The Feathercaster Build

[Nick JD]

I've always loved Telecasters, ever since I first played a friend's 1960-something "Pauacaster" when I was about fourteen years old in New Zealand. He dubbed it the "Pauacaster" because his heritage was Maori and he'd taken to it with a set of chisels and done a Taniwha (mythical Maori beast) carving on the body with traditional paua eyes. These days many guitars have Abalone inlays - especially NZ paua (the darker green one). The scientific species name of NZ Abalone is, "iris" because Maori use it for the eyes in their magnificent carvings.

But I hated how heavy his Telecaster was, and preferred the Stratocaster neck and headstock shape.

Yet still, the Telecaster body shape just screams, "Guitar" to me. Maybe because it's the original electric or near enough.

Buckocaster's amazing build thread, and Terry Down's brilliant Tele body CAD drawings got me thinking - but I still don't like all that solid wood - all that weight.

Thinline? Nope - what about hollow? With a soundboard and a couple of F-holes?

And I've got a couple of yards of this stuff:

...which is 6oz Carbon/Kevlar twill that might not stop a bullet, but could probably hold up an elephant or two if it was layered.

So I went and payed ten bucks for a nice plank of 12mm (sorry about the metric, but it's a antipodean thing!) Tasmanian Oak, which isn't an oak - it's Eucalyptus - and looks grainy like mahogany. It's not super hard, but it's not soft either. The local hardware store has piles of it and I even read somewhere that it's a tonewood, though it doesn't "ring" when tapped. Hey, it's cheap!



Then I got out the trusty pencil, traced the outline here and there, and got busy with the jigsaw.

[Nick JD]

DISCLAIMER
Warning. Strat content. Due to being broke and along way away from the US, Mexico or Japan, I could not find a Telecaster neck at my kind of price ... cheap. But I did find a MIM rosewood board Strat neck with low mileage and original tuners.

Is it blasphemy to put a strat neck on a tele body?

Should I care?

[nokaster]

someone posted this yesterday:
http://stores.benl.ebay.be/Vermont-G...Q3amesstQQtZkm
australian ebay seller with cheap necks and bodies and other stuff...

hope it helps!

PLEASE DON'T PUT A STRAT NECK ON A TELE, HOW UNCONVENTIONAL THE BODY MAY BE!!!

you could consider a reversed TELE headstock with one of their very cheap lefty necks?

[Nick JD]

Got jiggy with the saw and made what looks like a giant kids jigsaw puzzle. Stepped back and wondered what on earth I was doing.

Neck pocket!


But then things started to come right ... sort of.


HUH?! Darn bits don't fit. Just like a real jigsaw puzzle when you gotta do the sky and the clouds. Probably have to force them together. Where's my hammer?


A little bit of coaxing, a few beers and some glue (for the guitar, not me) later:


Getting there. Question - will the folks at Fender get cross with me if I make the F-holes fender-F, holes in the carbon/kevlar/ebony soundboard?

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by nokaster

someone posted this yesterday:
http://stores.benl.ebay.be/Vermont-G...Q3amesstQQtZkm
australian ebay seller with cheap necks and bodies and other stuff...

hope it helps!

PLEASE DON'T PUT A STRAT NECK ON A TELE, HOW UNCONVENTIONAL THE BODY MAY BE!!!

you could consider a reversed TELE headstock with one of their very cheap lefty necks?

Yikes! Nasty necks! I did consider one of these necks - made in China, HK I think. But then I had a close look at one of their pictures ... and one of the frets was lifted! In the picture they decided to put online! What were the other ones like? Call me a non-purist, but I like strat headstocks!

[nokaster]

it's ok, this one time...

very curious how your puzzle will develop!

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

DISCLAIMER
Warning. Strat content. Due to being broke and along way away from the US, Mexico or Japan, I could not find a Telecaster neck at my kind of price ... cheap. But I did find a MIM rosewood board Strat neck with low mileage and original tuners.

