***Building A Telemaster***

Let me start by thanking GhostofJohnToad, Ed Hawley and any others that have been working on the Jazzmaster body blueprint in the following thread.

Developing Jazzmaster Body Blueprint (http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/159513-developing-jazzmaster-body-blueprint.html)

In that thread there are links to a website selling Custom Shop Telemaster Relics for more than $6000. I stole.... uh..... borrowed a PDF file from the above thread and printed it full scale on four sheets and used the tape-them-together-on-a-window method to get the full size drawing. I only needed the body outline ...... not building a Jazzmaster. What's a Telemaster you ask. Actually until yesterday, I'd never heard of it. Here's one of the Custom Shop Telemaster Relics.

http://www.makenmusic.com/productImg/Telemaster_60Relic-R47213-CAR-FrontFull.jpg

Personally I don't care for it that much but maybe it will grow on me as I build it.

I didn't follow my own usual advice and build a 1/4 in. template first. I glued the outline drawing to 3/4 in MDF using 3M spray adhesive. Here it is after rough cutting it on the scroll saw. That saw works great on MDF

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05069.jpg

After sanding to the line on the spindle/belt sander and some hand sanding, I mark the centerline on each end of the MDF. I had previously marked a centerline on the MDF before applying the pattern but I didn't get the pattern centerline perfectly aligned with the MDF centerline.

.......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05071.jpg

I use a heat gun to help remove the pattern from the template.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05072.jpg

This looks very promising.

I'll be watching with great anticipation!

After using naptha to remove the remaining adhesive from the template, I draw a new centerline and a lline perpendicular to the centerline to represent the heel end of the neck pocket. I then lay my telecaster acrylic template on the Telemaster template and line up the centerline and the end of neck pocket line.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05073.jpg

I trace the pickup and control cavities.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05074.jpg

Now it's time to rough cut the cavities, attach my 3/4 in. Telecaster working template and rout cavities in the new template.

Interesting........

This is gonna be great!

I just learned about the telemaster a couple of months(?) ago when I saw one in one of the esquire threads, I think it was butterscotch with black binding. I think they're cool because:

I like Telecasters
I like Jazzmasters, but not so much the look of the pickups and knobs
I like stealth Esquires


It would be interesting to see one with a tele body radius.

Cavities routed in template.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05075.jpg

Hmmm........ how about a Telemaster Thinline ............... hmmm maybe not or maybe later. Something to think about.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05076.jpg

I'll use my Telecaster neck pocket template for this. All my body templates use the same two screw mounting hole locations.

Edit: Still thinkin about the Telemaster Thinline.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05077.jpg

Thinline mock-up. A modification of this pickguard could work........... or a modified Thinline pickup might work without the control plate.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05079.jpg

I like the thinline idea. the only thing about the telemaster I'm not totally diggin' is the big empty space where a tremolo would be. maybe the f-hole would help offset the visuals.

[edit] or have the thinline guard kind of end in a jag-like plate and not a tele hotdog plate. hmmm.

I really dig those Telemasters, personally, but I think they need a Jazzmaster headstock instead of the Tele one with that body shape. If you already have a Tele neck for it, though, go for it; I'm sure it'll be a great instrument! And as for the empty space comment above, BIGSBY!

I kinda like the wide open space, could be used as a canvas for the graphically inclined.

Someone say Bigsby .............. There's enough room for a B-3. Not sure how a B-3 would work with a vintage bridge. Could have a little notched area for the hinge.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05080.jpg

For now maybe I should just concentrate on the straight Telemaster and save the Thinline and Bigsby for later.

JW......the wheels are always turning.

Cool stuff.The blending of parts-p-ups and colors.....body shapes and woods.

I guess your probally not going with a Big Ugly Headstock....Hmmmmm?

Pretty good chance you're right about that headstock........http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Animations/Wink.gif

Watching this with utmost excitement. I was thinking of building a thinline jazzmaster once I get out of school next week. So my vote say do the thinline so I can borrow your method and do my own. :D

Casual_Reader has pointed out that on the Telemaster, the control plate has been moved closer to the bridge than on the Telecaster. Thanks Casual_Reader.

