Latest tele

[old_picker]

deano as showed quite a bit of interest in this body at my workshop last week so i thought i would post the progress of the build. its just a quickie which i am hoping to be able to retain as my main player.

Its been all tele's here the past 3 months and still another hotrod tele on order not begun as yet. This one is the 3rd since november. The body is Southern Myrtle, I have a nice allparts neck and a set of OC duff vintage wind pickups and the usual gotoh hardware kit I use on tele's

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/body_cut.jpg

The body cut and cleaned up ready for cavity routing.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/belly_cut.jpg

Blending in the belly cut so essential for old player with fat bellies. Its a feather weight as well weighing in at 1.6 kg or 3.5lbs.
[nice to my back :wink:]

I will keep the pics coming as i pull the project together over the next couple weeks.
You will notice the application of the kiss principle in this build. I like to keep things pretty plain and in in keeping with my basic woodcraft skills. I have a strong "less is more" attitude to doing things.

[RGM]

Looking good, what is the Myrtle like to work with?

[Deano]

Looking good ray!
Hows the new work shop going?

[Telejazzer]

Newbie from TDPRI signing in.

Really interested in this one. I've put together a few Teles from parts and now interested in building. I've heard that Australian tonewoods are some of the best in the world and considered 'exotic'.

I'm not that good in terms of woodworking, probably because it doesn't excite me that much. But my love for Teles gives me the urge to have a go.

I've been getting great info from this forum and looking forward to building Teles from Aussie timber. :2tsup:

[old_picker]

Southern myrtle its called locallyfairly soft but very dense grain and polishes up with fine grit to a very nice shine - it makes a great tele and this will be the 3rd one i have done in this timber.it is a fairly plain timber but you get some real nice grainish things happeing on the edges. It carves and machines beautifully and it is a fave of mine.local vic ash also is a great tonewood but can be tricky to work and like many "ash" species needs a fair deal of grainfill. its cheap and you can buy it anywhere.blackwood, qld maple and qld walnut is also a favourite of others in the forum but i have not used it so far... i have played guitars out of these 3 and its sounds killer but makes a heavy guitar

[mongrel]

i like the "tele meets jaguar" look of the lower bout. I reckon the plain wood looks just fine on the teles - they're such a plank to start with ( i mean this in the best possible way) that if you try to tart them up much beyond a 'burst then they look silly. I saw a "tele" at the country music festival with a bound fretboard, big old M.O.P. fret markers a gaudy flame top spangly gold hardware abalone purfling etc etc etc :puke: too much. Fenders are the "less is more" guitars and IMHO should stay that way.

Cheers

[old_picker]

Looking good ray!
Hows the new work shop going?
yeah its coming along - its a mess still but getting organised and working on the tele today

[oz tradie]

I'm rapt you're posting this one up as a progress thread:2tsup:

Still can't get over how lightweight that body was to hold.
It felt like a heavily chambered one, although.......not.

Welcome Telejazzer. Nice to have you aboard too.

[peterbrown]

This I will enjoy.

Peter

[EtherealGuitars]

I'm very keen to follow this also Ray......Southern Myrtle is Tas Myrtle yeah? What are your thoughts tonewise?

OZ, Deano and myself the other night had some fun doing some tap testing on tonewoods and we were all quite staggered......Bubinga, African Myrtle and Makore RANG out in a huge way, Blackwood and QLD Maple rang but not as much and Vic Ash, Tas Oak and Tas Myrtle were kinda dead......I guess each piece of the same species can be different also......we were consistent in our method....rubber mallet tapped at the same spot holding it the same way etc......very interesting exercise. Chime in Oz and Deano if I have reported something different to what you thought here.......

The Tas Myrtle I have carved is a pleasure to work with......enjoy the build :2tsup: and good on you for making this one for yourself :D

[oz tradie]

Chime in Oz and Deano if I have reported something different to what you thought here.......


Dare I mention the tap tone of MDF :doh:

[Deano]

Originally Posted by EtherealGuitars http://image-mirror.cyanide.com.au/woodworkforums/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/showthread.php?p=698380#post698380)
Chime in Oz and Deano if I have reported something different to what you thought here.......
Dare I mention the tap tone of MDF

And the pine that seemed to sound second best to the African myrtle.

[old_picker]

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/layout.jpg

Fitting it up - you can just see the laser i use to line it all up. Neck pocket fit is a nightmare. Found out why Allparts necks are cheap. Oversize heel, incorrect heel radius and the sides of the heel are not square to the bottom. Apart from the geometry problems, the fingerboard has dribbles of finish where the masking wasnt down tight and there is also finish to be cleaned out of the nut slot and a patch unfinished on the side of the fingerboard. I would not recomend Allparts at all. Every Warmoth neck I have used has been perfect.

