Current builds in progress - waiting for the Fuji spray kit to arrive.
2 Ash Teles - one with Rosewood board and one with maple, and another PRS style carved top with maple cap and white Limba body/mahogany neck and panga panga board.
I need to get these finished but I am getting badly sidetracked by researching vintage LP construction and starting my LP templates, making various jigs, buying materials, and sourcing wood for winter builds.
The Tele on the left is getting a PRS Dragon Bass in the neck and Irongear Steel Twin in the bridge. It has belly and forearm contours and will possibly end up seafood green I hope. The 2nd Tele is probably going to be butterscotch and pretty traditional except for the 22 frets. The carved top will be a black top and clear coated body with a bit of amber tint. Thats the plan anyway ? Things may well change.
Comments
I think its true that the template is the guitar - so its worth spending plenty of time getting it spot on.
Quite a bit to do yet to finish these but they are coming along fine for upcoming builds
I tend to use shapes as “inspirations” rather than precise templates. It’s a lot easier that way! But otherwise, totally agree, get the template right and the bearing guided cutter will do the rest.
And your pics have reminded me that I’ve got a plank of nice plain maple that I bought ages ago which hasn’t yet been put to the intended use ....
Im always goi to think of Seafood Green as a colour now!
While waiting for my Fuji spray kit to arrive I decided to learn to French Polish and have a go at the junior.
At the same time I stripped the guitar, completely reshaped the neck profile to be a kind of cross between the big 59 and my 94 McCarty, nitro'd the headstock, grain filled the body and neck and finished in tinted French Polish.
I also relevelled the board and redid the fretwork.
Plays very nicely, and strung up with a set of 9.5's the Oil City Firewatch sounds amazing.
Mahogany, Panga board, CTS pots, Dunlop 6105, Oil City P90 and Klusons.
Looks like this one will now be going to one of my long-time bandmates for his upcoming 60th as he's always wanted a 59-spec junior, but not at vintage prices!
I know the FP finish will wear - but I can refinish it for him whenever he wants.
Now need to get some other stuff finished...!
Looks like a really good finish.
I wish I'd found the Liberon easy French polish a few years earlier, I might have progressed onto the real stuff by now, and be achieving finish quality like that.
i might try spraying shellac on one the Tele builds i am doing and tinting to get a faux sunburt. So many options
22 Frets, with headstock truss rod.
CTS switched pots for kicking in the 2nd overwound coil in the steel twin. Theres a belly cut and a little forearm contour too. Neck profile is between a C and V and intentionally a little chunkier than current Fenders American Professionals - but less beefy than my Richie Kotzen Tele
Excuse the mess in the home studio
Wiring all done and checked too
brought the bone nut down to approximate size ready for stringing and final slot cutting
Any flat top knobs for sale ?
Although that pickup ring is shouting "NO" at me! Now, if you could make a replacement out of an offcut of the Ash, grain pattern running the same way as the body, then it'd be shouting something very different
Any good?
Unsplined fit a Solid shaft, side grub screw
But the pots are CTS split shaft so they wouldnt fit unfortunatley
cheers,
Pete
I use them on splined pots making sure the screw tightens against the edge of the slot
French polish can get very hard over time, my first build was done in it- decades later almost nothing would strip it, except some concoction Gizmo very kindly sent softened it. It sunk like nitro does and looked nice generally. Bits checked like nitro as well, headstock & places. That is, it did look good till I bandsawed it up.. gonna re-use some of the wood.
Anyway - all looking very nice.