I've made a patch and glued it into the control cavity rout in the template. I'll try to decide how far to move it and rout a new cavity tomorrow.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05081.jpg

I opened a Telemaster picture in Photoshop. I used the magic wand to copy the control plate. I pasted it back into the picture and tried to fit it between the bridge and control plate. It wouldn't fit so I know that distance is less than the width of a control plate.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/Photoshop.jpg

I think I'll move the control cavity 3/8 in. from the old position. That looks about right and the distance between the bridge and control plate is less than the control plate.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05083.jpg

Another great build thread from jwells393....awesome! Jack, I always watch your threads now ever since, what I call, your Spiderman guitar (your acrylic creation) :mrgreen: I can't remember what you call it...plexicaster?? I love that thing...it's very creative thinking.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/2775/plexicaster.png
.

Hi i'm also working on a telethinmaster right now. I'll open a new thread soon but right now I want to build instead of sitting behind my computer.
Hollow body:
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Foto-OWTPROGI.jpg
previeuw:
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Foto-YO7KQVEY.jpg

Blimey Jack, you don't hang around do you! :shock:

I'll be watching this with interest as i may have a customer who wants me to build one of these. Mind you, seeing as you're not that keen on the telemaster i could take it off your hands, you don't want the house to get cluttered do you? :wink:

Uh-Oh...I knew it had to start sooner or later. I see the TMDPRI page starting!?!...Naw...only kidding! I'll be watching with great interest!! Way to go Jack!
Cheers
ED

http://www.makenmusic.com/productImg/Telemaster_60Relic-R47213-CAR-FrontFull.jpg

Personally I don't care for it that much but maybe it will grow on me as I build it.


I think its an okay looking guitar but it really needs a neck pickup. Can't wait to see yours Jack!

teleblues001 ........... I call it the Acrylicaster but what's in a name. I'm working on a variation of it that might be interesting.

oigun ........... Now that should be an interesting build. I can see some fine craftsmanship just from those pictures.

Ed .............. Thanks ..... you owned a Jazzmaster right? Don't suppose you recall how thick it was do you?

John ......... Are you saying it needs a neck pickup for looks or sound. From what I've read, the Custom Shop Telemasters have two pickups hidden under the pickguard.

Onward to routing the new control cavity in the template. I mark for new screw holes 3/8 in. north of the old ones.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05084.jpg

Routing completed.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05085.jpg

Ah ........... much better.

.......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05086.jpg
......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05087.jpg

Anyone else own a Jazzmaster and know the body thickness and the radius on the edges. All I could find on thickness is they started as thick as a Strat and got thinner. I'm thinking 1 5/8 in. might be about right. The radius is probably the same as a Strat.

Hi Jack...Man you are moving right along...My neighbors Jazz measures a tad under 1 5/8. Around 1.600 (I didn't want to mark up the paint:roll:)
You already beat me to the control cavity move! Did you notice that the bottom of the pickguard is about 1/8 lower in the screw areas? It actually comes a good distance below center on the control plate!
Here's a 1:1 pdf I did this morning. Take a look. If you or anyone else can use the dwg or dxf, PM me and I'll send it along. I don't have the web page that I used to host my files on anymore (they are keeping the ones I had on there for the 53 build a little longer) so I can't link them yet.

Looking good!!
Cheers
ED

OOPS...forgot the string through holes on the back!!

John ......... Are you saying it needs a neck pickup for looks or sound. From what I've read, the Custom Shop Telemasters have two pickups hidden under the pickguard.

Just for looks... but maybe thats just me. :wink:

Ed ......... that drawing is great. Wish I'd had it yesterday. How much closer did you move the control cavity to the bridge? Did you move it forward any?

Casual_Reader said he thought the control plate looked like it was moved forward a little on the Telemaster.

I printed the bridge/control cavity area of Terry' Downs' drawing. I laid a vintage bridge plate on it and outlined it. I centered and outlined a control plate over the control cavity. I extended the line from the front of the bridge plate to intersect the control plate. The line crosses the back side of the front mounting screw hole........... just like this picture.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/Clipboard03.jpg

It looks to me like the notch for the bridge and the control plate are cut deaper in the Telemaster pickguard from the pictures I've seen.

Say Ed ........... We could have two Telemaster build threads going here ...... one with the CNC method and one with the cave man method.

The body on my Jazzmaster is 1.705".

Of course it is slathered in metalflake and polyurethane. :wink:

Thanks for sharing this project with us.

Hi Jack..I moved the control plate in 3/8. I didn't move it up at all, just moved the pickguard flat areas (not the bridge area) down .200

Cool Ed ................ glad to know that sometimes I think like a great mind. Then your pickguard should work for me. That will save a lot of time.

Thanks for the input Steve. I think I'm going to go with something around 1 5/8 in. That should leave plenty of depth for the switch.

