Tele Kit Build

usedtobe

Looks awesome! Love the look of it!!

NewTimer

Thanks folks, I really appreciate it. 

Well I stripped the whole thing done again, and copper foiled all of the cavities. I have never done that before, but I really enjoyed measuring out all the pieces and while it could have been cleaner I’m sure, it came out really neat. Soldered small joints between each piece, and the used a multimeter to check for continuity between all the pieces. Spent about an hour on it and it came out great. Copper tape on the back of the pickguard as well.

Realizing that the neck cavity couldn’t be grounded another way I soldered a piece of wire that fed from the neck cavity through to the control cavity, and soldered the connection to ensure the neck cavity was totally grounded.
  
Grounding from jack > pot > control plate >  copper shielding in control cavity > finally through wire to neck cavity.

Probably massive overkill, but plugging it in (sans strings) reduced an incredible amount of hum. I also found a few ground connections in the wiring that showed some sporadic resistance, and resoldered cleaner connections. Much more confident in my wiring now.

I forgot to take pictures however if I need to open it up again I will. 

Resanded the finish of the neck, started at 80 grit 3m and worked up to 1000 grit wet dry, then a couple coats of TruOil and rub down with micro mesh and the neck is so smooth. Should have done it better first time.

next I’ll be redoing the fret level and dressing. I picked up one of these to solve my previous frustrations with the “z” file:
https://www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/files/dual-grit-diamond-fret-file/

I also ordered some pre slotted bone nuts at the same time, they came in pretty rough:

Within a few hours of emailing them, Stewmac has replacements on the way. Was surprised at the quality I received but they took care of it instantly.

I’m mostly journaling at this point I know, but the information might be valuable to me or someone else new to builds in the future. Once I’m satisfied with a new nut and correctly crowned frets, I think I’ll be satisfied enough to… move onto a new build!

BillDL

That's really disappointing about the bone nuts.  They not only look very crudely hacked out, but I think the one in your 2nd photo down has either a crack or a porous line running through it horizontally from the middle towards the 6th string slot.

NewTimer

BillDL said:

That's really disappointing about the bone nuts.  They not only look very crudely hacked out, but I think the one in your 2nd photo down has either a crack or a porous line running through it horizontally from the middle towards the 6th string slot.

I’m not sure what to call it, but there’s definitely a difference in density there. Perhaps it is just cracked and that’s what is allowing more light to scatter through it. Those areas are where it’s flaking off however. For reference, and I showed this to SM in my email, this is the unbleached Gibson nut they sent in the same plastic baggy:

Photos aren’t as good, but that was the quality of product I was expecting. I’ve gotten $5 slotted bone nuts off of Amazon for my acoustic that were remarkably better than the ones SM sent me. Oh well, I probably won’t bother to source them from there in the future. Not worth the price or risk. I’ll stick to their tools.

BillDL

The poor beast probably had osteoporosis or rickets.  I wonder if it's from domestic bovine herds that spend their lives in huge barns being milked? (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33213577/)  Glad you got some good quality ones, but that was poor quality control from stewMac.

I love the glow from copper cavity shielding.  It's like something from a Harrison Ford movie when he cracks open an ancient tomb full of valuable metal artefacts.  Very satisfying to gaze on when done well, and a pity it then has to be covered.