Ikeacaster: newbie tele copy on the cheap

[Razzamatazz]

Originally Posted by tuuur

At the neck side of the bridge, there is about a mm space where the bridge floats over the body... how could that happen? Possibly the top of the body isn't entirely flat... or I overtightened the screws in the soft wood.

My USA tele has this too. IMO it's perfectly normal.

About your dents in the upper bout: they should more or less go away when you make the 1/4" roundover curve...

[tuuur]

Last weekend there was major progress and some rethinking...

First, I drilled the output jack hole.



Then, with a newly bought 1/8 inch (3,2mm) roundover bit, I rounded the edges of the body.



Round the bouts, it seemed the routing bit was too low. But things worked out pretty good after some sanding.



Round this time I was worried about the gap between the body and neck in the neckpocket, which you can see here.



I thought a good option would be to replace this neck with the one of my Squier '51, which I don't play much anyway.

[tuuur]

And then, when I unscrewed that Squier '51 neck... horror!



A crack in the neckpocket of the '51... a good thing I took it apart then.

And the cause for the gap in the neck connection was clear as well... the neck was attached to a far thinner body, so the screws were to small and couldn't hold on to the neck to well.
So I bought some longer screws (6cm) and shortened them to 5.5cm.



Now the neck sits firmly in the neckpocket.

[tuuur]

I took some pictures from the in between state again:



It looks like the bridge is off a millimeter or so to the left. I guess I have to reposition it...

[esteban]

Now I know what to do with my old desk...

[spankdplank]

Nice tele and thread, Tuur. This thread is so different and is a pleasure to follow. Yet another reason to love teles and this forum, as teles can be built from just about anything, and can end up as a working tool for the masses or fit and finished for maximum class and flash.

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by esteban

Now I know what to do with my old desk...

Haha, yeah, it beats burning it.

(of course when it turns out bad you can still burn it... )

Originally Posted by spankdplank

Nice tele and thread, Tuur. This thread is so different and is a pleasure to follow.

Thanks! I'm actually already planning my second Tryggvecaster following these same lines. This guitar building stuff is addictive!

[tuuur]

I have planned to add a neck pickup to the Tryggvecaster. It's this one:





It was on a cheapo Teisco-ish 1960s guitar, where it didn't originally belong. I haven't got the faintest idea what it is, but it sounds and looks cool.

[Big Tony]

This is going to be a very cool Telecaster.

You're doing great, warts and all!

/ Tony

[riggergreg]

Tuur, Your gonna love that gold foil.

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by Big Tony

This is going to be a very cool Telecaster.

You're doing great, warts and all!

Thanks! I'm still not sure how to finish it though. I guess it will be either Yachtlacquer or Ikea Behandla stuff. The first one is a very strong high gloss lacquer. I can't find anything on the can concerning ingredients... and the Ikea stuff is a sort of glazing paint. Would that be any good at all?

Originally Posted by riggergreg

Tuur, Your gonna love that gold foil.

I loved it already while it was in the Teisco! But apart from the sound, that guitar is unplayably bad.
But another good thing about that Teisco is...



It's got another goldfoil pickup! Perfect for the soon to be thinline Tryggvecaster.

[tuuur]

Yesterday I installed the pickguard and stuck some tape to it, to trace the route needed to accomodate the goldfoil pickup.



Then I cut out the opening with a fine blade on the jigsaw. I find this is not the most precise way to do this, but don't know how to do it otherwise... Ideas are welcome as I guess I will encounter this more often.

From a distance, the result looks good enough for me.



Then I routed out the neck pickup cavity. With a long 8mm drill, the hole for the wire was drilled.



Put together again, this is the current state of the build!

[moparmutt]

cool git!

[infrapista]

Very very good job, for a unique guitar, i love this guitar.
Regards, Infrapista

[fenderix]

Originally Posted by tuuur

It looks very nice so far. You're doing fine - keep up the good work!

[tuuur]

Tried it out at the rehearsal tonight, and it qualifies!!!!

The bridge PU bites like it should, both PUs give a great in between sound, somewhat middy...

but that goldfoil GROWLS!

An instant favorite guitar. And it hasn't even been finished properly yet...

[bobthecanadian]

Good work.

[tuuur]

Today I did a test-finish on a piece of scrap Tyggve shelf. It looks like it darkens the grain somewhat, which is good, and yellows the wood a tiny bit, which is good as well. The grain seems to be open still, so I guess it will need quite a few layers.

Furthermore, I made a logo in Inkscape:



I can't get myself to take it apart yet for finishing though.

[Colt W. Knight]

We need sound!!!!!!!!!!!! Must hear!!!!!!!!!!!!

