I couldn't resist building a Tele...

[mowcheeba]

After watching builds by Ed Hawley, Ron Kirn, Mr. Wells, Buckocaster
and all you others here on TDPRI, I just could not hold the urge to
build a Tele away.
To be honest, I don't have the time, place or money to do it. The project
is taking forever and to make it worse I am building another Tele-Gib
hybrid simultaneously.

This might be the most primitive build in the history of TDPRI,
but with some luck it will turn out just fine.

The guitar is being made from Chilean/Bolivian wood.

- Body: 2-piece Mañío(think Alder) with a 1-piece Ciprés top
- Neck: 1-piece Lingue(Mahogany like) with a Bolivian rosewood fretboard.

Like so many builds it starts with Terry Downs PDF Blueprint,



Then on to make a neck template which I made from tracing and
measuring the neck from my USACG Tele.




and the final result....just needs some sanding.

[mowcheeba]

It turned out the wood was a bit too heavy so I had to hollow
it out some, did not want to build a "Thinline"....




After sanding and cleaning out the chambers it was time
to glue the Ciprés top. It smells so good when you cut it,
almost addictive.

[mowcheeba]

After two days drying I rough cut and sanded it...a really
beautiful top and hopefully I can finish it with some transparent
color. Depends on the glue joints....



Time to start building the neck...first routed and then sanded the
neck some.



Then I layed the Hot-rod truss rod from Stew-Mac on the neck and
marked for the truss rod channel.



Not having too much time I couldn't make a permanent router
jig so I made a temporarily with nails and some wood
I had laying around.

[mowcheeba]

Have to admit I was a bit nervous about how it would turn out
but after some sanding it looks pretty good.



....and a sunny picture of the neck and body together.



Next to do is installing the truss-rod and make the neck ready for
the fretboard, then I'll start routing the body.

Here is a picture of the other build that is stealing
some of my precious time. Will post picture of that guitar
when finished, just don't know in what forum



.....to be continued.

Thanks for watching.

[Buckocaster51]

Great stuff!

Looks like you might even have less invested in tools than me!

Thanks so much for sharing.

Steve Dikkers
aka Buckocaster51

[Doug Ferguson]

Lookin' good! Keep those photos coming.

[scubadoo]

Originally Posted by Buckocaster51

Great stuff!

Looks like you might even have less invested in tools than me!

Hey Steve, if you want to even things up you can send me that spindle sander

[Jack Wells]

Excellent.............. Although I am a tool freak and have a lot invested in power tools, I like to see guitars being made without them. Shows great ingenuity. Looks like you're off to a good start.

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by Buckocaster51

Great stuff!

Looks like you might even have less invested in tools than me!

Thanks so much for sharing.

Steve Dikkers
aka Buckocaster51

I'm even borrowing some tools I'll be buying more tools
eventually, it makes things a bit easier.

Originally Posted by Doug Ferguson

Lookin' good! Keep those photos coming.

Thank you. I'll keep the photos coming...

Originally Posted by jwells393

Excellent.............. Although I am a tool freak and have a lot invested in power tools, I like to see guitars being made without them. Shows great ingenuity. Looks like you're off to a good start.

Thank you so much. I was going to make my own truss rod from
a curtain hanger and a threaded rod but as they say, time is money so I
got one from Stew-Mac.
That way I could also get away with a straight channel.

[e-merlin]

This is going to be cool! Gotta subscribe.

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by e-merlin

This is going to be cool! Gotta subscribe.

Thanks, hope it will be...

[ehawley]

Mowcheeba....Looks great! I can't wait to see the progress!! You can say that your guitar was truly made by HAND!!!...Ciprés! Is that cypress in the USA? I love cypress. I make alot of outdoor furniture with cypress.
Keep it up!!I love it!!
Cheers
ED

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by ehawley

Mowcheeba....Looks great! I can't wait to see the progress!! You can say that your guitar was truly made by HAND!!!...Ciprés! Is that cypress in the USA? I love cypress. I make alot of outdoor furniture with cypress.
Keep it up!!I love it!!
Cheers
ED

Thanks Ed....have to say that I'm a bit nervous, it looks pretty good now
but there is so much that can go wrong.

"Ciprés de la cordillera" is from the same family as your Cypress but
I think it's slightly different. I just bought some more wood to make
1-piece bodies, just have to wait 2-3 years while drying..

