My First Guitar Body - Telecaster

[Julie Moriarty]

It hit me like a thunder bolt. Once the idea of building a guitar crossed my mind as something I was capable of doing, I dove right in.

Rather than spending money on cheap blanks, I made one out of 2x6s that I had used for scaffold planking when I re-roofed the gazebo. They were probably out in the weather for close to a month so they were well cured. I ran them through the planer to flatten them then ripped them to 2" width, the thickness of the body blank. Then glued them up.


Once the glue had set, I brought the blank to the workbench and scraped the glue from the squeeze out and took it to the drum sander until it was just a tad over 1-3/4" thick. And then sanded it with 120 on a 6" sander.


From there I took my son's Telecaster and traced the body on to the blank. Then it was over to the bandsaw to cut shy of the marks. I had just received delivery of a couple Auriou rasps (dark handles) and was anxious to see what all the hype was about. I wasn't disappointed.


After taking the cabinetmaker's and modeler's rasps to the bandsaw marks, I placed a foam pad on a 5" detail sander and smoothed out the rasp marks. If I ever got serious about this, I'll need some leather pads on the inside of the tail vise!


Once I was satisfied the edges were smooth (hand sanding was necessary too), I used a 1/2" roundover bit on the router table and cut all but the top of where the neck will attach. I know Teles don't have a 1/2" roundover but I like the feel and the look.


I also realize Tele bodies don't have the arm cut away, that, like the roundover, are Strat features. But I like the Strat better because it brings back memories of playing in a garage band back when Jack Benny was 39.

I saw a few videos on guitar making before I made this venture. It seemed a grinder fitted with a course sanding disc was the preferred tool for making the arm and hip cutaways. All I could think was how these guys were going to have serious health problems long before they reach my age. One guy was so covered with dust, the color of his shirt (and face) had changed. And then there's the dust working its way through the house. The only way I could do this was if I had really great dust pickup at the source, and I still have to wear a respirator. Say what you will about Festool prices, but these sanders have enabled me to stay in woodworking. The Rotex made this cut in about 5 minutes with no dust cloud.


This was the first run on the arm cutaway. I later went back and cut it to the line I had previously marked above. To get the roundover to flow with the rest of the edges, I started with the rasps and then finished with sandpaper.


The hip cutaway


After I had made the final cuts, I placed the body in the waste wood to show how much was cut from the original thickness. Arm cutaway:


Hip cutaway:


This was far easier than I expected. But I didn't make any of the cutouts for the electronics, bridge, neck, etc. I managed to get a hold of some full sized plans but I also found a guy who the Fender buffs say has very accurate templates. They are $65@ and he includes a detailed booklet with it to get you through the build. But he does not do necks! The templates will get everything in the right place on the body, which is kind of critical. I can make the neck template from the full size plans. No template will help you build the rest of the neck.

We're heading to the hardwood store today. Since my son is wanting a figured maple body on his Telecaster (he wants it blue, "like the ocean" ), I'll find something for his guitar. But I'm also going to buy some wood for the neck of the Strat I want to build. From what I've read, maple neck and maple fretboard are the bomb, but rosewood was the original. Don't remember ever seeing rosewood at the hardwood store...

"We're putting the band back together."

"Forget it. No way."

"We're on a mission from God."

[Ted Calver]

Very cool Julie. I'll be watching your progress....hope you keep posting....and thanks for sharing.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thank you Ted.

We just got back and along the way stopped for a pizza. While at the hardwood store I found it harder than expected to find a piece of figured maple for the Tele body for my son's guitar that was 13+" wide. Most of the stock I've seen being used for guitar bodies were made of two pieces glued together to get the 13" width needed for the Fender bodies. I already have that width in 8/4 lumber in sapele and bubinga and 10/4 in African mahogany. So I thought finding it in figured maple would be easy. WRONG!

I ended up finding a piece 7" wide that should work when glued up. I don't see losing that much jointing them. I'm just wondering how well I can match it.

I also picked up 4/4 qtr. sawn maple for the neck. I read using qtr. sawn will make the neck a bit more stable. But with a truss rod, does it really matter?

Now that I've got the good wood here, can I resist the temptation to just begin making the real thing?

