Third build - Natural Tele in Idigbo

PeteC

Have done the fretboard repair with rosewood dust and glue and now waiting for it to fully harden. 

Meantime fine sanded the body and applied the soak-in coat of Danish oil before preparing to try the slurry finish.  Very happy with the color and grain patterns already - just the hue I was hoping for 

couldn’t do much more today so have fashioned a fret leveling beam from some laminated Corian which is 2x1x16 inches.   Needed quite a bit of lapping to get it dead level - but worked fine and now I am set to do proper fretwork on the 3 guitars so far. 

Pics as ever .....

MattNovak

That already looks ace Pete, and I am also a fan of written 'reminders' on bits I have made, after cutting a laminated top so the nicest grain was on the inside  

PeteC

Ha ! I know that feeling.   I’ve stared writing on all my jigs so I know what I used them for - quite a pile of MDF and plywood stuff now 

PeteC

bit of progress today 

moved the 21st fret slot, got the frets in with the press and cut the nut channel

I did get hold of a router base for the B&D dremel rip off and was going to rout it, but chickened out and used scalpel and a 3mm chisel in end.  Turned out Ok and a nice tight fit for the bone nut. 

hope to get the neck shaping started this pm.   But first I am off to watch Fletcher guitars neck making video for the umpteenth time...

been trying the @WezV slurry method with Danish Oil and the body is starting to look how I wanted as the pores start to fill. 

paulnb57

Very nice!

MattNovak

Looks lovely, that. Great binding colour choice too, it really matches the wood.

PeteC

Thanks gents,   neck pretty much done just now - just a bit of shaping of the transition around the heel to do then its cut the nut and string it up for a test drive.   Pleased with the headstock transition now, which was bothering me.  Getting to really enjoy shaping necks now that I know roughly what I'm doing after a few builds !   I think the oiled neck is going to be pretty nice on this - some good grain patterns.  

PeteC

Finally getting there ...

body finished today after about 5 sanded oil coats over the past few days , and wire wool burnishing. 
Electrics done now too - a nice Cirrostratus set from @Alegree . I think they are going to suit this very well.  
Bridge is the Goto "in-tune" with intoned saddles, and tuners will be vintage style Goto SD91s. 

Finished shaping and sanding the neck today, and tested an offcut with Rustins natural grainfiller before oiling - seems to work well, so I am going for that approach to try get a decent satin finish on the neck.   Neck needs to dry overnight before oiling. 

Just waiting for a new neck plate to turn up as the cheapo one I originally ordered doesn't have correct hole spacing ( buy cheap - buy twice ) 

Going to mount the neck using machine screws and inserts after reading the recent thread of Roland's and thinking about the relative weakness of Idigbo vs Maple. 

Nearly there ...then time to concentrate on doing the finishes on the 2 Juniors ( ..bout time ) before starting the next build. 

Some pics... I was trying to go for the look I have seen on one of the Custom Shop Korina Teles.  

Mock up with the unfinished neck etc ...

PVO_Dave

Looks fantastic!

crunchman

That looks really good - especially with that binding.

guitargeek62

Beautiful! I wonder if it would work even better with a 5-hole guard and no neck pickup screws though?

PeteC

yes I think you're right - the pickguard is just what I had to hand.   I am also potentially thinking of using a dark red tort pick guard like the koruna custom shop model but it would lose the "blackguard" look.   

TTony

Really like the look of that PeteC - looks like a really good job.

Re the fret thing - I’ve made a few more than 3, and still manage to get something wrong on most builds!  They’re just opportunities to try something new

PeteC

Cheers Tony - yes, you're absolutely right.
Its good to get some errors and learn how to fix them - it certainly gives you a sense that you can overcome them next time.   

There's been such generous advice here from experienced builders - and that is a major help when you're just getting into it on the first few builds. I definitely feel like trying something more advanced now.  Investing in some good quality tools certainly helped too. 

Got another coat on the neck today, and a good quality neck plate just turned up so should get it finished this weekend. 

My main issue on all 3 builds so far has been getting the bone nuts right.  Even buying pre-slotted nuts for the juniors I have concluded that they are the weakest parts of the builds and still need to be tweaked. Ive bought some TUSQ nuts to try instead.   I want to learn much more about nut slotting and adjusting. 

I did a full fret dressing and polishing on Junior No.1 once I had lapped the corian levelling beam properly and its really made the guitar play very well - I'm confident that I can do this on all 3 builds and get a high quality fretboard now. 

Will post some more pics once the neck is fitted. 

PeteC

Almost there....
nut slots to cut to depth and nut to shape. 
Neck needs the frets levelling ( there are one or two slightly high spots ) and dressing,  and then needs a good set up. 

Sounds good though so quite pleased. 

The neck inserts were an absolute bugger to get right and get the neck back in perfect alignment - Maple bolt on necks or set necks only from now on that's for sure. 

All in all, I have to say this Tele has seemed much harder to get satisfactory than either of the juniors were - but I have learnt a lot along the way for sure. 

Jez6345789

Classy looking Tele nice job

NPP

looks great!

PhilKing

Looks really nice.  The binding and the neck laminate are excellent features

PeteC

cheers guys.   Did a full fret level, crown and dressing this pm - now feels like a decent guitar.
Need to bring the nut slots down significantly and adjust the action and it will stand up OK against some of the big name guitars I have.

Took the time to do a really good fret job this one - it was worth it - the frets feel very silky. 

The guitar is much lighter in colour than the pics suggest - looks a dirty brown in the shot above,  but in the flesh it much more of a dark honey finish.
 

greggreg66

Looks lovely Pete, great work!