My First Guitar Body - Telecaster

[Julie Moriarty]

PM Julie, I'm a dealer for most all guitars MFG's. Let me know if you nee something.

Do you need a vintage or standard Fender trem?

Thanks Michael. I'll keep that in mind next time.

I called the place today and they apologized and said they are sending the trem out immediately. They are even including a return shipping label so I don't have to pay the shipping and then wait for a refund.

There's no way you could possibly get it done for Christmas. It will take at least 3 days to spray on a finish, if you don't make any mistakes, and at least 7 days to allow the 6000 to fully harden/shrink and be ready for leveling and buffing.

John, I realize the body can't be installed by Christmas but I was hoping to have it dyed, and the 6000 sprayed and dry to the touch by then. I already told him it won't be installed until mid or late January. I just wanted to give him something more than the unfinished body that he's been looking at for over a week.

[Julie Moriarty]

George, thanks for sharing that. When I went for the neck wood, I was thinking of wood movement and not strength, thus the choice for quarter sawn maple. A month ago I was pretty much clueless about guitar building. So I've been reading everything I can get my hands on. I don't remember anyone addressing wood strength but it seems everyone addresses wood stability. I honestly don't know how much either plays a part in making a good guitar neck. I just went with what the "experts" said. But I like what you said about how all that may be of little importance once the truss rod is thrown into the equation. I have some figured woods I'd love to see on a neck.

What I'm finding along the way is much of guitar making is an art form rather than an exact science. While there are some things you need to get right every time, there's a lot of room for creativity.

[george wilson]

Another thing about using quartered wood for the neck is the amount of sideways movement it can have. With a maple fingerboard especially,the frets are almost certain to project out past the edges of the neck. Even with a separate fingerboard this usually happens. Flat sawn is a lot better in this respect. The wood will shrink and swell much less in a sideways direction if it is flat cut. You will be filing the frets down flush sooner or later,especially during a dry Winter. I've done that many times over the years of my learning curve. These days,we have so much access to instant information. When I started,there were not even any books available,save a 1/8" thick book put out by Clifford Essex in England on building a not very well made classical guitar. I had been trying to build since 1954. It was 1960 before I first saw that book. I did glean some information from it,limited as the book was. It didn't even mention grain direction,except for the top,if I recall.

There was no place to buy fret wire or tuners unless I got lucky and could a set of fret wire in a music store. No choice on gauge at all. The first place I ever found to buy a proper pickup was Carvin Guitars in Covina,Calif.(They have moved). They sold a little single coil pickup that was meant to be properly installed,as opposed to the pickups you added onto an acoustic guitar,clamped in the sound hole,or around the strings just above the tailpiece on arch tops.

[Julie Moriarty]

The fret reality was something else I haven't seen mentioned but makes perfect sense. File those fret ends on a humid summer day and come winter the guitar will be shredding you rather then the other way around!

I remember those acoustic pickup mods. We thought it was so cool to take that boring old acoustic and run it through an amplifier. My first guitar was a Silvertone bass. Maybe I was Tal Wilkenfeld's inspiration. HA! I chose bass because that was the only spot available in the newly forming band. I got bit by the bug.

[george wilson]

File them during a real dry spell. You may have to touch them up a few more times,but eventually they will give up on sticking out.

[John Coloccia]

In the summer months, I'll usually just give a quick pass to smooth them out a bit, but then tell my customers to come back in the winter time and I'll do them for real, unless they feel like paying me to do the same job twice.

[Shawn Pixley]

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 found self adhesive faced 2" wide metal foil (its in a roll) that I use for shielding pick-up cavities and the back of the pick guard as appropriate for the guitar type. It is effective and much easier than cutting copper sheet. It is very effective. Given the advances in electronics, I find that shielding seem less and less needed. Some clubs still have a lot of "noise" and Ham or other radio towers can be problematic.