[John Coloccia]

I also picked up 4/4 qtr. sawn maple for the neck. I read using qtr. sawn will make the neck a bit more stable. But with a truss rod, does it really matter?

Opinions vary here. It's generally accepted that quarter sawn is best for a neck, though it's also generally accepted that for maple specifically, it's actually somewhat stiffer in it's flatsawn configuration. And then again, all of this is also generally argued about endlessly and no one ever seems to win. Fender's built a pretty nice company selling flatsawn maple necks

Personally, I look for straight grain all the way through the neck. If you have lots of "cathedrals" or other curvy sections of grian, you might imagine that however stable the wood might be, it could probably be more stable if you didn't have the grain zigzagging all over the place.

The truss rod won't help you here. That's strictly for setting the neck relief. If the neck is unstable and twists, or develops other pathologies, a single truss rod won't do anything to help. There are some guitars with 2 truss rods and with those you can sometimes take a small twist out, but that's relatively rare. You see them in some 6+ string basses, 12 string guitars, etc....generally not in your standard instrument.

So as long as the grain is straight and the wood's been properly dried, I'd personally use it without any worries. If you can check it with a moisture meter to make sure you've reached EMC, that would be best, but most people aren't able to do that. At least let it sit in your shop for a couple of weeks to somewhat acclimate and give you a fighting chance of building something straight.

The original Fenders were one piece necks, BTW, and the trussrod was inlayed through the back, hence the skunk stripe. Fender then introduced rosewood fingerboards, presumably because Leo didn't like the fact that guitarists would wear through the lacquer quickly and made the neck look dirty...and everyone else had ebony and rosewood fingerboards. Before I refretted my old strat, the neck was quite literally black...I mean black, all up and down, and I was starting to wear out the fingerboard. That doesn't happen anymore with your basic instrument. The catalyzed finished that they use are tough as nails and impervious to practically all forms of assault. For example, my American Standard Tele...about the same year as the strat....doesn't show the standard wear pattern on the neck, though it's worn elsewhere. For example, the place on the bridge where I sometimes rest my pinky is actually worn, and that's metal! Not the neck, though. It's interesting to note that even the Fenders that are finished with nitro have a polyester base coat as far as I know, and that's tough as nails too though if it's thin enough and under a nitro finish, at some point you can wear through to the wood. That was a tangent, eh?

[Chris Fournier]

Templates are good but most importantly you need to be able to register them on the body accurately to get a good guitar. You will need to think about how you are going to do this. If this is going to be a painted guitar, your lamination technique is going to come back to haunt you with several glue lines that will creep and show throught he finish with seasonal movement of the wood. With a maple neck I simply look for minimal runout and I've never had a twister.

[Shawn Pixley]

Julie,

John gives good advice. I quickly looked at my guitars where you can see the grain. Fender '72 Tele Custom (not a reissue) - flat sawn (but very tight grained) one piece maple neck with skunk stripe. Unfortunately, this guitar has the worst color body Fender ever put out - mocha. The guitar has been refretted twice (with new finish on the fingerboard). This guitar shows quite a bit of wear where I have rubbed it over the years. It was my main touring/performing guitar for a long time. it has a great sound. My G&L ASAT's both are quarter sawn maple. One has a maple fret board, the other rosewood. Les Pauls - quarter sawn Mahogany with ebony fretboards.

Lastly, I have a Danelectro Baritone. These are interesting because there is no truss rod. This one is flat sawn maple with a rosewood fretboard. Danelectros are interesting as the bodies are laminated plywood with a cheap plastic or fabric "binding" around the body. Cheap guitars with an interesting niche.

The point here is that the neck is not dependent upon the cut of wood. If I were doing this, I'd go quarter sawn. But it is clear any cut "can" work.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks guys. Lots of good info here.

His Tele has a flat sawn maple neck with a single rod routed in from the back. I dismantled the guitar so I could make a template for the body and got to sight the neck pretty well. By sight, I can't see any bow or twist.

For now, I'm going to focus on making the new body for his Tele. I picked up some high curl maple. The wood used to make the new body took $90 out of that piece. At that price, I'm going to take this slow. Once the template is done, I'll use the pine body to practice routing in the cavities.

