Something rare... Denim & Pearl Tele

[Marcel]

This is a project I started almost a year ago in the vain hunt for getting myself a Blue guitar.

It's a parts build, with the sealed Alder body from Ebay, the Kmise neck from China, and a kit bag of basic Tele parts from here at PBG.

So I stained the body ... and was vastly disappointed with the results. I persevered and assembled it and posted a few pictures on guitar kit builders forums on FB....

[Marcel]

I got a lot of positive feedback.... Many saying how much the failed Blue stain job looked so much like faded Denim, So I decided to strip it down and use real Denim....

[Marcel]

That's when SWMBO got involved.... She suggested that in reality it should be Denim & Lace, but as we can't have Lace then Pearl would be the next best thing.... one Pearl guard and some Pearl binding ordered..

Completely covering a guitar body in Denim is next to impossible. That meant I needed to find a neat way to finish the Denim edges.,. and Pearl binding seemed the most logical choice.... So I had to build a table so that I could route for the binding... And I needed to sand off the failed Blue dye job so as to not spoild the Denim cover that was about to go on....

[Marcel]

My rebate bit cuts a 3mm deep channel.... the Binding is 1.3mm thick, and the Denim I am intending to use is 0.5mm thick....I need a shallower rebate cutter...

I searched high and low and could not find a 1.8mm deep rebate cutter.... None!!... I had all but given up when the young fella at a local bearing shop suggested I sleeve on of my existing bearings..... He explained the process by saying all the bearings on these router cutters are basically the same with just a simple steel sleeve over the outside machined to the size you want. He didn't have steel sleeves but brass works just as good. So I got two brass sleeves and trotted off to a neighbours house whom I knew had a lathe.... After 20mins on the lathe and a couple of beers I had the rebate cutter bearing the exact size I needed....

I blackened the edges of the Body... I figured Black would be best against the Pearl and Denim..... and cut the channel around the body edge.... The intention is to have the Denim fold over into the channel and have the Pearl binding lay over the top thus creating a neat edge...

Now to glue it all together.... Bearing in mind that the Denim will remain soft to the touch.... None of this buried in epoxy nonsense....

[wazkelly]

Are you going to leave a pocket somewhere as that would be a handy place to put spare picks?

[FrankenWashie]

The wear on the denim over time is going to make for some interesting relic wear. I wonder how badly it will stain and mark from play and handling though?
Are you going to lay it directly under the bridge or come to the outline of it only?

[Sonic Mountain]

Are you going to leave a pocket somewhere as that would be a handy place to put spare picks?

If you don't do this its a missed opportunity!

[Marcel]

Nah, no pockets Waz... It will be enough work just dealing with the edges... I do have a thinner dark denim piece that has pockets and a Purple Asian Dragon embroidered on it that I could have put on the back (or the front of a LH Tele) but decided against using it due to the number of times multiple layers of denim needed to get tucked under the Pearl binding. Each time there is more than one level of denim creates a whole suite of unique issues at the body edge where the binding needs to smoothly transition over the top.

The whole front and back is getting covered FW. I definitely want that tactile aspect to the body. There will be denim under the bridge so that will affect tone and sustain... How badly the effects are will determine if I solidify the denim under the bridge with glue or some kind of resin mix, or search out other corrective measures..

I doubt I will get to play it much, so not much wear from me.... but as a 'working axe' the long term strength of the denim would certainly get tested...

[Simon Barden]

Not planning to put the guitar in the bath and shrinking the denim to fit?

[Marcel]

My daughter had the same thought Simon....