FINISHED: WezV Tele build

WezV

Thankfully this is not a democracy

PVO_Dave

Clear perspex guard?

Rocker

One pickup - no guard, two pickups - guard. This is my cents worth. Great work and thanks for documenting it so well.

Lixarto

With the scratchplate. Always.

steamabacus

Wooden scratchlate.

WezV

steamabacus said:

Wooden scratchlate.

not that.  Whilst I do appreciate the skill that goes into making all the accessories out of contrasting wood  I really don't think it looks very nice 

ThePrettyDamned

A clear guard could work actually. It'll help protect that wonderful top while showing it off.

WezV

I am going to wait till the rest of the work is done before making a decision.   the next things to happen will be white body binding and a new cap on the headstock, both of which might change my feelings towards the white guard

WezV

Just thinned the headstock down ready for the koa headplate.   it was a bit hairy, especially blending in the curve and bending the koa to match... I think its worked out okay but we will have to wait and see.

GuitarMonkey

I think that tortoiseshell binding and 'guard would look a treat.

But then I'm a sucker for tortoiseshell.

WezV

So a small job done on the body, I have glued some strips eitehr end of the control cavity to help prevent any splitting

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsfa5c3b49.jpg

And the headplate is on, but not totally successfully.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsaacad5ab.jpg

Truss rod hole looks a little messy here, the strip near the nut needs a little tidying up too.  Both of these are simple fixes... but i got a hard crease in the wood which won't be such a simple fix.  it should mostly sand out but i think there will always be a little shadow there

WezV

time for some binding

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsd1c737da.jpg

I am using the stew-mac router set to do this task, it makes cutting the channel a piece of piss

2 minutes later I have a channel that fits the binding pretty perfectly.  I always let the binding protrude slightly so it can be scraped back to a nice finish

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps16656285.jpg

That binding cutter won't do near the jack socket as its bearing rides against the side of the body, so it left this little bit to do by hand which i did with an almost flat gouge and sharp carving knife

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsbe65e78b.jpg

To prepare the binding i scrape the back side of it to remove the glossy plastic finish, this helps the glue do its job

I then tape the binding around the body, mainly to make sure it fits

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps8cf5c8c9.jpg

and at this point i get a heat gun  very gently on the more difficult curves to help pre-bend them.  I have also used a hairdryer quite successfully for this and would go for the gentler hear of a hairdryer whenever using celluloid binding.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps08dbbaad.jpg

WezV

ready for binding now, i wet the channel with water

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps9208b808.jpg

this helps the super glue dry quickly, but stops it soaking into the wood and drying too quickly.  

hard to take pics of the next stage but i put a few drops of glue in the channel evenly spaced.  push the binding in place and hold it there whilst rubbing with a cloth.  the rubbing helps remove excess glue and helps push the binding in place, the movement helps stop the cloth sticking.  about 10 seconds of rubbing and it is stuck, although worth noting that end grain often takes a bit longer.  I do about 2" at a time on end grain , or upto 4" at a time down the sides, drops of superglue every 1cm seem to spread to fill the whole channel nicely without too much squeeze out

and we have half done, 

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpse707102e.jpg

and a bit of tissue stuck to it but that won't be a problem to remove when i clean up  there is also a bit of superglue soaked into the top.  if i was doing a stain this would be a potential problem, especially if too much glue soaked in. but since i wet the wood it won't have soaked in far and should come off at cleanout stage relatively easily.  just something to consider if tryign this

about 10 minutes later its all done

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsa441bc7a.jpg

doesn't need taping in place, but if any bits are struggling to stick it doesn't hurt to use a bit of tape

here it is in its rough state, will get scraped back later

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsfced113b.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps0e139035.jpg

TTony

WezV said:

Doesn't really look like a £79 kit any more, does it !!

ThePrettyDamned

'here it is in its rough state'

Git. That looks fantastic, and goes with the top really, really well.

Explanation and pics are spot on, too. I don't have routing equipment, but if I did I'd 100 percent feel ready to try this sort of thing on a cheap body.

ThePrettyDamned

Actually, I prefer with guard now for sure. It suits so well.

capo4th

Thanks for that @WesV great thread and a great looking guitar so far

WezV

thanks guys.

it will look so much sharper after the first scrape back

I also have a new bridge tuners and nut to go on it so i will be drilling for through body stringing soon.  Don't think i have any ferrules though so if i don't find some spare in the parts draw i may make a string anchor block instead

WezV

TTony said:

WezV said:

Doesn't really look like a £79 kit any more, does it !!

I thought it was £65

TTony

WezV said:

TTony said:

WezV said:

Doesn't really look like a £79 kit any more, does it !!

I thought it was £65

I was guessing ... but your point makes the transformation even more remarkable.  

OK, so it's taken a little (lot) of time, and a lot (very lot) of experience and skill, but it shows what can be done.