[tdowns]

Nice work. I'll definitely be checking in on this one!!!

[Axtklinge]

Great work mowcheeba!
Please keep us posted on your work!

Cheers
Axt

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by tdowns

Nice work. I'll definitely be checking in on this one!!!

Thank you Terry, I'm not the first to be grateful about the
Tele Blueprint you made. Excellent!

Originally Posted by Axtklinge

Great work mowcheeba!
Please keep us posted on your work!

Cheers
Axt

Thanks, Axt.

[JasonRobert]

great stuff. that double cut tele looks cool as well. What do you have planned for pickups, pickguard etc.?

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by JasonRobert

great stuff. that double cut tele looks cool as well. What do you have planned for pickups, pickguard etc.?

Thank you,
Everything is not planned yet but for pickups I might buy some pickups
or pickup parts from a luthier in Santiago www.goyaluthiers.cl
and hand wind them myself. Regular Tele bridge and maybe one of
these in the neck,



Traditional Tele pickguard, will decide color when I know the
color of the body.

[JasonRobert]

Originally Posted by mowcheeba

Thank you,
Everything is not planned but for pickups I might get some
pickup parts from a luthier in Santiago www.goyaluthiers.cl
and hand wind them myself. Regular Tele bridge and maybe one of
these in the neck,



Traditional Tele pickguard, will decide color when I know the
color of the body.

that will be a very cool tele. have you wound pickups before? I have just wound my first pickup and i would be lying if I said I didnt have any problems......

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by JasonRobert

that will be a very cool tele. have you wound pickups before? I have just wound my first pickup and i would be lying if I said I didnt have any problems......

Did you wind it with your DIY pickup winder? Haven't checked out
that thread in a while.
Never tried winding my own pickups but it would be cool, going
to take forever to hand wind it....
What problems did you experience?

[KokoTele]

Wow. What an impressive build! I can't wait to see it as it comes along.

[scubadoo]

Eagerly awaiting updates, great thread so far.

[Ronkirn]

Nice goin' Paul... I love the unique......

Ron Kirn

[Shoved BassVIII]

Ya know there's just something about south american woods. They're all great, smell great (bubinga smells like vanilla ice cream, no joke) and are all gorgeous. This is too cool.

BTW is it true that they make boat docks out of purpleheart down there. I heard that once, but never knew. That stuff is hard

[robt57]

Originally Posted by Shoved BassVIII

Ya know there's just something about south american woods. They're all great, smell great (bubinga smells like vanilla ice cream, no joke) and are all gorgeous. This is too cool.

Bubinga dust can be toxic, don't enjoy it with out a breathing apparatus!

[mowcheeba]

but today I got some work done.

When I ordered the truss-rods from Stew-Mac the plan
was to have the adjusting nut at the headstock. I'm also
building a neck with a Gibson style headstock and maybe that
made me confused because to be honest, I don't like the look
of Tele or Strat headstocks with adjusting nut.
So I decided to install the truss-rod with 1/8" Allen nut
at the heel. After som measuring I prepared for the drill,



and here is the neck with the the truss rod sitting nicely
in the channel.




Should be possible to adjust the truss rod
without loosening the neck screws, that's pretty cool.
Would still have to remove the pickguard...

[mowcheeba]

Before the sick days, I measured the body and it turned out to be
a little too thin, about 3.7 cm. I guess something got lost in my
Tarzan like Spanish over at the mill
Since my Spanish isn't fluid I sometimes get misunderstood down here,
but it's getting better.
So.....I pulled out another Ciprés laminate and glued it on the back.



Today I removed the clamps and started hitting the body with
the router.



My router stopped working properly a few months ago and only
works on maxium velocity. What significance does speed or
lack of speed have when routing?

It seems like this Tele wants to be Stairway to Heaven rather
then produce the sounds and notes....

[mowcheeba]

For future builds I might get a proper template because mine isn't
perfect, the bridge pickup cavity might be a bit big and the other
cavities are not as good as I would like the. But with some sanding
I get by... .
Anyway, here is the body after routing.



Tomorrow I'll be off to the mill to borrow the thickness planer and get
the Tele-Gib hybrid neck rough cut.

Adios Amigos.....

[Stuco]

Looking good!

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by Stuco

Looking good!

Thanks..

