Tele Kit Build

NewTimer

Hey everyone, hope your weekend went swell. I’m starting a stewmac kit build and thought I’d share. This is my first time here so bear with me. I stumbled upon tFB by the way of SOS forums, and have spent the last few months reading over guitar builds and have decided to take the plunge.

I have played guitars for years but never thought much of modding my own guitars or building them. I’ve never owned a Tele style guitar, just strats and LP’s, and thought that maybe I should just go about making one how I’d like it instead of shelling out the cash on an American made fender just yet. 

I’ve done very minimal woodworking / soldering in my time but I’m looking forward to learning (and goofing up). 

Sorry for the journal entry, I just wanted to let everyone know where I’m coming from. On to the build.

I ordered a “T Style” StewMac kit to start with. None of the components are fantastic of course, the tuners will be the first things to go.

reshaped the head stock today, first time using a jigsaw, I used a half round file to clean it up before sanding

https://i.imgur.com/ZSOP0kE.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YArZ7uq.jpg

I started sanding through the grades, and decided to use some simple boiled linseed oil for the finish. I’ve only one initial coat on, I’m going to attempt Wez’s wet sanding and final wax method sans the TruOil. I used BLO simply because it was immediately available. Depending on how this turns out I might try the TruOil in the future. I’ll approach this with more coats in a few days.

https://i.imgur.com/8Dp9amA.jpg

Professional hanging setup:
https://i.imgur.com/tpSrgMr.jpg

I feel lucky with how my headstock carve came out:
https://i.imgur.com/rOZJdFY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/h9EFMjH.jpg

Hopefully by Christmas time I’ll be ready to start filing and crowning the frets. 

My goal is to complete this build, attempt to recreate the body from a blank and refit all of this kit to it for trial purposes, and then go from there on learning how to accurately make a neck from wood.

If anyone has any recommendations regarding getting into building or thoughts on quality pickups or tuners I’d be thankful.

Thanks for all of the incredible information you all share here, take care!

Winny_Pooh

Headstock looks cool. Black gaurd? And is that a mahogany neck & body? 

I generally buy gotoh tuners and hardware by default.

Lots of pickups about, a broadcaster style set from Fender/Mojo/SD/Creamery possibly too is the default. 60's if you want twangier at the bridge or a modern SD/Oil City/Bareknuckle bridge pickup if you want fat and smooth.
Either way, tele bridges kill with a cranked tweed or AC.

Neck pickups are usually 'jazzy' as the brass or even nickel silver does kill highs a bit. For this reason many modders pop in a strat, p90, filtertron or goldfoil. 

My personal preference is a 6 saddle barrel bridge for intonation (new blocky ones are ok but dont aways look right) but you might want 'that' brass 3 saddle look too. 4 way switching is fun and gives a nice fat option. 

NewTimer

Hey thanks for the thoughts Winny. Yeah, black pickguard, it came with a 3-saddle bridge, we’ll see about that  I have absolutely no clue what wood it is, I’m actually curious if anyone else would be able to spot it. SM gives zero description of what you actually receive in the kit.

I’m tempted to replace the neck PU with a p90 once I’m more comfortable with my router. I’ve window shopped some mojo PU’s, would be tempted to try some creamery PU’s but that shipping cost from here in the states would hurt.

Winny_Pooh

Ah ok, lots of US options. If going p90 I'd personally get the 5% underwound version of this: https://www.fralinpickups.com/product/p90/

Rob was a regular at tdpri and I've had a set of his. Good stuff and he'll probably match a set nicely.
https://cavalierpickups.com/

paulnb57

I find it best to assemble everything (dont wire it up) before applying finish, saves damaging the finish

Also please drill pilot holes for screws, dont try and just drive the screws in, they will break and that, is a disaster.

Looking good, thats a decent headstock shape

drofluf

Can definitely recommend “The WezV method”. I used it when I stripped the plastic off my Telecaster https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/233558/stripping-a-baja-2022-version#latest. 

