A '49 proto "dirty snake" rolls out

[WallFly]

Hi All
Just need to brag about my 'dirty snake', completed over the Christmas break.
It's an interpretation Leo Fenders 'snake head' 1949 prototype that predated his Broadcaster come Telecaster / Esquire models released in 1950.
The body is made from old pine shelving laminated and sanded to thickness (Fender used laminations of 3/4" American east coast white pine that he had in his factory for making amplifier cabinets).
My neck is select Tasmanian Oak with a maple fingerboard. Yep Tassie Oak, but selected well for lightweight, straight grain, 90 degree quarter sawn, and no resin cavities/splits. A truss rod was included (lack of one was a failing of the original prototype). I couldn’t find 4mm dot markers in black anywhere so I cast them in dyed epoxy using 4mm holes drilled in a length of 3mm thick aluminium extrusion.
Pick guard, control plate and 'slotted' screws set and neck plate came from a specialist supplier in the US and are replicas of the original prototype - and were surprisingly low cost.
Tuning machines, bridge plate and knobs are from StewMac in the US. Fret wire and truss rod were from Australian Luthier Supplies.
Body is finished in 'antique white' then distressed. Neck is finished in dyed shellac and distressed by removing some using methylated spirits. Neck and body were sprayed with two light coats of matt finish. The color scheme inspired by the ‘dirty snake’ Keith Urban is seen with in the YouTube “Keith Urban At: Guitar Center”.
The pickup I fitted is a Bill Lawrence T2 giving clean clear tone like Keith’s but then really growls with some gain.
The current StewMac bridge plate (standard 'vintage Telecaster' style) is not correct for the '49 prototype. I have a small pending project to recreate an original prototype pattern.
Overall I am really so happy with how this interpretation of Leo's '49 proto turned out. It's only my second guitar build and currently my ‘go to’ guitar. Not bad for a parts cost of about AU$160.
Cheers!
See photo attached.
CGB Dirty Snake -1.jpg

[kamusur]

That looks nice Fly and welcome. Was this the fore runner of the 'No caster', the old memory is a little foggy.

Steve

[Sebastiaan56]

Nice job. I am a bit partial to Pine myself )

[IWieldTheSpade]

That's quite a looker, well done

[WallFly]

That looks nice Fly and welcome. Was this the fore runner of the 'No caster', the old memory is a little foggy.

Steve

The '49 prototype preceded the "second prototype" which preceded the production Esquire single pick-up model in 1950. A dual pick-up model soon followed known as the Broadcaster initially. Gretch wrote to Fender and asked them not to use the Broadcaster name as it was close to the Broadkaster line of drums from Gretsch. Fender obliged and for a short time the Broadcaster name was snipped off the Fender decal before application to the headstock. There was no 'legal action' despite popular belief. These rare guitars from early 1951 were later dubbed 'Nocaster' by collectors. The subsequent name chosen by Fender for the two pick-up model was of course Telecaster. The rest is history.. the Telecaster has remained in continuous production since then and models are still available that barely very from those 1950 originals.