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Thread: First build
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29th December 2007, 10:30 PM #1New Member
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- Oct 2007
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- Townsville Qld
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First build
Hi, I have been lurking around these forums for a few weeks and I was enthused enough (some mad guitars in these forums) to pull my finger out and start building my own tele. I got the timber from a mate's dad. All Qld Maple. Body was only 36mm thick, so he book matched some maple for me to cap it with.
I dismantled my USA Tele to make my templates. I still need to work out how to do the neck properly. I cannot get a truss rod locally, so I think I might wait until I can order one before I start the neck. Could anyone please place a link as to what truss I will need. I am feeling kinda lost. Also, I couldn't get an inverted flush trim router bit(with the bearing on the shank), so I improvised and made a couple of booboos. Hopefully nothing I cannot hide later on.
I would greatly appreciate any guidance and/or wisdom. There is soooo much to learn. So far I haven't spent a cent on this build, which I am sure will change very soon. So thanks for the inspiration and hope to hear from all of you soon.
Micky P.
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29th December 2007 10:30 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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30th December 2007, 04:47 AM #2Intermediate Member
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- Oct 2007
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- Santa Cruz, CA, USA
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Micky, there are a couple of very good instrument makers' forums based here in the 'States. If you spend time on the sites, join up, and particularly search the archives you'll find more information than you can absorb in a month of solid reading, but if you search right, you'll get the answers you seek.
Check out:
http://www.mimf.com/
www.frets.com
http://luthiersforum.3element.com/fo...s.asp#forumTop
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30th December 2007, 10:01 AM #3
Welcome to the forum Micky and congrats on getting stuck into your first build. I think QLD Maple is well matched to the Tele style however having never built or owned one I am keen to see how you progress and whether the tone ends up similar to your US guitar.
You could try www.guitaraust.com.au for double action (2 way) truss rods for electric guitars. I have purchased there before. I also buy a lot of gear from www.stewmac.com in the US and the service and delivery times are just awesome not to mention the great info on their site.
Keep us informed of your progress and good luck
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30th December 2007, 12:43 PM #4
gday mickey welcome
top marks on your choice of builds
tele is a simple build and a great guitar
go here
making a strat but the principles are all the same
you can make a truss rod very easily yourself
see melvyn hiscocks "book bulid yor own guitar"
or see here
above is a mandolin truss rod and is very similar to the fender style
you would use a slotted or allen type adjuster
heres some more
buy some books
hiscock and benedetto have a lot of info and will get you goingray c
dunno what's more fun, buyin' the tools or usin' em'
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1st January 2008, 01:24 AM #5
Welcome MickyP. It's great to have you join the constabulary.
Old picker is the Tele man on the forum.
What he doesn't know probably isn't worth squat.
There are a few tele forums I've gleaned off old picker as well which may
whet the appetite.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/
http://forum1.aimoo.com/TeleModders....scussion_Group
Post at will and welcome to the forum.
cheers, Stu
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2nd January 2008, 10:09 AM #6SENIOR MEMBER
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- Feb 2007
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- sydney
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- 35
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- 580
looks good. make sure to keep your updates posted here as we all love to see builds in progress.
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6th January 2008, 11:59 AM #7Awaiting Email Confirmation
- Join Date
- Oct 2005
- Location
- Merimbula NSW
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- 282
Man...Doing your own neck first up....Hail to thee blythe spirit...I am still nowhere near attempting a neck.
One thing I might offer.. I cut the body outline AFTER routing the neck pocket fastening the bridge & doing a string up & p/u location.
If the centre of things is a bit off you simply adjust the outline a bit and whooshka it's perfect & only you know it wasn't.
It's also easier to work on a nice big true rectangular piece. Also you can be sure that the neck pocket area has plenty of wood & is straight.
One thing...do NOT ask me how I know this.
Rob.
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7th January 2008, 10:10 PM #8New Member
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- Oct 2007
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- Townsville Qld
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- 3
Hey guys. Thanks so much for all of the replies. Well, I took your advice old_picker and decided to make my own truss rod. I gotta say, it turned out pretty bloody awesome, considering I have never seen one in the flesh before.
I recruited a good mate of mine to help me and we came up with this. 3/16" stainless steel rod. We threaded 35mm on the end and folded it in half. Cut a block of brass 20mm x 12mm x 6mm and drilled 2 holes (3/16"), one straight though and the other halfway. Then we cut a short length of brass rod and drilled the centre and threaded it.
01.jpg 03.jpg
The I went to work on the body. I was unable to get an inverted flush bit for my router, so I had to use forstner bits a sharp chisel and a dremel with a spindle sander attachment. Probably not as neat as a router, but the next best thing.
guitar build 002.JPG
So now the questions.... With the truss rod, should I wrap both the bars in tape? I saw that recommended, but I wasn't sure if they should be wrapped together or separately. Also, I was hoping to stain the body blue and then clear lacquering it. Unfortunately, I have two small chips in the side of the body. Is there some way that I can fill them with a clear filler?
So thanks again for all of the encouragement guys.
Micky P.
Oh, and I am about to place my first ever StewMac order.... first of many by the looks.
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8th January 2008, 12:18 PM #9
the commercial double action rods have what looks like shrink stuff you put on wiring on both rods. they do rattle a bit until they are tenshioned
and about the tearout
its pretty hard to fill and not see it - you might try staining some timbermate but colour matching is a nightmare - clear will still be very visible
you can get special gouges that you can cut a neat chanell with and cut a filler using the same gouge from scrap - glue the filler in and sand down levelray c
dunno what's more fun, buyin' the tools or usin' em'
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8th January 2008, 04:54 PM #10
mmm
also think seriously b4 you put blue stain over that really cool looking maple capray c
dunno what's more fun, buyin' the tools or usin' em'
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8th January 2008, 05:05 PM #11Intermediate Member
- Join Date
- Oct 2007
- Location
- Santa Cruz, CA, USA
- Age
- 80
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- 44
A spiral wrap of fiberglass reinforced packing tape works well on single action double rods like that. That's what I did for a number of years when making the truss rods for Alembic basses and guitars.
You generally see heat shrink on the double acting double rods where the lower rod turns inside the neck.
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