Walnut Telecaster

[Mark Crenshaw]

Yet another build going on. I have always wanted to build a walnut guitar. Since my current passion is Teles, I'm going for a walnut Telecaster.

Specs:
3-piece walnut body
Walnut neck with rosewood fretboard
White pearl pickguard
White pearl binding and dot markers
Chrome hardware


I started with a 2" thick walnut board.



It's wide enough for a 2 piece blank but I didn't want the lighter sap wood.



So I ripped it down to romove the sap wood and that gave me just enough for three 16.5" planks with a total width of 15".



All glued up! A nice 3 piece walnut blank. It's still 2" thick so I'll trim it down to 13" and run it thru the planer after it sets up.



I also have a nice piece of quarter sawn walnut for the neck and some rosewood for the fretboard.



Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

I stated on the neck today. There was a steark of lighter sap wood on the edge that I wanted to avoid, so I laid out and transfered several lines from front to back to make sure I was outside of the area. You can see the lighter wood along the fence I have clamped to the bench.

My simple jig lets the router base run along the fence and there are stops at either end to hault the router at my layout lines.



A couple of shallow passes and the channel is done.



I ran center lines out from either end of the channel to use as a reference for my template.



All layed out with a perfectly centered channel...and I missed the sap wood by just a touch.



After rough cutting on the band saw and some time on the spindle sander, I have my neck ready for the fretboard. Just a note of sanding, I always leave my blanks a bit oversize at this point. I'll take it to final dimensions after the fretboard is glued on.

[Mark Crenshaw]

Time to move on to the body blank. I started by placing the template to find the best way to lay it out. If ever there was a piece of wood that was "just" big enough for a Tele, this is it. Maybe a 1/16th to spare on either end. Maybe.



It needed a light pass thru the planer to level out the glue joints.



Then I rough cut it on the band saw. I cut it very close to the line so the router has next to nothing to cut. As several have mentioned, in this thread and others, walnut is prone to tearout if you expect the router to cut more than a whisper.



I profiled the edge, trued it up on the spindle sander and then cut my binding channel.



Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

I started on the fretboard tonight. Rosewood. Some nice grain.
Here's the blank before trimming to fit the miter box.



I use the StewMac miter box and saw. All laid out and ready to go. A little double stick tape holds the blank in place. I have a line on the scale rule...can't see it in the photo...that I align the end of the blank with so I have minimal cutoff. And I know I'm not going to run out of fretboard before I get the last slot cut.



I like to use a clamp to hol;d the blank while I'm cutting to keep it from slopping around. Hey, there's the alignment mark at the end of the blank...you can see it in this shot.



The rosewood was gabbing the saw blade pretty good toward the end, so I added a second clamp.



All cut and ready to glue up....



Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

Back on this build I continued work on the neck. I stated by gluing up the fretboard and then laying out the postion markers.



After gluing them in and letting them set for a few hours, I radiused the fretboard and leveled the markers.



Various stages of the carving. I really like carving walnut. Not only does it smell nice, it is a pure joy to work compared to maple.

[Mark Crenshaw]

With neck close to being done, I decided to locate the bridge. I used my string jig that lets me lay the bridge under the strings while they are at proper spacing and aligned with the edges of the fretboard.





With the bridge located, I routed the pickup cavity.



It's starting to look like a guitar. I'm very excited to play this one. The walnut should be warm with a defined top end. I'm waiting on binding, so that's it for now.

[Mark Crenshaw]

Moving along on this one. I keep a bridge carcus on my bench that I use for the string thru holes. The string holes in it have been drilled out to 1/8th inch. They probably were originally but the plating process made them a bit smaller.



When the bit drops to the surface, it takes the path of least resistance and plunges into the hole in the bridge. It needs to be aligned or it will bend the bit, but once it is, it's very accurate. I drill halfway thru the body from the front.





Nothing new here, but I use a version of the pin registered method to complete the holes. I made a simple jig that bolts to my drill press table. A second bit in the jig sits in the holes on the front of the body, lining it up for the drilling of the remaining depth.

[Mark Crenshaw]

Using the same method, I drill for the ferrules.



I also finished up the neck...along with the neck for my ash build. Final carving and some sanding, detailing the headstock and heel.







Now I have 3 necks...the third from a maple/alder build I have going...ready for fretting.

[Mark Crenshaw]

So, I got that done, too. Fretted all 3. Lots of leveling and dressing to do while I wait for binding to arrive.



Next day...

I just did a test fit of some of the parts while I was home for lunch. Though I'm not thrilled with this particular pickguard, I really like the white pearloid look on the walnut. The binding is nice, more than I expected.





Peace,
Mark

[John Keeton]

Nice work, again, Mark!!! Only a guitar builder would use what appears to be a drop dead gorgeous piece of curly maple for router guide!!!

[Brian Kent]

I am so impressed with the exact placement of each part that's needed to make an instrument that is in tune with itself. And - it is exceedingly beautiful too.

[Mark Crenshaw]

Nice work, again, Mark!!! Only a guitar builder would use what appears to be a drop dead gorgeous piece of curly maple for router guide!!!

Haha! Thanks John. That piece of maple has been used for that jig from the start. I'm sure it'll find it's way in a project someday. But I like the consistency of using it like this for now. It's comfortable.

Peace,
Mark

[Mark Crenshaw]

I am so impressed with the exact placement of each part that's needed to make an instrument that is in tune with itself. And - it is exceedingly beautiful too.

Thanks Brian. The hard work was done 50+ years ago by the guys who invented these things. Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Les Paul, all had such vision. It's a tribute to that vision that their designs are relatively unchanged even today. I'm just a copy cat.

Peace,
Mark

[Prashun Patel]

Mark, please stop. You're work is raising the bar too high...
I can't wait to see how that walnut finishes up.

[David Christopher]

Mark, what pickups are you going to use..I just refinished a tele that I made a few years ago and used a SD lil 59 and a vintage stack, sounds pretty good
BTW that walnut is going to be beautiful, and heavy too