NGD: My first Tele

dean2371

I've just put together my first Tele after years of playing Strats almost exclusively. Having finished it, all I can say is "why didn't I get a Tele sooner!"

From this   http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l512/dean2371/Telecaster Build/photo_zps6214932d.jpg

To this  http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l512/dean2371/photo_zps4c2a7cb3.jpg

Its a Swamp Ash body with 16 coats of Tru Oil (I had to do something while on holiday), a fantastic Oil City Honky Tonk Angel in the neck (thanks Ash), Tonerider Pure Vintage in the bridge, push/push pot for series wiring, genuine Fender machine heads on a very nice but cheap neck. Sounds excellent and sustains for an age. Total cost about £230, and great fun to do.

Next plan is to have a go at building a guitar from scratch with my son, which should be interesting given my experience at woodwork (ie none). Thanks to JookyChap for setting me up with a load of tools and templates in exchange for a Hofner Shorty which he sold me in the first place. I definately got the better end of that deal!

VimFuego

wow, that looks really nice.

Lixarto

Excellent

dean2371

thanks for the comments guys. Not sure what happened to the photo, so here it is again

TTony

I love a simple grain-showing finish.  Looks great.

Sounds like you've got the bug too. 

Ianpdq

That's nice

JookyChap

Love the look of that Simon...

Evilmags

Nice finish and a nice build. Good work.

Megii

The finish does look terrific - can I ask if you did any grain filling, and if so what did you use? What a nice guitar you've made though, you must be very happy with that result.

dean2371

Thank you for these positive comments. They are very encouraging as I've just embarked on two full scale builds!

The body was sanded to 1200, though some folk suggest going that fine is a waste of time. I found it therapeutic. I then did 3 coats of Birchwood Casey sealer and grain filler, with a very light sand with 320 between each coat. Then 16 coats of Tru oil with the final 2 being "glaze" coats of 50/50 oil and mineral spirits. Leave 2 weeks then buff with Meguiars Ultimate Polish.

I've also done an alder strat body the same way. That looks great as well.

Thanks again for the comments. I'm off to the garage to do a bit of sawing and planing.

Simon

daveyh

Very nice, what make is the body?

dean2371

It's from guitarbuild.co.uk through their eBay site

Jalapeno

Lovely job !

jaygtr

Well done, good work.

stickyfiddle

Every inch the Proper Tele. Well done

dchwhite

Superb

Megii

dean2371 said:

The body was sanded to 1200, though some folk suggest going that fine is a waste of time. I found it therapeutic. I then did 3 coats of Birchwood Casey sealer and grain filler, with a very light sand with 320 between each coat. Then 16 coats of Tru oil with the final 2 being "glaze" coats of 50/50 oil and mineral spirits. Leave 2 weeks then buff with Meguiars Ultimate Polish.

I've also done an alder strat body the same way. That looks great as well.

Appreciate the information, I just noticed that the grain filler you used had kept the ash looking pretty natural - some grain fillers to me seem to lose that somehow. I've done a couple of builds with swamp ash bodies from guitarbuild.co.uk myself (and currently embarking on a third!) - I think the swamp ash they use is really good stuff, don't know where they source it, but I love the way it looks and sounds.