First Build: Ash, Whitewash, Tru-Oil

Hey Everybody. I decided that instead of modifying my tele, I'd build a partscaster! I actually started this build months ago, so I'll post American-Idol style. The first several will be stuff that has already happened, and then I'll catch up and (hopefully) finish in real time.

Here is the body, and also my workshop in sunny Virginia January! It's a Guitar Mill Blowout body. It's swamp ash, and came routed, with guide holes drilled for the bridge and string holes.

I picked up a copy of "The Homespun Telecaster," and "Shaping the Telecaster Body," and the templates by Mr. Ron Kirn, and my Dad and I drilled the neck, bridge and string holes in my Grandfather's metal shop.

Then I picked up the suggested 12" drill bit and drilled the hole from the neck pickup to the control panel.

Drilling the 7/8ths hole for the jack didn't go as well as planned, but not the end of the world I guess.

Ordered a Warmoth Pro neck from the showcase, 11/16" Nut Width, Boatneck Contour, 10-16" Compound Radius, Black Face Dots Inlays, Medium Jumbo (6130) frets. Also decided to have them provide the nut, and also ordered some Gotoh vintage tuners while I was at it.

By this time, it was the end of February and it was warm enough to spray some nitro! I put on 8 coats. Two on Friday, Three on Saturday, Three on Sunday. I followed directions from the experts in Finely Finished. I used Minwax Lacquer.

I taped off the nut, warmed up the rattle can, and suspended the neck from a boom mic stand with a coat hanger. When I was done I hung it up from the rafters in the basement

One coat was three passes at 12 to 18 inches. Then I would wait 30 minutes before the next coat.

Next I spent several weeks with some occasional sanding.

There were some dents on the edges to sand down.

A buddy lent me a cool little plane to attempt a roundover.

Here is a mock-up.

Pickgaurd is a 5 hole, Black/White/Black from WD.

The bridge has compensated saddles and is from Callaham. Yay Virginia!

The pickups are Wilde Keystones, because of all the rave reviews.

Since I've never soldered before, I bought the pre-wired assembly from Acme Guitar Works. It's the four-way switch with the series option in position 4, all the way to the neck side. I went with the 50's look knobs and switch. It seems like a great deal!

Then it was time to attempt the decal.

Everything went fine I guess, until I took "bury" in lacquer a little too literally.

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/finely-finished/332974-neck-lacquer-decal-problem.html

Colt W. Knight and Kennedycaster helped me out with some advice. Thanks too to Glen Smith for the bump.

I sanded down to 400 and stained with Minwax White Wash Picking Wood Stain. It's water-based. I painted it on with a new foam brush, then wiped it off using a clean rag after 2-3 minutes, as per the instructions.

I did the top, let it dry over night, flipped it over and then did the back. After two coats of that, it stuck to the newspaper it was resting on. Stain also raised the grain a lot.

So I sanded it down and then back to 400.

The next round of whitewash worked much better.

Been there and chickened out:http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaster-discussion-forum/103935-another-thin-finish-question%3B-pickling-stain.html
Looking forward to seeing this!

Looking good so far Quake! That tool for the roundover looks pretty cool. How did it work out? I like hand toolsI actually dove in and loved the way it came out.

Quake I think you are gonna love the white wash. Mine came out with a tint of amber to it because I used DeWaxed Shellac as the sealer, but I really like using the Picklin' stuff exactly the slight transparency i was looking for. Keep up the great work!

Those Guitar Mill blowouts looked intriguing. Any further comments on yours?

Good luck with your build.

Good luck with your build Quake - I love the "matter of fact-ness" of After two coats of that, it stuck to the newspaper it was resting on. We've all been there - or somewhere similar.

Arkimedes - that looks great. Love the choice of knobs and pick guard. Is that your own design? If so, well done - it's very elegant. That's a really cool (warm) all white look you've got going there. Would look better with a tele headstock though:razz:

What's this magical decal you are talking about!? If that's just like the logo, then that's pretty sick. I'm going to get my friend who does woodburning as art to burn me a logo on my headstock.

I appreciate all the comments!

Thanks Bob! So far so good. I'll put up pix soon.

Arkimedes- great job! That finish is exactly what I was looking for. The knobs really make it. I'm thinking that I'll practice soldering skills by esquiring it one day, and when I do, I'll use a parchment (or white) pickguard.

The plane worked fine for the roundover, I don't really know what I'm doing, so I'd be plane'n along and suddenly it would catch and I'd have to come from the other direction. It's a very slight roundover, but I think enough so it doesn't have a sharp edge.

