Red flame maple tele, finished at last!

[Douglas Ingram]

I've been waiting a long time for this. I've wanted an electric guitar since I was about 10, then lots of distractions. I've been building classical guitars, but I still had the 'lectric bug.

Last year I decided to start, and decided on a Tele. The slowest thing was waiting for the discretionary money to buy the hardware!

I still need to attend to some of the details like setting the intonation, but otherwise she's pretty much done.

Anyway, here she is.

[Douglas Ingram]

And the back of the head.

[jwells393]

Very nice. I like the lack of fret markers. It gives a nice clean look and makes it difficult for others to tell what you're playing.

[Douglas Ingram]

This is a scratch build. The body is Ash on the back, cedar core, and flame maple face.

Trussless neck, I used a carbon fiber beam cast in place instead. I didn't put any position markers on the fingerboard face, I don't really care for them.

I made my own control plate cover and bridge plate out of brass. Saddles are the compensated ones from StewMac.

Tonerider Vintage pickups.

Copper shielding. I have nothing to compare to as to whether this is an advantage.

You can see the construction photos in a previous thread. http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home...-just-one.html

[mgdesigns]

That guitar turned out nicely, and your homemade bridge came out great.

[Parma_TeleMon]

Dang, that's purdy!!

[jkingma]

Looks great Doug.

I like everything about it except... well you know...

What model is the Vox in the background? I just bought a VT30 today.

[Mark-00255]

Wow - too cool, Doug! That neck is very nice indeed. And I'll echo the other comments on the hardware - well done.

[Douglas Ingram]

Thanks everyone!

Come on, John, you can say the "G" word!

The amp is a VT15, same as yours but with a smaller engine under the hood. Gets plenty loud enough for my house, even my kids yell out "Turn it down!" At least I think that's what they're saying, can't really hear them very well over the guitar...Its a great amp, you'll love it. I'd recommend it any day.

[68thinline]

Looks great. The neck wood is real purdy and I love the vintage-looking hardware.

Cedar core, huh? I love the sound of cedar on an acoustic guitar. I'll bet it's both rich tonally and lightweight on an electric. Good choice, I'm thinking.

[Motor]

Great looking guitar, nice work.

Cheers,
Motor

[Groovey Records]

The neck's a beauty'

Word of caution-do not expose it to extremes in temperature.

I had a real nice Flamed Maple neck go south on me.
Could not be fixed way out, very way out. Lucky enough It was a part of a Guitar I bought custom so it was warranted.

I'm much more careful now. Always in the case. Always in a warm room with 40% humidity in the winter

[mgdesigns]

That's a new one. I've not heard of Flame Maple necks being prone to warping. My friend has one that's exquisite, so I'd like to know more, and warn him if this the something to really beware of. He mostly keeps it hanging on the wall in his studio, but might venture out to a gig with it.

[Douglas Ingram]

I don't expect any problems. Curly maple should be no more prone to movement that plain grain maple.

The wood was exceptionally well seasoned prior to working it, and then was shaped progressively, that is, each step accounted for future movement. Once the neck blank was cut, it was allowed to sit for about a week, then milled flat.

I have a big beam of carbon fiber, about 1/2" x 5/8" with a rounded bottom, running down the center of the neck. With the fingerboard on, the CF beam is set in the middle. I like a bit of substance to the necks, too thin and I find it difficult to lay well.

This neck has been completed since last spring and is still dead flat.

Mark, I think that I've found someone to weld up the STST bridges. I'll let you know when they are done.

[gagidlof]

Great looking guitar. How did you get that color?

[Bertymoe]

Beautiful however my favorite part is the LOGO

[Runn3r]

most lovely guitar ...espc the neck

carbon fibre beam idea is a pretty good one i reckon...espc to stabilise the flame maple

[PaddyWagon]

Whoa, your controls and that red work together perfectly. I'm jealous of your color matching skills!

[Douglas Ingram]

Thanks, everyone.

Some of the information for colour, CF beam, and logo execution, are covered in the original build thread, see post #4. The colour is aniline dye, a crimson over sanded off brown, if I remember correctly.

I'm really enjoying playing this guitar! Especially now that the intonation is set closer. Just a little tweaking left...

[The Aram]

Care to share some details on how you built the custom bridge plate? I'm considering doing so for an upcoming build. I've got some ideas, but would love to hear how you pulled it off.

[Anwar]

Beauti!! Is your center bridge upside down? I thought the D string would be longer than the G cause the D is wound and the G may not be.. Looks like the opposite on yours. Seems like it's upside down. Should be easy to turn it around and re-insert the allens.

[mudbean]

Very classy!

mud

[mowcheeba]

Very nice, love the neck without fretboard markers.

[BAW4742]

Originally Posted by Douglas Ingram

Come on, John, you can say the "G" word!

The "G" word?? I thought he was talking about it not having a rosewood fretboard!

Kidding aside....that is a sweet looking guitar ya got there Doug. Good work! Hope she souds as sweet as she looks man.

[Douglas Ingram]

Originally Posted by BAW4742

The "G" word?? I thought he was talking about it not having a rosewood fretboard!

Kidding aside....that is a sweet looking guitar ya got there Doug. Good work! Hope she souds as sweet as she looks man.

Shhh...gold hardware...John has this thing about gold hardware-its a running joke between us.

Thanks everyone, for the kind words! Now that I have the intonation taken care of, she's real sweet. I wish that I could play as well as this guitar can deliver.

For those who have an interest in how I made the bridge plate, I'll make a post on that later, after I track down the photos and drawings.

The fret markers are really simple, just copper wire CA glued in place. I wanted a very subtle look, the wire shows but is not in your face. I feel that a player should not be depending upon the position markers anyway. I don't miss the position markers on the face of the fretboard at all. I'm very glad to have made that decision.

I don't know if the compensated saddles are upside down, I made sure the install them exactly as on the package instructions. The instructions did note that they could be flipped if required. I'm not at a point yet to know if that will make a difference, I'm going to play it some more and fiddle with it later. If anyone has further advice on that point, I'd be happy to hear it.

[jkingma]

Originally Posted by Douglas Ingram

Shhh...gold hardware...John has this thing about gold hardware-its a running joke between us.
Thanks everyone, for the kind words! Now that I have the intonation taken care of, she's real sweet. I wish that I could play as well as this guitar can deliver.

For those who have an interest in how I made the bridge plate, I'll make a post on that later, after I track down the photos and drawings.

The fret markers are really simple, just copper wire CA glued in place. I wanted a very subtle look, the wire shows but is not in your face. I feel that a player should not be depending upon the position markers anyway. I don't miss the position markers on the face of the fretboard at all. I'm very glad to have made that decision.

I don't know if the compensated saddles are upside down, I made sure the install them exactly as on the package instructions. The instructions did note that they could be flipped if required. I'm not at a point yet to know if that will make a difference, I'm going to play it some more and fiddle with it later. If anyone has further advice on that point, I'd be happy to hear it.

My ears have been ringing since last night. Now I know why.

[The Aram]

Hey, any update on the bridge plate construction photos?

[smsuryan]

thats a sharp guitar! the figuring on the neck, the red flame body, gold hardware..mercy!! thats what we call "a keeper"...i like the no inlays either, it gives it a sophisticated mojo.

[52Tele_lover]

if im correct you have another 17 to make ;) haha Dont worry everyone has to many projects ;). Now that i get the off topic joking out of the way, Very nice guitar man. You should be proud.

Cheers Jeremy

[Telenator]

Absolutely beautiful! Love the color combination! I would take it away from the front of the amp however. No sense in de-magnetizing those pickups!