Is it blasphemy to put a strat neck on a tele body?

Should I care?

Two words:
Telecaster Deluxe.

[Nick JD]

Then, it's time for the GRINDER. YEAH!

Nicely toasted.


Smoke and embers flying everywhere, but getting smoother under all that charcoal.


And some 80 grit on the orbital sander...


...to smooth out the grinder gouges

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by tuuur

Two words:
Telecaster Deluxe.

tuuur! Just the excuse I needed. Thanks mate!

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

Then, it's time for the GRINDER. YEAH!
...to smooth out the grinder gouges

Looking good! But shouldn't you create some mass on the spot where the bridge is going to be?

[Nick JD]

And this is about where we're at:

Scraped off all the toasty bits.


I'm quite happy with the funky grain patterns. There was a tiny bit of method to the madness, as I wanted to both use virtually all of the tassie oak plank with as little waste as possible and I also wanted to "cross" the grains perpendicularly (is that a word?) to get some strength. It's very strong ... but will it twang?

Maybe not. It's getting humbuckers and a piezo under the soundboard.

If it doesn't all just collapse when I finally string it.

Not sure if I should leave this wood showing, or slap on a layer of paint. Plenty of time for those decisions. I'm playing by ear.




More soon - especially the lamination of the front and back. Both will be 4mm thick composite.
(12mm wood x 3 = 36mm + 4mm carbon/kevlar/ebony x 2 = 8mm) = 44mm = close enough FOR ROCK AND ROLL!

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by tuuur

Looking good! But shouldn't you create some mass on the spot where the bridge is going to be?

Bridge will "float" on soundboard much like an acoustic. Fingers crossed.

[ludwig]

lookin good,i always like something a bit different,cant wait for the next stage!

[Buckocaster51]

You are thinking WAY outside of the box!



I will really be looking forward to seeing how this developes.

Thanks for sharing.

[WisconsinStrings]

Great start. This should be interesting. I'm assuming this isn't your first build?

[jaydawg]

The floating bridge is a great idea. Maybe you could laminate in two braces on the under side of the soundboard that run under the outside edges of the bridge. Sort of the same way an archtop is braced.

Can't wait to see how this turns out.

[EunosFD]

I already started a thread about this a week or two ago, but here's a carbon fiber "Tele" by Zodiac Works (Japanese builder):









I LOVE how it looks and it's extremely refreshing to see a modern take on a classic and something different from the same ol'. It's a rather expensive process though so it's definitely more cost effective to DIY. I have a very good friend who works for a race team and they have a big carbon fiber shop on site so I've given it some thought to ask 'em if they'd consider a project like this too.

Very cool project & I can't wait to see it when you're done!

[Jack Wells]

Cool .................... I'm looking forward to seeing this develop.

[fenderix]

First time I hear of something like this. I will follow the progress with great interest.
Best of luck with it, Nick JD!

[hekawi]

Getting there. Question - will the folks at Fender get cross with me if I make the F-holes fender-F, holes in the carbon/kevlar/ebony soundboard?

go ahead! i think that'll look great.
fender uses the "F" f-hole on this model:



i think it'll be cooler on yours!

[sean79]

Feathercaster? What kind of feathers are you going to use? Are you going to glue them on or stick the ends through that Kevlar stuff?

[timmer]

I like it, and am so amazed at the woodworking skills some of you posses.

[gtech]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

DISCLAIMER
Warning. Strat content. Due to being broke and along way away from the US, Mexico or Japan, I could not find a Telecaster neck at my kind of price ... cheap. But I did find a MIM rosewood board Strat neck with low mileage and original tuners.

Is it blasphemy to put a strat neck on a tele body?

Should I care?

Don't worry... if it was good enough for Clapton, it was good enough for me... and it's good enough for you too





Nice work on your body. It will be cool.

Gilles

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by WisconsinStrings

Great start. This should be interesting. I'm assuming this isn't your first build?