How heavy is a Jazzmaster? That's a big ole chuck of wood. You need a body blank about 14 x 20.

:grin:Yup...I think I'm going to put finishing the broadcaster aside and work on this!!:grin: I wouldn't call your method caveman at all Jack! Let's call it the "hands on touch and the I-robot method"!:wink:
Cheers
ED

Ed ...........are you going to put the body contours on your drawing or am I going to have to do my own work?

Here is a pdf with the tele and telejazz next to one another.

I'll draw up a solid file and put the contours on....:wink:...For now I'll just add the lines.

I've cut much of my wood into 17 in. lengths for building Telecasters. I do have an uncut poplar board big enough for this project. I think I'll try for a candy apple red using either gold or silver covered with Duplicolor Metalcast Red. Here's a test piece I did a long time ago. I think the gold is on the right and silver is on the left.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/New%20Album/CARTest.jpg

Looks like I'll be able to make use of this short 16 in. long piece. I'll just have to make sure the glue joint doesn't run through the control cavity. That leaves a long piece of the wide board. I might be able to piece together enough for another one.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05088.jpg

After jointing the edges, I was about to glue up the blank when I suddenly realized something. This blank or even the final body shape won't go through my thickness planer which has a 13 in. width capacity. I'll have to do the pieces separately. Glad I caught that one.

Thanks for all the pdfs everyone. This is fantastic to have.

Jack the candy with the gold base looks better to me, it looks glossier. This might be a trick of the light. So is the base one of the metalspecs colors?

Thanks for taking the time...

jack,
gibson used the gold base on their '60s CAR finish. here are some fotos of my 68 MMXII (12 string melody maker) this guitar has not seen much light of the day.
http://cudney.net/68-MMXII/134612.jpg
http://cudney.net/68-MMXII/134513.jpg
here it is next to my '68MMIV. the bass has almost faded all gold.
http://cudney.net/68-MMXII/ax-mm.JPG

I went looking for that candy apple test piece but didn't find it. I was going to take a close-up picture of it. If I recall correctly, I sprayed gold and silver Krylon as the base. That was back when it was acrylic lacquer. The Duplicolor Metal Specks would give you a different look.

I ran the two pieces through the planer and thinned them down to just a skosh over 1 5/8 in. (First time I've used that word in 20 years and today I've used it twice). I'll use a belt sander to clean up the glue joint and hide the snipe from the planer. I rough cut the body on the scroll saw using a 7 TPI blade. Not as fast as the bandsaw but it can be done. I've cut 1 3/4 in. hard maple on it. As seen below, this beast weighs 6 lbs. 5.5 oz. That Thinline idea is starting to sound good but it may be too late.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05089.jpg

Looks like I might be able to get another one out of the scraps.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05090.jpg

Shape routing complete. Weight 6 lbs. 2.4 oz.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05091.jpg

Cavities predrilled. Weight: 6 lbs. 0.6 oz.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05092.jpg

Cavities routed. Weight: 5 lbs. 14.3 oz.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05093.jpg

time for a big ole honkin' swimming pool route?

I'm really into this shape. Looking forward to keeping tabs on the build process.

time for a big ole honkin' swimming pool route?

Nah. Time for some deep contouring:mrgreen:

Very cool build indeed, Mr Wells...

... G

Cool build Jack. Glad to see you moved the control plate. It didn't look like there was much room between the plate and the edge of the body in your first template.

Telemaster are springing up all over. I'm gonna be keeping an eye on you and oigun.

Wow - nice work! I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the build!

The body was is too big to fit under my benchtop drill press for jack hole drilling. I clamped the body into my parrot vice and drilled with a 7/8 Forstner bit in a hand drill. I drilled the hole about 1 1/2 in. deep. I put a jack in a football jack plate to make sure the hole was deep enough. I then drilled from the back of that hole to the control cavity with a long 5/16 in. bit.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05094.jpg

At this point the neck pocket, all cavities and wiring channels have been done.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05096.jpg

Here I've laid out some arcs on the backside for the body for the body contour. Jazzmasters must have a much smaller radius arc than a Stratacaster which has a 7 3/4 in radius are connectingtwo point 12 3/4 in apart. The arc on the left has a 6 in. radius. The next one has a 6 1/2 in. radius. I decided on the 6 in. I used a 7 in. disc sander to rough out the contour.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05095.jpg

That knot you see in the picture above has turned out to be problematic. It's harder than the surrounding wood. I'm having a problem sanding that area without irregularities that you can feel. Here's the contour after some belt sander and orbital sander work ......... and some Plastic Wood. The contour still needs some work.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05098.jpg

Tomorrow I'll radius all the edges.

