I finished off a "partscaster" build and I'm really pleased with the results. The colour scheme will not be to everybody's taste, but I really like it. I do have chrome hardware and a white scratchplate if I tire of the dark hardware and scratchplate though.
- GuitarBuild UK 2-piece Alder offset "Telemaster" body bought through the classifieds here. Scratchplate from GuitarBuild UK.
- Roasted maple half-paddle unfinished neck with 22 semi-hemi hidden fret ends from Partscaster. I shaped the headstock to a Strat outline rather than Tele because I preferred to look. I had rubbed it with Danish Oil and unfortunately it's left slightly darker areas where it soaked in more to the softer grain structure on the headstock, but it's not as obvious in the flesh as it is in the photos. The fretwork was almost impeccable on this neck but I did have to spot level a couple of frets. The oiled finish is really smooth and easy to play with no hint of stickiness.
- Northwest guitars unbranded (Wilkinson I'm sure) black ashtray bridge with cutaway rims and brass compensated saddles.
- Black nickel control plate and knobs, black string ferrules and black Wilkinson tuners. New black graphite nut to replace the white bone one.
- The pickups are IronGear Steel Foundry Overwound that have that extra bit of ooomph and give a very usable neck pickup sound while still sounding like a Tele.
- I wanted this guitar to have a lot of jangle so I used a couple of 300K CTS pots I had lying around and used a 0.047uF tone capacitor. It has some real treble bite and rolls off the highs very well when needed but the taper of the pots isn't great. I can live with it for now though. I reverse mounted the controls and I prefer the layout on this particular guitar. I don't on ordinary Tele shapes.
I finished it with the "Ocean Green" gloss wipe-on finishing dye/varnish system from
Bolt Guitars (
@BoltGuitarsUK). I don't know if it's my camera or the lighting I was taking the photos under (or perhaps even my monitor calibration), but the photos kept showing it as leaning more towards aged Daphne Blue or Sonic Blue than to green. I've had to edit the colour so it looks like the exact shade of Seafoam Green it has turned out, but the editing has left what looks to be a darker edgeburst that isn't actually there.
The finishing system comprises a water-based wood dye and a separate clear hard varnish. If the dye is applied onto bare wood by itself it doesn't give good results, but Bolt Guitars came up with a system where you mix the dye with some of the varnish and apply it very thinly in multiple coats with a folded cloth to build up to either a beach-washed finish or keep going for a solid opaque finish, then you apply the finishing clear coats, with fine rub-downs in between every other coat. With care and practice you can get an almost mirror-like finish after a bit of final buffing, but it's not quite as mirror-like as a well sprayed gloss finish if you scrutinise it. It's something you can do in the house rather than a shed or workshop and cleanup is easy. I'm very pleased with the results and will most likely use their finishing system again in a different colour.
I'm sure some of you will take an instant dislike to the black on pale green colour scheme and feel that it should have a pristine white scratchplate and shiny chrome. I just felt like something different. I only have one other "offset" guitar and that's my Squier Starcaster. I swore I would never buy another offset body shape because they don't stand up and lean against things without wanting to fall sideways. I've mitigated this by positioning the bottom strap button up the sloping side a bit, but I actually really like the whole balance of this guitar shape on my knee and on a strap. It feels comfortable and is perfectly weighted where it needs to be.
Comments
https://cziltangbrone.bandcamp.com/album/null-hypothesis-5-ep
https://cziltangbrone.bandcamp.com/album/machine-space-2
Probably helps that it's finished in one of my favourite colours
Clever man Bill :-)