Apart from some things I built for this little guy that he subsequently destroyed with his incessant vice-like beak, this is my first guitar build. He's got as taste for hardwoods.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by sean79

Feathercaster? What kind of feathers are you going to use? Are you going to glue them on or stick the ends through that Kevlar stuff?

A Haast's Eagle tail feather if it doesn't kill me first. Those Moa birds being attacked are much bigger than ostriches.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by jaydawg

The floating bridge is a great idea. Maybe you could laminate in two braces on the under side of the soundboard that run under the outside edges of the bridge. Sort of the same way an archtop is braced.

Can't wait to see how this turns out.

Exactly what I was thinking. Someone did a wicked acoustic build thread here somewhere here. I checked out the bracing under an acoustic soundboard and it's in a cross that seems to meet just in front of the bridge. I suppose the tension force from the strings would be countered by the triangle and spread over a big area outwards, towards the sides of the body. I'm gonna get some half inch L bend aluminum lengths and laminate them to the underside of the soundboard in a cross (the bridge is a hard-tail thru-bridge that will have to be bolted, not screwed to the soundboard!). The two holes for the pups worried me for a while until one day while staring at my acoustic's massive soundboard hole I saw the forces would be transfered around the hole. Perhaps. Hopefully. 4mm carbon-kevlar ain't weak!

BUT I'm not trying to make an acoustic tele. It'll be barely audible un-amplified, although if it's gonna be hollow, I thought I might as well use that sound - especially blended sounds between the piezo under the soundboard, and the pups.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by EunosFD

I already started a thread about this a week or two ago, but here's a carbon fiber "Tele" by Zodiac Works (Japanese builder):

Nice! Watch out for the carbon prices though it's $70 a yard in Oz bucks because Boeing and Airbus are scooping it all up lately.

[Captain HiTop]

Cool thread. My impatience always grinds on me with these threads

Cool cockatoo. Looking forward to watching this guitar develop. Love the unfinished carbon fibre look on current road bikes.

ch

[EunosFD]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

Nice! Watch out for the carbon prices though it's $70 a yard in Oz bucks because Boeing and Airbus are scooping it all up lately.

No doubt. That particular guitar is in the $3600 range.

[tdowns]

Originally Posted by Buckocaster51

You are thinking WAY outside of the box!



I will really be looking forward to seeing how this developes.

Thanks for sharing.

Same here. All the best.

[Nick JD]

Originally Posted by tdowns

Same here. All the best.

Cheers, Terry. Couldn't have done it without your CAD.

BTW all - here's what's going on the top of the carbon/kevlar laminate:



I'd like to get fussy with the grain patterns, but at over AUS$100 a square meter I can't afford to ask for the second cut and book match. Hopefully it'll complement the rosewood fretboard.



I've been assured that no Orangutans were left homeless through my purchase of this wood. Right Turn, Clyde.

Macassar Ebony is from some Indonesian islands north of Australia. It was either going to be this, or Blackheart Sassafras, a local tree, but also bloody expensive.

[Nick JD]

So, there I was thinking, "where do I get something that's smooth and flat?"

Aha! The glass door to the front of the TV cabinet! Shhhh, it's see-through, nobody'll notice it's missing.

Perfect size:



So then it's as Mr. Miyagi says, WAX ON - WAX OFF, Daniel san. Just a couple of layers of mould-release wax should do the trick. Glass is pretty slippery stuff.

Shiny! Now I have muscles like Daniel and will kick like Swan. HAI!

[Nick JD]

And roll out the beautiful carbon (black warp and weft: over two, under two) and kevlar (yellow warp and weft: under two, over two) twill - I think denim might be a twill too. Dunno, anyhow:



Whoa - the camera doesn't like the lines, like striped ties on TV presenters. I think they're called interference patterns. Does my head in.

Then I made up 250 grams of resin, put on the carbon filter respirator and the ever-seedy rubber gloves - and squeegeed all the air out from the fabric matrix leaving only resin impregnated cloth:



Which doesn't really look much different (maybe a little darker), but in an hour or two when it's hard it'll be the inner-most layer of the body. It'll be what is seen when someone peers in through the F-holes.

