Telemaster build

So I've started to build me a Telemaster. It's my second build. I've started a few months back, had to make a pause and now I'm making progress again.

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The body is Marupá, neck and fretboard are Marfin, all brazilian woods.

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That's when the whole body/neck alignment debacle started. :confused:

I thought there would be no difficulties to it, that I would just align the body and neck, mark, drill, assemble and that's it.

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I've even tried that:

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Turned out I had to try over and over. And I still didn't get it. At least I'm not confident to do it to actual guitar parts. I want to nail it with the templates and be able to reproduce them accurately.

I'll have to come back to that.

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Is that how the contoured back is actually done? I always thought it was straight up using a sander.

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Is that how the contoured back is actually done? I always thought it was straight up using a sander.

There's more than one way to skin a cat.

Is that how the contoured back is actually done?

No, it's not.

I always thought it was straight up using a sander.

That's right. A belt sander.

With an orbital sander it would take about a week. :lol:

It's an alternative, since I don't have a belt sander.

Some guys use a rasp.

That tummy cut came out nice. When I saw you going at it with a saw, I had my doubts, but it looks great.

Some guys use a rasp.

That's how I do mine. Rasp out the basics of the contour, then I use the drum sander attachment on my power drill to flesh it out a little more, then I spray cheap rattlecan red on the contour and sand with 80 grit on a flat stick in a cross hatch pattern until all the red is gone. Takes about two hours to do it that way, but it yields good results. Heck, judging from the pictures, doing it with a saw works pretty good too :)

Last time I did the belly cut I went with the 4 1/2" angle grinder with a 36grit sanding disk. It took me about an hour to get a good basic shape in hard maple.

That tummy cut came out nice. When I saw you going at it with a saw, I had my doubts, but it looks great.

Thanks a lot.

Heck, judging from the pictures, doing it with a saw works pretty good too :)

Thanks a lot, too.

Okay!

Time for the binding rout.

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And for gluing the binding.

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Woops! :shock:

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That's the same spot.

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That's the spot I screwed up. I actually got worse, cause the gap got filled with binding dust.

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This is another spot, at the other horn, that didn't turn out very good.

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This weekend I bought a radius bit and did this:

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That body looks great! Don't get down on the setbacks... we all have them but learning to overcome them is the real challenge so keep at it! I love what you've done so far.

That body looks great! Don't get down on the setbacks... we all have them but learning to overcome them is the real challenge so keep at it! I love what you've done so far.

Thanks. I'm actually very pleased with the results so far.

Speaking of setbacks, here's another minor one.

I had just finished the round-over when I saw this in some other thread. The round-over at the neck plate.

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I also did the round-over on the belly cut.

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What kind of bit are you using on the binding rout?

What kind of bit are you using on the binding rout?

It's the SM stuff:

White Plastic Binding - .090" x .565" (2.29mm x 14.35mm)
Binding Router Bit and Bearings - Bearing for .090" (2.29mm) binding
Binding Router Bit

Looking great so far. Maybe you could recess the neck plate a bit into the body. but I guess maybe the edges wont look right anyway.
My next build will be a Jazzmaster body with tele neck, soapbar p90:s and G.E Smith style tele bridge.

nice work so far, looking forward to seeing the end result. Did you have a drawing of this body shape to work from?

nice work so far, looking forward to seeing the end result. Did you have a drawing of this body shape to work from?

I used a jazzmaster drawing I found on the forum for the outline and tdowns tele drawing for the tele lay-out. I lined it up by neck cavity and center line.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/160708-***building-telemaster***.html#post1815665

I've also dislocated the control cavity a little towards the center of the body, like this:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/160708-***building-telemaster***.html#post1816177

Your contour looks PERFECT.

And I am an absolute snob when it comes to jazzmasters.

Also, for anyone interested, I'm not affiliated with this guy or the company, but Paul Rhoney sells Telemaster (and many other) templates through ponoko.com
http://static1.ponoko.com/design_images/images/7336/a18e41e4-91a4-3399-9a37-8d8da1678eaf/telemonstert01_product_page.jpg?1269331254


I used them for these
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/407566_113294848790005_100003284720671_65228_38946 0734_n.jpg?dl=1
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/400889_113295868789903_100003284720671_65230_12955 15486_n.jpg?dl=1
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/392626_113296178789872_100003284720671_65231_68235 6150_n.jpg?dl=1
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/404586_113296448789845_100003284720671_65233_53426 7723_n.jpg?dl=1
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/381305_113297352123088_100003284720671_65234_95986 0442_n.jpg?dl=1

Sorry, wasn't trying to hijack your thread :)

Also, for anyone interested, I'm not affiliated with this guy or the company, but Paul Rhoney sells Telemaster (and many other) templates through ponoko.com
http://static1.ponoko.com/design_images/images/7336/a18e41e4-91a4-3399-9a37-8d8da1678eaf/telemonstert01_product_page.jpg?1269331254


I used them for these
http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/407566_113294848790005_100003284720671_65228_38946 0734_n.jpg?dl=1
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/400889_113295868789903_100003284720671_65230_12955 15486_n.jpg?dl=1
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/392626_113296178789872_100003284720671_65231_68235 6150_n.jpg?dl=1
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/404586_113296448789845_100003284720671_65233_53426 7723_n.jpg?dl=1
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/s720x720/381305_113297352123088_100003284720671_65234_95986 0442_n.jpg?dl=1

Sorry, wasn't trying to hijack your thread :)

Those are really cool looking finishes.

