AJs TL-1

[AJ]

thought, oh well time to start a build diary for this beast.
I started off by sanding etc etc and laid a stain down on the body, but was not happy with it as at the top edge in the bottom of the cutaway , the join of the pieces of wood showed through the staining ( the body must have been routed just off center in the factory, so change of plan was in order. Would have gone the timber mate route if I had realized before I'd started. It now been done in shiny black. Have not decided whether to do some art work on the body and a modified pick guard, will make that decision before I do the clear coatings.

leveled the frets and redressed, removed the plastic nut, ready to make up a bone nut from the blank material I have. Shaped the headstock and got the second coat of wood tone gloss on. I used fret juice on the fretboard as I think that will be better in the long run and easier to maintain. Going for a natural finish on the neck, once again a change from my original thoughts of aged yellow.


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[Andyport]

Bit of a bugger about the fault in the body timber, but I'm sure the black will look good.
Especially if its like the level of finish you got on your LP.
Like you said, you can always do something with the pick guard or a bit of artwork to tissey her up.
Working all that out is the fun part!

[AJ]

The mods are going to be the pick ups. self wound and a 4 way switch.
I have done a reasonable amount of reading re winding pick ups, all seems as clear as mud atm , so wont know till I have done it and it worked or not. The plan is to wind them to ~9000 turns in 42 gauge and maybe get resistance values to ~ 8k. From the research I have done so far, most early teli's were wound in 42 gauge then there was a change to 43 gauge for the neck pups. All's I have is 42 gauge (.063mm or ~ 30 thou)
Any guidance/tips/suggestions for amount of winds will be appreciated.

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Andyport on November 11, 2013, 20:31
Bit of a bugger about the fault in the body timber, but I'm sure the black will look good.
Especially if its like the level of finish you got on your LP.
Like you said, you can always do something with the pick guard or a bit of artwork to tissey her up.
Working all that out is the fun part!
Hi Andy
The possibilities are endless there with the arty work..pin striping. oriental, mexican, 60's flower power.. etc.

I came across some swatch samples in that green store the other day.(flooring products isle), $1 per sample sheet and it is phenolic laminate good sizes just big enough to make good solid pick guards from. It can be machined or hand sawn if careful. Also if you don't like the shiny wood grain finishes, they can be painted to what every you like :)

[Andyport]

My 21 yr old daughter gave me a Dremel for fathers day this year.
Reckon that would be really handy for shaping a pick guard.
I think Dan has made custom pick guards the current word on every ones lips at the moment.

[AJ]

They are extremely handy little creatures, and if you get the router attachment, the saw attachment etc (too many to name then all) you will marvel at what those little critters can do!

[SIMpleONe89]

Does the router attachment for the dremel actually work in routing deep holes like pickup cavities?

[wokkaboy]

I have a dremel trio with routing bit and tried to route out a pickup cavity of a strat shape scratch build and the motor got too hot and burnt out. Thankfully the big green building replaced the dremel. I wouldn't recommend big routing jobs for a dremel, they are designed for smaller jobs.
It would be fine for small jobs like making a pup route bigger to accommodate a larger pickup. Depth would be about 25 or 30mm from the plate but I'd have to check that.

[Gavin1393]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from SIMpleONe89 on November 13, 2013, 13:21
Does the router attachment for the dremel actually work in routing deep holes like pickup cavities?
No! shaft is way to thin!

[lawry]

/<\\/p>[/<\\/p>[/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/]<\\/p>/]<\\/p>/Quote from AJ on November 11, 2013, 20:31
Any guidance/tips/suggestions for amount of winds will be appreciated.
Hey AJ,
Several years ago I (over)wound a couple of pickups for a mate who wanted some super hot ones. In the end they sounded like crap (to me) but he loved them. So my advice is... Go for it! It's not difficult and you can get a sound that is yours alone.
So, to the winds. For an average pickup (if there is such a beastie) try 5000 turns with reasonable tension. If you want it hotter, add more. If you are winding a humbucker, make sure you wind in opposite directions on each bobbin and you do the same number of turns on each.