Since this guitar will not have a pick guard, the entire back will be removable for servicing its electronics (strings un-tensioned!), so that'll be the only time the inside of the front will be seen.

From now on all the subsequent layers in the laminate will be done with black pigment added to the resin (or maybe white, I can't decide - or BOTH!) so the eventual "edge" on the front and back, when rounded off will give me purfling for free! But only 3.4mm. Enough to have that nice framing effect against the wood grain.

It's all boring, layer upon layer now, until it measures 3.4mm thick (Ebony is 0.6mm). In a million years our ancestors will find this guitar in a landfill and clone me with the mosquito that bit me and then died a sudden and noisy death. I laminated it into the resin, probably somewhere by the front's neck pup. Heh heh heh, sucker.

[markothefish]

What a great job so far ,Nick... I like your thinking . I can't wait to see the rest . Carry On ....

[Buckocaster51]

I get the impression that chunk of material is big enough for two tops...ummmm...

Your mosquito story (may it rest in peace) reminded me of the time I built a cheap wristwatch into a large rear tractor tire.

Great job...keep the information flowing!

[The Amazing Phil]

This thread's ace! I love the way you've gone about making this tele so far, like just about everyone here I'm dying to see how this turns out, I can tell it's going to be original and unique.

[daviddoubleu]

Very inspiring stuff! Oh do carry on... thanks for the sharing.

[Nick JD]

I'll do a couple of more layers on the composite laminate tomorrow - pretty dull stuff. Then I'm off to NZ for two weeks, so the build's on hold till I get back.

While I'm there I'm gonna check out this place way up by the top of the North Island that specialises in Ancient Kauri - we're talking ancient as old as a Neanderthal. I kid you not! Between 35,000 and 50,000 years old. There's a guy there making guitars from it, and I'd hate to know what it's worth - but maybe, maybe, I might be able to afford a little piece ... no flaming or curls or nothing... It looks like nothing else, except maybe marble.

For the feather-light caster, I still need to finish the laminate and cut out the front and back (including pup holes [routs?] and neck pocket and F-holes), which might be tough as I need metal blades for the jigsaw - wood ones just don't cut it - and I'm worried that the kevlar will turn to fluff or dull the blades in about six inches of cutting. It can stop a bullet, and scissors really need to be diamond edged. Tough stuff.

Also need to ask someone with big brains out there if they have an idea what the wiring diagram for two humbuckers and a piezo would look like. Ideally, I'm thinking these pots:

1 master volume
1 blender pot (does this exist?) - to mix piezo and/or humbucker signals
1 tone for piezo
1 tone for selected humbucker
1 three-way switch for humbucker selection

Sorry - that was confusing. Any help here would be much appreciated.

I'm gonna have to recess the neck plate and screws too, so they can sit flush under the 4mm thick back. Yikes! Might do individual washers. Aaaaah! I think it'll look unique with no back plate showing and no ferrule holes - very clean looking back, and I'm already waning far from the traditional Tele, so I might get away with it.

Cheers to all, for your interest and support. More soon.

Nick.

[fenderix]

This really is an exciting project! Nice job so far Nick - looking forward to the updates ...

[EunosFD]

Originally Posted by Nick JD

While I'm there I'm gonna check out this place way up by the top of the North Island that specialises in Ancient Kauri - we're talking ancient as old as a Neanderthal. I kid you not! Between 35,000 and 50,000 years old. There's a guy there making guitars from it, and I'd hate to know what it's worth - but maybe, maybe, I might be able to afford a little piece ... no flaming or curls or nothing... It looks like nothing else, except maybe marble.

Langcaster:



Not everybody's cup of tea I'm sure, but I really dig it. A lam of that on top of the Feathercaster might look quite nice so I say go for it if it strikes ya. Very cool looking IMO, but I kinda dig the look of raw/clear carbon too.