Weight at this point ............ 5 lbs. 11.3 oz.

Looks great, nice piece of ash too!

Nice nice nice! Coming along great!

Thanks Jack, I wouldn't have thought the low or non flake metallics would look that good under the metalfx.

Again the usefulness of this and the jazzmaster blueprint threads are first rate, thanks again.

Looking good as always Jack. I learn something new every time you
post a build thread, thank you.
How many builds are you working on simultaneously?
MiniTele, PostCaster, Jazzmaster....?

I checked a Strat and it appears it has a 3/8 in. radius on the edges so that's what I did. I had already drilled the jack hole so I cut a plug and sanded it flush with the surrounding area. After routing the edges, I put in a screw into the plug and pulled it out.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05102.jpg

I kept putting off the string through holes thinking about putting that B-3 Bigsby on it but finally decided to do that on a later guitar. A B-3 would also affect how you did the forearm contour.

Drilling the string through and ferrule holes presented a new situation. On Telecasters, I drill all six holes with the butt of the body facing the drill press column. On this body there's too much butt for a 12 in. drill press. Normally I only align my bit with the table pin as viewed from the front like so........

......Viewed From Front
......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05099.jpg

With this body I had to approach the hole locations from the waist of the guitar on each side and from different angles. Therefore the alignment of the pin in the other direction was critical. I sanded off a little from the front of the table insert and put a small shim in back of the insert to align the bit with
the pin.

......Viewed From Side
......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05101.jpg

Didn't turn out too bad.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05107.jpg

I did the forearm contour much the same way as the rear contour .......... disc sander, belt sander and orbital sander. The wood working is pretty much completed except for some steaming, filling and sanding. Only one router mistake on this one. After routing all the cavities, I noticed I had missed a small area in the center of the bridge cavity. I grabbed the router, dropped the bit to the floor of the cavity and cleaned up the missed spot. Forgot I didn't a template on the body and the bit touch the side. It took just a little bite. A little Plastic Wood should fix that right up.

Here's the current state of affairs.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05103.jpg
......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05104.jpg
......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05105.jpg
......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05106.jpg

Weight: 5 lbs. 8 oz.

It looks really, really nice, but lord, thats gonna be one heavy git.

That looks fantastic.....can't wait to see this build finished.
Have you decided on headstock shape? My guess is you already have
a closet full with Tele necks just waiting for a body:smile:

I wish I had a closet full of Tele necks........ got a lot more bodies than necks. This wouldn't be a Telemaster without a Tele neck. I'm going to have to get back to neck building. Maybe even finish that neck building thread I started years ago.

Assuming the finish doesn't add much weight the final weight of the guitar would be around 8 lbs. 4 oz.

very nice. I bought an oscillating spindle sander today. So maybe mine will be taking off soon.

Hi Jack..I moved the control plate in 3/8. I didn't move it up at all, just moved the pickguard flat areas (not the bridge area) down .200

good catch... I flipped the control plate with the tele pick guard in the background and went by where it hit the front knob without checking the front of the bridge like Jack did. I should have paid closer attention to detail.

Jack - great resourcefulness and woodworking skills, as always.

So looking at your tummy cut I see what looks like a knot, I have a mustang and a strat going out of poplar and have the same situation. Interested in details on filling the knot if you have the time, thanks again.

Here's the current state of affairs.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05103.jpg

Weight: 5 lbs. 8 oz.


That's what I'm talking about!!
Beautiful! Hey ...... That knot sort of reminds me of "Betty Boop". If you squint and move your head side to side you can see the ribbon in her hair,tiny eyes, and cheek jowls!!!:shock:
Now how many of you are gonna do that?
Great job Jack...And fast too!
Cheers
ED

Originally Posted by jwells393
Here's the current state of affairs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/Bmaster.jpg

Weight: 5 lbs. 8 oz.


Hey ...... That knot sort of reminds me of "Betty Boop". If you squint and move your head side to side you can see the ribbon in her hair,tiny eyes, and cheek jowls!!!

Hmmm............... you sure about that? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Animations/Wink.gif

Man I cannot wait to see this with some paint !!

C'mon Jack it's been HOURS since your last update :mrgreen:

I can clearly see the difference between where your control plate lies and mine does. Yours looks nicer moved in from the edge (mine is the same distance from the bridge as a tele). Now I'm jeasous and have to make another in sonic blue. :smile:

Wow! those are some nice process pics! Ever since i saw the prototype version a few months back, i've wanted a telemaster.

nice work! i can't wait to see more :)

Nice piece of ash newtwanger ....... how much does your body weigh?

