This little book, is a record of the stages it took to make your guitar. I thought it would be interesting to you to see how I made it, and, all the seperate parts etc. I have taken pictures and written explanations with them so you know what was going on. I thought this guitar could be something for you to remember Dad by, plus it has been a good challenge for me especially finding all the parts in left hand! I don't know if you remember at Christmas, when you said to me how you really liked Telecasters, especially the hollow body ones. Well it stuck in my mind and I thought with some of the money Dad left me I would buy all the parts and put it together for you. It has been a great project for me, something to keep me inspired and keep me busy.
Here is the spec of the guitar:
-Ash body (Excellent tone wood)
-Vintage tint Maple neck and fretboard
-Aged white USA pickguard
-Gold Hardware
-Standard electronics
-GFS pickups: “Lil Puncher XL rail bridge pickup” and “Classic Telecaster Alnico” Chrome neck pickup
Stage 1 – Body Preparation
As it so happens, the body was in a very smooth and clean state when it arrived so only needed a little bit of sanding. After giving it a little sanding and wipe, I applied the first coat of Danish Oil, which is great stuff f
or wood. After that had dried, I sanded the off the raised grain with medium sand paper. Then I applied the second coat of Danish oil, which to be honest didn't make it look much darker, but it's good for the wood and 3 coats are recommended. After another 4 or so hours I applied the third and final coat of Danish oil, after sanding of the rough bits again. This time instead of using a cloth to apply it, I used wire wool, to aim for a smoother and more shiny finish. And as it was with first two coats I sanded it a bit again, But with fi
ner paper than before.
Here are the pictures after the first coating of oil, and the last coating of oil. They don't look much different, however.
NOTE: I forgot to get a picture of the plain wood before the oil, but you can see the original colour in the pickup cavities etc.
The Next stage was the varnish. I used Gloss polyeurythane Varnish to finish the body. I sprayed a few coats on and sanded in between the coats as with the Danish oil. Here are some pictures of the Finished body:
Stage 2 – Attaching the neck
Well I must admit, with the neck I was kind of lazy! I bought it already finished with all fretwire and vintage tint finish. But I really like the neck, I prefer it to the plain maple. I think the vintage gloss tint adds more character to the instrument. I had to adjust the neck pocket slightly, by chiseling out some of the wood, to allow the neck to sit straighter. As before the neck sat slightly wonky in the pocket. Next I measured out where to drill the holes for the neckplate. Then drilled them straight through the neck pocket and a little way into the neck, so it could then bolt on.
Pictures of the neck before and after being attached:
TO BE CONTINUED...!
