ThunderRoad23
NEW MEMBER!
Hi,
Long time lurker, first time poster.
I'm a huge Springsteen fan and want to build something similar to his tele circa 78. I recently came across a partscaster tele on ebay and the body was exactly what I was after. Beautiful natural tele with thin finish and pronounced grain. I snapped it up right away and couldn't wait to receive it.
Upon receiving it though, I discovered it was a hefty bugger. 9lbs 1 oz, making it my 2nd heaviest guitar with only my Les Paul weighing more. I loved the look of the guitar but the weight was bugging me as I could feel the difference when switching from my other Tele or Strat.
I came across the smuggler tele a few days ago and decided to give it a go. I bought a cheap router and a decent straight bit set. I've never used a router in my life but do quite a bit of other diy so after watching a youtube beginners guide lol, I was ready to give it a shot.
I marked around the pickguard first then hand drew my version of the routing outline based on a few photo's I'd seen.
Using the router was tricky for the first few minutes but it was surprisingly intuitive and from then on I had no issues. I used the depth gauge to take wood off in stages as it is much easier and safer that way.
I left a bit of extra wood between the pickups as I didn't want to lose too much sustain. Overall, I took around 15mm off between the pickups and around 30mm off the side cavities.
I'm delighted with the results. I had read on here that you'd be lucky to get a few ounces off but I fared quite a bit better.
Body before - 6lbs 3oz
Body after - 5lbs 1oz
A fantastic 1lb 2oz return and I'm overjoyed. It was well worth the effort.
Regards the bare wood on the inside now, should I treat this with a bit of clear lacquer/boiled linseed oil or just leave it bare?
Few pics attached . It came with a rosewood neck but I have 3 maple necks on the way to try out.
Long time lurker, first time poster.
I'm a huge Springsteen fan and want to build something similar to his tele circa 78. I recently came across a partscaster tele on ebay and the body was exactly what I was after. Beautiful natural tele with thin finish and pronounced grain. I snapped it up right away and couldn't wait to receive it.
Upon receiving it though, I discovered it was a hefty bugger. 9lbs 1 oz, making it my 2nd heaviest guitar with only my Les Paul weighing more. I loved the look of the guitar but the weight was bugging me as I could feel the difference when switching from my other Tele or Strat.
I came across the smuggler tele a few days ago and decided to give it a go. I bought a cheap router and a decent straight bit set. I've never used a router in my life but do quite a bit of other diy so after watching a youtube beginners guide lol, I was ready to give it a shot.
I marked around the pickguard first then hand drew my version of the routing outline based on a few photo's I'd seen.
Using the router was tricky for the first few minutes but it was surprisingly intuitive and from then on I had no issues. I used the depth gauge to take wood off in stages as it is much easier and safer that way.
I left a bit of extra wood between the pickups as I didn't want to lose too much sustain. Overall, I took around 15mm off between the pickups and around 30mm off the side cavities.
I'm delighted with the results. I had read on here that you'd be lucky to get a few ounces off but I fared quite a bit better.
Body before - 6lbs 3oz
Body after - 5lbs 1oz
A fantastic 1lb 2oz return and I'm overjoyed. It was well worth the effort.
Regards the bare wood on the inside now, should I treat this with a bit of clear lacquer/boiled linseed oil or just leave it bare?
Few pics attached . It came with a rosewood neck but I have 3 maple necks on the way to try out.