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by Colt W. Knight

We need sound!!!!!!!!!!!! Must hear!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hear ya... but I haven't got my recording stuff sorted out yet. What's more, it badly needs to be painted... I play it too much in this state and can see the damage already, soft dark spots developing.
So tomorrow I'm going to take it apart again.

[tuuur]

OK, now for the headstock... (can you guess I am stalling the finishing of the body? ;-) )
The Squier has got to go to accomodate the Tuuur-decal. So I attacked it with a piece of mirrorball glass.
Actually, I like Squiers, so it's with a bit of a heavy hard I destroy this logo...



This is the kind of ground ink and finish that comes off.



Haha! 'uier' means "Udder" in Dutch! The Uddercaster!
(OK, that's not that funny... :-D )



Now we're there. You can tell where it came off, but not too much to bother me a lot. I'm happy.

[tuuur]

And here's a mock up of what I'm aiming at:



Didn't have much luck printing the logo on decal paper today... the first test had runny black ink... the second was sort of okay, but after spraying the sealer there was a lot of pinkish hue around the letters. We'll see how it looks when it's out of the water.

[colonelrobert]

[quote=hekawi;977538]looking great so far...i like the natural wood, very nice!

by the way, when you use the whammy bar on this strat copy does your car window roll down?:

Originally Posted by tuuur

My wife and I were wondering if it start's playing on the second kick?

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by colonelrobert

My wife and I were wondering if it start's playing on the second kick?

Heheh... this guitar has some automotive history... once upon a time it had a Opel bumper mount as a tremolo arm. I had other plans with it, which can be seen in this doctored image...

[tuuur]

So there it is, the spot where it originally read 'Squier ' is somewhat lighter, but not much:



Next: finishing. I thought about doing it the right way, as a test, with rattlecans and stuff... but decided to stay in the original character of this post and use some Yacht laquer I had in the shed.

[tuuur]

First I sanded it with some sanding paper (it read 100 on the back, so I suppose that would be 100 grit). Then, I applied a first layer with brush. And let it dry.



I guess it was too humid because one day later, things were not that dry still. I ended up leaving it hanging for 5 days.

Time to check...
and sand again...





There's some wider gap between to laminated pieces of wood (mind you, that's the part Ikea glued!). I wonder how long that body will stay in this form...

[tuuur]

After a few weeks of painting, leaving it to dry for a few days, discovering dust and drops, sanding, repainting, etc. , I call it finished.

When putting it back together again, I decided to keep the controls in the standard position. It's got a non standard 5-way switch, which is now wired in a strange way:
1. bridge
2. bridge/neck
3. neck
4. neck (yep, the same as position 3)
5. nothing (acts as kill switch)

Took it to the band's rehearsal, and it plays great (for the kind of music I play, which is very forgiving when it comes to imperfections of any kind).

Here it is:







All in all, I think for a first build it's a success. I got hardware plus necks for another 3 guitars... so I'm off to the Ikea again!

[PMC70]

Great build Tuuur! The Tryggvecaster looks awesome.:) Do you really have 8 p/u's in the Poltergeister, or is that just a mockup of the projected eventuality?

Nice job. I really enjoyed your thread. Have fun on your next build.

[601210]

Originally Posted by tuuur

Well, I guess I am not the patient kind of guy. So having come this far, I installed the bridge, bridge pickup, control plate with a volume pot, and a makeshift output jack...

And here it is now (is a guitar named after a 10th century viking king a she? don't think so!):





And hey, what do you know, after some tweaking of the bridge saddles it's actually very playable already! Sounding gritty like it should.

I just realized... we have the same cable

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by PMC70

Great build Tuuur! The Tryggvecaster looks awesome.:)

Thanks!!!

Originally Posted by PMC70

Do you really have 8 p/u's in the Poltergeister, or is that just a mockup of the projected eventuality?

It's a mockup... I have enough pickups for it, but the single coils I have are strat types; they can't be placed with the coils next to eachother...
But the christmas holidays are here; maybe I find some time to experiment.

Originally Posted by 601210

I just realized... we have the same cable

Those are fun things to realize! I had to resolder this one a few years ago, but since then it never let me down.

[tuuur]

Finally I got my recording stuff together, so I recorded an extended version of a song by good pal Ottoboy. I used midi drums and recorded the voice and instruments through a little Behringer MX 602A into the pc and applied some digital effects.

Never saw her face again

[Fatmanstratman]

tuuur, I have just re-read this whole thread again, as I have found it thoroughly absorbing from start to finish - GREAT job!...

This morning, I have read through it with my guitar-playing son, and we have been discussing the possibilities of making guitars using woods from various "household" objects, and the pros & cons of each item we have suggested.

