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I've never owned a Tele, and have always wanted to build my own guitar, so decided to tackle both of those last fall. While this is more alike to a Tele Deluxe, it had very quickly become my go to guitar for recording. Neck radius is very flat, unlike the Gibsons I usually play. Pickups are Seymour Duncan Slash V1matched set. Pots are Bournes. Work well direct into a tube amp or pedal, volume roll off very responsive. Finish was dye over spalted maple cap and the sealed with Zinsser Shellac.
it looks really cool
It looks great! I love that you left that beautiful wood grain visible. How much experience did you have with the relevant skills when you did this?
Thanks. I'm not a fan of solid colours, and a lot of the Teles I see are that way. This guitar was actually just a tester - I had plans for another guitar and wanted to try something less ambitious for a first try.
I have zero wood working skills. If you handed me a 2"x4" and asked for it to be cut in half you'd get 2 different length pieces. LOL. So going with a kit (body and neck) was the only way something playable was going to happen. Now when it comes to electronics, I crush that... but guitar wiring is pretty basic. Attention to the mechanical aspects of the guitar is what makes this such a good player. Getting the bridge properly aligned side to side and accurately located for proper intonation was critical. It doesn't show in the photo, but this is a carved top - like a Les Paul. Not the traditional flat face of a Telecaster, so there were a few extra considerations for string height to be just right.
To be fair I would imagine that making a good fretboard specifically goes significantly beyond what even a fairly proficient woodworker could do. That's a complex shape with very little tolerance for getting anything wrong before it feels weird to use
The carved top is a nice distinguishing feature. Any guitarist that sees it will know it's not actually a tele, it's something unique
Yes, exactly. Know your limits and work within it... Haha
I had a friend/fellow guitarist who made a guitar in high school shop class. It was overdue on submitting it and even with an extension was rushing on the final day. Could not get it to tune up at all. Turns out he didn't measure the placement of the bridge. No idea what the scale length was...LOL.
looks gorgeous!
Very nice!
Nice. Love a spalted top.
What was the base kit before you made it awesome?
It was a Pango, one off which I think it was a boo-boo kit. There was only 1. Nothing other than the body and neck, and the control routing in the back was unfinished.... It looks like they buggered up the routing... there was nowhere to mount a cover so I had to come up with something myself. The other thing is the spalted top was already covered in a poly finish, so I had to strip that. I thought it was unfinished.
The neck finish and fret work was amazing though, and as you can see a bound neck to top it off.
Oh shit, that's even more impressive....I'd have a kit unassembled forever