Thread: First build

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

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

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 going

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

looks good. make sure to keep your updates posted here as we all love to see builds in progress.

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.

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.

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 level

mmm
also think seriously b4 you put blue stain over that really cool looking maple cap

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.