Your contour looks PERFECT.

And I am an absolute snob when it comes to jazzmasters.

Thanks a lot.



Sorry, wasn't trying to hijack your thread :)

No problem at all. I love your Telemasters.

Herbert.

Well, after several weeks I got work on my project again. I spent some time thinking about how to approach the neck, since this is my first solo build.

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My routing skills leave room for improvement. :mrgreen:
But there was no harm done.

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Now this is something I came up with so that the TR channel/nut would not have to be so deep.

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I didn't want the channel to extend out onto the headstock, like on my first "tandem" build from the luthiery school shown below.

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And this is the a picture of the grain, which I liked a lot. It's Pau Marfin, a brazilian wood.

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I've routed a shallow channel on the fretboard.

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Headstock thicknessing.

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This will sit til next week.

Here's an update.

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This is turning out really really nice. Excellent work.

This is turning out really really nice. Excellent work.

Thanks!

Ok.

This is what I've done these past few days:

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I just noticed that my fretboard ended up uneven at body end. :shock:
It's higher on the treble side.

I'll address this when I sand dots down.

I struggled a lot with the fretboard sanding. And still will.

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Another update:

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I got to finaly assemble the neck to body.

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Checking for the alignment befor drilling the neck.

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Done.

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It's straight!

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After I assembled the neck, I drilled the bridge holes

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Not straight, but I still like it that way.

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Fun thread. I also build Jag shaped Teles. I have not done a belly cut on any of them, but probably will this next one.

Good work and thanks for sharing.

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Looks alright to me.

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Hey Tele-brewer

Which luthiery school are you attending? B&H? Thought I'd ask.

Do keep up the good work - I love bound guitars, certainly my second full scratchbuild will have binding, possibly double! Any ideas on the colour yet?

Hey Tele-brewer

Which luthiery school are you attending? B&H? Thought I'd ask.



I did attend B&H. I've finished my guitar there back in 2010. Since then I've only visited a few times.

Hey Tele-brewer

Any ideas on the colour yet?

Oh, yes. It's gonna be a Fender Sunburst.
I tend to like the brighter colors (blonde, butterscotch, natural, etc.). But all my guitars are bright colored! :shock:
So...

Dude that is one thick fretboard. What kind of wood is it?

Dude that is one thick fretboard. What kind of wood is it?

Yes it is. Do you know of any downsides to that, besides that it looks odd?
It's that thick because I recessed the truss rod into the fretboard and I wanted a thick neck.

The wood is Pau Marfin, a Brazilian native. I can't tell what it's similar to.

This my homemade fret bender.

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It has 4 bearings, no wheel and no crank, so I just had to push the frets through it.

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Gently positioning the fret...

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...and beating the hell out of them.

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I'm not happy with the results. :sad:
Many fret ends are not perfectly seated on the fret board.

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Just removing the excess glue.

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Even though I beveled and rounded the fret ends.

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I also finished the nut slot.

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The nut is not glued in, just sitting in there.

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Well, after a couple of days of "admiring", tapping and poking the frets I recognize I was in denial and that this fret job is crap! :shock:

So, the frets have to go.

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Cleaning the slots.

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One marking had a gap.

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So I filled it, since I will have to sand the board again.

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I tried to drill the jack hole...

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But it went wrong! :shock:

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That light is shining through the top of the body!

Luckily it didn't reach the top.

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I'll try to strengthen it with glue and sawdust. Any ideas?

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Yes it is. Do you know of any downsides to that, besides that it looks odd?
It's that thick because I recessed the truss rod into the fretboard and I wanted a thick neck.

The wood is Pau Marfin, a Brazilian native. I can't tell what it's similar to.

Just different I guess. Nothing wrong with a thick neck.

Can you show us where the almost hole is on the top of the body? Will the plate cover it up or no?

Can you show us where the almost hole is on the top of the body? Will the plate cover it up or no?

Somewhere around here:

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Meanwhile, I saved this one.

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So, after a week waiting for the new frets and another one to do the job, the neck is refretted.

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I am much happier this time. It passed the tapping test and none of the frets have loose ends.

And I also dropped body and neck off to get finished. It'll be the 3 color brown sunburst and the neck will be be clear satin.

I expect them back in 3 to 4 weeks.

So while I'm waiting for the body and neck, I pre-wired the control plate..

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And tried out a few tools and methods for installing the jack cup.

I started trying 0le Fuzzy's homemade tool, and ended up adapting it to what you see below.

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It goes like this:

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The plate is just some scrap for testing.

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I came um with this method cause on a telemaster the jack hole is very long and I thought it would be difficult to reach in trough the control cavity. So after the plate is in place I just drop the bolt into the control cavity.

The red telemaster earlier in the thread... Tell us more about the vibratro and the string through situation. Sorry to hijack the thread, it's just intriguing.

Your body looks clean so far, very smooth :)

Sooooo...

Pick my Telemaster up at the paint shop last week. And I was so anxious to finish her that I only took 3 pictures of the work I've done, but many from the finished guitar :mrgreen: .

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And for those who like guitars AND good music (:mrgreen:), I put a little slideshow together with a song that I find very appropriate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E9FjsZUSrI&feature=plcp

Looks great! Nice work.

Looks and sounds great.