If Casual_Reader hadn't brought it to my attention, I probably would have routed my control cavity like yours. Luckily he contacted me before I had done the body ........ although that could have been patched since I'm painting mine a solid color.

Nice piece of ash newtwanger ....... how much does your body weigh?

Hated covering it with paint. I was originally going to do a total ripoff of the Fender CS Telemaster but my guilt got the better of me so I "reimagined" it.

The body weighed in at 4lb11oz or 4lb14oz (have it written down somewhere)
The finished guitar weighs in just shy of 8lbs with a huge neck and CBS sized headstock.

Jack -



Bloody. Freakin'. Cool.



Wow, this is coming along nicely. I might have opted for the deeper contours like a late 50's Start, but it looks great "as is". Awesome.

Enjoying this build...

Newtwanger, I like your pickguard way better then the 'official' fender one. I think it pulls the whole thing together.

Newtwanger, I like your pickguard way better then the 'official' fender one. I think it pulls the whole thing together.

Thanks Tom, my hope was that the pickguard would be the thing that would most separate my guitar from being a straight burn of a Fender idea (now it's merely a slight burn :wink:).

Anxiously awaiting what the artist currently know as jwells393 will come up with for a guard.

Jack, yer skills at wood-butcherin' is only matched by your purty-picture-takin' abilities. And your generosity with sharing both!

Anxiously awaiting what...........jwells393 will come up with for a guard.

This one will have the Custom Shop guard. The next Telemaster will venture from what the Custom Shop has done in a few ways including pickguard

I might have opted for the deeper contours like a late 50's Start,

The Custom Shop Telemaster body really doesn't have a rear contour as long as a Strat for some reason. I used this picture and added the lines to help determine the length of the contour. It turns out the contour is only about 10 1/2 in. long whereas the contour on a Strat is 12 3/4 in. long.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/Clipboard02.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Animations/bug.gif

Interested in details on filling the knot if you have the time, thanks again.
On the front the knot doesn't cause a problem. On the back I concentrated on sanding the knot trying to get it lower than the surrounding surface. I then spread some Plastic Wood on the area and sanded it back. It looks like the knot area won't be a problem when I paint. I buy the Plastic Wood brand rather than other wood fillers. It has a solvent base. I buy the tubes because you usually don't use much and the tubes don't seem to dry out like the cans.

Those optical conclusions are funny.

http://www.backwaterpartymusic.com/%20buttercaster/emeraldcaster/smurfettemaster.jpg

I see it a bit differently...

Awesome, Jack. CAR is my favourite guitar colour. It just seems to suit Strats and Jazzmasters/Jags better than the Teles - might be all the curves.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the paint goes on for a CAR. How is it that the metallic under the red is still visible? Does the red have to be slightly transluscent?

I think the knot looks like Dr. Wasabi.

http://www.cartoonnetwork.es/microsites/chopsocky/gfx/characters-wasabi.png

The Duplicolor Metalcast paints are transparant.

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/metalcast.html

......http://www.duplicolor.com/gallery/gallery_images/cans_metalcast.jpg

Hi i'm also working on a telethinmaster right now. I'll open a new thread soon but right now I want to build instead of sitting behind my computer.
Hollow body:
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Foto-OWTPROGI.jpg
previeuw:
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Foto-YO7KQVEY.jpg


Heyhey Oigun ! weer een hele gave!!... ik volg hem "thuis"ook!";o)


Very very Nice!

Didn't turn out too bad.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05107.jpg
Too bad it turned out perfect, Jack.
I mean, are you kidding me? :grin:

I like how those ferrule holes fall between the grain lines. Looks like it was planned :shock:

.

Yeah .......... that's the way I planned it.............. just kidding. Never noticed that till you pointed it out. It's a shame that will get covered with paint.

Yeah .......... that's the way I planned it.............. just kidding. Never noticed that till you pointed it out. It's a shame that will get covered with paint.

give the back a transluscent/transparent finish!

Lookin' good! If I'm not mistaken, MetalCast is enamel, yes? What do you plan to use for the clear topcoat? Have you used MetalCast before? I didn't realize that it was transparent until you mentioned that - very interesting.

Hey Jack,

Any update on this one? I've been following your beautiful work. Wondering what it'll look like finished.