It is threads like yours that provide inspiration to so many folks out in TDPRI land. You have shown what can be achieved with a potent concoction of ideas, inspiration, trial-and-error, patience, a little care and - above all else - the courage to forge ahead and TRY something new. I salute you!

Y'know, having read all the fascinating threads by members like tuuur, Buckocaster51 and EdHawley, I am STILL so tempted to put together a TDPRI book of some of the great start-to-finish builds (with the permission of the original authors and the Webmaster, of course). I know it would NEVER be anything near Nacho's wonderful Blackguard Book, but it would be a unique source of reference for any members (like me!) who might be thinking of trying their OWN build....

[shades]

Cheers tuuur! Fine work and craftsmanship indeed.
Thanks for the post and the audio clip.
Good stuff!

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by Fatmanstratman

tuuur, I have just re-read this whole thread again, as I have found it thoroughly absorbing from start to finish - GREAT job!...

This morning, I have read through it with my guitar-playing son, and we have been discussing the possibilities of making guitars using woods from various "household" objects, and the pros & cons of each item we have suggested.

It is threads like yours that provide inspiration to so many folks out in TDPRI land. You have shown what can be achieved with a potent concoction of ideas, inspiration, trial-and-error, patience, a little care and - above all else - the courage to forge ahead and TRY something new. I salute you!

Why, thanks a lot! (don't really know what to answer to a post like that... )
As most of the new tryers would say, all there is to it is just do it...

And I salute YOU, for reaching the 2000 posts mark!

Originally Posted by Fatmanstratman

Y'know, having read all the fascinating threads by members like tuuur, Buckocaster51 and EdHawley, I am STILL so tempted to put together a TDPRI book of some of the great start-to-finish builds (with the permission of the original authors and the Webmaster, of course). I know it would NEVER be anything near Nacho's wonderful Blackguard Book, but it would be a unique source of reference for any members (like me!) who might be thinking of trying their OWN build....

That would be a wonderful idea! I must say that I read the Buckocaster threads before even starting to think of attempting to try a build. That one is the truly essential thread on this forum for me...

[Steve G]

Tuur i am just so impressed with your build. If theres one thing better than a nice piece of gear its a nice piece of cheap gear.

i think that one will mean a little more to you than a shop bought tele.

Youve inspired me to one day have a go. If not for lack of tools/skills/time Id start now!

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by tuuur

When putting it back together again, I decided to keep the controls in the standard position. It's got a non standard 5-way switch, which is now wired in a strange way:
1. bridge
2. bridge/neck
3. neck
4. neck (yep, the same as position 3)
5. nothing (acts as kill switch)

Here are some pics of the controls.



Anybody recognize this kind of switch? It's not your standard Fender 5 way, so I'm at a loss on how to interpret standard schematics on this one.

[EDIT]
Deaf Eddie apperantly did and posted a wiring schematic in the 5 way switch kill position thread. I'll definitely be checking this one out!


I discovered the older tone pot is dodgy. I've bought some CTS pots for replacement. Also, the Goldfoil is not grounded well; if I touch it accidentally with a string the sound is killed. Plus, it is sitting to near to the strings... so some touching up to do yet.

[Voozle]

Hi tuuur,
awesome thread. I've been lurking on this forum for some time, and along with some other threads (by jwells, buckocaster, ron kirn and some others I don't remember at the moment) your IKEAcaster threads gave me the impression - wow, you can do this yourself, too.
So I bought a decent MacAllister 1500W router and some other stuff and I'm quite ready to start building (although my first son will be born on friday...). I ordered Keystone pickups on new year's eve, but they haven't arrived yet, must be stuck in the customs, I suppose. Inspired by the IKEAcasters I went to our local IKEA, before butchering a nice piece of alder or ash and - to my big disappointment - they're out of Tryggve boards until week 15/08. So I went to some other places that sell boards, but nobody has them in 15mm, they're all 18mm or 20something, at least no sizes that get me close to 45mm when stacked. Maybe I'll wait until week 15, maybe I'll buy a piece of alder, don't know yet, but I know I'll follow the building-threads here in the forum.
Thanks a lot for the inspiration and I hope, I can open my own building thread soon.
Markus

[tuuur]

Originally Posted by tuuur

So there it is, the spot where it originally read 'Squier ' is somewhat lighter, but not much:

The waterslide decal I made didn't hold out. So I decided to give the headstock a more 1950s look; ordered with GFS some bushings and split shaft Kluson lookalikes and a single string tree.

Then I devised this logo:


Here is a mock up how it'll look on the headstock.


I plan to do Bucko's trick of a double decal, in which you paint the gold on the first decal and then apply the second oe on top of that.
Would acryl brush paint work?

[chisa]

sanding the finish off the head and lacquering is not too difficult.

i have a guide if you want a copy

[fernando]

absolutely cool! includding the logo