I Fancy Doing A Partscaster Tele...

SlopeSoarer

I fancy putting together a partscaster tele and have seen a chambered body on eBay, it looks decent to me. Any thoughts on chambered bodied tele's?

Who is recommended for best bang per buck necks?

Any real issues to be aware of when matching a custom body to neck?

What are the common mistakes which I should be aware of going down a partscaster route apart from I'll never get my money back should I want to sell!

Funkfingers

Chambered body Telecasters mean one of two things. EITHER a conscious effort to imbue the finished guitar with some of the sonic characteristics of a semi-hollow guitar with a centre block OR an admission that the wood is too dense/heavy to achieve a desirable overall weight.

For full disclosure, I am a fan of low mass swamp ash for T style bodies. Redwood is extremely light but marks if you so much as look at it the wrong way.

Teletastic

You need both.
Often necks and bodies don’t fit, it’s a tricky one.
 I prefer to get something cheap like a Vintage and change what I don’t like. If you remove any thick poly, change the electrics and re-fret you’re almost guaranteed to end up with a good guitar in my experience.

SlopeSoarer

Funkfingers said:

Chambered body Telecasters mean one of two things. EITHER a conscious effort to imbue the finished guitar with some of the sonic characteristics of a semi-hollow guitar with a centre block OR an admission that the wood is too dense/heavy to achieve a desirable overall weight.

For full disclosure, I am a fan of low mass swamp ash for T style bodies. Redwood is extremely light but marks if you so much as look at it the wrong way.

I don't have a good back these days and what attracted me to the body in the original post was the fact that it has a good looking cap (if their others are of similar quality) and would take a translucent finish well. Also the weight would be not necessarily over light but lighter end. The quote 62.7oz basically 3.9oz.

Am I right in thinking a 4lb body would result in around a 7lb tele? 

I do wonder how the chambering would affect the sound, if at all? The idea is different to a thinline as the cap and back will be thicker, no f hole, etc.

Teletastic said:

You need both.
Often necks and bodies don’t fit, it’s a tricky one.
 I prefer to get something cheap like a Vintage and change what I don’t like. If you remove any thick poly, change the electrics and re-fret you’re almost guaranteed to end up with a good guitar in my experience.

I have experienced stripping poly off once, I really didn't enjoy it! Heat gun basically, maybe there are better ways:-)

I did wonder about asking if ibuy and send the neck directly to them as it seems they make the body to order, to ensure a good fit. 

Snap

I'm doing one right now. I already have a neck I Iike. I got the body from tempusguitars - you can find them on instagram, or ebay, or facebook. Small outfit in Hull. I got a two piece ash body, unpainted, for 95 delivered I think. It's lovely. They don't do necks, but will do a body to order, whatever you like, can do your own design.

I too have stripped poly and it's a horrible job, takes forever, and it's messy. I think if I was dealing with a poly body, I would only ever repaint it, I wouldn't attempt a strip, just takes too long. 

A good place for parts is Northwest Guitars, but they seem a bit low on stock at moment

SlopeSoarer

Snap said:

I'm doing one right now. I already have a neck I Iike. I got the body from tempusguitars - you can find them on instagram, or ebay, or facebook. Small outfit in Hull. I got a two piece ash body, unpainted, for 95 delivered I think. It's lovely. They don't do necks, but will do a body to order, whatever you like, can do your own design.

I too have stripped poly and it's a horrible job, takes forever, and it's messy. I think if I was dealing with a poly body, I would only ever repaint it, I wouldn't attempt a strip, just takes too long. 

A good place for parts is Northwest Guitars, but they seem a bit low on stock at moment

Cheers Snap, I'll take a look at tempusguitars, they sound good.

I'll contact Northwest Guitars and see what they say about necks, every time I look on their website it shows them out of stock.

What finish are you going for on yours?

Snap

@SlopeSoarer for me there is only one tele finish - butterscotch nitro with a black single ply guard. I've almost finished the sanding of the grain fill, but I think it might need another very light fill, which is a bit of a pain. Better to be absolutely sure though.
If I get the paint job done right it will have a little of the grain showing through. That would be perfect. I will be taking it steady with the paint!

Steve Robinson (aka Manchester guitartech) is your man for finishes etc, and he's on this board. He's got some superb resources on his site too, guides, vids, walkthroughs. Really good stuff.

I've been looking at Northwest Guitars too, wanting a P bass body and neck, both of which saying out of stock. Good prices too. I'd rather get neck and body from the same place if poss, just to be sure of a good chance of a good fit.

SlopeSoarer

I'm in agreement all round there @Snap :-)

I've used Steve's nitro's on a LPJ that I did and must say his finishes are excellent are as his guides. It was my first attempt at using nitro and infact my first attempt at finishing a guitar. I was very pleased with the outcome, much better than I'd expected.

I bought some black nitro of eBay for the headstock hoping it would be of similar quality to Steve's... it wasn't!

Fuengi

@GSPBASSES might be able to make you a body and neck. 

paulnb57

Based on my having built several Fender style partscasters, I would get the body from Guitarbuild and source either a Fender or Squier neck depending on budget...Guitarbuild bodies are very good quality, and Ive never had a neck not fit....

SlopeSoarer

Fuengi said:

@GSPBASSES might be able to make you a body and neck. 

Thanks. I've messaged with Graham and had other offers but just for the moment I'm in planning and thinking as we are in the middle of a house move and currently in a short term rental until we complete on ours. Frustratingly it looks like we may have to leave the short term rental and move in with my daughter who has the smallest house in the world before we complete.

On the plus side the new house is on Anglesey:-)

euan

paulnb57 said:

Based on my having built several Fender style partscasters, I would get the body from Guitarbuild and source either a Fender or Squier neck depending on budget...Guitarbuild bodies are very good quality, and Ive never had a neck not fit....

I have with a Mexican Tele neck that had fitted fine in other bodies before. Nothing a couple of evenings of slowly sanded couldn't fix. 

SlopeSoarer

paulnb57 said:

Based on my having built several Fender style partscasters, I would get the body from Guitarbuild and source either a Fender or Squier neck depending on budget...Guitarbuild bodies are very good quality, and Ive never had a neck not fit....

That's good to know, thanks Paul.

uksaint7

I have a beautiful GSPBasses flame maple topped Tele body and roasted maple neck I impulse bought from one of Graham's sales. But I already have two unfinished partscasters on the go at the moment which to be honest is more than enough to keep me busy. If you fancy something a bit more glam let me know!