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Hello all, I've heard good things about the forum so thought I'd register , this is my first post. I'm a full time luthier based in Shropshire and thought I'd share this build here as it's a True Temperament guitar which you may find interesting. If you're not familiar with True Temperament please take a minute to check out their website. It's a great system and I was pretty much hooked after building an 8 string TT guitar for a client last year. You can read all about the 8 string on my website.
This build thread was written last year and the guitar is complete, so I'll be working through the updates quite swiftly. It’s a stock instrument, so is for sale. This is not my first True Temperament guitar and the project came about as I managed to get a good deal on a pre made True Temperament neck, so all I have to do is build a body for it! I decided on my Echo MK II shape which is very much Tele inspired and it’s going to be red to contrast the Maple fingerboard nicely.
Basic Specs:
Maple Fingerboard True Temperament Neck
One Piece English Ash Body
Translucent Blood Red Finish With Contrasting Black Grain Fill
Gotoh Black Hardware
Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound Pickup Set
CTS Pots
Dunlop Straplocks
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
The starting point: the True Temperament neck.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/2.jpg
Here I have made a template from Ply to fit the neck nice and tightly. Those two tiny holes came with the neck and is where they attached a spray handle.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/3 2.jpg
This is the body template…please ignore the hideous handwriting!
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/4.jpg
I forgot to get a picture of the body blank before cutting out, but here it is after the template has been used to cut out the body. As you can see it’s a really beautiful piece of wood, this is 1 piece English Ash.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/5.jpg
Now I use the template made earlier to cut the neck pocket, here’s the result.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/6.jpg
Test fitting.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/7.jpg
I don’t particularly like neck plates so I usually use ferrules, here I have just drilled and recessed them with a Forstner bit.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/8.jpg
Next I mount the bridge in the appropriate location attaching it with two screws to be used later when routing for the bridge pickup.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/9.jpg
Bridge pickup template attached using the screws mentioned above.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/10.jpg
All routs completed
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/11.jpg
Just for fun a mockup with hardware!
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/12.jpg
More soon, thanks for watching.
Then a sealer coat of Shellac is sprayed and the grain filler applied. This really brings out and highlights the grain creating a stunning finish once the colour coats have been sprayed.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/15.jpg
The back after grain filling.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/16.jpg
Thanks for watching.
Many guitars have a re-sale value. Some you'll never want to sell.
Stockist of: Earvana & Graphtech nuts, Faber Tonepros & Gotoh hardware, Fatcat bridges. Highwood Saddles.
Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
Expert guitar repairs and upgrades - fretwork our speciality! www.felineguitars.com. Facebook too!
Bends are no problem, they just feel a tiny bit different, here is a video explaining
As nice as it looked natural, it’s not what we are going for on this build so now I’m spraying the colour coats. This picture really doesn’t do the colour justice as it proved quite difficult to photograph! It’s more of a blood red in person as you’ll hopefully be able to see later.
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/17.jpg
Here several coats of clear have been sprayed and our decal applied, usually the decal would be reserved for the headstock, but this one has the True Temperament logo up there. So I needed somewhere else to display it and think it fits nicely here, the contrast of the red and white looking reminiscent of a sports car!
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/18.jpg
Now the guitar was given plenty of time to cure before wet sanding and buffing which has taken place here and we have a lovely gloss!
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/19.jpg
The back
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/b6c38224-87bc-46cc-9129-63d79d7e551f.jpg
Finished!
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/Manton Customs Echo MK II True Temperament 1 Main.jpg
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/Manton Customs Echo MK II True Temperament 9.jpg
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/Manton Customs Echo MK II True Temperament 2.jpg
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/Manton Customs Echo MK II True Temperament 11.jpg
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/Manton Customs Echo MK II True Temperament 7 headstock.jpg
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/Manton Customs Echo MK II True Temperament 4.jpg
http://i1067.photobucket.com/albums/u425/Manton-Customs/Manton Customs True Temperament Echo MKII/Manton Customs Echo MK II True Temperament 3.jpg