Ash Thinline Telecaster

[Mark Crenshaw]

I drilled the neck and screwed it in place. And then started trim fitting the PG. Once I was happy with it, I drilled the screw holes.



This is the first time I've seen the PG from an angle other than flat...me likey!



Time for the control plate. I struggled with this a bit. When it was parallel to the bridge, it looked off because of the straight grained ash...it's very close but not parallel to the side of the bridge. When I lined up the control plate with the grain it looked better visually but I knew it wasn't right, so I went with the bridge instead.



I'm not sure if was due to the PG or the amount of wood I removed during profiling but the template wasn't lining up properly, so I screwed down the right end of the control plate, marked the other end and then removed the PG and bridge. This way I knew I would end up with the plate right where it needed to be. In this shot, you can see what I meant about the grain being straight but not parallel to the bridge.



Once I had everyting marked, I placed the template and drilled a hole with a Forstner bit. Now, I knew this was a chambered body. But when the bit dropped thru so suddenly after only drilling .250", my heart jumped into my throat.

[Mark Crenshaw]

Routing out the opening was easy enough, but wait. I knew when I measured out the thickness of the back at just under .500", that something wasn't quite right. This being my first Tele with front loaded controls, I just didn't know what it was.



Fortunately a 1" long bit was just right for the bearing to follow the edge of the top as a template and cut the depth in the back that I needed for the switch.



That's better.



Here's the body after a wash coat of thinned EM6000, before grain filling.



On to the fun part...clear coats!!!

[Dave Sepucha]

I'm very happy with your PG choice, I think it had the best lines. The build is looking great. (As usual)

[Mark Crenshaw]

I have the body grain filled and sanded back. The neck has 4 coats of clear on it and has been wetsanded. They're smooth as silk and ready for clear coats. I'll add just the tiniest hint of amber to the neck to darken it a bit but I think I like the body natural.



Peace,
Mark

[Jim Becker]

Wow...I really, really like this one, Mark. It's going to be a 'looker'. Amazing how "natural" can sometimes stand out more than some of the really fancy stuff!

[Tim Mahoney]

I'm getting ready to build another guitar also. This time around I plan on using walnut for the hard body, maple for the neck and rosewood or bloodwood for the fretboard. The last tele I built I used bloodwood for the fretboard and so pleased with the look. I haven't tried the thinline body yet.

[Mark Crenshaw]

I wrapped up work on this one today. What started out to be a classic ash Tele ended up being a unique Thinline. Many twists and turns on the way to being what it is in it's final form.

I will need to recut the pickguard at some point. It doesn't quite flow between thw bottom of the neck pocket and lower horn...it crowds the edge a bit. It's an easy fix but I'll need to disassemble the guitar and alter the PG routing template.











Peace,
Mark

[Jim Becker]

I really love that one, Mark. Congrats on another great completion!