rob's TL--1 - Lyn #10

Hi again Guys,

I wasn’t too sure that I would even post a build diary for Lyn #10. I started this build over a month ago, and if it failed I was just going to keep schtum about it. But that’s a bit of a cop-out and by starting the diary I now have to finish it, one way or another. And if it is a “fail” maybe my experience will help someone else.

The project is on hold for now until I finish building a guitar for a friend, so this will probably be a slow build.

First off I have already built 2 TL’s so I wanted something a bit different for this one. I fell in love with the P90 pickup in my DC Jnr build so thought I would build this TL with a pair of P90’s.

My research ended up leading me down the path to La Cabronita Tele’s. They look so stripped back and cool, so I thought I’d give it a go.

To convert the standard TL kit body to suit a La Cab P90 I needed to reshape the routing for the pickups and do away with the front control plate route and rebate a rear access plate to the electrics. Easy huh.

So the project begins.

Fill in the control panel route? Easy peasy. Cut a small piece of ply and reshape the rebate and Bob’s your proverbial. Once done I just needed to extend the control panel route all the way through to the back of the guitar and make a new cover for the back. Done.

Pic 1. – Rebate the control panel to take new cover

Pic 2. – New control cover ready to fit.

Pic 3. – Cut the control access panel through to the back of the guitar and rebate for the new plastic cover

It was then that I started on the pickup routing. Seeing that I will be using P90’s I found that both the Bridge and the Neck routing was way too deep, and the wrong shape. Especially that stupid looking Bridge routing.

I don’t have a workshop or a router so the only solution I could think of was to make a couple of handmade “plugs” and glue them into the existing routing. I would be too embarrassed to tell you how long it took to do by hand but I think I now have them the right size to mount the P90’s properly.

Pic 1. Handmade “plugs” to fill the routing of the standard kit to take the P90’s.


Attachment 1809

Pic 2. – Glue plugs and control plate in position and apply WAY too much Timbermate
Attachment 1808


Pic 3. – Sand down till its smooth as.
Attachment 1812

So that’s it for now, should be starting again in a few weeks when I have finished #11

Cheers guys
Rob

Pic 1. Standard TL body
Attachment 1813
Pic 2. My “La Cab” P90 body.
Attachment 1814

So are you still going to drill through the control cavity to put the pots on top or hide them in the back?

Also, what finish?

Hi Nick,

No, nothing hidden. The single volume pot will be mounted on the front in the regular way. I will also have a Gibson style three-way switch on the front.

Finish? I'm going to have a go at veneering the top. If it works the finish will feature the veneer. If it sucks I guess I will have to paint it.

Cheers
rob

I like the way this is going Rob. Love your work.

PK

love the mods Robin, this will look very cool indeed. A pair of P90's should sound excellent. Love how you do all this stuff by hand. If you have the time to do it who cares how long it takes. The main thing is you are enjoying the build.
What sort of veneer are you going for ?

Very similar to something I have planned, so you're doing all the hard work for me ;) Looks great Rob, now hurry up and finish #11 so we can see this one progress further.

Thanks for the encouragement guys

@Paul
Don't get too excited Paul. I'm definitely out of my comfort zone with this one. Time will tell.

@Woks
I'm hoping that the P90's sound good. Unfortunately I can't afford to buy the quality of the one I put in the DC Jnr, but ToneRiders have always been good in the past, so I'm sure I wont be disappointed.

When I started this build I had nothing else to work on, so buying the veneer was top priority. As it turned out I could/should have been more patient and sourced something that I really liked. But all I could find at the time that struck my fancy was some Pimento burr. When it arrived all the good areas with the most figure were full of holes so I will only be able to use the boring parts. :/

This is pretty much a "proof of concept" project for me, so I started with a Plan B in mind. If all else fails, remove the veneer and try again. Great plan huh? But next time I will try and get me some of that flashy stripey flame or some purty quilted Mapley stuff.

@Scott
Pay close attention Scott. You may just find out what NOT to do. lol.

Cheers guys
rob

so you getting Tonerider P90's Rob ? they should sound fine.
Bummer about the veneer having holes in all the good grainy bits.
I can't wait to locate some nice quilted maple veneer, let me know if you track some down please Rob !