[Shawn Pixley]

The old Danelectros were made of masonite with cheap pine interior parts. Old Dan glued the cloth around the edges to hide the glued up pine blocks. I guess he also knew that the glue lines would telegraph through finishes. He made EVERYTHING out of masonite!! Amplifier cabinet parts included. He bought out a large over run of lipstick tubes and managed to built pickups inside them.

The guitar is fun to play,and if I turn the treble pickup all the way to bass,and play with both pickups on,the guitar seems to sound like a "supercharged Telecaster". That's how I'd describe it. And less than $300.00!!

George, one of my favorite sounds is my baritone Danelctro with the treble rolled off into a good amp. It is a unique sound that really works for some compositions. It could never be my primary guitar, but it does have a plave in the stable. It is remarkable what you get from a guitar made from very cheap materials.

[Julie Moriarty]

Shawn, I have some of that 2" wide copper tape. I checked it to see if what I have is conductive through the adhesive and it is. I agree, that should be easier than sheets.

While I was waiting for the trem, I decided to play around with finishing the pine body.

I dyed it black then sanded it back. Then I applied red dye to it. Then I mixed the black and red dye and applied it around the perimeter, trying to fan it inward. I used spray can gloss lacquer, to keep what goes airborne to a minimum. It has about 6-7 coats of lacquer on it now. I'm actually considering making a better neck for it and routing it for electronics. Then doing the final finishing. My son says it looks cool, "like someone spilled Cherry Coke on a deck."

The trem arrived a couple of days ago. I did the black dye/sand back method. Then laid the first coat of blue dye.


The flash washed out some of the color and depth. I'm so-so on how it's going so far. I need to find out if the new recipient wants that dark perimeter effect. I was kinda hoping to get the first coats of primer on it today so there's at least something for him under the tree.

[John Coloccia]

Primer? Did you decide to go with one of the Target products? The guitar looks good. The first coat of lacquer will help it look better and more like what you have in your head, especially something like nitro or shellac. Straight waterborne, not so much but it still changes the look for the better. Either way, they always looks a little dead with just dye on them. I'm not sure what the primer's for, though.

[Michael Dunn]

You should check this out Julie...

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electron...&xst=3&xsr=729

Looking good so far.

[Julie Moriarty]

I've got both the primer and 6000 from Target here but haven't experimented with either yet. I'm really on the fence about using WB finishes but I can't spray lacquer with my HVLP sprayer in the basement, even with the little exhaust fan I have set up in the booth. Just the little spraying I did with a spray can on the pine body worked its way through the house. Hey, it's almost January, just a few more months before spring.

My son didn't like the color though. It was too blue. So I played with toning it with a hint of yellow to get it the aquamarine he wants but that didn't pass inspection either. So I sanded it back to almost bare wood. A couple of days ago I told him I needed him to be there for the toning phase. I'm patiently waiting for a response as to when that might be. I guess this build sits in limbo for now.

[Julie Moriarty]

Well, I finally got the kid to get involved in the project. He took the same dye mix that I used on the first coat and applied it to the partially sanded body. The edges and the belly cut still had the blue-yellow dye. When he was done he proclaimed, "I love it!" My SO and I think that beautiful curly maple has been ruined. But we're both biting our tongues. It's his guitar.

Yesterday we had the family over and after they left we began tag-teaming laying on the lacquer - out of a can. I won't use the HVLP sprayer to spray lacquer in the basement. The 6" exhaust fan in the ceiling of the spray tent can't get it out of the house fast enough.

I just hope when it's done he still loves it.

[Julie Moriarty]

You should check this out Julie...

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electron...&xst=3&xsr=729

Looking good so far.

Michael I didn't see your post til today. Probably because I missed there was a second page in the thread.

I was looking at the conductive paint and it looks easier but I think when I first became aware of it I had already ordered the copper tape. I'm going to give the job of shielding to my son. By the time it's at that stage I'm guessing he'll be more "available" to work on it.

[Julie Moriarty]

The body has been finished and we're awaiting the curing process before it replaces the old body. Yesterday my son worked hours lining the cavities with copper tape

He seems to really love the blue color. After he was done yesterday he mentioned a clear pickguard. That would be interesting!