I saved us$40.00 :((

If i dont build em myself in future i will use warmoth or usacg

[Buzza]

Mongrel, here's an old 1968 Tele that is covered with hand embossed leather, and played by Ian Scott, a great Australian picker. It is a fancy piece of work, and it doesn't look out of place in a country band when seen on that sort of stage setting. This guitar has a history of being one of, or THE first with a B-Bender in Australia. :cool:

[mongrel]

Mongrel, here's an old 1968 Tele that is covered with hand embossed leather, and played by Ian Scott, a great Australian picker. It is a fancy piece of work, and it doesn't look out of place in a country band when seen on that sort of stage setting. This guitar has a history of being one of, or THE first with a B-Bender in Australia. :cool:
Yeah, that I like, I am also partial to the tooled leather ones and that sort of thing, but IMHO if you want a tele, dont "gibsonize" it. I have plans in the future (don't we all) of building a tele with a truly carved top - i guess it would be a bass relief top. But it will be timber toned and all "tarting" will be carves. But thats when I get time . . . I havent built a guitar for so long it is criminal.
Check this one out.
Not mine but its the idea anyway

[Buzza]

A carved Tele, now that is nice.

Vassar Clements played an extra special fiddle with carving and artwork thereon.

http://www.vassarclements.com/fiddle.html

Oldpicker, you have been thoughtful in curving the back of your Tele for fat bellied old pickers. A brass nut for the strings to pass over gives some extra sustain in these guitars if you didn't already know.

[gratay]

I'd be interested in what you think of the sound of the O.C.Duff's...they are supposed to be pretty fine...
I looked into them and a few other boutiquey guys but went with the Fred Stuarts instead....which are fantastic.

[black_labb]

looking good. like the pink colour to the timber. work looks very clean thus far.

[old_picker]

Got the OC Duff set 2nd hand for $85 of a guy in Sydney [LUCK :)]

anyhow heres and update
After a large amount of work on the frets and pocket i got it looking pretty
straight. Now I amspraying in the decal and patching up the bare spots on the neck with no finish.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/body_1st_do3.jpg
1st coat of Danish which took around 10 minutes to get to the stage where i could pick it up and take photos of it
2 coats to go then either a swipe of minwax wipe on poly or wax or both.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/profile_1st_do4.jpg
You can see the profiles pretty good in this shot. Also the soft sheen of the oil finish is apparent already after 1 quick coat.
Hopefully it wears ok and I can use it on other projects.
You can see I kept a 1/8" edge radius which i like as it defines the body profiles real good.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/body_1st_do5.jpg
The texture of the wood is quite evident in this shot. I am trying get a much more woody kind of feel.
Even though the neck is a high gloss poly I reckon its a nice contrast.
I've taken a less is more approach with this one and the matte black guard will set it off nice.
A real plain jane.

Hopefully next weekend I can post some shots of the finished guitar.
This will a record in finishing one up

[Deano]

Looking really good Ray!
I think I'm in love with this shape.

How many oil coats you planning on doing?

Are you using a normal tele scratch plate or are you doing something different?

The 1/8" edge radius really does define the body shape! Killer looking axe!

Deano

[old_picker]

tnx deano
i will do 2 maybe 3 coats of danish oil
you can put too much on and have it bleed out later so maybe just one more which i will sand in with 2000 grit paper - after that maybe wipe on poly to seal it in, steel wool and carnauba

tell you what that DO really brings up the colour and grain of the wood

and to the poster who asked about myrtle, tone and origin?
tone is bright and lively, machines nice, soft and dense at the same time
origin - i cant find out much about it except that it is different to tas myrtle which is way heavier, darker and harder

[mongrel]

Anyone notice ho horribly clean and tidy rays benches are - even though he's been in his new shop a couple of weeks ... seems a bit unnatural to me!:D
I finished a guitar with danish and carnuba wax about 12 months ago, PNG rosewood and it now has that thouroughly "used" look that I was hoping for, just worked my way through the steelwools to 0000 and buffed, lovely satin glow ....mmmm :homer:

cheers

[deepsouth]

I hear that north Tas Myrtle is different to south Tas Myrtle. Superior is what I hear, but I hear it from a Nth Tasmanian so I'm sticking with different.

[RGM]

Anyone notice ho horribly clean and tidy rays benches are - even though he's been in his new shop a couple of weeks ... seems a bit unnatural to me!:D


I know!