My top tip would be to take the finishing slowly and wipe off the excess each time. I didn’t and left it to soak in. Hint it didn’t so I spent a morning removing the plasticy residue it left behind 

NewTimer

Winny_Pooh said:

Ah ok, lots of US options. If going p90 I'd personally get the 5% underwound version of this: https://www.fralinpickups.com/product/p90/

Those Fralin’s look juicy! Will be worth a try.

paulnb57 said:

I find it best to assemble everything (dont wire it up) before applying finish, saves damaging the finish

Thanks Paulnb, I feel pretty silly for not thinking of that, I forgot about having to drill holes for the machine screws still before I started the finishing. Luckily I’ve only put the one coat on, once I’m confident it’s dried I will assemble and drill my pilot holes where need be before I start the wet sanding step of the finish. Thanks for the call out! 

drofluf said:

Can definitely recommend “The WezV method”. I used it when I stripped the plastic off my Telecaster https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/233558/stripping-a-baja-2022-version#latest. 

My top tip would be to take the finishing slowly and wipe off the excess each time. I didn’t and left it to soak in. Hint it didn’t so I spent a morning removing the plasticy residue it left behind 

Your Tele turned out beautiful, I’ll be pleased if I can get it in that same condition! After each coat I go back after 30 minutes and wipe of excess then again 30 minutes after that. 

NewTimer

Well I’ve finally made some progress, but need some advice on a few quirks. The finish turned out okay, I learned a lot and will certainly do a better job in the future knowing what I know. More/thinner coats is probably best for me. 

i.imgur.com/l3zvYVi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YSEX25L.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VC1tsmQ.jpg

I decided to go with Seymour Duncan vintage Tele pickups, sorry @Winny_Pooh, I want to have a more traditional Tele for this build! My next build I’ll try out some p90s. 

I also ordered a tele wiring set from SM, I was a little worried about the non shielded wiring and Pot/switch/jack quality:

https://i.imgur.com/817ARMI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/E4LPf9T.jpg

Problem #1: I’ll need to order a non staggered height set of Gotoh’s. They recommend a max of 14mm headstock thickness, well of course mine is 15mm, and the last three tuner pegs are unacceptably low. Bottom strings look like they should be ok.

https://i.imgur.com/DWAH5nR.jpg

Problem #2: when the pickguard is probably set flush with the neck, it leaves an ugly gap between the control plate and guard. I don’t need much space to get it flush, but will probably need to route out a few more mm to push it into place. As @paulnb57 pointed out, I should have caught this before the finish. I will probably end up leaving the gap as a reminder of the best build sequence.

https://i.imgur.com/Y0ZS4gH.jpg

Problem #3: like an a**hat I ordered a 6 saddle bridge from SM, but it’s only set up for use with string ferrules. Not having a drill press yet, waiting until I’m sure I want to continue this hobby and won’t buy tools until I need them, I’m not comfortable drilling the holes. However I’ve thought about drilling string holes in the back plate of the new bridge. Worth doing? Otherwise I’ll keep the 3 saddle setup for… “vintage” reasons.

next steps will be dealing with the frets and fret board. Hopefully will have to start on that after the holiday. If anyone has any advice on what, or what not to do, I’d love some feedback, thanks!

WezV

if you can get strings through the tuners they will be fine.  You don't need many/any turns around the post with locking tuners

NewTimer

WezV said:

if you can get strings through the tuners they will be fine.  You don't need many/any turns around the post with locking tuners

Thanks WezV, I should be alright then, just looks wonky.

NewTimer

Well, a bit of an update. I know this isn’t the most exciting build, but I’ve enjoyed it and learned a lot. 

Today I completed the fret work, electronics work, and finished installing all the hardware. 

I tried a new crowning file, a small 150 grit from StewMac, and have to say I don’t care for it much. It was incredibly easy to slip once with it and have a nasty diagonal mark across a fret. Probably user error though, I got better with it toward the end, but still it took a massive amount of cleaning up. Overall the frets come out basically terrible. I decided to move forward after I cleaned them up with 1000 grit wet/dry and then 1500-12000 micro mesh. The were playable, but I know the intonation won’t be perfect, I’ll have to re-level and dress at some point.

