Tru oil again

I recently started my first refinish project on my mim telecaster. It has an alder body. I Have put around a total of twenty coats on this body and could use some advice. Upon removing the old finish i realized the body has a laminate top and back. The sides (or the core) are made up of @ twelve seperate pieces of alder.(I assume?) The application process is going fine,except when i have tried to wet sand to achieve the slurry process. I used straight Tru Oil with 1000 GRIT WET/DRY sand paper and do see the slurry start to form, that's where my trouble began. I'm pretty confident that the problem is the technique i've used. Once I notice the slurry building, I've tried to wipe off the excess oil,only to create a sticky mess.I did such a fine job on this step I had to sand the finish down quite a bit.I did reapply more coats after this and everything seemed fine until I tried it again. I've now pretty much got the rougher grain on the top and back filled during all this so I guess all is not lost, but I'm curious. By sanding the top with grey 3M Scotch brite to basically a "matte" finish,do I still need to apply @ 12 more coats or is the base I have going to be factored in to the total coats already applied? Sorry for the long post,trying to best describe what I've done so I get the proper recommendations.Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

One thing i have been advised in creating a slurry is to wet the sandpaper but not the wood as this causes the dust to be washed away. That was in regard to Watco Danish Oil but I would think the principle would carry over. Good luck with your project. Im a big believer in Tru-Oil & 0000 steel wool alternated. I tried synthetic steel wool recently but its not at all the same. I think I will go back to the traditional SW for my next application. The synthetic last & last but it really doesn`t do much to remove TO from the surface in the way that i am used to .Take care. Bob

What year is the body?

One thing i have been advised in creating a slurry is to wet the sandpaper but not the wood as this causes the dust to be washed away. That was in regard to Watco Danish Oil but I would think the principle would carry over. Good luck with your project. Im a big believer in Tru-Oil & 0000 steel wool alternated. I tried synthetic steel wool recently but its not at all the same. I think I will go back to the traditional SW for my next application. The synthetic last & last but it really doesn`t do much to remove TO from the surface in the way that i am used to .Take care. Bob

Thank's for the reply Bob.Will definately try using your method on my next slurry process. I did apply the tru oil directly to the body then sanded. It started getting tacky faster than I expected. I'm with you on the real steel wool being way more effective. Thanks again.

What year is the body?

I believe it's a 2001.The number on the body cavity is M00163803. Mabe 2000-01.