First Build - TLA-1

[NTS]

Hey folks,

Picked up my first kit yesterday. One of the perks of living in Perth is that it was only a 4 hour turn around from ordering to having it in my hands, which is phenomenal! Starting off (hopefully) simple with a TLA-1 kit.

My original motivation to build a kit was to learn more about the nitty gritty of guitars - set-up & wiring etc, without doing anything disastrous to my current guitars (Maton MS2000 electric and Tanglewood acoustic). Since then, I've spent way too much time reading through the posts here and watching luthier videos on Youtube, and am really looking forward to putting this together.

I have upgraded the pickups to Tonerider Hot Classics, and gone with black hardware. I was planning to make a couple of other mods including elbow and belly carves, contouring the neck heel and replacing the neck plate with bushings, mainly all for comfort. Now I just need the guts to actually do it.

I did a dry fit this morning. The scale lengths seems good with saddles in a neutral position. The tuner holes are in a straight line. The neck fits the body well. The joint is almost tight enough to lift the body on its own. A couple of issues however:
1. The tonerider bridge pup doesn't fit the bridge cavity
2. The bridge cavity needs to be brought forward I think for the bridge to fit snug against the pickguard (will depend on the scale length though obviously but it appears that it should still be OK)
3. The holes for the neck screws do not align with the neck plate, and are slightly skewed relative to the centreline. Hopefully changing to bushings will not be as noticeable.

So it seems i will need to do a bit of work around the bridge pickup cavity, which I think has been a common problem with the TL kits judging other posts. I will do a glue check tomorrow, but there doesn't seem be any other issues with the joints.

A couple of questions for anyone that may have done this:
1. How much material would be safe to take off the neck heel? I will be staining the guitar and I don't want any glue lines visible, so I can't fill the existing hole and glue it. Therefore i was thinking I should cut out the entire top left screw hole. I would also like to carve the neck itself so that it matches a bit better and is a bit more comfortable.
2. What is the best way of finding the body centreline? Fit the neck and run a line from the centreline of the neck?





Anyway, sorry for the wall of text. Now I guess I just have to start!

[FrankenWashie]

Hiya NTS, congrats on starting your build and good to see you are thinking really clearly about what you want to do.

1. What you’ve drawn for the neck heel should be fine, it’s a similar thing done by many to strats and Teles. You can reshape the neck transition to suit but be careful about thinning it too much.
2. A method I have used is to measure across the waist, measure across the widest points of the front bout and the rear bout and divide each individual measurement by 2. Plot each of these on their respective line, and then run a straight edge between these three points, theoretically this should be the Center line of the body.
A method to find the centerline of the body relative to the neck; clamp the neck securely. Run a straight edge along either side of the neck and mark along the straight edge, do the same as the previous method and pick a couple of points (bridge and at the end of the neck pocket, then measure between the marked lines and divide that measurement by two to give you a theoretical Center relative to the neck. This may also show up any discrepancies between neck line and the routing of your pup positions etc.

Hope this helps! Enjoy your build and if you strike any issue just throw up some more pics and your questions.

[WeirdBits]

There are some neck pocket reshaping, hole plugging and ferrule mod images in a couple of my threads, maybe they’ll give you some ideas: ST-1 ferrules and TL-1TB pocket reshaping etc

[DarkMark]

Good to see another local member starting their first build. I like the sound of your vision for your instrument. You’ll certainly learn a lot as you go, before I started I had only ever adjusted a volume knob, tone knob and the tuning (if you were lucky). Enjoy the trials and the triumphs of the journey. Lot of people out there with advice.

[wazkelly]

Hi NTS and welcome to the forum.

"The bridge cavity needs to be brought forward I think for the bridge to fit snug against the pickguard (will depend on the scale length though obviously but it appears that it should still be OK)"

Be careful here as whilst you may want it to look neat and tidy scale length is far more important. Yes, the bridge PUP cavity is too small for a Tonerider upgrade and suggest gently sanding it out and towards the neck to help provide a bit more room to move the bridge plate to achieve correct scale length. About 5 mm forwards seems to be the common amount required. Be careful on side to side as there isn't much bridge plate overhang to cover the cavity.

Cheers, Waz

[FrankenWashie]

Good to see another local member starting their first build. I like the sound of your vision for your instrument. You’ll certainly learn a lot as you go, before I started I had only ever adjusted a volume knob, tone knob and the tuning (if you were lucky). Enjoy the trials and the triumphs of the journey. Lot of people out there with advice.

What is this "Tuning" you speak of? ;P

[DarkMark]

What is this "Tuning" you speak of? ;P

Lol, I found this definition, I almost expected to see a photo of me accompanying it.
“tuning
ˈtjuːnɪŋ/Submit
noun
the action or process of tuning something.
"an electronic instrument requires no tuning"
the extent to which a musical instrument, performance, or ensemble is in tune.
"at times the tuning is uncertain, and the solos often lack conviction".
Sorry, NTS, you can have your build diary back now.

[NTS]

Thanks for the advice guys. I have made decent progress since last weekend. Carved the belly and elbow cuts, extended the pickup cavity, shaped the headstock and sanded the body to 240. It's been really enjoyable so far. After the first cut with the rasp its been very relaxing!

Started with the stain today. I was originally going to do a solid black stain on the back and sides, with a blue stain on the front. However, I am going to try a burst on the back with the stains, and if that works will do the same on the front. If it doesn't come out how I want can always go back to the original plan.

[DarkMark]

what is the solvent in your stains? I recommend practicing a burst on some sanded scrap wood before you attempt it on your guitar. Even then the result may be different due to the differing woods, but a worthwhile exercise. Also consider how application of clear coats will effect the stain. Wazkelly suggested a paint on method for the first clear coats for me which turned out ok. I’d suggest taking a look at my ES5V first build diary pages 4 onwards. Good luck!

[wazkelly]

With no defined edges it may be hard to prevent stain bleed if trying to do the front different to sides and back.