You can see all of the little scratch marks I didn’t fully get out, I was afraid to ruin the level. I learned for next time.

next I started on the electronics. I’ve never soldered for a guitar before, but have made electric drums with piezo pickups and 1/4 inch jacks. When I was a teenager buying cheap snare drums and cutting mattress foam to size and layering the piezo between layers of that combined with a mesh drum head allowed me to create drums that were standard size and fully electric. Something not available then at any price.

anyways, I happened upon SixStringSupplies’ video about tele wiring. Followed it as best as I could with a few adaptions. Tucked the cap under between the pots due to clearance issues in the cavity. Worked out well. Had a hell of a time getting my 60W iron to solder to the caps. I know it’s because I couldn’t find 60/40 anywhere where I live and had to use lead free. I will never attempt that again. Somehow I managed without any cold joints (I think). I had to do a constant cleaning and tinning to get any heat to transfer.

Finally got it done. Don’t have any pictures of the pickup wiring. Was focused on getting a playable guitar! Anyways, I was too hurried and goofed up I guess. I only get the neck pickup, on any of the 3 switch options. I believe I wired the bridge pickup to the wrong lug. I’ll find out when I have time on Monday to take er’ back apart. 

Here’s the completed guitar. I enjoy the black stainless steel knobs more than the standard steel ones it came with. Fits better overall. I also gave it an electrosocket jack mount. I will probably redo the frets, I want to re-sand and refinish the neck, and obviously need a working bridge pickup, but for my first build I’m really pleased and it plays pretty well. It also needs a proper nut, had to keep the action high to work with the pre-installed nut. Thanks for taking a peek everyone!

Wish I had a better camera!

PeteC

Looks great.  Sounds like youve learned a lot from this build which will stand you in good stead for the next one.   When i started making guitars i found that after doing a few i could go back to the early ones and make improvements using what i had learned - particularly with fretwork and neck shaping 

More importantly - how does it play and sound? 

NewTimer

PeteC said:

Looks great.  Sounds like youve learned a lot from this build which will stand you in good stead for the next one.   When i started making guitars i found that after doing a few i could go back to the early ones and make improvements using what i had learned - particularly with fretwork and neck shaping 

More importantly - how does it play and sound? 

Thanks for the words of encouragement Pete. Everything has a learning curve. I still need to do a full setup on it has I didn’t have time yesterday. And obviously I need to get the bridge pickup working. But acoustic wise it has some pretty nice resonation, and the frets are surprisingly playable. I do have some sitar like sounding buzz accompanying the bottom E and A strings. Hoping a new nut will fix that, but I haven’t seen that issue on a guitar before

TTony

Fretwork can be both hugely frustrating and hugely rewarding!

You can spend hours chasing a high/low spot up and down the board and across each fret, removing a minuscule amount of fret wire and having a huge impact on playability of the instrument.

Once you’ve got it sorted, the guitar can be set up just right, and you end up with a beautiful playing guitar.

Then you realise that you could never sell it because it plays so well, so you set off down the infinite rabbit holes of modding, upgrades and tweakery.

Enjoy!

Roland

… but you learn a lot along the way.

NewTimer

Thanks Ttony! It’s all certainly a labor of love.

Well, I got my bridge pickup sorted out, but now I’ve got inconsolable mains hum unless I’m in constant contact with the strings.

Considering I don’t care for the neck finish or fret job, I’m going to have to redo all of that.

I’m going to undo most of the wiring to try to get a cleaner job done, and then I’ll have to copper tape/solder joint all of the cavities. 

I’ve got this bizarre sitar sort of noise that comes from the neck pickup area as far as I can tell, I have no idea what’s causing it. If anyone has any insight I would appreciate it. Springs from the scratch plate mounting? Pickup too close to the edge of the cavity? Hidden spring reverb module tucked away somewhere? 

I feel like the finish needs a better sanding anyways. I will probably undo everything with the exception of the tuners, they’re functioning fine. 

It looks like a nice guitar, but it plays like a lemon Chinese squire, that just won’t work for me. It’s a little saddening but I’m going to strip the thing and redo anything I think I can improve upon. I see no point in continuing onto other builds if I can’t solve the issues with this one first, even if that means rebuilding and fine tuning multiple times. Thanks for all the kind words and advice tFB!

TTony

Wiring - such a simple thing in theory but can have so many problems!

