New "tele" build #0002 "Gawdycaster"

[Schweet Guitars]

HEY! This is my first ever TDPRI post so here we go. This is Schweet Guitars #0002 and its not a tele but its made from a telecaster body template. This particular model has a 3/4 walnut top and a mystery hard wood that I had lying around. The pickups are a Dream 180 guitarfetish and a yet to be decided on single coil neck pup. The neck is a guitar fetish neck with a rosewood fret board. All gold hardware, i guess this can be the "Gawdycaster". Enjoy, i will be posting pictures periodically throughout the build.

[Schweet Guitars]

excuse me, 3/8 walnut top

[Parma_TeleMon]

Welcome to the TDPRI!

This should be fun!

The Dream 180 is an excellent bridge pup. May I recomment an AreaT for the neck?

[Telenator]

Schweet!

[Schweet Guitars]

Thanks for the welcome! I am building this for a buddy, so the pickup combos are just a shot in the dark. Thank you Parma, I was maybe thinking about a tele neck pup, but I will def check out your recomendation. I was thinking something that wouldn't push his fender deville to hard, that way he can tweak it as he sees fit.

[Picton]

Nice. I'm strangely attracted to the MOTS cover on the pickup. It looks swanky and, yes, gaudy.

If you post a pic of your "mystery hardwood," we could take a stab at IDing it.

[Schweet Guitars]

Hey Picton, aren't those neat pups. I asked my buddy what flavor he wanted and he had the option of gold, chrome or black. I cold not have been happier that he said gold. I will post a pic of the mystery wood, I'd love to know.

[Schweet Guitars]

Here are a couple pictures of the body wood. I had three 16' 2x4 that were lying around. Very pretty actually, but I have no idea what it is. 1 picture is sanded down, one is rough cut no body sanding and the other has a tung oil finish on it. Its actually very pretty figured wood. I'll give the first person that can identify the wood a brand new shiney satisfaction of helping a brother out!

[Picton]

Uhhh... maybe I spoke too soon.

The color in the first (unfinished) pic almost looks like red oak, but such a common wood probably wouldn't be giving you any trouble identifying it. Plus, the shimmery-looking figure on the middle pic doesn't look oakish. Chestnut, maybe?

Hmm. I'll get back to you.

[Schweet Guitars]

Well after a business trip I got back on the guitar. My methods are do something and then think about it the WHOLE next day until i can get my hands back on the project.

[Schweet Guitars]

What would be a cool way to finish this thing? I really enjoy using tung oil and nitro. That turned out really cool on #0001 but i was hoping to maybe do something a bit more colorful. I tried dye but i dont think walnut is really the wood to do it with. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Schweet Guitars]

Here is the Gawdycaster after 2 coats of tung oil. The decal was applied to the neck tonight and i'll give it about 2 or 3 more coats of oil and then finish with a little bit of nitro. I kinda did a crappy job of documenting this guitar, but i get in a zone and forget to take pics.

[Schweet Guitars]

Well here we go, the almost final product. The neck pup is just kinda stuck in there. I wont use a black pup ring, it will be a gold one. I mean, we gotta keep it gawdy.

Lessons learned:

1. For a fender style bridge, 25.5" scale the high E should be approx. 25 5/8"
2. Walnut sucks for dyeing, unless someone can prove me wrong
3. Remember the toggle switch before you start to spend a lot of time finishing the body
4. The drill press works well with a small drum sander attached
5. I enjoy the $&%* out of building

[Westerly Sunn]

Hey neighbor! Nice work... My sister and BIL live in Clayton, btw...

[Schweet Guitars]

Hey man! The JoCo air will make you do crazy things!

[cwmcgee]

Cypress maybe?? Did it smell god awful as you were cutting it up?

[Schweet Guitars]

Hey CWMcgee, i am assuming you are trying to identify the mystery wood mentioned earlier in this post.


All freshly cut wood smells so familiar to me, growing up my dad was a carpenter, so i wouldn't say god awful. But i will say that when i was sanding it down, it had the absolute most bitter taste. I had to scramble for a dust mask. Good call though.

I am currently doing a build using cypress and i did not notice any funky smells. Believe me, between the band saw and shaping it with a belt sander if it was going to stink it would have made the whole shop stink.

[cband7]

Thought this would perk everyone up........


Potentially Toxic Woods

The following information is reprinted with permission from data provided by Roy Banner, a wood turner from Torrance, California who almost lost his life in 1989 to anaphylactic shock after turning pieces of exotic wood. You can bet Roy wears his RACAL respirator every time he turns on his lathe now! Roy has assembled this data over the years from various sources and when an entry appears in red, this indicates that the information has come from only one source and has not been verified elsewhere. Some of the information here has come as a surprise to me and its a wonder I've never had a toxic reaction to wood that I've been aware of. As a luthier, I've worked with a lot of exotics, but as a wood collector I've worked with lots more strange stuff from all over the world with no ill effects. Each of us is different and you can call me old "iron gut".

