FINISHED: WezV Tele build

WezV

just found another pic of the first tele kit conversion.  it shows the sound hole design i did with a few different sized drill bits

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/conversion-1.jpg

WezV

TTony said:

WezV said:

TTony said:

WezV said:

Doesn't really look like a £79 kit any more, does it !!

I thought it was £65

I was guessing ... but your point makes the transformation even more remarkable.  

OK, so it's taken a little (lot) of time, and a lot (very lot) of experience and skill, but it shows what can be done.

i do feel a bit like this right now

http://minorityfortune.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Xzibit.jpg

TTony

yuze da pimper.

WezV

So I have a new bridge for it and am drilling for string through holes.

First step is to locate the bridge and drill the mounting holes.   nothing special to do here but measure twice etc, etc....

once I have the mounting holes in the right place i mark the string through holes and free hand drill with the bridge in place, but only a few mm deep

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps96c97db1.jpg

I have a big drill press, but it doesn't have enough clearance to reach these holes so a bit of improvisation is needed.   What follows sounds fiddly but i have done it so many times its quite quick now, and gets pretty good results.  essentially you have to be aware of how far you can drill without wandering with a thin drill bit

basically its a series of drill guides, starting with the bridge itself which i used above.  I have a 1/2" template already drilled for these holes, and a 1" block of wood i am going to drill.   I have a big drill press and a bench drill, either could be used for the next steps.  some people drill these free hand with the help of mirrors.  that is fine too, essentially you have a few chances to get it right on the templates before you touch the guitar

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps10baf7c5.jpg

once i have my thick drill guide sorted  i use a couple of drill bits to locate it on the guitar and stick it in place with double sided tape

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps55759a75.jpg

this allows me to safely drill about 3/4" into the guitar without wandering, i then switch to the half inch template to drill a further half inch into the guitar.  I then free hand dill the outside two holes all the way through

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps29ee16b2.jpg

I then reattach the 1" thick block to the back using the same method i did on the front with the spare drill bits as locator pins and drill the other 4 holes

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpsc2fd590a.jpg

i have another template i use for the larger holes which i line up with the holes just drilled.  shows i was not too far off with the silly method above

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zpscbfb06e3.jpg

so i drill the ferrule holes

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps0ef5f0e6.jpg

WezV

 have also done some work on the headstock, reshaped to something I am not really happy with and bound once, not happy so pulled it off and re-did it.

Its coming together, but at this point it feels like damage control for a design i don't like 

imalone

I somehow missed the binding update, nice stuff.

WezV

So, i am still not overly happy with the work on the headstock but i have decided to press through to the finishing stages.  I may do a new neck for it later if the headstock ends up bugging me too much.  

there will be less pics for a while because finishing is not really my area of expertise.... I usually get someone else to do anything other than relic or oil finishes

the maple neck and basswood body are getting rattle can black nitro.  the headstock and body are bound on the front edge and will be lightly burst of the front face.... probably.   still not totally sure i like the idea of the black neck but i wanted to do something a bit different with it.  it might just make it look stupendously cheap

Gassage

Wow...really, really well done.

Hats off in awe of you.

Andyjr1515

WezV said:

 still not totally sure i like the idea of the black neck but i wanted to do something a bit different with it.  it might just make it look stupendously cheap

Having seen some of your other stuff, @WezV, I think that is highly unlikely!  I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Andy

WezV

well, i did a burst on the front of the body but hated it.  Its probably the closest i have got to a successful burst with rattle cans, but still not good enough.

I stripped it back and just did a coat of amber on the front

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps0c408c2c.jpg

I used to make proper hangers for spraying, but I always felt much comfier holding a guitar by its neck, which is why that is hanging from an el-cheapo maple neck

I think i will go satin on the back, and thin skin gloss on the front - both finishes I am relatively comfortable doing

I still think this would look great with a nice light coloured maple neck and I am a bit stuck as to whether to carry on with the other one or not.  

Andyjr1515

That amber looks great, @WezV  Lovely flame on it...

WezV

Well I am starting to like the neck again after doing some work on it today

I drilled out the old side dots and have installed the luminlay ones.  The headstock has had a coat of amber to match the body and the binding on the headstock has been scraped back.   the back and headstock have had a coat of satin lacquer, should be able to start putting this all together soon

WezV

The good shot

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030700_zps0533ff78.jpg

The not so good shot

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030704_zpsd5c492ac.jpg

Its a bit of a meh headstock shape but i think i can live with it for now.  These are the old strings put back on for testing a few things

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030703_zps27af3169.jpg

Impossible to take a good pic of a satin/semi gloss black in this light

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030707_zps242dda8b.jpg

and the new luminlay side dots

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030709_zps2f9ed0ab.jpg

Andyjr1515

Looks stupendous, @WezV  

Andy

TTony

Andyjr1515 said:

Looks stupendous

Indeed.

impmann

Beautiful!

imalone

Just to bug you again: is this roughly the right kind of file for the fret levelling? http://www.axminster.co.uk/vallorbe-swiss-flat-files

WezV

I think I have brought this one before - the smooth cut version

http://www.axminster.co.uk/vallorbe-swiss-mill-saw-files

 

 

Mine is just about finished and I have been playing it for a few days.  I still need to do some more with the tone options on the 3 way switch to ive more options, but it sounds great as it is.   Its very light, most of the weight is in the neck so its prone to a little bit of neck dive and feels slightly toy like because of it

imalone

WezV said:

I think I have brought this one before - the smooth cut version

http://www.axminster.co.uk/vallorbe-swiss-mill-saw-files

Thanks!

WezV said:

Mine is just about finished and I have been playing it for a few days.  I still need to do some more with the tone options on the 3 way switch to ive more options, but it sounds great as it is.   Its very light, most of the weight is in the neck so its prone to a little bit of neck dive and feels slightly toy like because of it

WezV

Okay, time for some final pics.   I was looking for the black fabric i normally take photos on but when i found it it became obvious it had been stored somewhere a bit damp.   Loads of white stains which made it look like it had been used as a back drop for porn of the non-guitar variety.   So that is why these pics are on the picnic basket instead

The top has just had a few light tint coats followed by satin nitro, no buffing or rubbing back and its super thin

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/g4m1_zps0f6e1e64.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/g4m3_zps6386a8ca.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/g4m2_zpseac87875.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/g4m5_zpsf7a4c40f.jpg

The back is black nitro with the satin again.  Since its on basswood its already getting quite marked but I am not really worried about that

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/g4m6_zpsdb1432c8.jpg

quality control:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/g4m4_zps3fa6154d.jpg

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/g4m7_zps3a0386b9.jpg

Final weigh in:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/temporary_zps81dcc4a3.jpg

from

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/P1030615_zpsb01cd1a2.jpg