Tracy

Hey Jack,

Any update on this one? I've been following your beautiful work. Wondering what it'll look like finished.

Tracy

What he said.

The Weight at this point ............ 5 lbs. 11.3 oz.

Thanks... I been reading all this with interest in shape variations and I was just wonderin' ... What's it weigh? ... now I know...

I was looking at these pics thinking about how to make use of a T body that did not come out to the correct shape because my template shifted... maybe a Telemaster Jr...

jwells,
You are the coolest. I can't wait to see it finished.

Sorry guys. Haven't been doing any guitar work recently. I need to get back to it. Got several projects I started and haven't finished. Lost a little interest in this one because of the weight of the body. Then I received the Galveston acrylic guitar with a body weighing ~ 8 1/2 lbs. so this one will be a lightweight in comparison. I've passed the point of chambering this one so I'll just have to go ahead with it as is. I've got some ideas for the next one which I think will be a visual improvement on the Custom Shop design.

What a GREAT THREAD! The future sound clips have me salivating already...
Thanks for sharing.

Lookin' good! If I'm not mistaken, MetalCast is enamel, yes? What do you plan to use for the clear topcoat? Have you used MetalCast before? I didn't realize that it was transparent until you mentioned that - very interesting.

I was curious what would be used for a topcoat also. I've used the red MetalCast for stompboxes w/o clearcoat. The aluminum box was sanded to 800 grit or so. It looks great shining through the translucent red. Awesome color. Here's a pic before wet sanding.

Thanks for the thought, guys. My next Tele may have to be this color!

I started sanding the body and was about to spray some sanding sealer but got to thinking. I may not build another of these so decided the changes I invisioned for the next one should go into this one. One of those changes involves moving the control cavity back a bit so I made a plug and glued it in. I'll re-rout the control cavity after sanding the plug flush. I'll also have to redrill the wiring channels for the neck pickup and the Jack.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05200.jpg
......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05201.jpg

Would taking the jack straight back inline with the control cavity make sense?

Having a jack at the butt end might be more convenient than a plug sticking out of the most extreme corner.. especially for couch players. An oval plate that easily takes a 90 plug would be perfect for looping the cord under the strap right above the input.

Here's the re-routed control cavity. You can see where I plugged one end ...... then plugged it again. First time I routed the cavity to the point where I actually wanted the end of the control plate to be. Stopping to think things out could really save time. I may have to try that.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05203.jpg

The jack hole is already drilled. I don't see its location to be any more of a problem than the Telecaster jack hole location.

I needed some 5/16 dowel to plug the wiring channel holes so the drill bit wouldn't try to follow the old holes. Stores were closed. I took a 3 in. piece of 3/8 dowel and chucked it into the drill press then wrapped some 80 grit sandpaper half way around it. Checked it from time to time until it was the right size. Cut 1 in. lengths and glued them into the beginnings of the holes and drilled new wiring channel holes after the glue dried.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05204.jpg

Nice trick on plugging the wiring channels to re-drill! I'll have to remember that one ...

what ever happened with this build?

Yeah Jack, still kickin' around in the shed?

I saw this guitar in a guitar player magazine ad and i could never imagine what the hell is this. I also find a blueprint (or autocad) pic, (I think it was here, but i tought it was just made by a custom nut). I love offset bodies, I love teles, so far looks good. If it's done, jut make please a youtube demo!

Here's the re-routed control cavity. You can see where I plugged one end ...... then plugged it again. First time I routed the cavity to the point where I actually wanted the end of the control plate to be. Stopping to think things out could really save time. I may have to try that.

......http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v208/jwells393/Telemaster/DSC05203.jpg

The jack hole is already drilled. I don't see its location to be any more of a problem than the Telecaster jack hole location.


Sometimes when we stop to think about things, we end up losing momentum.

I like the way you came up with a great solution and just make it happen.

I finally got on the TeleMaster train, with one similar to this:

http://www.usacustomguitars.com/usacg/webspec/4sale/body10f.jpg

The image of my body is off line now.

I'm scared to death, when I excise some fat out of the lower half of the body ( I plan to reshape it some), that the jack rout will come out all wrong. But that's what the solid color on the end wood of trans-blonde finishes is all about!

I like the thinline idea. the only thing about the telemaster I'm not totally diggin' is the big empty space where a tremolo would be. maybe the f-hole would help offset the visuals.

[edit] or have the thinline guard kind of end in a jag-like plate and not a tele hotdog plate. hmmm.

Stick a Hipshot B-Bender to fill up the space.