New Partscaster: Walnut - Zebrawood thinline(ish).

[BCS1980-UK]

I hope you are all well and safe.

I have been a reader of this forum for a while, but only now I feel that I have something meaningful to contribute (my bad, sorry). This will be my third guitar build. The first one is a Les Paul style which started with ‘lets upgrade the pickups of my Epiphone’ and became a full kit build. My second was a Telecaster style for my brother’s birthday. I have never been a big fan of Teles until I started researching for my brother’s guitar. After that I ‘had to’ build a Tele (ish) for me. This guitar will have some Tele DNA, but it will not be exactly traditional (sorry in advance, for the traditionalists).
I live in the UK, so I tried to find local suppliers where possible. Today I finally received the last components and did a dry assembling to test the fittings. This Sunday I will start preparing the body and neck. About the specs:

Body: 2-piece walnut (by guitarbuild.co.uk)
Neck: walnut with zebrawood fretboard – 25.5"scale, C-shape, 12” radius and 1 ¾” nut - (by guitarbuild.co.uk)
Pickups: Bare Knuckle Blackguard set
Bridge: Gotoh GTC201
Tuners: Fender locking tuners
Electronics: this time I was lazy and ordered a pre-wired 4-way circuit (by sixstringssupplies.co.uk)

For the finish, I will use tru-oil. I have ordered on amazon some hobby walnut sheets and have been testing different pore filling and application methods. I was concerned about the zebrawood pores on the fretboard but it is actually pretty smooth. It will only receive lemon oil.

I am keen to hear your opinions and learn from your previous experiences and tips working with similar woods and configurations.

Cheers.

 

[aging_rocker]

Cool! Looks like you have the makings of a very nice instrument there.

 

[brookdalebill]

Beautiful!
Looking forward to seeing the finished beast.

 

[old wrench]

That's going to be a real good-looker !!!

I can see from your test panels that you already know Walnut is open-pored, but it's such a pretty wood that it looks good with either a gun-stock type finish or with a glassy-smooth finish

.

 

[S00NERMAN]

Finally, a headstock design that reminds of the original but looks good on its own! Love it! Looking forward to seeing the finished guitar.

 

[BCS1980-UK]

That's going to be a real good-looker !!!

I can see from your test panels that you already know Walnut is open-pored, but it's such a pretty wood that it looks good with either a gun-stock type finish or with a glassy-smooth finish

.

Yes, old wrench. I love walnut wood. And walnuts too.
For a satin finish I would not bother pore filling, but as the finish layers build on the pores became too pronounced for me (looking with an angle to the light).
I tried a commercial wood filler but it was too messy (or maybe I was too sloppy). On my tests I achieved best results sanding with the tru oil to create a sludge, letting it dry, sanding again and moving up (from 180 grit all the way to 800, two layers for each grit).

 

[BCS1980-UK]

Finally, a headstock design that reminds of the original but looks good on its own! Love it! Looking forward to seeing the finished guitar.

Hi S00NERMAN,
All credits go to guitarbuild.co.uk
They have some headstock options (but no copyrighted ones). This was the one I liked most.

 

[hemingway]

Looking forward to this. Love walnut - and zebra . . .

 

[BCS1980-UK]

Looking forward to this. Love walnut - and zebra . . .

That's a beautiful instrument! You have now set the bar very high for me.

 

[hemingway]

That's a beautiful instrument! You have now set the bar very high for me.

Yeah, it's a beautiful instrument if you don't look too closely . . . but 10 years of dings and clumsy mods give it character. That's my story.

 

[Skub]

That's a fine piece of wood.

 

[eallen]

Some great looking potential!
I do a lot of walnut since the family farm is heavy with them. I find pore filling with Zpoxy brings the color out nicely.

If you decide not to pore fill vinyl sealer sanded back a couple times can reduce the pores to a more manageable appeal.

Eric

 

[BCS1980-UK]

Some great looking potential!
I do a lot of walnut since the family farm is heavy with them. I find pore filling with Zpoxy brings the color out nicely.

If you decide not to pore fill vinyl sealer sanded back a couple times can reduce the pores to a more manageable appeal.

Eric
View attachment 980762 View attachment 980763 View attachment 980764

Thank you for the suggestions, Eric.
Great guitars!

 

[BCS1980-UK]

Today I did a full dry assembling to mark the alignment of the neck and drill everything that needed to be drilled. I had the first hiccup as the switch slot was a hair too small for the 4-way switch. I solved it by wrapping a toothpick with sandpaper and sanding the sides.

I am also finally satisfied with the finishing on my samples. I have achieved my desired glossiness:

Now it’s time disassemble and start sanding.

Cheers

 

[BCS1980-UK]

Hi everyone.

I almost "finished with the finishing" of the guitar. I am now wondering if I should go for the car buffing compound and wax polish. Does anyone has any experience with it?

Edit (more pictures)

Cheers.

 

[StudentGuy]

Wow ...

 

[brookdalebill]

Stunning!

 

[39martind18]

Some great looking potential!
I do a lot of walnut since the family farm is heavy with them. I find pore filling with Zpoxy brings the color out nicely.

If you decide not to pore fill vinyl sealer sanded back a couple times can reduce the pores to a more manageable appeal.

Eric
View attachment 980762 View attachment 980763 View attachment 980764

They're all good, but number two is exquisite!

 

[stratisfied]

Noice!

 

[chaosman12]

Looking forward to this. Love walnut - and zebra . . .

@hemingway , I like the all wood (no pick guard) look. Do you have more pics of the back or how you made all the wiring cavities?