I've been absorbing everything I can about making a Strat. One luthier, Ron Kirn, had a great thread on another forum showing a step-by-step. When he got to the electronics, he first lined the insides of the cavities with copper shielding and then laid beads of solder to bond the sides with the bottoms. So when I opened the Tele up, I was expecting to see shielding in the cavity. Nope! Just more of that plastic stuff. But I'll shield the new body for the Tele.

[John Coloccia]

Thanks guys. Lots of good info here.

His Tele has a flat sawn maple neck with a single rod routed in from the back. I dismantled the guitar so I could make a template for the body and got to sight the neck pretty well. By sight, I can't see any bow or twist.

For now, I'm going to focus on making the new body for his Tele. I picked up some high curl maple. The wood used to make the new body took $90 out of that piece. At that price, I'm going to take this slow. Once the template is done, I'll use the pine body to practice routing in the cavities.

I've been absorbing everything I can about making a Strat. One luthier, Ron Kirn, had a great thread on another forum showing a step-by-step. When he got to the electronics, he first lined the insides of the cavities with copper shielding and then laid beads of solder to bond the sides with the bottoms. So when I opened the Tele up, I was expecting to see shielding in the cavity. Nope! Just more of that plastic stuff. But I'll shield the new body for the Tele.

I just put some nice Lollar pickups in one of my old strats, and took the time to shield the cavity and pickguard. What a PITA, and I can't tell you how many razor cuts I got from the copper. It's not the first time I've done it, and it's miserable every time. It's much easier to paint it with conductive shielding paint before finishing than to line it with copper, IMHO. Everyone has their own way of doing things, though.

[Larry Fox]

Julie - looking good. I will be following this one. Question for you - where did you get the measurements / arch for installing the truss-rod from the back? I am interested in building a 1-piece neck for a strat but have not been very successful in finding good drawings showing the depth at the head and tail ends of the neck as the angles will be different.

[Julie Moriarty]

Julie - looking good. I will be following this one. Question for you - where did you get the measurements / arch for installing the truss-rod from the back? I am interested in building a 1-piece neck for a strat but have not been very successful in finding good drawings showing the depth at the head and tail ends of the neck as the angles will be different.

Larry, I'm using my son's Fender neck for this project. But once this is done, I'm going to tackle the Strat, neck and all. There's dozens of full size drawings you can download for free here: http://www.gitarrebassbau.de/viewtop...mplates#p18618. I'm not sure all of them are the correct dimensions but I was looking for the headstock on my son's Tele and found it to be exact. I only downloaded Fender files but there's one called 60s_neck.pdf that shows some dimensions you can work off of. I won't be installing the single rod that was standard back then. I plan to use a Hot Rod truss rod in its place. It corrects both concave and convex bows and all you have to do is rout one depth. If you do a two part neck with separate fingerboard, this option will work.

Here's a series of videos that will take you from start to finish on a custom built Strat that I'll be using when it's my turn. There's about 5 hours of instruction in the 10 videos.

[Julie Moriarty]

I'm impatient. There, I said it. Now you won't have to ask what happened to my plans to completely finish the pine body before going on to the real thing.

First up - make a template from the old body.


Next was hogging out some of the waste before taking the router to it. That's as far as I could get with that size bit because the depth from bit to post on my 30 year old, $99 drill press stopped me from going in any further. I had to resort to the mortiser to finish. That's a whole other story!




After all the routing was done, I did a test fit with the pre-wired pickguard and found the loose wires were a real pain. So I took the template and set them up for some wire training.


A few ty-wraps (and a solder repair on a broken ground connection) later I had this:


When I set the pickguard in place, it dropped in easily. While it was in place, I marked the top where the neck will be for reference when I rout out the neck space.


I had also used a 7/8" Forstner bit to drill out for the jack. Fender installed a funky jack plate that requires a special tool to install and remove. So that's on order.


Some lessons learned:

1. Don't use a 1/4" thick template unless you have top bearing bits of several different heights. I found out why all the electric guitar luthiers use 3/4" templates the hard way.

2. Taking a full 1-3/4" bite out of the exterior profiling requires you to hold onto the piece very tightly. I cut on the bandsaw almost to the line, maybe 1/16" off, and as soon as I put it to the table router the piece tried to jump out of my hands! That's the first time I had taken a cut that wide.

