GFS Tele Kit Build

Hello All! After much lurking around on TDPRI, looking at all the build threads, I've decided to document a Tele build of my own. This is my first build so I've decided to go with a Tele kit from Guitar Fetish because it was in my price range. This is a pic of the kit when I received it.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/296376_2208092795544_3296557_n.jpg

First off. Kits are not always the best way to go but, they are a lot of fun and a great learning experience. Second. Ditch the hardware and pickups and buy some of the cheaper stuff from guitar fetish. It is still light years ahead from what comes with the kit. Trust me. The stuff that comes with them is worthless. I'm a sure others will chime in on that. I built one of their flying v kits a while back. the body and neck were nice. Good luck to u and I look forward to seeing your progress!

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the habit / addiction.
A kit might be a good way to start, probably needs some tweaking to make the best out of it, so it will provide experience.
Good luck with the project!

Welcome !

Welcome to the Forum! My first was a Strat kit from Grizzly, and I learned loads from that build. There is no better learning tool, especially for set up, nut adjustment, intonation, and action adjustment. I highly recommend that you get one or both of Dan Earlewine's books, "How to Make Your Electric Guitar Play Great", and (not sure the title is completely correct, but its close) "The Guitar Player Guitar Repair Guide". You can get reasonably priced copies on Half.com. they are loaded with great info that is extremely helpful in all aspects of construction and set up, etc.

Good luck!

I think the most common problem on cheap guitars, and cheap kits, would be fret buzz. I'm planning to do some fret leveling on my cheap guitars to get them to play nice, with a low action.

southwood - Thanks man. I'll definitely look into upgrading the hardware and pickups.

R. Stratenstein - I actually thought about getting that book. My brother bought me Dan Earlewine's DVD "Making A Solidbody Electric Guitar", it's pretty cool. Very old school.

I wasn't a fan of the Maple neck that came with the kit so I decided to exchange it for a Rosewood one. I'm not sure if that was a good idea or not. The numbers on the neck and body matched when I received the kit, and they fit really well together. Now that I have the Rosewood, it doesn't seem to fit as well as the Maple. Anyway.. here is the new Rosewood.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/tesfrw_a.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/TESFRW_D.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/TESFRW_C.jpg

I've always heard that string through bodies on Tele's always sound better than the Hardtails, so when I ordered the kit, I also ordered some Ferrules to make it a string through.

I took the body down to a local guitar shop called The Guitar Factory (awesome dudes btw) to see if they could drill the holes through the body for me but their jig to drill the holes didn't match my bridge, bummer. So I was forced to do it myself. Luckily my boss had a drill press at his house that I used.

The problem with me drilling the holes is, I'm kind of a perfectionist that wants to get the job done real fast. That doesn't work out so well... but I'm learning to take my time.

The holes are a little off but hey, this is my first time.

Also, I have no idea where that glob of crud came from on the back of the body.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8229.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8230.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8232.jpg

That's a fine row of ferrule holes! I have deleted all the photo evidence of my first try and made a solid block with six holes instead..

If you have the patience to do holes that look that good, you are gonna have a great guitar when you are done! Keep the posts coming!

That's a great job of ferrule/through holes, especially for a straight-through bore.

I know some people here have upgraded components to replace the ones that came with their kits, but I'd recommend that you just build what you have, take your time to learn about what you're doing, especially the setup parts--fret leveling, if needed, polishing, etc.,nut filing, setting the truss rod to get just the right neck relief, setting the action with the bridge adjustments, intonation. . .etc. etc. etc.
THEN if you enjoyed it, you can upgrade your kit if you want, or better yet, splurge on premium parts for a "kit" of your own--a Partscaster, or build as much of one as you feel can, yourself.

have fun, don't get too anal about cosmetics, enjoy the learning process!

I know I'll be getting a lot of "Man you're crazy!" comments on this next post. Just keep in mind that when I'm determined to get something done, even if I don't have the right tools, I'll find a way to make it happen.

Not being particularly fond of the Headstock shape from GFS, I decided to go with the original that we all know and love. But not owning a table router would prove to be difficult. Luckily I was able to borrow my brothers palm router.

I would never suggest doing the following, but like I said "I'm determined.. I'll make it happen".

As unprofessional as this is (not that I'm a professional), I placed the Router between my legs and began to shape the Headstock.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8262.jpg

I had a pedal to control the speed of the router. So just in case the Router slipped from my legs, I could stop rotation of the bit.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8269.jpg

So I thought...
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/cutleg.jpg

Just kidding :) Unfortunately that is my leg though. I did that a couple years ago while trimming hedges.

Never drop a pair of running hedge trimmers. Even if you're getting the crap stung out of you by 100 wasps! Your leg could end up like mine.

