Zatar's FORMER Build Challenge Thread

[Zatar]

Hi all!!! Thanks to tdpri admin for reopening, hope to have some fun and wish all others good luck ;)

I'll be building some regular tele, maybe thinline. More coming this week!

[jlock1028]

Good luck to you too.

[Zatar]

Alright, we're off for a start!

Ingredients Part 1 -> Woods:
- Alder for body (ebay, €24 planed to thickness)
- Afzelia for neck (at least i've been told it's afzelia. Wood was used to close my granddad's cellar for over 30 years = free wood)
- Indian Rosewood for fretboard (2nd, €2,30)
- Flamed maple veneer (€11,95)
- Leftovers for fixing stuff + perhaps inlay & control plate (padauk, flamed maple, flamed anigré, rosewood I believe, mahogany, unknown stuff)





Proof of concept - 2 necks blank:


Ingredients part 2 -> other:
- Wilkinson vintage neck PU
- Wilkinson bridge humbucker
- Chrome neckplate
- Chrome hardtail bridge
- Chrome knobs
- Chrome stuff...
- GFS wire
- Black binding
- Copper shielding stuff + fretwire
- not shown: CTS pots, switchcraft jack, OAK 3-way sw.
- Possible: replace chrome hardware by DIY wooden stuff (= acoustic bridge) but that might depend on how fast the build will get done.

[Zatar]

Alright here's what happened the last few days.

Cut the veneer to rough tele shape (so after gluing I'd have some veneer leftover for ..inlay perhaps)



Cut a piece off the body blank so I'd be able to better clamp the veneer (small clamps)


Rough cut neck template


Gluing flamed maple veneer





Uploaded with ImageShack.us

That's it so far!

[Zatar]

Anyone know which pots to use when using this wiring? 250k or 500k? :)


(wilkinson HB = gnd + hot)

[oigun]

250k Looking great Zatar! Finally he's gonna build a guitar!

[Zatar]

Thanks Oi!

Didn't get much done today. Rough cut 2 necks out of the afzelia and also cut out the body. Hope to sand and rout them tomorrow!



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Zatar]

Today was fun! Routed the body and neck contour, body binding and back roundover. Also got to play with a little Gupa (wood filler) due to some minor tearouts.
I'll post pictures of the process in the morning, sand that gupa and routing marks out first.

Had to stop because of changes in the weather...


Let's look a little closer...


Rain, rain, RAIN ! :-/

Hope that only lasts for tomorrow so I can rout the neck pocket + shape the neck + thickness the headstock this week.

Also this will be part of the neck:


(it's bugged, but treated it for that a few months ago so shouldn't be a problem anymore)

While routing the body my cheap@ss router (900W, ebay bought) suddenly wanted to take a day off. Simply didn't wanna work anymore. So I went on using my second router (1200W one, local home depot type but smaller one works better for guitar works).
In the evening I got to fixing it. Simple problem, simple solution. Switch is broken, temporary fixed it with some Niko pushbutton xD.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

More to come in the morning.

[Zatar]

So here's where we got to this morning (shaping was done yesterday, but I let the woodfiller set overnight and sanded it this morning)


First time binding channel came out nice.



Should I overpaint it or spray the back with clear?


Overall shoot:


Small tear out fixed


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[rcole_sooner]

Looks great. I really like how the veneer came out.

[whodatpat]

I like that top a lot. This is gona look great.

[Zatar]

Thanks! I'm hoping to get more done this week since next week it's back off to work ;-)

[vtcyclist]

That is a beautiful tele body. And i really like that you are binding it. Thumbs up!

[Zatar]

Daaaamn has it really been that long since I've worked on this build :O I've got to finish shaping next week!!! *thread to be updated!*

[Zatar]

I finally got some time to work on this build! And I also gathered the necessary nerve to rout the truss rod channel (not all that handy to make accurate jigs YET...).
Here's me in action...



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[crazydave911]

Really nice job, and where are those safety glasses?????

[Zatar]

Usually I do wear them... Although I have to admit my sin this time ;)

[Zatar]

After getting the neck to 19mm thickness (leaving 6mm for the fretboard) I put the truss rod in along with some silicone at both ends and middle to keep it from rattling.


Prevent glue from getting in...


Clamped up


Clamps removed


Hex nut at the bottom


BIG F*K*NG MISTAKE!!!! ... While routing the neck pocket the "template" moved = ugly neck pocket +2 mm too far in direction of the bridge




Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Anyone able to help me solve my problem? I hope this mistake can be fixed without being too ugly.. AND I hope to be able to finish in time ;)

[Maricopa]

If you're using a pickguard you can fill and re-route without it ever showing. If not then simply move the template back a bit. You'll have to set everything else back too, but that's OK.

[Mojotron]

I would take your neck template, coat the end/heel with wax paste (like what they use for floor waxing) or something that filler will not stick to - just make it a really thin coat - and then screw the neck template in there just in the right position like you would your neck: And then, fill the separation with a wood filler - I use Durham's Water Putty, but any hard filler would work. When you remove the template after the filler has set (use a filler that will not shrink) you will then have a perfect neck pocket without any re-routing.

Then, cut a pickgaurd/pickup-cover close enough to cover the repair work. No one will know it happened but you.