[AJ]

Ty for that info Lawry, I actually bit the bullet today and found that 1. I need to modify my winder counter as the pups were magnetized and that triggered double counting, and 2. talc on the pinkies makes it a semi breeze to not hold the wire to tight as it will break quicker than the tax man can rip your money off of you..lol

Got a little bit done today with the Telecaster build, on the electronics side of things. A while ago I built a coil winder for the purpose of winding guitar pickup to my own flavor.
So today was my first attempt at winding pickups from kits I purchased, sorta a mixed result, but think I will get the hang of it soon enough. Also need to modify the counter sender unit in the winder as it was double counting as the extra magnets in the pups actually triggered the counter.
Overall I was reasonably satisfied with my first attempt.
DC resistance for the neck came out at 6k, and for the bridge it came out close to what I was after at 7.8k
Just need to pot these in wax now to finish them off, maybe do that tomorrow.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/12dxn-DSCF1378.JPG
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[AJ]

And some more pickies of them
I used woolen yarn as the wrap-around protection for the bridge pup and stewmac tape for the neck one.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/8wgb8-DSCF1383.JPG
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[gavinturner]

Looks like a job well done AJ. Very interested so see how they sound!

cheers,
Gavin.

[lawry]

That's excellent AJ. Love your setup! I too am very interested to hear how they sound. Well done.

[wokkaboy]

yes well done AJ, I'm very interested how your own wired pickups sound. If they sound good I'd be keen to buy a set of 3 singles for a strat if you are making enough to sell !

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from wokkaboy on November 14, 2013, 15:01
yes well done AJ, I'm very interested how your own wired pickups sound. If they sound good I'd be keen to buy a set of 3 singles for a strat if you are making enough to sell !

I need to get the winder to read the correct turns with magnetized pic ups mounted to it first, so then I can keep records of builds etc, then I'd be more than happy to help out you guys here with custom winds etc.
It reads correctly when doing non-magnetized pups. My thoughts are to go away from the read sensor to may be a photo interrupter type of counting trigger. I need some help there in understanding the way to work out the resistance etc as the meter is a no voltage read circuit and would need the interrupter to just open and close a a set of contacts to generate the pulses in the meter. Maybe lawry may be able to guide me in that area?

I decided not to tart up the Tl body with gilding so I just finished off wet sanding it to 3k and a quick hand buff with some polish.

Quick question to the wood tone guru's... can it be wet sanded to 3k? and then polished with automotive polish?

the body came up reasonable.. quite a lot of reflections are showing in the pickies



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[lawry]

Wow AJ, the shine on that axe is intense. As for an opto circuit, I'm happy to draw one for you and post it for all. Can you tell me what your counter input needs for triggering?

[pablopepper]

Damn AJ, nice work. Perfect piano black.

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from lawry on November 15, 2013, 16:34
Wow AJ, the shine on that axe is intense. As for an opto circuit, I'm happy to draw one for you and post it for all. Can you tell me what your counter input needs for triggering?

I'm thinking of using the Jay car one http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ZD1901 and the JDm11-5h accumulative counter is a no voltage counter, so all that is needed is to close the circuit between pins 1 and 2 of the meter to get it to count. At the moment I have a reed switch connected to pins 1 and 2 of the meter that is "NO" till activated by the magnet on the back of the rotating arm of the winder .


http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/89nvp-Rough-cc-dia.jpg

[WeirdBits]

Have you tried just extending the bobbin mount board out another couple of cm's, like with a spacer and another board? Perhaps that would be enough to stop the slug magnets from triggering the reed switch.

[Gavin1393]

AJ, the reed switch and magnet should be at the outer edge of the bobbin. That way you keep the magnets from interfereing with the count.

[robin]

Wow AJ, the finish on that Tele is immaculate. Well done.