Moving on... Once I finished shaping the Headstock, it was on to sanding.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8278.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8287.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8288.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8286.jpg

Had to get creative for sanding the curves.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8298.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8299.jpg

Drum roll please...
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8669.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8670.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8673.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8674.jpg

That's a great idea of using the bobbin! One that I definitely won't copy... :twisted:

Nice shaping work

Nice looking job on the headstock but please be careful.

I like your thinking outside the box well done mate.

i used a stew-mac robo sander to make quick work of reshaping 3 gfs "tele" necks. :mrgreen:

I'm all for ya' man but let me say one thing please. As easy as a router table is to make, don't make a habit of that. Just because you get away with it one time or a hundred times, doesn't mean you will next time.
I used to do something very similar making acoustic guitar bridges from walnut. I have no clue how many I made (of all kinds) but it only took the last one to make my right index finger 1/4" shorter than the other one. Oh, and FYI here, they can't reattach hamburger, only cleanly cut digits :wink:



Dave

Oh, and FYI here, they can't reattach hamburger, only cleanly cut digits :wink:

Dave

+1

Please listen to Dave... (He's really not THAT crazy, actually!)

I like the "get-er-done" attitude, but wow! Stop by Harbor Freight and pick up some clamps, at least.

That said, the mods look great. Keep up the good work and welcome to your new addiction!

as as i saw that post with the router between the knees and your blurb about how it would turn off when you dropped it i thought UH OH!!!

then i scrolled and saw the result of your safety switch idea -ouch!!

never be in too much of a hurry to avoid being safe
more to other newbies than you as i think you got off pretty light and won't be hasty again

- you are lucky that router never got stuck into the family jewels

as as i saw that post with the router between the knees and your blurb about how it would turn off when you dropped it i thought UH OH!!!

then i scrolled and saw the result of your safety switch idea -ouch!!

never be in too much of a hurry to avoid being safe
more to other newbies than you as i think you got off pretty light and won't be hasty again

- you are lucky that router never got stuck into the family jewels

if you continue reading, you would notice he didn't get hurt, that was from him trimming hedges and dropped the hedge trimmer on himself when trying to avoid bees.

if you continue reading, you would notice he didn't get hurt, that was from him trimming hedges and dropped the hedge trimmer on himself when trying to avoid bees.

No , he didn't get hurt with the router , this time , while I am all for innovation , holding a router between your knees and routing is just plain dangerous , one slip up and before you even think to release the foot switch , think about it .

Painting!! Ughhh! This is the next step that I'm totally dreading! This can make or break the guitar for me. I know there's a ton of info online about finishing but I've never finished a guitar before so I went a different route. I did a google search for local custom guitar shop's here in Orlando, Fl. to see if somebody could help me out, and I found a little gem called Starr Guitars. When I did some research on them I was blown away! These guys make some awesome guitars!

After reading the "About Us" link on Starr's website I realized the owner Kip Elder started off a lot like me. His love for guitars lead him to assembling kits and then eventually building them in his garage. Now he owns a successful custom guitar business.

Kip was very fortunate to have a great teacher, Chris Lukasik, who passed on a lot of his secrets to him. The biggest trick he passed on was how to finish guitars with the old-school nitrocellulose lacquers. Gosh Kip is so lucky! I would love to have someone teach me that. Here's one of Kip's guitars…
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/4040585004_c8ec398405_z.jpg

Kip also does excellent relics, the best i've seen anyway. Check them out here…
http://www.starrguitars.com/guitars/classic-t-series.html

I called Starr and told Kip what I was doing, he asked if I could come in so he could see the kit. I was giddy as a school girl the next day when I was headed to Starr. Here's a pic with me, Kip Elder and his employee, Dylan.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8238.jpg

Cool office right?!
Here he is looking the kit over.
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8240.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d194/singingmonkey404/GFS%20Kit%20Build/IMG_8237.jpg

The first thing he noticed was how twisted the neck was and it needed to be replaced. Ughhhh!! After I JUST routed this thing!! Shame on me though, I should have noticed that, but I guess being a Master Luthier like Kip it's easy to spot these kind of things. Aside from the neck he seemed pretty pleased with the kit.

After talking to Kip, and telling him how I routed the neck, I think he felt sorry for me or maybe he saw a little bit of himself in me, a drive to learn the guitar building process and to do anything to make it happen. He said I could come in and watch how he does it and he would teach me some of his secrets. I hit the Jackpot!! Definitely was not expecting that.

When I got home I took some pic's of the guitar neck and sent them to Guitar Fetish to see if they would exchange the neck. I was very doubtful because I had routed the headstock but they were very nice and exchanged it at no cost to me :) They've always had great customer service.

So that's where I'm at now. Gotta wait for the new neck to come in and route it :/

nice!!
Please don't rout this neck the same way you did the last one