crazydave911
Doctor of Teleocity
Wiping the warm pickup with the towels I get from Walmart (not the fluffy ones) seem to work well for me. I used to do LOTS of Teisco knockoffs and a lot were foil 
The Mahogany Rosewood Telecaster
- Thread starter Steve Holt
- Start date
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
More neck stuff!
My next step is attaching the template and routing around outside. I just line up the centerlines I drew for the truss rod with the centerlines on my template. Before I take the template off I transfer the centerlines to the newly shaped neck (in case they're a bit off) and use center punches to mark the tuner holes.
Then after I glue the fretboard on I use the shaped neck as the template for the fretboard. Works out pretty well and doesn't take a whole lot of smarts.
My next step is attaching the template and routing around outside. I just line up the centerlines I drew for the truss rod with the centerlines on my template. Before I take the template off I transfer the centerlines to the newly shaped neck (in case they're a bit off) and use center punches to mark the tuner holes.
Then after I glue the fretboard on I use the shaped neck as the template for the fretboard. Works out pretty well and doesn't take a whole lot of smarts.
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
Today I started out by drilling my tuner holes undersized. I always do that because I figure even if I drilled them perfectly, by the time I finish them they'll be too small, and because I don't trust the tolerances on tuner bushings. In a pack of six you can drill 6 holes and have 3 be too loose and 1 too tight.
So what I do is drill them undersized and then sand out the hole with sandpaper attached to a center punch mounted in the drill press. No reamers. I get the perfect for every bushing every time.
It's always so cool starting to see the hardware go on for the first time. These are Kluson Deluxe tuners that I picked up on close out at stewmac for a few bucks black Friday of 2017. I've had them in my parts drawer just waiting for a home.
This neck is staying with me, and that's good because I'm loving this flame.
Both African blackwood. The strat is getting the traditional fret dot layout. The tele is getting something a little less traditional, but more to come on that.
I got both fretboards glued up as well.
Here's the tele.
So what I do is drill them undersized and then sand out the hole with sandpaper attached to a center punch mounted in the drill press. No reamers. I get the perfect for every bushing every time.
It's always so cool starting to see the hardware go on for the first time. These are Kluson Deluxe tuners that I picked up on close out at stewmac for a few bucks black Friday of 2017. I've had them in my parts drawer just waiting for a home.
This neck is staying with me, and that's good because I'm loving this flame.
Both African blackwood. The strat is getting the traditional fret dot layout. The tele is getting something a little less traditional, but more to come on that.
I got both fretboards glued up as well.
Here's the tele.
Wow!
chaosman12
Tele-Meister
That straight grain on the Tele top is really slick looking.
And +1 for making good use of some pretty old computer paper... ;-)
And +1 for making good use of some pretty old computer paper... ;-)
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
Takes a keen eye to spot my old dot matrix paper
That was a happy mistake at my old job. Tried ordering it for a customer. It wasn't the right stuff and the warehouse wouldn't take it back. So it came home with me. So I have about 1000 sheets give or take what I've used over the years for glue ups. I'll be sad if I ever use it all.
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
We are behind!! I've still been working on these guits, but I haven't posted in a bit. Time to fix that.
Where did we leave off? Necks had just gotten fretboards glued on, but were still square. Okay.
this african blackwood was a beast to cut down on the spindle sander this time for the headstock transition. Kept clogging up my sander rolls.
I gave my friend 3 choices for side dot size and he chose the biggest one. 4mm. They're going to be huge
but since there are no face dots I think it's a good choice.
Finally figured out the pickups. They both have resistance, but they're not potted yet.
dots visible from space!
Gold frets!
Where did we leave off? Necks had just gotten fretboards glued on, but were still square. Okay.
this african blackwood was a beast to cut down on the spindle sander this time for the headstock transition. Kept clogging up my sander rolls.
I gave my friend 3 choices for side dot size and he chose the biggest one. 4mm. They're going to be huge
but since there are no face dots I think it's a good choice.Finally figured out the pickups. They both have resistance, but they're not potted yet.
dots visible from space!
Gold frets!
BB
Poster Extraordinaire
Spectacular build Steve!!! So, so nice.....lucky friend you have
Swirling Snow
Tele-Afflicted
You make it look so easy... 
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
You make it look so easy...
I'm no pro, but this is build number 16. It's all getting fairly routine. Haha
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
It was tough, but I finally tracked down 3 push push pots that fit in this plate. It'll be tight, but it's at least possible. I think we're doing volume volume tone (it's either that or volume tone tone) and then a push push for each pickup to split it to single coil, and the last push push will be a blower to bypass volume and tone. Tons of fun.
I go back and forth with zpoxy. The first time I used it I swore I'd never use it again. Tried it again (with some instruction) and it went great. The last few times have been good, but this time it's a little more of a struggle again. Oh well. I'll get there. This is really labor intensive and I have two other guitars I'm working on. 3 bodies and 3 necks. I'm just trying to knock it all out, but the next two weekends are pretty well shot. Looks GREAT with the zpoxy though. I can't wait to see it finished.
I go back and forth with zpoxy. The first time I used it I swore I'd never use it again. Tried it again (with some instruction) and it went great. The last few times have been good, but this time it's a little more of a struggle again. Oh well. I'll get there. This is really labor intensive and I have two other guitars I'm working on. 3 bodies and 3 necks. I'm just trying to knock it all out, but the next two weekends are pretty well shot. Looks GREAT with the zpoxy though. I can't wait to see it finished.
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
As for the others, here's the sunburst strat. I'm a huge chili peppers fan, so this is kind of my frusciante tribute. I make no claims at being an expert painter, and I make even less claims about being good at doing sunburst. There's some flaws and places I'm not happy with, but overall I'm super happy with how it's turning out! The overall color and darkness is great. I didn't want something bright yellow.
I also have another strat (a fender starcaster) that a relative of mine found in a trash can while moving. So he grabbed it and I ended up with it. Now I'm stripping it down, refinishing it and the goal is to donate it to some kid that can make a good home for it. Fingers crossed that it turns out okay. The wood is really soft, and it had a crazy hard exterior coating. But the paint was chipped in a few places and the neck was not very good. So I thought a refinish would be fun. I guess if the wood ends up being too soft it'll just relic easier!
Once I get these three done it'll be time for a brotherhood build
I also have another strat (a fender starcaster) that a relative of mine found in a trash can while moving. So he grabbed it and I ended up with it. Now I'm stripping it down, refinishing it and the goal is to donate it to some kid that can make a good home for it. Fingers crossed that it turns out okay. The wood is really soft, and it had a crazy hard exterior coating. But the paint was chipped in a few places and the neck was not very good. So I thought a refinish would be fun. I guess if the wood ends up being too soft it'll just relic easier!
Once I get these three done it'll be time for a brotherhood build
Steve Holt
Friend of Leo's
Here's the tele tonight. If I can get it sanded to a consistent color (getting all the zpoxy off in all the places it doesn't want to leave) then it should be time to spray clear. The build is nearing completion!