Tom- I'd recommend Guitar Mill for a blowout body. The were really nice on the phone, and the only problem I know of with the body was the three little blowouts along the edge, and they were all on the back of the body. Since I don't have access to a router, it really did the trick. I got this one for $49!

Thanks ModerneGuy! I think part of it is that so I've been working for 6 months now. All the wounds are healed! But soon I'll be back in real time, so I'm sure the next ones with sting more!

Bentley- Yes, the decal is the logo. I got one from a prominent person on the ebay. The I followed Colt W. Knights instructions from here, there is a cool Youtube in there too:
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/finely-finished/313755-how-apply-decal-finished-headstock.html

So... then I Google'd guitar and Tru-oil, and the first link there said to sand down to 600 grit and then clean it off with Naptha or compressed air. Wow! that naptha is something. I'd put it on the paper towel and it would be dry by the time I wiped it on the body. When I finished I was concerned about spontaneous combustion, so I put the paper towels on the charcoal grill to dry out for a while before I threw them away.

It took me a few tries to set up a good system for applying the Tru-oil. What worked was I used the same coat hanger that I'd used to hang the neck from the rafters in the basement. I placed a clean rag on the deck, and rested the body on there while holding it up from the hanger with my left hand. My right hand was then free to rub in the Tru-Oil.

I took an old jelly jar that had a fairly wide mouth. It was maybe an 8 ounce jar. The important thing was I wanted to get my fingers all the way to the bottom of it pretty easily. I would put approximately 20 drops of the Tru-oil in the jar.

The first time I rubbed it in with my fingers. I knew it was a bad idea, but the label says to do that. Anyway, it worked ok, but then my hand had varnish all over it. Cleaning it off with the Naptha wasn't very pleasant. I picked up some blue Nitrile finishing gloves from the section of Lowes that sells the varnish and stains and stuff like that. I highly recommend these gloves. I think they really did the trick.

So I would put two fingers into the jar and then run them up and down on the body until it stopped feeling slick and started feeling sticky. I'd also make sure there were no drips. I'd do the front and then the back and then the top and sides. Finally I'd pick it up and cover the bottom with the last bit of Tru-oil as I walked back inside to hang it up.

I put on a coat in the morning, and then in the evening. In the morning, I would first rub a dark grey (ultra fine) 3M scotch pad over it. Just a little bit. Seemed like a good thing to do based on what I read.

So, I put 2 coats a day for 7 days. Then I went on vacation. I don't have any idea how many coats to use, but since I'd already been gone 8 days, and I read that it needs to dry for 14 days, I figured that I was almost there an may as well give it a try.

In any case, it gave me a few days to start the build thread!

Tomorrow is day 14.

So, today it's time to try to install the gotoh vintage tuners! Turns out the holes are not big enough for the bushings. This is a common problem out there on the Internet, but I just found out about it 30 minutes ago. It's a bummer.

I wrapped some 220 sand paper around a screwdriver an sanded it that way. I didn't want to overshoot, so I checked every minute or so for about ten minutes.

I got the first one, but it's getting late. The others can wait until tomorrow.

The sand paper wrapped screwdriver is taking forever. So a friend recommended I try a rat tail file. I just picked up this:

The rat tail file is a good idea, but don't get to overzealous and take to much off!:lol: Love the whitwash look. I may have to try this, if I get the nerve to do one. I should try this as I could build one and take my time, I think I could come up with some parts, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....................:lol:

Thanks Motwang, I'll try to be real careful and check frequently. It would be terrible to make the holes too big!

Hey Everybody,

Do you have to finish the body cavities? I just realized that I didn't get any varnish in them at all! In the routes, it's just bare wood.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Whenever I buy guitars, I actually sand out the finish in all the body cavities, and remove the cover for the springs on strats. It's supposed to give it more sustain and a better tone. I do believe I noticed a difference. The only thing to be worried about is moisture getting in.

Thanks Bentley! Maybe I'll give it just a little varnish to be on the safe side and then call it a day.

That's a good idea, I just did it with a cheap guitar as a test, but better not risk moisture exposure with your lovely guitar.

So I finished enlarging the tuner holes using the rat tail file. As you can see, the holes are not exactly completely round, but the tuners are lined up nice.

The neck pocket holes are not lined up, so only two of the screws work. I put some Dap plastic wood in the other holes and will drill two new holes in the neck tomorrow.

Might be making noise this week!