I'll sometimes go step-by-step when trying to work out the cause of a problem.  So with your hum & sitar problems, try connecting each of your pickups, in turn, direct to the output jack.  That minimises the amount of connections that you need, and so minimises the risk that one or other joints isn't quite right.

You don't even have to solder them in place - just use some crocodile clip wires to make temporary connections.


If that removes the problem, then add-in other parts of the wiring, testing each change as you go.  it's one of those things that might take longer in the short-run, but saves a lot of time in the long run.


Sounds like you've got the perfect place (ie an inexpensive kit!) to try out all sorts of different techniques and build your skills as you turn it into a decent player.  Better practising on that than something expensive

BillDL

NewTimer said:

I’ve got this bizarre sitar sort of noise that comes from the neck pickup area as far as I can tell, I have no idea what’s causing it. If anyone has any insight I would appreciate it.

Does the sitar type sound come through an amp or is it only audible from the guitar when unplugged?

Does it make the sound only when any particular string/s is/are plucked or when a string is fretted at a particular place?

It's often deceiving when you are trying to listen for exactly where the sound is coming from.

If it only makes the sound when strings are played open, then it is most likely to be an issue with the string slots in the nut.  A common cause is when the slots don't have a clean breakover point at the fretboard side, but it can also be caused by having insufficient angle from the back of the nut to the tuner whereby there isn't sufficient downward pressure of the string in the nut slot.  Easiest way to test is fret the string at the 1st fret and if it goes away then the nut is the most likely culprit.  The same kind of issue can be caused by an imprecise breakover point on the saddle, or even a loose height adjustment grub screw in a saddle, and in this case the sound would usually persist as you fret your way up the neck plucking the string.

If it's only happening on certain strings and only when you fret in specific frets, then it's probably sympathetic vibration somewhere like the neck pickup cover, the pickup height springs, or even a wire touching the underside of the scratchplate.  One thing that can sometimes cause strange harmonic ringing is if the front end of the bridge plate is very slightly raised above the guitar body.  The tension of the strings usually pushes the unsecured front edge of the bridge plate down on telecasetr bridges that are only secured at the back edge, but occasionally they stay lifted by just enough to cause an odd zingy buzz.  Some aftermarket tele bridges have two screws to hold the front edge down as well.

NewTimer

TTony, that’s an excellent idea and advice. Hopefully I’ll have time to work on the electronics again soon. I don’t have alligator clips, however I do have a breadboard, I’m assuming that would work as well? Thanks for the encouragement. Looking at this as first build 2.0. 

BillDL, I would say it must be the nut. It’s only when I play the bottom E and A strings open. I already knew I needed to change the nut because of the clearance it gave over the first fret while testing during the setup. You can feel it while playing, it’s uncomfortably high. You could barely play the first or second fret without going sharp. I have a new slotted but blank ordered that I’ll work on later in the week. Thanks for the troubleshooting advice, that’s really good information to have.

NewTimer

I attempted to take out the nut today, and I’ve never seen one so locked in. Tried gently rocking it back and forth, tried to carefully use a utility blade to break some of the seal, even tried the block of wood and hammer method. No luck. Decided to try pulling it out and up slowly from either side with my fret clippers. It worked.

Except that it didn’t. It was terribly soft plastic and left a broken off chunk in the groove. I used my #6 chisel to take out the biggest chunk.

Then used a small rectangular “diamond file” to clean up the worst of the glue and plastic residue.

Finally rubbed the pocket out with 600 and then 1000 grit wet/dry, and while there’s still a bit of glue soaked into one corner and a small file mark I accidentally made on one edge, it’s much cleaner, and should be ready for the new nut.

I will probably discontinue posting in this thread, since it was a build thread that was technically complete. This is making and modding after all, and I’m not sure anyone cares for me to be bumping an already finished build to the front page while I update as I go back to correct mistakes. 

If I have specific questions I’ll look at posting threads relating to those. Probably best in case other people search for those topics. Thanks again everyone who chimed in, I received a ton of great advice and confidence in moving forward.

Roland

NewTimer said:

I’m not sure anyone cares for me to be bumping an already finished build to the front page while I update as I go back to correct mistakes..

Yes we do. Fettling the guitar is part of the build process. The thread provides context, especially a year later when you decide to re-do something.