FINISHED: WezV Tele build

WezV

I  didn't knock mine in on this although it really is best practice. you can see that 12th fret probably did need knocking in a bit before levelling

 

I did check that all the high ones were solidly seated, which they were. so I assume they are glued in place and I was happy to proceed with the leveling on this.   If you have any that are actually loose frets its a bigger issue to sort.

capo4th

Good work fella !

WezV

capo4th said:

Good work fella !

I can do a hell of a lot better

The aim of this is to show you can get reasonably good results with basic tools, but I would say this is only a starting point and if you intend on doing more guitars the specialist tools really do help speed things up and improve consistency.   

I learned this way because it allowed me to swap out tools as I went along rather than have the initially large outlay of cash.  I still sometimes use the this simplified method (with the better tools) when a quick cheap fix is required on a budget guitar.... usually to help some poor teenager whose stagg is their pride and joy

WezV

So if we go back to the start we will see the board was very dry looking

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030582_zpsd8a74cb2.jpg

loads of discussion about the best way to deal with this on the forum and i recently posted that i sometimes use tru-oil or danish oil on particularly dry boards.   Other recommend lemon oil, and whilst I think its a good cleaner and rejuvenator it doesn't really cut it for me on the very dry boards.

So after last nights fret job  i doused it in lemon oil.   by tonigh it looked like this

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps9c5836fb.jpg

Its a lot better than it was before, but its still a bit meh.

So i put some tru-oil on, just a little bit on a cloth, then buffed straight off again

Now it looks like rosewood

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps3ef184e4.jpg

So i buff off all the gunk straight away, but after a few minutes I give it another rub down with 0000 liberon wire wool.... and up close it looks like this

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsfdf2d0b3.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps2205b204.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsd67f0db8.jpg

Much better.  feels and looks just like natural wood because i never let the oil finish sit on the surface.  plus, because this will harden a bit more than lemon oil it won't take much work next time, the more you do it the less it needs

ThePrettyDamned

Bloody loving this thread. That rosewood tip is excellent.

Thanks for keeping to relatively simple tools and the like, too - very cool idea!

WezV

I may have to use proper nut files when i do that bit.   You can do a reasonable job with needle files,fine saws and sandpaper.. much better than MDphillips manages anyway... but its never quite right.  

 

I might give it a go without the nut files first, see what i can rig up to cut this nut and show what is acheivable without the proper tools... but then i will probably replace it with bone and use nut files later when i get onto the modding of this guitar

Jalapeno

Ace thread !

Lev

Looking forward to seeing how you deal with the headstock. That's the bit that would scare me.

WezV

I am hoping to do that bit the proper way, saw of the excess with my bandsaw and tidy up with template and router

It can simply be done with a coping saw and tidied up with sandpaper, as long as you start a bit outside your line  its hard to go wrong.... the biggest mistake people make is trying too hard to make it an original shape.   I am all for originality and won't be going totally fender style, but there is only so much you can achieve with one of these kits without making it look terrible.   Small tweaks to the fender outline work a lot better than a major redesign

WezV

So I set myself a little challenge for the evening.

Could i create a nut file that produced proper slots with round bottoms using only basic tools.   it doesn't need to cut nut slots, just deepen them and the final results need to look better than our sausage fingered friend produces.

I won't say I had total success, but for something I spent about an hour on I don't think its a failure either

here was the toolkit I allowed myself.   

A knife

A beer can (empty)

Superglue

File

scissors

fine abrasive paper

Masking tape

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsb19b7e33.jpg

I cut the top and bottom off the beer can to leave a tube, then cut this from top to bottom into strips approx 2cm wide

 To get the thickness right I folded a 3cm strip of  wet & dry down the middle and but it in the nut slot.  I then added the beer can shims to the folded wet & dry till it fit the slot.  The high e only needed one shim, the low e needed 5.  Then i layered up the strips and glued them together with the superglue, once dry i filed the edge smooth and on the thicker ones i rounded the edges slightly.