Sorry that this file is such a patchwork effort and may be difficult to follow, and that Latin names of woods are not included. I can't judge with any authority the validity of the information presented here and it's up to the user's discretion to further research any wood themselves, though Roy has told me the information here has appeared in several woodworking magazines (for what that's worth). Take this as a jumping off point. You might also want to check out The Botanical Dermatology Database.



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After each wood name comes categories between slashes / /:

Class: Woods are either an irritant which cause a reaction fairly rapidly after exposure and will cause a similar reaction repeatedly, or sensitizers which may have a latency period of hours or months and may require repeated handling before reaction occurs. Sensitizer's are the more severe, because once you're sensitized, you're sensitized for life and the reactions only get more dramatic. A bit like paying taxes to the Gov, huh?

Reaction Category:
Eye and skin irritation (hives, itching, redness).

Respiratory problems.
Nausea, headache, or general malaise, possibly even liver or kidney malfunction.

Cancer of nose and sinus.
Statistics show that woodworkers have a 40 per cent greater chance of nasal cancer than the general population, but the majority of statistics on nasal cancer are based on data from 1920-1960 when the furniture industry became highly mechanized with little or no dust control methods. So don't freak.

Potency: Small, great, extreme.
This is the potential of the wood or sawdust doing harm and would vary with the individual i.e., those who are allergy prone might think twice about working with wood classed as extremely potent.

Source: Dust or wood, or both

Incidence: Unknown, rare, or common. This is probably the vaguest of the categories as most doctors wouldn't know an allergic reaction to wood if it bit them in the face.

Note that this data does not take into consideration Man's penchant for trying to poison himself by using formaldehyde in plywood, treated woods, sodium compounds in white pine to prevent blue stain, etc.
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Afromosia: irritant/eye & skin, respiratory/great/dust/rare
Alder: irritant/eye & skin, respiratory
Angelico: irritant/eye & skin, respiratory/great/dust
Arborvitae: irritant/respiratory
Ash: irritant/respiratory
Baldcypress: sensitizer/respiratory/small/dust/rare
Balsam fir: sensitizer/eye & skin/small/dust/rare
Beech: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust/rare
Birch: sensitizer/respiratory, nausea/great/dust, wood/rare
Black locust: irritant/nausea/great/rare
Blackwood: sensitizer/eye & skin/great/dust, wood/common
Boxwood: sensitizer/respiratory/small/dust, wood/rare
Cashew: sensitizer/eye & skin/great/dust, wood/rare
Chechem: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust, wood/unknown
Cocobolo: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust, wood/common
Dahoma: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust/common
Ebony: irritant, sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust, wood/common
Elm: sensitizer/eye & skin/small/dust/rare
Fir: irritant/eye & skin/small/rare
Goncolo alves: sensitizer/eye & skin/small/dust, wood/rare
Greenheart: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Guarea: sensitizer/eye & skin/extreme/dust/rare
Hemlock: nasal cancer/great/dust/rare
Ipe: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin
Iroko: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Katon: irritant/respiratory
Kingwood: irritant/eye & skin
Mahogany, American: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/small/dust/rare
Mahogany, African: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust/rare
Makore: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin
Mansonia: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Manzinilla: irritant/respiratory/dust/rare
Maple: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust, wood/rare
Mimosa: irritant/nasal/extreme/dust, wood/common
Myrtle: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust, wood/common
Oak, red: nasal/great/dust/rare
Obeche: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust/common
Olivewood: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust, wood/common
Opepe: sensitizer/respiratory/small/dust/rare
Orangewood: respiratory/rare
Padauk: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin, nausea/extreme/dust, wood/common
Pau ferro: sensitizer/eye & skin/small/dust, wood/rare
Peroba rose: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust, wood/common
Peroba white: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin
Purpleheart: sensitizer/eye & skin, nausea/small/dust, wood/rare
Quebracho: nasal cancer/great/dust/rare
Ramin: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/small/dust/rare
Redwood: sensitizer/respiratory, nasal cancer/small/dust/rare
Rosewood(s): irritant, sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Satinwood: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Sassafras: sensitizer/respiratory, nausea, nasal cancer/small/dust, wood/rare
Sequoia: irritant/respiratory, nasal cancer/small/dust, wood/rare
Snakewood: irritant/respiratory/great/dust, wood/rare
Spruce: sensitizer/respiratory/small/dust, wood/rare
Stavewood: irritant/respiratory
Sucupira: irritant/respiratory
Teak: sensitizer/eye & skin/extreme/dust/common
Walnut, black: sensitizer/eye & skin/great/leaves & bark/unknown
Wenge: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust/common
Willow: sensitizer/nasal cancer/great/dust/unknown
W. redcedar: sensitizer/respiratory, nasal cancer/great/dust/common
Yew, Europe: irritant/eye & skin/great/dust/common
Zebrawood: sensitizer/eye & skin/great/dust/rare

[Schweet Guitars]

Wow...thank you for the info.