Tele Trio - A Tribute to Buck and Don
- Thread starter Gary_M
- Start date
Gary_M
TDPRI Member
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Much appreciated. 
Here are some photos that don't use my garage as the backdrop.
Here are some photos that don't use my garage as the backdrop.
Wheelhouse
Tele-Meister
They look even better indoors. Looks masterful. Great finish.
Ronzo
Tele-Afflicted
You did a fine job getting the green tinge out of the gold finish. Masterful! 
It’s a fantastic gift to your Dad for his 80th birthday tomorrow. Truly a labor of love. You’re a great son to put so much of yourself into that gift. And a damn fine brother!
It’s a fantastic gift to your Dad for his 80th birthday tomorrow. Truly a labor of love. You’re a great son to put so much of yourself into that gift. And a damn fine brother!
Gary_M
TDPRI Member
Gary_M
TDPRI Member
You did a fine job getting the green tinge out of the gold finish. Masterful!
It’s a fantastic gift to your Dad for his 80th birthday tomorrow. Truly a labor of love. You’re a great son to put so much of yourself into that gift. And a damn fine brother!
Thank you! Yes, spraying a few coats of heavily aged lacquer really toned it down. The color really shifts depending on the angle that you're viewing or holding the guitar. Sometimes it looks very gold, sometimes much greener.
I'll try to post a photo or two of my dad with his guitar later this weekend.
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Gary_M
TDPRI Member
We had a big celebration for my Dad's 80th birthday yesterday. After the open house and all the guests left, we had a few more hours together as a family and we presented Dad with his guitar. My brother also got his silver Tele on the same day, so we all posed together with our Buckaroo themed Teles. In case there is any question, I got the short and fat genes in the family.
That may be a look of shock and disbelief.
Me, my dad and my brother.
A little picking and grinning.
Being able to share these with family made it all worthwhile.
That may be a look of shock and disbelief.
Me, my dad and my brother.
A little picking and grinning.
Being able to share these with family made it all worthwhile.
Synchro
Tele-Holic
Beautiful work, and a heartwarming story.
Ronzo
Tele-Afflicted
So happy for you that you had this opportunity, and that you saw it through. And, that you got to see your Dad’s and your brother’s reaction!
What did your Dad (and you, and your brother) plug into that night?
What did your Dad (and you, and your brother) plug into that night?
Gary_M
TDPRI Member
Hey, thanks! It was one of those Fender Mustang modeling amps, the GTX50 I think? We just set it to a clean Twin setting.
fathand
TDPRI Member
Great build, amazing craftsmanship and patience. I also need to "borrow" my wife's eyes to discern colours.
Maybe too late now but Custom Inlay has some checkerboard binding, not sure if its the same, never tried it myself.
Maybe too late now but Custom Inlay has some checkerboard binding, not sure if its the same, never tried it myself.
Dana Rudd
Tele-Afflicted
I think this is my favorite Tele thread. Great documentation and three great looking guitars for the family. Fairly short time frame to build three Tele's.
I'm sure your dad and brother are both pleased to have guitars built by you Gary.
I'm sure your dad and brother are both pleased to have guitars built by you Gary.
mistersparkle
TDPRI Member
I can't find a descriptive superlative that even comes close to adequately describing the level of achievement attained in this stunning three-guitar build. And I'm so glad I stumbled on this build thread today as it answered several questions I've been puzzling over with a similar Buck tribute build I'm attempting. For example, it was great to learn that you masked the binding instead of shooting the flake over it then scraping it. I've only shot one metalflake guitar before and that one had no binding, and I was really questioning how to handle binding with flake paint.
I do have one quick question for you, Gary, if you don't mind. What size flake did you use? Since Buck's guitar used glass glitter (some people say it was crushed mirrors) the flake sizes weren't consistent, but whatever you used looks really good. Did you use just one size flake or multiple sizes mixed together to imitate the glass?
I do have one quick question for you, Gary, if you don't mind. What size flake did you use? Since Buck's guitar used glass glitter (some people say it was crushed mirrors) the flake sizes weren't consistent, but whatever you used looks really good. Did you use just one size flake or multiple sizes mixed together to imitate the glass?