And a good job on those pickups. I wonder if Kinman started off the same way?

rob

[lawry]

Hi AJ.
I agree with Scott and Gavin. It would be much easier to modify the placement of your sensor.
Also, you could try shielding the reed from the bobbin holder by attaching a thin piece of iron sheet to the outer face of it.
This would act like a sort of keeper and short circuit the magnetic flux a bit (this is starting to sound like something off Back To The Future).
I'm still happy to draw up a schematic for you but will need a bit more info about your counter if you want to go down that path.
So, if you don't want to give the shielding or sensor placement options a go first, let me know.
Cheers

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from lawry on November 16, 2013, 07:04
Hi AJ.
I agree with Scott and Gavin. It would be much easier to modify the placement of your sensor.
Also, you could try shielding the reed from the bobbin holder by attaching a thin piece of iron sheet to the outer face of it.
This would act like a sort of keeper and short circuit the magnetic flux a bit (this is starting to sound like something off Back To The Future).
I'm still happy to draw up a schematic for you but will need a bit more info about your counter if you want to go down that path.
So, if you don't want to give the shielding or sensor placement options a go first, let me know.
Cheers

I will try the moving of the reed sensor first also make a slightly larger mounting arm to assist in making the activating magnet further out. (the cheapest option).
Just to clear up what I was thinking re the interrupter, I have drawn a rough idea circuit, what had me perplexed was the required resistors 1 an 2, and also what sort of micro relay or ic to use that is capable of operating in the mA range with it. The counter only needs to have it's circuit opened and closed to count as the rest of that magic happens within it's internal circuit.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/5efib-Idea.jpg

[AJ]

excuse the rough drawing as windose paint makes it difficult to make a relay etc look correct...

[lawry]

Hi AJ,
I have had a bit of a search on the internet but can't find any specific data on your counter from the model number I can read on the front. However, the info I did glean says that it can use a switch or voltage input, so this is my suggestion as a first try if you want to pursue this line (it doesn't need a relay). Firstly, resistor R1 is needed to limit the current to the LED inside the opto device and stop it from blowing up. If you are using 5 Volts then a 150 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistor will be fine. As for the opto output, just connect it directly to the counter's input as shown because I think that the electronics inside the counter will be as I have drawn it (or similar). If it doesn't work just reverse the wires going into the counter. Also, the Jaycar data sheet doesn't actually say if the transistor in the opto device is NPN or PNP so I can't give you any more specifics there. With the voltages and currents associated with this setup I don't think anything is going to be destroyed if you connect it back to front. Note that the LED must be the correct way round of course or it won't trigger the phototransistor inside. Have fun!
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/017ww-image.jpg

[AJ]

Disaster strikes.. got a little impatient and put the guitar together to tryout the self wound pups.. well you guessed it... I dropped it. So had to strip off all the paint etc etc.. and tried the suggestion of Andy with the paste (watered down timber-mate, and I used a 50/50 ratio of water/metho to thin the timber-mate, it worked reasonably well). So for the interim, I have tried to stain it with golden teak with plain teak back and sides. Have 1 coat of clear on it now but if not completely happy will go back to shinny black. As for the pups, they sounded good to me, but then I am partly deaf.. :D

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[AJ]

Have a bug in the first coat..free loader.. (second picture)

[wokkaboy]

that looks awesome AJ, is this an alder body ? grain looks too nice for basswood. You have done well to strip it all back and get to this level so quickly. Was there much damage from dropping the body ?

[lawry]

Hey AJ. The depth in your finish is brilliant. Looks like it's a centimeter deep. Beautiful.

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from wokkaboy on November 22, 2013, 13:20
that looks awesome AJ, is this an alder body ? grain looks too nice for basswood. You have done well to strip it all back and get to this level so quickly. Was there much damage from dropping the body ?

It's Basswood wokka, and was a good sized dent with too much mucking around to get it back to match the rest. So I stripped it right back.

Lawry, I generally add a bit of the color coating to the clear (like a very minor tint), by doing that, it gives depth to the initial few top coats (I also sand between these coats). The cut back final coating will be plain clear. The free loading bug has been "eliminated" now.

[wokkaboy]

WOW AJ I'm amazed at the grain in the basswood, I'm excited about starting my thinline Tele this weekend. I couldn't see the dent in the photos, with any luck its on the back of the axe ?