I have cleaned my shed 4 times in 2 years, benches even less!
I will clean it on Thursday methinks, end of heatwave!

[old_picker]

Anyone notice ho horribly clean and tidy rays benches are - even though he's been in his new shop a couple of weeks ... seems a bit unnatural to me!:D
I finished a guitar with danish and carnuba wax about 12 months ago, PNG rosewood and it now has that thouroughly "used" look that I was hoping for, just worked my way through the steelwools to 0000 and buffed, lovely satin glow ....mmmm :homer:

cheers

heheh it startin to feel like home
that bench sure is tidy but the other two, well,
as i said its starting to feel like home

aktually mongrel i'd like to see a pic of that guitar now with a bit of wear on it

its been god almighty hot here in melbourne but you guys in adelaide really have copped it apparently - anyhow the heat is helping the DO curing and the poly decal spraying along nicely

[sundancewfs]

old_picker, when you say allparts neck, are they the mighty mite necks? with the Fender lic stamp, like stewmac sell?

[mongrel]

aktually mongrel i'd like to see a pic of that guitar now with a bit of wear on it

Yep, no worries but my batteries in my camera are dead - pic soon.
This particular guitar is unusual in that it was COMPLETELY hand made (hardware not included) There was not a single power tool used on it, all cavities and mortices were drilled and chiseled, timber cut and jointed with a hand saw and plane etc etc. The body and neck timber was all purchased locally - which in itself is an achievement - PNG rosewood and Jarrah and tassie oak.
The neck and fretboard are made from Jarrah fence pailings - yup you heard right - i went through about 100 pailings to fine the ones with the best grain and I found three that were straight and quatersawn within about 15 degrees!
It was the first completely original shape I have designed, as opposed to tweaking another and is the head heavy "divebombing" guitar I spoke about in another thread. A Jarrah neck and PNG rosewood body are fairly mismatched weight wise.
Will post pics soon
Cheers
Jason

[old_picker]

old_picker, when you say allparts neck, are they the mighty mite necks? with the Fender lic stamp, like stewmac sell?

no completely different outfit
better quality than mighty mite

i found this neck pretty rough in a few areas but apparently they do add a lot to your tone once fitted - not sure whether to use em again - i have one more a cbs strat bullet

i have had very good results with warmoth and well worth the extra $60 to $100

there are also musikraft and the cream of the crop usa custom guitars
if you are lookin for necks - mighty mite are the bottom of the range of useable necks at around $90.00 of the bay.

bolt on necks are hard to make in a financial sense - for US$120.00 to US$200.00 you are in the low end of some of the best necks available.
by the time you add up your materials bill to build one - well your not saving money thats for sure

[mongrel]

Here are thae pics:
I used the wax as the only type of grain filler. The pics dont really show it but the finish is still satiny. From this experience I would consifer experimenting with it as a neck finish as I am rather partial to a raw timber finish.

[black_labb]

like the look of that mongrel. nice original shape

[mongrel]

Yeah, I am going to build another out of swampash (when I can afford it) with a slightly larger body and the cutaway enhanced a little, a smaller headstock like an ernie ball or something similar with hard maple neck, ebony fretboard and a barbed wire inlay. it is suprisingly well balanced when seated and I am aiming for a 2 1/2 inch body thickness (hence the swampash) probably make this one a set neck with a Kent Armstrong Motherbucker bridge and a SD Jazz in the neck. A real rock 'n roll axe. Made for playing rather than eye candy lol.

Jason

[black_labb]

id probably suggest against using swamp ash, as its not worth the prices you would be paying in australia (or from what i've seen). there are plenty of timbers that are just as suitable if not more suitable as a solidbody. if you want lightweight and a nice looking timber, why not silky oak? even qld maple can be quite light (but then again, i tend to use pretty heavy timbers).

thats just my opinion, and its your guitar.

[mongrel]

id probably suggest against using swamp ash, as its not worth the prices you would be paying in australia (or from what i've seen). there are plenty of timbers that are just as suitable if not more suitable as a solidbody. if you want lightweight and a nice looking timber, why not silky oak? even qld maple can be quite light (but then again, i tend to use pretty heavy timbers).

thats just my opinion, and its your guitar.
Yeah, swamp ash is more of a "this is what I would like it to sound like" type of thing. I believe it has a high ringing tap tone and this would suit the type of instrument I was aiming for, more singing, less moody (aka mahogany) Basswood, although a plain, fairly dull timber has a moderate tap tone, but sounds more controlled across the spectrum.
I have heard of people using silky oak and they have been for tele's mostly which were bright and spanky. When I really am honest with myself, the best wood in the world is only as good as the player choking it.
Looks like we've hijacked Rays thread...whoops...
still we're just filling in the gaps between his pics: some more would be nice ray :D

[black_labb]

i agree, where are the pics.