3. Have the right router bits on hand. I took a top bearing off another bit and set it on a 5/8" mortising bit for routing out the cavities. The cutting depth on that bit is 3/4" and the bearing didn't sit flush on top of that. So I was taking a lot on that first run and the bit was only 1/4" shank. ( If I had a 3/4" template, that wouldn't have been such a problem.)

4. Don't have a overly-helpful, inexperienced assistant sucking up the waste as you hog out the innards unless you explain to him what NOT to do! When I had to resort to the mortiser to finish the hogging out, I removed the chisel and just used the drill bit. While my son was vacuuming up the chips, he saw that the knob that holds the chisel in place was loose. While I was concentrating on putting the drill in the right place, he decided to tighten the knob. I was so focused on watching what I was doing that the metal-against-metal sound that resulted from the threaded stud rubbing against the drill shank was ignored. I also didn't realize I was drilling a bit more deeply from one hole to the next until I had done about four holes in a row. The threaded stud was pushing so hard against the drill shaft, it caused it to inch out of the chuck. When I caught it I was upset I had screwed up. Then I realized what had happened but I thought vibration caused it tighten. When I looked at him and he had a guilty look on his face and then he confessed to tightening the knob.

Oh well, at least no one was hurt. Next, I have to make a template for the neck rout and finish that and then test the neck fit.

For the finish, he wants an ocean blue dye and pearloid pickguard. The pickguard/knobs will look something like this but the knobs will be chrome to match the rest of the metal parts.


And the finish he wants will look something like this:

[Larry Fox]

Larry, I'm using my son's Fender neck for this project. But once this is done, I'm going to tackle the Strat, neck and all. There's dozens of full size drawings you can download for free here: http://www.gitarrebassbau.de/viewtop...mplates#p18618. I'm not sure all of them are the correct dimensions but I was looking for the headstock on my son's Tele and found it to be exact. I only downloaded Fender files but there's one called 60s_neck.pdf that shows some dimensions you can work off of. I won't be installing the single rod that was standard back then. I plan to use a Hot Rod truss rod in its place. It corrects both concave and convex bows and all you have to do is rout one depth. If you do a two part neck with separate fingerboard, this option will work.

Thanks Julie - I will check out the site when I get home. I have watched some of the videos that you reference as they were referenced in another thread here a few days ago. Project looking good. I have both a 1-piece and hot-rod truss rods and which one I use depends on which approach I take (1 or 2 piece).

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks Julie - I will check out the site when I get home. I have watched some of the videos that you reference as they were referenced in another thread here a few days ago. Project looking good. I have both a 1-piece and hot-rod truss rods and which one I use depends on which approach I take (1 or 2 piece).

I saw this a few days ago and only just found it again. This guy shows going through the process of the steps he took to create that bow in the routing of the neck. I started watching it because he was doing so much with hand tools. The Neanderthal crowd here would really appreciate his work.

[Michael Dunn]

Very cool Julie! I hope you marked a center line on the body as the neck needs to be centered. Or rather, the bridge needs to be perfectly centered to the neck pocket and therefor the neck. Looking good! More progress than I've made on my first guitar build.

I realize the first several pics were a test and not the final piece. Just an FYI, the arm cutaway came down way too far. If that were the final piece it may have interfered with the bridge placement.

Looking great!!!

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks Michael. Some good points and things I'll watch out for. The pickguard on the Tele Deluxe is kind of massive, compared to the standard Tele. I was thinking of putting a 1/2" quarter round on the real one like I did on the trial version. But even that interferes with the pickguard. We were talking about modifying the pickguard. More to think about...

As for the centerline, yes, I have been very anal about making sure the neck will fall dead center with the bridge. And of course the pickups have to be under the strings. I think I've watched about 20 hours of video and I've already read two books on design and build and am into a third. I wanted to know I could do this before I dove in. I also got a number of booklets from Ron Kirn. He builds some really nice guitars and is very generous with helping others.

Well, I made the template for the neck, making sure it was a snug fit. Then I aligned it so the neck will be straight and took a mortising bit to finish things. Problem was the diameter of the bit was too large to clear out the corners. And the makeshift bit was too tall to make the cut and still hit the edges of the template. I'll have to make a 3/4" thick template. And I thought I was going to skirt by without having to do this.