[Gavin1393]

Sounds like you need an anti-virus there AJ....too many bugs and crashes!

[lawry]

LOL, Gav

[wokkaboy]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Gavin1393 on November 22, 2013, 15:47
Sounds like you need an anti-virus there AJ....too many bugs and crashes!

haha well said Gav, thats a ripper. Never seen antivirus for a guitar, we must discuss further in the naughty corner us 3 seem to have spent the most time there !

[Gavin1393]

Good idea Wokka, but this time you will need to carry the beers from the fridge....I'm a bit worried about AJ's slippery hands.....

[wokkaboy]

sounds good Gav, all that practice at the 4D workshop should be a piece of cake !

[robin]

Wow AJ, that looks amazing. Love the colours. And glad the Pups worked OK :)

rob

[lawry]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from robin on November 23, 2013, 06:00
Wow AJ, that looks amazing. Love the colours. And glad the Pups worked OK :)

rob

Yeah. Really keen to hear the tones you get from the pups AJ!

[AJ]

ty for all the good words guys, think I have the body finish to where I'm satisfied with it,( warts n all). tis now cut back and polished by hand. have fitted the string ferrules and strap buttons, tomorrow will look at possibly making a pick guard from a sample bit of laminate. It is just a bees knee too narrow to make a full guard, but will see how it pans out

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[AJ]

this is the item I am thinking of using for a pick guard.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/wz0g4-DSCF1414.JPG

[gavinturner]

AJ, your finish looks superb. The cut and polish looks just awesome! Gat job.

Cheers,
Gav.

[WeirdBits]

You should warn us to wear shades before we look at that finish AJ, blindingly glossy... fantastic.

[lawry]

Agreed. That is will make a pretty swanky pick guard.

[Fretworn]

Dang! That's gonna be pretty!

[wokkaboy]

yes AJ pickguard material looks great and the gloss level is almost blinding. How are you achieving this gloss, what are you using ?

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from wokkaboy on November 27, 2013, 10:42
yes AJ pickguard material looks great and the gloss level is almost blinding. How are you achieving this gloss, what are you using ?

Was a failure with the laminate.. And my dremel spat the dummy, hand saw with super fine cutting blade (48 tpi) kept chipping the laminate. :( So for time being, it will have the standard plain Jane white one...
Am wet sanding to 3000 grit before hand cutting/buffing with McGuire #2 (non silicon) polish, does make a difference going to the higher grit, it is almost polished after the wet sanding by using the higher grades.. if I could get my mitts on some 6k grit, there would be no need to polish at all.

Guitar is 99% finished and is playable now, just some more fine adjustment to get intonation spot on. The Bone nut I made for it will need to be redone as I tried to make it black.. bad idea at the time..Now it just looks like a nut that is over 50 years old.

Mods to the guitar were: home wound pickups from kits purchased from real tone, Wilkinson compensated bridge with through body strings, orange 47 cap and 4 way switch mod.
No headstock decal for now, maybe do one for it at a later date. Will get some photos tomorrow when the rain stops.

[wokkaboy]

sounds awesome AJ, can't wait to see pics of the almost complete build. Amazing what you can still achieve in the naughty corner AJ ! haha

[stan]

Terrific work AJ, is that a printed laminate or a timber laminate?

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from stan on November 28, 2013, 17:02
Terrific work AJ, is that a printed laminate or a timber laminate?

It's the standard printed paper impregnated with Phenolic resin (I used to make the resin at Borden chemicals after I retired from the RAAF)

Also bit of info, was looking for a reverb thingy for the amp on Ebay, and come across a store that was very helpful. (cept I had a grandpa moment and forgot to turn on the mobile for the fella to ring me back... DOH!) any ways long story short version: I returned his call and got a chatting to him, he has a normal web site , is a guitarist himself and has a good discount on his normal website, specially if you give him a ring. If you are chasing that hard to get part etc, and it is not on his webpages, there is a good chance he has it , or can point you in the right direction. his website is : http://mrfabulous.com.au
( I in the mean time bought one of them behringer units for $60 else wheres... Bummer..)

