Aussie Les Paul Tele thing

[Dasher]

@LuvN - I haven't seen much Tassie Myrtle around. Where do you source it? And is Vic Ash the same as Tassie Oak? I'm a sucker for the shellac finish. If done right, it's awesome. And it's easy to repair. Just depends on where you are taking your guitars really. If it's a gigging instrument that you're drinking scotch over, maybe not the best finish. But so far so good with my other builds which are regular flakes. The U-beaut I've only used as a sealer so far. It's thick stuff. Can be used 50/50. It's dewaxed too which is great. I used it with linseed oil. And it's white so if you don't want that amber finish or to darken the timber too much it's a good option. It's got some additives to make the finish harder and more resistant to alcohol and water. I'll keep you posted and let you know if it's beaut stuff - lol

@Sixwire - Nah mate, we import the pots from the US now that your dollar is worthless! (I'm joking) And so they spin the same way. In all honesty though I wouldn't buy pickups here in OZ since you can import from the US so cheaply these days. I bought Seymour Duncan Phat Cats for $90 each which would have cost me $140 each here. Even with 3 day shipping at 30 bucks it's a no brainer.

[Dasher]

Hi everyone, here is an update on the build. I have completed the routing and the neck and yesterday I did the binding. I used acetone after some help here! It was problematic, but I think I've leant a lot about using plastic binding.

So far so good. I need to clean up the sides, fit the neck, complete the cover plates for the back and shellac the thing.

[lendryesky]

Looks great, keep up the good work.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by Dasher

And is Vic Ash the same as Tassie Oak?

Here's a good explanation of those two generic names. I like the way Bunnings just call it "Hardwood"!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasmanian_Oak

So Tassie Oak is three trees, and Vic Ash is two of those three, when grown on the mainland.

It's a great guitar wood. Looks very similar to mahogany (with a black filler it's almost indistinguishable) and the cool thing is you can find a 0.5 density piece for the body and a 0.7 piece for the neck with exactly the same colour and grain.

[trev333]

the old guy who gave me that slab said it might be Burdekin plum....

though at a local bush furnature place that does heavy benches and tables,etc.. I walked past a nicely polished blue gum slab table that looked just like the grain in the above shots...

which let me to believe it was blue gum too.. shame really I was hoping it was Burdekin Plum to use on a Qld guitar top...

"lacewood" ..silky oak (Grevillia Robusta).. I've got a few in my yard..is different again and is used in fine furnature, drawer faces,window joinery,etc..it doesn't rot in the weather..softer and lighter than the above slab....

Lacewood...Silky oak ..

[Davecam48]

Gidday mate! Is that a one piece top? I love the way the grain swirls around behind the bridge. Excellent build!!

[Dasher]

@Davecam - there's no top. It's just one piece of Queensland Maple. I just like the look of binding so I tried to replicate the Les Paul binding. Once on, it does look like a top. This guitar is made from a solid blank of Queensland Maple.

You can see the Blue Gum fingerboard a little better in these photos. I've just got to rout the plates for the back and I'm ready to polish and finish her off.

My wife is sick of my guitar building! I hope she'll get over it!

[Dasher]

Got this build finished this weekend. I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

I used U-beaut hard shellac which was nice to work with. I laid down the finish slowly each evening over last week. It was blonde so added no colour. The body timber (Queensland Maple) was great to work with and has a nice red tinge to it. The pick-ups are StewMac Golden Age PAFs. I think they're great. Quite loud and much better than the Epi humbuckers I compared them too.

Anyway let me know what you think. The neck plate is engraved "The Little Aussie Battler" as it's an all Aussie timber instrument. Makes great playing.

[DeepSouth]

What do I think?...

Well - I think you've done a bloody brilliant job and you should be real proud of yourself and the beautiful instrument you have created. Looks like a real stunner!

Congrats on finishing your build - well done!

[kwerk]

Outstanding. What a beautiful guitar!

The neckplate is a great touch.

[Davecam48]

Should have had "Little Aussie Battleaxe" engraved on the plate and gave it to Mrs. Dasher

[Davecam48]

Is the E tuner a little off angle or is it a photo glich?

Brilliant looking instrument.

[Dasher]

Thanks guys.

@Davecam - I'm in enough trouble as it is with all the time spent building this without making it worse by telling the missus she's a battleaxe!

I will take a closer look at the tuners and report back. Maybe I need to adjust. Thanks for pointing it out.

This plays beautifully. The neck is more like a 50s U. Not as slim as the Warmoth necks I've used in the past. It has side dot markers.

I plan on doing a youtube so people can hear the pups. When I bought them I was trying to find some examples on the net but couldn't find anything. I think they are great. Hotter than the vintage SD Tele pups I've used and much better than the standard Epi ones I've tried.

I'd also recommend this bridge. It's the Shaller roller. It's quite versitile and very easily adjusted. Bit pricey but I guess you get what you pay for.

I was very happy with the glossy shine I was able to get with the shellac.

[Nick JD]

Very nice. It's funny how much a tele headstock looks at home on a LP body.

[Mad Kiwi]

Wow!! So beautifull, great job. I wish our bunnings sold nice woods....

Nick, I agree, for awhile there I didn't even notice the tele headstock....normally those differences stand out like......, well you get the idea....

[Boysie]

I dunno Mad Kiwi, I think MDF would make a beautiful guitar!

Seriously though Dasher, your guitar looks amazing. At least one Aussie can use his hands *cough*Quade Cooper*cough*. Nice work on the build.

[oramac7891]

Nice build,

[Dasher]

@Mad Kiwi - only the Tassie Oak (Vic Ash) for the neck came from Bunnings. The Sydney Blue Gum was left overs from a floor I put in and the Queensland Maple block came from a place called Trend Timber in Windsor (just outside Sydney). I'm suprised you can't get Tassie Oak in the shaky isles? If you can get Queensland Maple it's awesome to work with and the colour is beautiful.

@NickJD your the man when it comes to timber, is Queensland Maple easy to come by? I have a Maton with a neck made from it. I tripped over it whilst looking for some Mahogany and bought it straight away. Wasn't cheap but was worth every penny.

I'd made the neck looking to build another tele but my son said I should build a les Paul because his mates at school reckon they look better. So the project morphed into this. It does look pretty good with that neck. The scale length is the Fender 25.5.

@Boysie - Are you talking about that silly Rugby code?

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by Dasher

...is Queensland Maple easy to come by?

Getting more difficult to get, and more expensive.

The Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site consists of approximately 8,940 km² of Australian wet tropical forests growing along the north-east Queensland portion of the Great Dividing Range, stretching from Townsville to Cooktown, running in close parallel to the Great Barrier Reef (another world heritage site).

The Wet Tropics of Queensland were also added to the Australian National Heritage List in May 2007. The rainforests have the highest concentration of primitive flowering plant families in the world.

[kwerk]

Sadly, Bunnies here has radiata pine, mdf, plywood, radiata pine, treated radiata pine, radiata pine in sheet form (which is what I'm currently using for a build), totara (occasionally) and radiata pine. It's an imagination free place.