[old_picker]

its interesting the way these threads drift but hey thats cool - let the discussion go where it will

i have been waiting for the oil to cure and am about to apply a couple of coats of minwax - the neck is also having the decal sprayed in - polyurethane at 1 or 2 coats a day takes a while.

i cut the pickguard last nite and am abot to also start on the electrical bits
so not much visually to report at this stage

to digress - the swamp ash is what i would use if i was building a repro tele like say a 52 - i priced out a blank from USACG last week at around $200.00 landed but that was weight and grain specific - pretty pricey for a blank

it is surprisng how much swamp ash is like vic ash in its grain structure and colour although vic ash desn't have the sexy dark grain display of swamp ash. If you sort through a pack of vic ash you can often find a nice light piece even 1/4 cut pieces can be gotten. vic ash is used by a few local makers ie jim dyson with great results - his daughter mia dyson uses jims guitars

[mongrel]

Yeah I've heard of Jim - guitar mag I think. For this particular axe I wouldn't care if it looked like plywood (gasp) I am aiming to make the guitar that suits my playing style (or the style I think I have anyway) so grain pattern and colour are not an issue. I have played a few swamp ash guitars and they have a nice attack and sustain without the "muddyness" of mahogany when you drive it.
The lexicon for guitar wood tones is pretty funny thou: spanky muddy blah blah blah...
Kramer - when they were kramer and not Fender - made a full hard maple guitar, body and neck, I reckon they would have had the tight singing sound I am after, but I don't KNOW for sure, but my guess is that it would be tight and sustaining.
If I could put the neck sound of an ES335 onto the bridge sound of a souped up jackson...
In the words of Queen...
I WANT IT ALL!:cool:

[old_picker]

Some more updates on this build
not quite where i wanted it this weekend [finished] but getting close
I have gone into a bit of detail mainly for those about to start on their 1st build

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/sheilding4.jpg
Cavities ar carefully shielded with copper foil and earth wires are soldered from each to a central point in the control cavity. The controls and pickups will be soldered into a loop that termintes there as well. [star grounding]

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/wiring.jpg
Setting up the control plate components for wiring.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/wiring2.jpg
Control plate wired up ready to go into the body.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/blackguard.jpg
mmm dunno whether i like that black guard - Its a cut down standard 50's style guard [5 screws instead of the usual 8] I am thinking I might go for a different colour.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/guard_template.jpg
Roughed out a blank in 12mm MDF and stuck the guard on with DS tape and blocks of 9mm ply to give a bit of claerance for the router

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/guard_template2.jpg
Taken most of the waste now to tidy up the corners and rythm rout with a 1/4" bit.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/guard_template3.jpg
There is the freshly cut master template.
You can see the ply blocks still stuck to the old guard.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/new_guard.jpg
Ok I had a pice of laminated guard material in "aged" white. I would like mother of toilet seat but don't have any so "aged" white will do. It will look pretty nice I reckon.

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/new_guard2.jpg
Roughed out the blank on the bandsaw stuck it down to the master with DS tape and here you can see I have just cut the bevel which shows the laminates up pretty good

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/new_guard5.jpg
Poke through some 1/8" holes

http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/new_guard4.jpg
Viola! nice "aged" white guard.


http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resources/Image/raycaster/layout3.jpg
There she is in place and everything seems to line up pretty nice.
Next job is to buff out the headstock and clean up the overspray. I will fit the graphtec nut, drill the screw holes and bolt the neck on next.

[RGM]

That is one neat way to make some perfect pickguards. Looking good.

[woodturner777]

Hi Deep South, From some one that has been Salvaging Tasmanian Timbers on and off for 40 years believe me Myrtle from Northern Tasmania is better in colour than Myrtle from down South, regards Robert,http://www.tasmaniantimbers.com.au

[black_labb]

looking good. like the white pickguard better as it contrasts better with the fretboard.

[old_picker]

Hi Deep South, From some one that has been Salvaging Tasmanian Timbers on and off for 40 years believe me Myrtle from Northern Tasmania is better in colour than Myrtle from down South, regards Robert,http://www.tasmaniantimbers.com.au

i agree with that for sure Myrtle from Northern Tasmania is a beautiful looking timber - i use southern myrtle as it is cheap, easy to work and usually yields a nice light guitar

i dont know wether this stuff is even from tassie