My new Warmoth Partscaster

[RomanS]

Hi,

I'm quite new here as a member, though I have been lurking (and learning) for quite a while.

Here's my new "Warmoth Partscaster" I just completed:

Specs:
Warmoth Tele body - alder (from showcase);
Warmoth "Pro" Tele neck, maple with rosewood fretboard, 1-3/4" Graphtec Graphite nut, 6105 stainless steel frets;
both finished with Osmo Hartwachsöl (a heavy-duty oil-wax-product for hardwood floors);
Warmoth white pearloid Tele Hybrid pickguard;
LeoSounds MudCat pickups;
250k vol. & tone pots, .022 Sprague tone cap, Fender 4-way switch;
Wilkinson E-Z-Lok tuners
Wilkinson vintage tele bridge with compensated brass saddles, notched back lip for use with Bigsby B50;
reversed control plate (switch in the back, volume pot in the front, for easier 'violining' with vol. knob).

I have thick fingers, and I'm coming from the nylon-string classical guitar, those vintage Fender Tele necks never felt right, but this wide, flat neck is perfect for me.

Those LeoSounds MudCat pickups - from www.leosounds.de - are great: the neck pickup is very transparent (no mud at all) and has quite a bit of punch, the bridge pup is very ballsy and raunchy, fat, but still with quite a bit of twang; if usually P90s are described as half-way between humbuckers and single-coils, these ones could be described as half-way between P90s and Tele-single-coils. Perfect for rockabilly, blues, rootsy rock, can still do country (though LeoSounds have twangier vintage-style ones for that).

Here are some pics:

[vic108]

Very Cool! ................NICE guitar!
Congrats!

I like the reversed control plate too!

[TruckDrivin'Man]

That's very, very nice looking! Great job! I like the switch in the back and the finish is real nice. Nice grain too! Nice guard - you should be proud!

[51mike]

Nice piece!

Congrats!

[Pete Galati]

That's the first I'd heard of using Osmo Hartwachsöl to finish a guitar. Looks good.

[Fatmanstratman]

Great job!

I know I'm gonna get jumped on for saying this, but..... if only it had a Fender decal on the headstock - that would finish it perfectly.

I know, I know.....

[marcb]

Seems like you can build what you want, which may be hard to find in a stock Tele.

Thank you

[AZMike]

Very nice! Interesting finish idea, too, that Osmo Hartwachsöl stuff. Years ago, I read something in "The Guitar Book" by Tom Wheeler about stripping the warn finish off a guitar and using the stuff they put on bowling alleys to finish it. Sounds like a similar idea. No doubt a very tough finish, and it looks beautiful. Enjoy!

BTW: anybody know if that stuff is available in the U.S.?

Mike

[Maestro]

I would put a decal on it (not a fender per say might be a personal one) or a sticker.

[RomanS]

Thanks, guys!

Don't know whether that German Osmo stuff is available in the US, I guess not, but I'm sure you have similar products - as I said, this is for finishing hardwood floors, it is made from all natural ingredients (sunflower oil, carnauba wax, etc.), and is supposed to be resistant to scratches, water, sweat, beer, wine, coke, etc. - I just used it because I could not find Birchwood Casey Tru Oil anywhere in Vienna, and that's what they recommended instead at the lacquer & paint specialty store after I described what I needed.

Fatmanstratman & Maestro, eventually I'm going to put some decal on the headstock, I'm thinking about what and how to do it, but I won't use a Fender decal (frankly, I think that's tacky if it isn't a real Fender).

Marcb, all in all that guitar cost me about 650 to 700 Euros (450 for the Warmoth parts + shipping + customs duties, 100 for the pickups, about 50 or 60 for the Bigsby (a good deal on Ebay...), and the rest for the hardware) - not exactly cheap, but bear in mind, over here in Austria a MIJ Bigsby Tele costs about 1000 Euros, a Highway 1 Tele is about 650, a MIM standard or a Lite Ash Tele would be about 450 to 500 Euros - and all of the latter ones come without the Bigsby (which I need since I also play in a surf band), would possibly need a pickup upgrade, and none has the wide flat neck I wanted....

[Telenator]

Very nice guitar. There's something special about playing a guitar that you put together yourself.

[trandy16]

Very nice indeed...great job!

[Harrison]

That's beautiful. Gotta love that Bigsby.

I've never thought of using a floor finish on a guitar but that's a good idea.

Nice job.

[-CB-]

I like the look! Not too sure on the B/E string hold-down placement. Neck pickup screw holes?

[Wop Geronimo]

Very Sexy!

[crawdad]

With a Bigsby on a Tele, do you have to cut notches in the bridge plate so the strings clear? Just wondering as I've not been down that road.

[RomanS]

Originally Posted by crawdad

With a Bigsby on a Tele, do you have to cut notches in the bridge plate so the strings clear? Just wondering as I've not been down that road.

Yep, it is necessary to cut notches into the back lip of the bridge.
Got the idea for using a 'regular' tele bridge instead of a Mustang bridge (like on the B5 Fender Bigsby version) from here:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~msengers/htm/gallery.htm

[RomanS]

Originally Posted by -CB-

I like the look! Not too sure on the B/E string hold-down placement. Neck pickup screw holes?

I agree, aesthetically that's not the best place for the string tree - but that's where it gives the best string angle (similar to the one on th lower strings) - that roller string tree is rather high...

About the holes: I mounted the neck pickup directly to the wood, and use the holes in the pickguard for height adjustment (so I don't have to take the pickguard off - since the fretboard has quite a bit of overhang over the pickguard, otherwise adjusting pickup height would necessitate to remove both the pickguard and the neck...)

[thepearljammer]

simple and classy--looks great!

[ptfreak]

Looks sueeeet man!
Those whammys are pretty cool.

J