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Overwhelming. I don't think I'll ever visit my wood shop again.
Tell us about how they feel while playing and what the sound is like. After all that work I can't imagine the tones anything other than fantastic.
Tell us about how they feel while playing and what the sound is like. After all that work I can't imagine the tones anything other than fantastic.
Gary_M
TDPRI Member
Hey, thanks! Yeah, I did come across that checkerboard binding, but it's about twice as big as the size needed for this application, unfortunately... and also prohibitively expensive! I was able to find some additional "good" checkerboard on a German luthier supply site recently and I bought enough to do at least 10 guitars.
Gary_M
TDPRI Member
Thank you very much. Yes, there are multiple ways to approach the flake over binding situation... and they all rely on good timing of the cleanup/removal process. I think that's what pushed me to the masking technique... simply because I could allow the lacquer to set up "just enough", then pull the tape fairly rapidly and get it off the entire guitar while still in the "zone". If I had scraped it all, I don't think I would have been fast enough, but who knows?
I used Didspade .015" flake. I'm pretty confident they used a similar size on the originals based on the pictures that I've studied. Metal flake on hot rods was all the rage during that time period, so there would have been no problem for them to source it.
Now, this is just my opinion, but in my experience, there isn't much of a chance that the original story about "crushed mirrors" being used in those guitars is true. I think it's more likely that someone commented that it "looked" like crushed mirrors and the story was endlessly repeated and has now become engrained the fabric of all things "Buck".
If you stop and think about how mirrors work (literally coated glass), there isn't any way that it could have been made that way. It would have just been too inconsistent and the finish would be at least 1/8" thick if not more. Plus, there was no need to go to those extremes, metal flake was readily available, and these guitars were made during the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth era!
Having given my opinion with very limited knowledge, I'm certainly open to anyone who has actual proof of the use of crushed mirrors on these guitars, because I could certainly be wrong. My wife tells me that I'm wrong A LOT!
Gary_M
TDPRI Member
Hey, thanks, I appreciate it! They do play very nice, I just wish my playing was better. I used Fender '64 Tele pickups in them, so they just sound like a traditional, fairly typical Tele... which is exactly what I was going for, nothing hot, nothing outrageous, just nicely snappy without being harsh.
mistersparkle
TDPRI Member
I thought the same when I heard the old crushed mirror story, but then I learned about German glass glitter (aka crushed glass glitter) which is made from, you guessed it, crushed glass coated with silver (and sometimes dyed for other colors). Having seen Buck and Don's guitars up close, on display at the Country Music HoF & museum in Nashville, I can tell you there is something unique about their sparkle finishes that lends credence to them quite possibly having been done with glass glitter. And the finishes are ridiculously thick!Now, this is just my opinion, but in my experience, there isn't much of a chance that the original story about "crushed mirrors" being used in those guitars is true. I think it's more likely that someone commented that it "looked" like crushed mirrors and the story was endlessly repeated and has now become engrained the fabric of all things "Buck".
If you stop and think about how mirrors work (literally coated glass), there isn't any way that it could have been made that way. It would have just been too inconsistent and the finish would be at least 1/8" thick if not more. Plus, there was no need to go to those extremes, metal flake was readily available, and these guitars were made during the Ed "Big Daddy" Roth era!
Having given my opinion with very limited knowledge, I'm certainly open to anyone who has actual proof of the use of crushed mirrors on these guitars, because I could certainly be wrong. My wife tells me that I'm wrong A LOT!
I obtained some glass glitter samples and did some testing, but it's just too hard to work with. I resigned myself to using conventional flake but I wasn't certain that the .015 "Custom Shop" flake I have from TCP Global would look right. Thank you for letting me know that you used .015 flake, and yours certainly do look right. Might as well use up what I already have and hope that I get results anywhere in the ballpark of your three gems.
Gary_M
TDPRI Member
Very interesting and certainly a possibility. I'd never heard of German glass glitter; it looks very cool!
