subtle here.

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So, what say you? Which do you prefer?

[Julie Moriarty]

The red no doubt catches my eye and draws me to to the guitar. If those two were on display I'd definitely want to pick up the red one first. But I like bold, different, out of the box stuff.