[mowcheeba]

Well, it's been a long time since I updated this build thread. I've
been away working for the last 8 weeks, more then 6000 miles
from home so the build have been paused.
I'll be home in 3 weeks so hopefully I can get something done.
Before leaving I picked up the fretboard, old Bolivian rosewood.
Didn't cost me very much to get the fret slots cut so I decided to
go with that.
The fretboard is very pale, never seen a rosewood board like
that. It's not as pale as in the pictures but still...

[ehawley]

Nice to see you back!! I've seen Brazilian rosewood colors all over the place...from very dark to very light. Color is a matter of taste...the big thing is does the board "ring"?
Looking good. Keep it up . I'm all eyes...
Cheers
ED

[Motor]

Looks fantastic so far!

Cheers,
Motor

[mowcheeba]

Merry Christmas, TDPRI.
I've been working on the neck the last few days and here
are the pictures to show it.

Before gluing the fretboard I measured neck and fretboard
then marked the center to align the two.
After putting the glue on I clamped the fretboard with
all the power I got. Seems to be almost too many clamps...





Moved my working space and are now doing the build in the shed, only
problem is that there is no electricity. So I cut the fretboard with a hand saw
and did all the sanding by hand. I really worked up a sweat, 80-85 degree
down here at the moment.
And the result after sanding,

[Telenator]

Wow! Nice stuff! I love seeing ingenuity at work. I have to borrow tools and work in my dad's shop when I do a build. it takes a lot longer but the lessons learned in making things work and being resourceful are just as valuable.

Looking forward to seeing the finished product. You're doing a terrific job!

[mowcheeba]

Now to something really exciting, shaping the neck profile.
Been looking everywhere for a spokeshave but I can't find it
anywhere. Missed out a sale they had in a hardware store in Sweden,
10 USD for a spokeshave...
So the shaping had to be done with these two rasps.



I marked where to start, end and centerline and started rasping away.



Very fun to do, I wanted a thick C going into a U/D around 10-12th fret.
Got close, around 0.970 at 1st fret and a full 1" at the 12th. It is going
to be slightly thinner after taking away some wood when doing the radius.



Next step is making a radius block, and sanding the fretboard radius.

[Telenator]

If I may suggest. When I make a neck, I take a piece of thick lead solder and bend it around the back of the neck on one of my favorite guitars at the first fret. Then I trace the shape onto a piece of lexan or plexiglas and cut the shape. I use this as a guide for shaping the neck.

I make one for the 1st fret area and one at the 12th fret. Then as I shape the neck I keep checking with the gauges to make sure the neck is symetrical. Then I'll take a short ruler and lay it on the back of the neck length-wise to check that my shaping is straight. It's a bit primitive, but that what I have to work with.

Nice job man!

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by Telenator

Wow! Nice stuff! I love seeing ingenuity at work. I have to borrow tools and work in my dad's shop when I do a build. it takes a lot longer but the lessons learned in making things work and being resourceful are just as valuable.

Looking forward to seeing the finished product. You're doing a terrific job!

Thank you for the kind words....

[mowcheeba]

Originally Posted by Telenator

If I may suggest. When I make a neck, I take a piece of thick lead solder and bend it around the back of the neck on one of my favorite guitars at the first fret. Then I trace the shape onto a piece of lexan or plexiglas and cut the shape. I use this as a guide for shaping the neck.

I make one for the 1st fret area and one at the 12th fret. Then as I shape the neck I keep checking with the gauges to make sure the neck is symetrical. Then I'll take a short ruler and lay it on the back of the neck length-wise to check that my shaping is straight. It's a bit primitive, but that what I have to work with.

Nice job man!

That is great advice, thanks. I was thinking about using some soldering wire
to get some idea what shape and also not to make it to asymmetrical.

[mowcheeba]

Today I finished my radius block and just wanted to show you
how I did it.

First I measured 9.5" from center and marked, then I put one
pen in the middle and one pen at the end of a nylon string.



Made a circle and cut out one quart, then I traced the radius
on a block of wood after making marks on both sides to make sure the
radius wouldn't be misaligned.



Inspired by the blocks from Stew-Mac I started shaping mine
to get better grip.



Off I went to use the bandsaw? to cut the 9.5" radius which
turned out to be closer to 7.25". I left the block at the mill and
when I came back they had already cut it....next time I'll cut
it myself.
Here is the final result,