Telecaster Custom class

[Joe Cunningham]

I am just about finished up with my guitar building class at "Ct Valley School of WW'ing Insanity" (ok well, 'insanity' really isn't in the title) and thought I'd post up the results thus far. It is a Telecaster Custom out of swamp ash, with a quarter-sawn maple neck and rosewood fingerboard.

The only glue-ups are fingerboard to neck--the body is one honkin', big piece of ash (hmm can I say that here? Mods be gentle). There was one other glue-up, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

We got the body and neck material all jointed and planed to thickness, so none of that drudgery. Here is the body after going through the bandsaw.
body_bandsawn.jpg

I missed the neck bandsawing, but here is a view of the neck after it was routed with the template (also missed the template photos).
neck_rout.jpg

Body routed with the pattern matching bit
body_edgerout_back.jpg

Neck and body yearning to be together forever in harmony. Or something.
body_edgerout.jpg

The Telecaster custom has a pretty big body cavity, which in retrospect seems rather excessive, but that was what Fender did. Outline of the cavity.
body_cavity_outline.jpg

Drillpress work to cut down on router work
body_cavity_drill.jpg

And final rout of the body cavity
body_cavity_rout.jpg

Oblique shot showing how much material is gone. Looks like a photo of one of those canyons out in Nevada or Utah
body_cavity_rout2.jpg

[Joe Cunningham]

The neck needs some attention. We located the fingerboard using some dowels so that it wouldn't squirm around when the glue and clamps were applied. My camera went on strike that day and was seen chanting slogans and waving a purple bandana outside my house. Well that is what my cat told me anyway...

So while routing away and after acceding to my camera's demands of a new memory card and guaranteed battery recharging, I got this shot of my only other glue-up. The router caught the rosewood on the edge and nipped a little chunk out of it. I wailed and gnashed my teeth, then the instructor had me get some rosewood dust and CA glue and fix it. Fix wasn't too bad after I rasp and sanded it down.
neck_damage.jpg

Here the fret wire is placed in the fingerboard. We had a neat-o table saw blade we used for the frets, looked like a discuss with a super-thin blade coming out of it. My camera was off cavorting with someone's camcorder at the time, so again I missed a shot. While I know this seems like a waste of good fretwire, it was suggested that in our embryonic stage of guitar-building-greatness, it was better to be safe than sorry.
neck_frets.jpg

The fret wire is snipped to NASA precision and then dressed with a mill file in a holder for the edges. 12" radius on the fingerboard in case anyone else is a guitar nerd.
neck_edge_dressed.jpg

Neck attached to the body.
neck_body.jpg

[Joe Cunningham]

Now that the neck is attached, I can locate the bridge for the 25.5" scale and decide whether I want red or green chile with my enchiladas (oh, wrong forum ...)

The pickguard gets placed and all the numerous holes for the pickguard screws get pilot holes. Then the bridge gets some pilot holes for screws and strings.
body_bridge_locate.jpg

Finally the bridge pickup can get routed. No drilling here, all lots of fun router work. Rout, blow out the ash cruft, rout, more cruft, check the depth. Did I mention I do mostly hand tool work and all this router stuff made me NOT wonder why?
body_bridge_rout.jpg

Finally the hole for the input jack is drilled. Biting my tongue on what to call this (SMC is a family-friendly place) ...
body_jack.jpg

[Joe Cunningham]

I can't blame the camera anymore, I just spaced out on taking photos during the finishing process. And the neck shaping process. On that I got to use my handy LV spokeshave and zipped ahead of the rest of class who had rasps and sandpaper. Ha ha.

We ended up doing a lot of sanding of the body and neck, and then spraying vinyl sealer on the body. Then we sprayed some Behlen's instrument lacquer as a base, and most everyone else in class went with toned or colored bodies. I went au natural. Well with the finish. Top coat was (I believe) a pre-cat satin on the neck and body. The rosewood will just get some lemon oil.

After the finish was on, I arrived to find my ferrule holes drilled. We were getting a bit pressed on time so the instructor did a little extra-catchup work.

Ferrules pressed into place
body_ferrules.jpg

Then it was fun with pickups and wiring. Bridge pickup and bridge set in place
body_bridge_install.jpg

Pickguard with neck pickup, toggle switch, and vol/tone pots installed, and mostly wired.
body_pickguard_install.jpg

I missed photos on the nut getting sanded to thickness and glued in place. It sounds as boring as it was. Sand sand sand, check the fit. repeat. Like in "Miracle" the instructor was sitting there with a whistle saying "Again". Just when you thought you were finished, he yells "Again" and blows the whistle. Again.

Then you sand the nut flush with the sides and hope and pray the tape holds up so you don't ruin the finish. "A little bit closer now, a little bit closer now."

We have one more class to finish everything up on Tues (6/15), so a bit more wiring to go, plus the nut needs to get slotted for the strings. Then it is Amplification Nation.

[Ted Calver]

Very nice!! Thanks for the lesson.

[Joe Cunningham]

Complete and sounding great! What a fun class.

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[Will Boulware]

Very nice! I play a Tele deluxe myself (fender made, not my own creation), but I've always wanted a custom like that. Something about some guy named Keith something or another who stuck a humbucker in a butterscotch version of what you've got. Played in some English band. I don't know. Anyway, beautiful end product! Care to post any clips of how it sounds?

[Doug Carpenter]

I can't play one but I sure have to bug to build one.

nice job.

[Mikail Khan]

Very nice. Thanks for posting.

MK

[Joe Cunningham]

Thanks, I love the way it turned out. I'll have to see about sound clips. Yeah, I've heard of that Keith fellow.

I guess my Mac has garage band already loaded up, have to figure out how to hook up a mic or input directly. It does sound much better than my other guitars, (Fender MIJ SSH Strat, Charvel/Jackson Tele, Epiphone LP) with a lot of different tones available. All the hardware is from WD Music products, including the pickups. Kent Armstrong Hot Rod Vintage in the neck, and TL4R for the bridge.

In case anyone is local, the CT valley school of woodworking has this same class starting in Sept. I'd link, but I've never figured out SMC forum rules.

[Paul Raymond]

sweet axe. i play, too and would love go build myself a guitar someday.