I made 3 files this way, just enough to test if it would work.  Here is the Low E fitting in the slot

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps09be7415.jpg

I used 400 grit at first but it was a bit too gentle so switched to 240grit - this cut the low E slot really well.  It was exactly the right shape, but a little bit wide.

 I had a few more issues on the high e as obviously the file is a bit more flexible.  It did work but i ended up rounding of the top edges of the nut a bit

So it works, but i wouldn't want to rely on this method for a harder nut, or slotting a nut from scratch.... but as a cheap way to deepen the slots on this kit it was not a failure

I ended up doing the other strings with my nut files

I cut with a slight downwards angle towards the tuners. I fret the 3rd fret and look at the gap between the first fret and string.  I slot till this gap is barely there.

Here is the rough slotting, out two with the beer can files, other 4 with the stew-mac double sided nut files.  obviousy the strings are sitting a bit deep now

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsaff1d294.jpg

SO i now file the top of the nut down till its closer to the strings

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps4dab6fcb.jpg

and give it a bit of a clean up

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps815ca383.jpg

This nut material makes everything look fuzzy, but the guitar is now playing quite nicely

 

WezV

I nearly forgot the last pic

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsf824e7a4.jpg

TTony

I guess you could use a set of feeler gauges instead of the cut-down beer can strips - something like £5 on eBay, and might be a bit more robust than the tin strips?

WezV

yep, that would work better... didn't have a set here so couldn't use them

WezV

I picked the guitar up again this morning and it really is playing quite nicely.   tuning isn't holding great which mainly seems to be due to the cheap tuners.

So I think that is me done with step one and two, i will probably dismantle this weekend and start on the real modding.   If anyone wants me to go through any other set-up things before then let me know know.

 

I know the idea with the beer can files wasn't a complete success but I am happy that TTony instantly came back with a (still budget) solution to make it better.   I also mentioned above that my Low E string slot went a bit wide, this is because i switched from the 400 to 240 grit paper, but did not change the thickness of the beer can shim to match.  worth considering if anyone tries this with beer can shims or feeler gauges

GuyBoden

Excellent

RedRabbit

I seem to be lagging behind with my kit but it's probably better that I've had chance to read this before really getting stuck in.  Cheers, Wez.

WezV

todays task was to dismantle the guitar ready for modding,

so here is the new top it will get

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps022a107b.jpg

I found a headplate which matches too.   The top is Tazmanian blackwood, the headplate is Hawaiian koa.   very similar woods.   taylor describe tazzy blackwood as an ugly koa.  well, they actually say "Though it might not match koa’s cachet in terms of exotic beauty, its tonal range is similar, and visually it often exhibits some of koa’s same character traits.", but you get the idea.  obviously i have pretty blackwood and a meh bit of koa, but thats okay.

will cut the headstock shape shortly

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps0d9e726e.jpg

WezV

okay, hollowing out.   

here is the rough plan for the chambers (except when i started removing wood i decided to leave more by the strap buttons)

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsdd6d8c1a.jpg

And here is the bulk of the hogging out finished.   I used a forstner drill bit in the drill press to do this far so the bottom of the cavity is covered in little dimples and the walls don't look great yet but its just a start

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps413d1e19.jpg

The next stage will to be tidy it all up with a router.  I am not making templates for this,  so it will be done freehand. I do not recommend this unless you are very familiar with your router and how it cuts wood, and i would never go freehand on anything crucial.  I am only doing it here because there is very little wood to remove and i know i can do it safely

sinbaadi

Not exactly a lick of paint and a new pick up!

How thick is your top piece of wood?

WezV

The new top is 3mm ish.   I will need to remove that from the top of the guitar first, and will show how that will be done soon

If I did not have an easy way to remove the 3mm i would not bother, and then I would glue a 3mm piece of wood onto the neck heel to make it all fit, probably with some fancy veneer work to make it look intentional.  But i don't want to make it thicker than a normal tele