Meranti tele build

lysander

I had some meranti timber lying around for few years, and am currently on a build marathon while I have some time so here we go.
I'm using hand tools almost exclusively aside from a hand drill, jig saw and bobin sander.

lysander

The neck came from guitar kit fabric, and while it was very cheap ( cheaper than material costs ) there was quite a bit wrong with it : barely sanded, horrible headstock, heel of wrong length and out of square

lysander

lysander

Because meranti is a bit fragile I laminated the sides of the neck pocket for added strength.
And because I’m an idiot and routed the neck pocket 3mm too deep, I also laminated the bottom of the neck pocket with some maple.

Another fun bit: the bridge pickup hole was the wrong place for the bridge I bought so I had to extend it after that picture.

More coming soon.

lysander

After drilling the bridge, neck pocket time, checking the neck alignment with the two outer strings




I'm not going to like I was relieved when it ended up in the right place after drilling and re checking the alignment.

lysander

Now drying after using grain filler.
For whatever reason I had quite bad tear out when drilling for the ferrules so I strengthened the holes with some drops of CA glue and attempted to fill in the surface a bit with the filler, will see how it looks after it's dry and cleaned up.

lysander

A rather approximate amber sunburst drying.
The plan is to have it as a sand through layer for the top coat of blue so I’m not going to bother trying to get it perfect.
I’m using water based acrylic cans.

The bridge pickup cavity is now rather ugly but it’s hidden so I can live with it.

lysander

Getting there 

Still needs wiring and a fret dress and setup.

I also need a new switch as the one I ordered didn’t match the supposed depth and is too deep, the body is fairly thin, but actually not that light surprisingly.

lysander

Now completed.

sawyer

Excellent! 

lovestrat74

Great work! This build would have made a great vid!

lysander

Thanks ! Build vids are fun but a lot of work, maybe one day

A few more thoughts / comments on the build:

- I’m glad I made my life easier by choosing an aged finish, Meranti is quite soft and porous and getting a smooth surface is pretty hard ( it doesn’t plane very well ). I think the only way to have a perfect glossy finish would be to spend a lot more time filling pores and imperfections and spraying a thick coat of catalyzed lacquer.
- The acrylic is a bit soft, not sure I would use again
- The guitar is quite resonant but fairly dark acoustically, not surprising given the wood.
- The pickups are iron gear hot tele bridge and P90 neck. The bridge is perfect but the neck is a tad muddy even when far from the strings, I will try soldering a 0.047 uF cap in series with it to see if it fixes it. 

SteveRobinson

You can get a good finish on Meranti so long as you pore-fill thoroughly.

I made this from meranti and sprayed it using aerosols. 
https://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/2019/03/23/making-a-mini-firebird/

I could have buffed it to a high gloss had I wanted.

lysander

 Lovely guitar @SteveRobinson ! Good to know it can be done with nitro too.