[stan]

Great idea for the pick guard, must be a way to cut it nicely... I am an ex RAAF photographer , was in for 8 years

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from stan on November 29, 2013, 12:27
Great idea for the pick guard, must be a way to cut it nicely... I am an ex RAAF photographer , was in for 8 years
Great to meet up with ex service fella's Stan, I was in the MT trade, ever posted to laverton? I spent a good 6 years there, also 6 at Point cook, along with a naughty few years in support command (did a lot of trips up north-ish from Sup-com.)
Generally, laminate is reasonably easy to trim/ cut to size, then sand/ rout to final shape..I must have gotten a crappy reject sample.
A rough-ish picture of the finished tele:
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/u9420-DSCF1417.JPG

[Fretworn]

Very pretty.

[AJ]

I ended up making a scratch plate from 2 mm 5 ply, and did a little gilding on it, not too sure if I like my name how I did it. so it may be coming off. What the thoughts.. make it plain? ( not attached on yet, just have it sitting in possy), apart from that I reckon I've got it finished now.

[AJ]

I have the pictures here as I dont seem to be able to post them atm.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1412230099014835&set=pcb.1412230365681475&type=1&relevant_count=3

[jarrod]

Dam that looks hot AJ

[Andyport]

That looks superb AJ...a really top job.
Congrats,
Andy

[keloooe]

Yup, stick with it, looks wonders AJ!!!

[wokkaboy]

awesome AJ, love the brown scratchplate, stick with it, when the website stabilises (I've been having trouble uploading pics too) keen to see some more closeups. You may need to bolt it down from the tele napper !

[lawry]

Had a look at the pics on your Facebook page and, personally, I think you should keep the scratchplate how it is. It looks great AJ.

[AJ]

ty for the kind words guys, will leave i like it is now and have screwed it down, so technically the TL is finished :)
Now I have the scratch body bug.. after viewing the efforts by some of the other blokes. Dammit! ( I was going to make a new body for the old cort, so that will be the justification to the ministry of war n finances..((smirking now I have a reason to build again))

[maxaxe]

Had a look at the pics on your Facebook page and, personally, I think you should keep the scratchplate how it is. It looks great AJ.

Yeah, I agree. The wood pickguard is distinctive and goes so nicely with the whole thing.
Top job.

[gavinturner]

Facebook photos look sensational AJ. Pickguard is perfect!

Cheers,
Gav.

[stan]

Looks great AJ

I spent most of my time at Laverton at Central Photographic Establishment, from '86 to about '94

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/]<\\/p>/Quote from stan on December 6, 2013, 19:05
Looks great AJ

I spent most of my time at Laverton at Central Photographic Establishment, from '86 to about '94

Cool, I was there in that period, Was in charge of Intermediate Level Maintenance Section - airfield specialist equipment (the P4's and all the GP fire vehicles, generators, aircon units for the aircraft etc and refueling trucks and the the loaders/ un-loaders.) was also the president of the laverton RC Aero - modeling modeling club there. Your mob sent me a picture of my self and my two young sons with one of my models on the airfield.
here an old site that I made on optus many many moons ago.. and have the picture there:
http://members.optusnet.com.au/ajohns/Welcome.htm
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/g843n-OLbessie-.JPG

[AJ]

This is a very old picture that was taken by the RAAF photographic unit at the RAAF Laverton airfield. I was prepping the old bird with the aid of my pit crew, (Left to right - my sons, Justin and Matthew). Matthew has only recently taken up the sport and is learning to fly. A bit of history here... um, when this picture was taken, the club was then called "RAAF Laverton Model Aero club". I was the club pres at that time. Since then the Laverton and Point Cook bases have been amalgamated and renamed to RAAF Williams, Laverton, and, Point Cook Bases. I was part of the team that helped during the process. I retired from the RAAF in 1992, and let my membership of the club lapse for a few years. I am now a current member of the RAAF Williams Club... (different name, same place!).-

** I dont fly RC any more due to slow repsonse and lots of meds to keep the ticker going..:(