New/Old Build - Tele with a Jazzmaster Trem

lovestrat74

Okay so I have all the bits (well nearly) now to build a Strelecaster...

1 piece Ash Tele body (HH)
Strat neck - Fender EOB 
Bigsby
OX4 and Cremery WRHB pickups

Should be a fun one to do!

The body is from boobooguitars, so it needs a little bit of attention and drilling for bridge etc.  It has belly cut and the neck pocket is routed for a 3-bolt strat neck.  It has a split in the top where the control cavity was routed (hence why it was on booboo's) so I need to glue in a piece of veneer to strength it up.  A really generous chap (anyandy from eBay) supplied me with some offcuts for this job.

The neck is from an EOB signature strat - really nice neck with a great 10/56 profile.  The Bigsby came via @Teyeplayer and the pups from Graham's (guitar classics) parts drawer!

For colour I am thinking of see through white to show off the grain...

I've aged all the hardware - I am not a fan of the shiny, new, polished look. Not sure whether to go naked, use a standard PG or make my own one...

A couple of pics - yes, I know it's all wonky   

munckee

Never played a tele with a bigsby but they look so cool.  Must weigh the same as a ford focus though!

Winny_Pooh

Looks nice so far. I'd personally lose the metal plate seeing as the switch is body mounted and cut a thinline style pickgaurd. 

A bit like this but modified at the switch area.



I love see through white!
Here's a strat I just finished:


I used manchesterguitartech rattle cans.
Grain filled (esp with an ash body)
1x can sanding sealer 
2x cans transparent white
1x can clear
You could also do another clear coat for a less sunk in and smoother finish.

lovestrat74

munckee said:

Never played a tele with a bigsby but they look so cool.  Must weigh the same as a ford focus though!

You'd be surprised, they aren't that weighty matey

lovestrat74

Winny_Pooh said:

Looks nice so far. I'd personally loose the metal plate seeing as the switch is body mounted and cut a thinline style pickgaurd. 

A bit like this but modified at the switch area.

I like the p bass plate, it just adds something a bit different - saying that it might get the bullet if the pots don't stretch far enough 

TheMarlin

munckee said:

Never played a tele with a bigsby but they look so cool.  Must weigh the same as a ford focus though!

Bigsby is made from Aluminium. So they are not massively heavy. People think they are kilos of steel, but not so. 

lovestrat74

Winny_Pooh said:

I love see through white!
Here's a strat I just finished:


I used manchesterguitartech rattle cans.
Grain filled (esp with an ash body)
1x can sanding sealer 
2x cans transparent white
1x can clear
You could also do another clear coat for a less sunk in and smoother finish.

 

GoldenEraGuitars

munckee said:

Never played a tele with a bigsby but they look so cool.  Must weigh the same as a ford focus though!

Not in the slightest... just weighed my fender branded B5 at 10.4oz. 

stickyfiddle

Winny_Pooh said:

Looks nice so far. I'd personally loose the metal plate seeing as the switch is body mounted and cut a thinline style pickgaurd. 

A bit like this but modified at the switch area.



I love see through white!
Here's a strat I just finished:


I used manchesterguitartech rattle cans.
Grain filled (esp with an ash body)
1x can sanding sealer 
2x cans transparent white
1x can clear
You could also do another clear coat for a less sunk in and smoother finish.

Tell me more about the Strat with firebird pickups. Preferably via the medium of “leaving it at my house and forgetting where I live”?

Winny_Pooh

@stickyfiddle thanks! They're minis in plain covers. 

Full thread here: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/156847/strat-assembly-for-fun-completed-pics#latest

stickyfiddle

Lovely! I missed the final stages of that thread. Looks brilliant. I'm considering a minihum/fb config in a Jag build I'm mulling

lovestrat74

Okay made a bit of progress today.  Cut out some veneer to strengthen the control cavity as there is a split in the top and the top is on 2mm thick.



This will be glued and clamped later today.

Also decided to add an arm cut seeing as the belly cut was already done.

Kittyfrisk

OK, I'm feeling a bit dim.
You call it a Strelecaster, but apart from the Bigsby, isn't it essentially a Telecaster Deluxe copy?
Not criticising, just curious.

munckee

Well it's a bit strat and a bit tele a bigsbystrelecaster

lovestrat74

Kittyfrisk said:

OK, I'm feeling a bit dim.
You call it a Strelecaster, but apart from the Bigsby, isn't it essentially a Telecaster Deluxe copy?
Not criticising, just curious.

Kittyfrisk said:

OK, I'm feeling a bit dim.
You call it a Strelecaster, but apart from the Bigsby, isn't it essentially a Telecaster Deluxe copy?
Not criticising, just curious.

Well it's not official just a bit if fun mate. It has body contours and a Strat neck so there is the strat part. Body shape is single cut tele so there us your tele bit
 Put the 2 together and you get Strelecaster 

Not really a deluxe. A deluxe has a les Paul toggle placement and 4 pots

lovestrat74

Real slow burner this one.. neck is on (converted from 3 to to a 4 bolt) and Bigsby is on.  Not sure if I should have moved it further back but as I understand, so long as the bridge (next to be fitted) is in the right place the Bigsby position from the bridge doesn't really matter...

lovestrat74

Like a Phoenix from the ashes this long and winding build is back up and running again!! I wasn't a fan of the Bigsby but I knew it needed something different so I snagged a Descendant trem, a Mastery and some some thimbles (courtesy or @CFH @Dazza & @Springywheel ) and got the router out - no going back now 

I need to drill for the posts for the Mastery next. Also need to realign the trem unit a couple of mill to the right (PITA!!) as it's not quite perfect.

Looking at getting some tonerider P90s - hot for bridge and vintage for neck - now that the pickup routes have been opened up. Or might look for something vintage from @Alegree.

Not sure whether to route for the switch on the top horn or just customise the pickguard to suit the body...

 

Dazza

@lovestrat74 Loving this mate! 

lovestrat74

Dazza said:

@lovestrat74 Loving this mate! 

Thanks @dazza it took me a while to get back into this but I am looking forward to getting it up and running