Tele 12 string

[dave.king1]

Now that I've got your attention, can someone out in PB land who has built one please advise the neck width at

The Nut
The 12th Fret
The Heel

I am talking to a guy who is going to knock a complete Tele for me in Carbon Fibre and the neck is moulded integral with the body so only the fretboard and truss rod are required.

The guy in question has made both 6 string acoustics and 6 string electrics some of which are on permanent loan to a certain very well known guitarist

If we pull this off I will certainly document it here as a build

[cork sniffer]

Haven't started mine yet, hopefully VERY soon :-)
At nut = 46.8
At 12th fret = 55.0
At heel ... not exactly sure what you want, at 21st fret I have = 57.6

EDIT. I also have a maple 12 string PB neck, I can measure that one tomorrow if you like.

[Marcel]

Heard the call, ventured out to the shed in the dark of night... got you some figures Dave that hopefully set you in an appropriate direction...

Have both a Tele 12 and a 35yo acoustic 12 so will pass on both sets of figures... Mostly so you have something (another 12 string) to compare it to. My Tele build is a Maple fretboard and there is a build diary which I think shows a few photos.The acoustic is a bound Rosewood.

PBG TLA-12
Nut 47.53mm x 22mm
12th 54.91mm x 23.42mm
heel 56.52mm x 27.31mm
Strings at nut 41.17mm
Strings a 12th 48.2mm

35yo Eston acoustic 12
nut 48.85mm x 24mm
12th 59.7mm x 25mm
heel 60.5mm
Strings at nut 41.43mm
Strings at 12th 47.8mm.

Hope it all helps...

[dave.king1]

Thanks guys, I will pass it on to my mate for his reference.

His old website Orchid Guitars/Ariel Composite Technologies no longer exists ( the UK company has been closed ), the acoustics designed and built by his sons for the short period they were available ran to £5-10K UK depending on spec

[Simon Barden]

A lot will be dependent on the bridge you plan to use and its string spacing. Going for that sort of construction, it's worth looking around for a good bridge where all 12 strings can be intonated. But there's no point going for a wider neck to help fit all 12 strings in if the bridge still forces the strings to be the same overall distance from top to bottom E. You can of course decide to have a non-tapering neck, which will make the spacing at the nut a bit wider, or a much gentler taper than normal.

Also, if you plan to use standard Tele pickups, then the neck can't really be wider than a couple of mm from normal otherwise the strings will be too far from the pickup poles. If the spacing is wider, then maybe use blade type pickups (e.g. Joe Barden types) so that the difference isn't visually obvious.

[dave.king1]

Thanks for those thoughts Simon, all things I hadn't previously considered

@Marcel what bridge do you use ?

[Marcel]

The bridge that came with the TLA-12 kit.
Seems fine. Standard Tele spacing if you go by the bridge PU.

[dave.king1]

The bridge that came with the TLA-12 kit.
Seems fine. Standard Tele spacing if you go by the bridge PU.

Thanks Marcel

[FrankenWashie]

Now that I've got your attention, can someone out in PB land who has built one please advise the neck width at

The Nut
The 12th Fret
The Heel

I am talking to a guy who is going to knock a complete Tele for me in Carbon Fibre and the neck is moulded integral with the body so only the fretboard and truss rod are required.

The guy in question has made both 6 string acoustics and 6 string electrics some of which are on permanent loan to a certain very well known guitarist

If we pull this off I will certainly document it here as a build

This sounds epic. I'm just going to go an check my stock of popcorn.

[dave.king1]

Here's a little bit about the construction from the man himself.

The neck doesn't bolt on, it is moulded integral. That way, the shape of the body can be contoured to make playing the very high notes extremely easy.

Also, when looked at engineering wise, that joint is an area of big problems with flex. The loads on the two bolts that carry the main bending load are fairly high. This transitional area between the neck and body is one of the bits that was commented on quite a lot.* Also, by moulding the neck as one with the body, the acoustics and sound transmission of the neck and body are one, and not interrupted by the neck/body interface.

When building a carbon guitar, the engineering has to be viewed in a completely*different way to a wooden guitar.