My first tele/partscaster...with JM tremolo!

Hi, everybody! I'm fairly new to tdpri, though I've lurked for some time now, while spending most of my time on talkbass.com. I'm a usually a bassist, and I've built a couple of those, but I've been wanting to get more into guitar lately, and I've always loved teles, so...

Here's the mock-up for the partscaster project to come:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/telecaster-jtrem-mockup.jpg

I've been doing some searching, and I have yet to find another tele+P90+JMtremolo combo out there (I'm sure it exists somewhere, but I haven't found it yet). So I guess it'll be a fairly unique animal when all is said and done!

At this point, I've already got all the parts, mostly from GFS, except for the Mighty Mite neck. However, I'll need to do a little drilling & routing for the P90 and the tailpiece.

I'm hoping to get started this weekend, so more pics will be on the way shortly!

This is a cool idea. I like the weird sympathetic string vibrations you get from the JM bridge. I've seen it done at least once before. I have a habit of saving pictures of cool builds for future reference on whatever computer I'm on at the time. Since I use at least 3 different computers I usually can't find the pictures I need when I want them, but you're in luck. I don't remember who built this, but it wasn't me and it was somebody else on the TDPRI.

Good luck and welcome to the forum1

One other thing... Watch the string break over the traditional tele bridge. You may need to use a buzz-stop to get enough downward pressure on the strings to keep them from wandering all over the place.

Hi, everybody! I'm fairly new to tdpri, though I've lurked for some time now, while spending most of my time on talkbass.com. I'm a usually a bassist, and I've built a couple of those, but I've been wanting to get more into guitar lately, and I've always loved teles, so...

Here's the mock-up for the partscaster project to come:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/telecaster-jtrem-mockup.jpg

I've been doing some searching, and I have yet to find another tele+P90+JMtremolo combo out there (I'm sure it exists somewhere, but I haven't found it yet). So I guess it'll be a fairly unique animal when all is said and done!

At this point, I've already got all the parts, mostly from GFS, except for the Mighty Mite neck. However, I'll need to do a little drilling & routing for the P90 and the tailpiece.

I'm hoping to get started this weekend, so more pics will be on the way shortly!

That's pretty good creative thinking! I look forward to seeing this one come along. Good luck!

One other thing... Watch the string break over the traditional tele bridge. You may need to use a buzz-stop to get enough downward pressure on the strings to keep them from wandering all over the place.

Thanks for the word of warning, but I've got that covered. The standard bridge shown here is just for a rough mockup. The real thing will have a flat plate with no lip around it and a tune-o-matic-like bridge with roller saddles. I also invested in a buzz stop and locking tuners.

I started some drilling today--got the bridge, neck, and tuner holes drilled. Hopefully I'll get to some routing tomorrow--pics to come soon!

Here's the body, which I got from GFS for cheaps. The bridge pickup route is too small, but that's fixable:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1538.jpg
Tuner screw holes marked out:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1539.jpg
Lining up the neck:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1541.jpg
Tuners, neck & bridge installed:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1542.jpg
Bridge pickup fits now! Started hogging out the trem cavity. Will finish routing today, once I pick up a pattern bit, which I didn't realize I didn't own already:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1544.jpg

I forgot to take a pic of my mix-&-match template. I'll get to it today.

That's it for now!

The cavities have now been properly routed, with my fancy, three-separate-template-mashup:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1547.jpg

Here's the first attempt at stringing it up. I had to shim the neck quite a bit, but it'll do:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1549.jpg

And a sneak peek at the next build! The Telemaster template arrived today:
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1548.jpg

Next up will be routing the corners of the p-90 cavity a bit more. The pickup fits, but the cover doesn't.

I've been trying to ignore some other problems, but I think I'll have to address them over the weekend to preserve my sanity.

First, the bridge "poles" make two little dents on the bottom of the plate, which keep it from laying perfectly flat. So there's that. Easy fix.

Then, although I did a test run with twine before drilling the bridge screw holes, it still ended up slightly off, causing the low E string to ride right along the edge of the fretboard near the neck joint. It's playable down by the nut, but the misalignment is driving me crazy. So it looks like I'll be filling those holes and trying again.

Also, I should be getting some copper tape by Friday. At that point I'll have everything I need to finish up.

Any suggestions on wiring from the pros out there? I've got multiples of both A and B 250K pots. BTW, I'm not looking for super-bright, but I don't want mud either. Clear and warm is the goal. I was thinking two 250A pots with a 3300pf cap, but I'm a bit of a n00b at wiring, so any helpful hints would be appreciated.

I fixed the bridge! I did the fill-and-drill with chopsticks because I didn't feel like driving down to the hardware store for a tiny dowel. Here you can see the repair, along with the cavity shielding:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/05-29-2012Spring2012122.jpg

And here we have the wiring. I ended up using two 250K A pots, but with a 4700pf cap:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/05-29-2012Spring2012127.jpg

The wiring worked the first time! :mrgreen: It's all done now, but I broke the low E string taking it on and off too many times. :oops: I'll go pick up new strings when the shop up the street opens, and then I'll get some nice outdoor shots of the finished product.

And here is the finished Tremo-caster! I'm very pleased with the results.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1605.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1604.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1603.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1602.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1601.jpg

I have a couple of plans for headstock logos, but they're at work. I'll put them up tomorrow to see what you guys and gals think is the best.

And here is the finished Tremo-caster! I'm very pleased with the results.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1605.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1604.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1603.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1602.jpg
http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/100_1601.jpg

I have a couple of plans for headstock logos, but they're at work. I'll put them up tomorrow to see what you guys and gals think is the best.

Man, that thing is funky...great job!

Okay, here are my headstock logo ideas.

The first is a Fender-ish logo:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/brandt-tele-logo-best.jpg

The second is based upon the logo that I designed for my speaker cab:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/RPDB-tele-logo-black.jpg

And the last one splits the difference. An homage to Fender without trying to replicate the "spaghetti":

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/RPDB-tele-logo.jpg

And yet another iteration, from an outside suggestion:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c35/ronaldpdavis/RPDB-tele-logo-script.jpg

I'll probably take the "Registered" mark off the first one...

What do you think?