Hey Everybody,

Do you have to finish the body cavities? I just realized that I didn't get any varnish in them at all! In the routes, it's just bare wood.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Nothing wrong with putting some finish in there, but you will likely never get the body fully sealed (wiring holes, jack hole, etc.). Acoustics and hollowbodies have a lot more unfinished surface area anyway.

It's looking great! I started with a whitewash layer for my Butterscotch Blonde tele and I was sorely tempted to just stop right there. Highly under-rated look look, in my opinion.

Thanks Hack! I put a thin coat of Tru-oil on last night and one this morning. But I didn't do the neck pocket, because it's really tight as is. Your comment about acoustics is reassuring.

Well, that's weird! Last night the holes didn't line up, so I filled two of the in with Dap plastic wood and a toothpick. So I just went to put the screws in, just to mark where to drill, and they went in no problem! Glad I did a poor job of filling the holes...

Looking good, you said you did two coats of white wash? first one sanded down? Did you find the second coat of whitewash gave it a richer colour? Thanks for your time.

Hi Jay- I did two coats on the first attempt, but then sanded it mostly off because of the raised grain and the sticking to the newspaper. The second time around I did two more coats. The second coat definitely gave it a richer color both times. I tried to follow the directions on the can by wiping it off after 2-3 minutes each time with a clean rag.

If I had it to do over, I think I would use the pre-treatment that Minwax recommends. The stain came out a little splotchy. Or maybe Swamp Ash isn't the best wood for this kind of stain? I'm not really sure.

Thanks!

Thanks for your reply Quake, was thinking of doing a simular whitewash on a tele body i have and i think yours has come out very well indeed. When you sanded back did the whitewash really sink into the ash?

Hi Quake, Excellent first build with a lot of research on what components to use. Should be a great guitar!

I see in your pictures that you have not sanded the body yet. If you had not planned on it, I would suggest that you do as it will really smooth out the body. Many theories on this but I would start with 600 and stay away from the edges then go to 1000 and 1500.

Jay, it didn't really sink in evenly. Some parts have less whitewash, especially the edges. So far I have not posted any pix showing that, but I will tonight. Not to sound negative, I'm really happy with it, but there are a few spots...

Hi onenotetom, thanks for the advice! I didn't know about sanding like that. I'll give it a try. So, three grades of sandpaper- 600, 1000 and 1500. I have only ever dry sanded. Should I wet them, if so, with what? Thanks again!

Here is a picture of an edge that doesn't have much whitewash.

So I decided to put it together, see if it will make some noise, then finish up the last few things later. Here is my new soldering station.

So I finished enlarging the tuner holes using the rat tail file. As you can see, the holes are not exactly completely round, but the tuners are lined up nice.

The neck pocket holes are not lined up, so only two of the screws work. I put some Dap plastic wood in the other holes and will drill two new holes in the neck tomorrow.

Might be making noise this week!

Is your neck plate upside down? The holes should be tapered to receive the screw heads.

Doh! Thanks Mightyaxeman. I appreciate it.

Hi onenotetom, thanks for the advice! I didn't know about sanding like that. I'll give it a try. So, three grades of sandpaper- 600, 1000 and 1500. I have only ever dry sanded. Should I wet them, if so, with what? Thanks again!

You can actually get by with 600 and 1500. I use water with a little dish soap. Use half sheets folded in thirds and keep it flat. Four fingers on the paper with a short end between your thumb and pointer. Then use an auto polish for the finish. Meguirs, 3m, and others that say fine scratch remover or swirl remover. Once again, do the edges last. If you sand thru, give it a couple more coats. I use tru oil on my necks and sand between coats.

No problem. Looks good.

Thanks guys!

The guitar is together. I still have to do the string tree, strap buttons, sand and polish, flip the neck plate, etc... But it sounds sweet! I'm really happy with it.

I was pretty confused by the wiring diagram, but between the ACME guitar works instructions, and the Bill Lawrence website, got it done.

Confusing wire diagram? Try this. http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=2h_2v_2t_3w_2pp

Thanks Bentley! I'll take a look.

Took the guitar apart tonight to finish some things up.

Drilled the little hole for the string retainer, took a picture of the covered tuners.

Next i'll install the strap buttons, level and crown the frets, and polish the body.

I'm so happy with it, I was delaying taking it apart, but it'll be better when it's actually done.

Looks really good! I know the feeling of not wanting to disassemble to add those finishing touches. It is always worth it in the end, but I always feel like a little boy waiting to open Christmas presents.