HiddenGuitarist's TLA-1 and TLA-1R Builds

Hi all

I thought that I would start to get my ideas for these builds up to initiate some early feedback. I have bought two kits, with the intention of building two complementary fraternal-twin guitars. One is a standard TLA-1 (maple fretboard), the other a TLA-1R (rosewood fretboard), both being solid ash bodies. The intention is to finish them in the same Dingotone Black Stump stain/oil, use the same hardware (bridge, machine heads, control plate, etc), varying only a few aesthetics, choice of pickups and the switching/controls configuration.

Here's a mock up of what I have in mind generated using the Kisekae guitar modelling website:
TLA-1:
Attachment 13131
TLA-1R:
Attachment 13132

Here's what I currently have:
TLA-1:
Attachment 13133
TLA-1R:
Attachment 13134
The headstocks have been shaped by the boys at PBG using their Luthier Headstock Shaping service (look under Extras>Services on the website) to my design; not highly original, granted, but I think a nice blend of the two classic Fender shapes. Here's a close up:
Attachment 13135

I've yet to purchase the rest of the parts, but here's my shopping list:
Bridge: Gotoh GC201
Machine heads: Gotoh SG381
Everything else will be generally stock parts from Real Parts, nothing flash or unnecessarily complicated: pots, caps, control plate, jack, neck plate, etc. I'm intending to replace the nuts from the standard factory-issue plastic.

Regarding the machine heads, the manufacturer's dimensions show 10 mm diameter hole required for the shaft and bushings, but the holes in the kit are 10.5 mm (or the next imperial equivalent). Has any one encountered any issues with fitting standard metric sizes in their kits, or will this still fit comfortably?

The main decision still to make is regarding pickups. I want to do something a bit different, and given that the neck route on these kits is cut for a humbucker size, I was thinking of a mini humbucker (Firebird) pickup in one guitar and a gold foil-type pick up in the other (bridge pickups by necessity will be standard TC pickups to avoid having to make substantial mods beyond those typically required to accommodate the correct scale length). My current thinking is something like:
Guitar 1: bridge - Tonerider Vintage Plus, and neck - Kent Armstrong Mini Humbucker; 4-way switching (N only, N/B parallel, B only, N/B series) with standard master treble cut tone control and volume
Guitar 2: bridge - Tonerider Vintage Plus, and neck - Eastwood Airline Argyle; standard 3-way switching (N only, N/B parallel, B only) with standard master treble cut tone control and volume

Does anyone have any comments regarding these individual pickups and/or pairings, or suggestions on alternatives that I might consider? I'm struggling to find an 'affordable' gold foil pick up: they all seem to be made by boutique manufacturers in the US or UK with the price tag to match, so any suggestions welcomed. The Eastwood pickups are individually 'affordable' but the shipping and exchange rate add substantially to the cost.

That's all for now, I hope to have the planning wrapped up in the next couple of weeks so that I can start moving these builds forward once Spring arrives.

Rich

Interesting plans and like the look of the Kent Armstrong Mini Humbucker. Never heard of the other one before?

For tuning peg holes most aftermarket tuners seem to require 10.5mm holes anyway and on the one axe where such were fitted I had to gently drill out the extra diameter. This was done with the drill rotating in reverse to prevent it grabbing and tearing out more than required part way through the job.

I'm a big fan of Mike Brieley pickups from Adelade, there nor expensive and they sound great in my TL build.
I went for a five way switch, Gotoh tuners.
...

I love my tonerider vintage plus's great choice

Okay, so decisions have been made and some initial purchases made to let me get started on these builds. First off the blocks, I have decided on the following pickups:
Guitar 1: bridge - Tonerider Hot Classic, and neck - Kent Armstrong Mini Humbucker; and
Guitar 2: bridge - Tonerider Vintage Plus, and neck - GFS Gold Foil single coil with ferrite magnet in humbucker format, details here. For those interested in finding out more about this pickup and its sisters in the range, there is a forensic discussion at the Offset Guitars forum.

I've also bought one bridge and one set of machine heads (both as spec'ed above), as well as a neck plate and set of bushings, to check for fit to determine what, if any, mods I need to make, and to set the position of the bridge so that I can drill all of the required holes before getting started on the finishing.

First up, the bridge pick up rout is slightly too small (along the main diagonal) to accommodate the bridge pickup. There's only a few millimetres in it, so no major work required, but I'm not sure how best to tackle this. I don't have a router, so some combination of drills and files, and possibly a chisle, are likely to be the favoured approach, but any suggestions welcome. Below left image has a route template over the existing route; below right shows the bridge and pickup over the rout.
Attachment 14060 Attachment 14061

Initial indication is that the position of the bridge pickup route seems to be correct, but I;ll do a more refined measurement once I have the rout widened and can get the pickup in.

Machine heads are a good fit in the factory holes, so no issues, and the alignment is pretty good, with only a millimetre or so difference between positions of the E, B and e strings, and A, D and G strings.
Attachment 14062

I think most people have the tele bridge pick up won't fit issue. I used a small sanding drum in a cordless drill, it's not aggressive and a set of them isn't too expensive.
I like the sound of this and thanks for the links to the GF info

Thanks for the tip Dedman, with a newly-acquired Dremel rotary tool I was able to expand the routes in next to no time. I have also today round filed the corners of the neck to get a better fit in the neck pocket, and drilled pilot holes for the machine head fixings and the neck bolts in the neck.

Next weekend, I will hopefully have the time to measure the bridge set out, drill the fixing and string through holes, and maybe modify the pickguards to accommodate the larger neck pickups that I will be using. Then with all of the body mods out of the way, we can get into the fun part and start on the sanding and finishing :).

I'll post some more pictures next weekend, hopefully including a test fit of all of the main parts.

So, a little more work completed this weekend. I've modified the pickguards to suit the larger neck pickups being used in both guitars, and opened out the openings around the neck pocket where the profile wasn't quite right. Pilot holes for the pickguards fixing holes have been drilled, as have strap pin pilot holes. Bridge alignment has been checked and, thankfully, no further adjustment needed for bridge pickup placement. Bridge fixing screw hole positions have been marked out... but then, snookered. My drill press is not large enough to allow me to drill these and the string thru holes. If there's anyone out there in inner Melbourne with a suitable drill that you're willing to give me access to for an hour or so, please let me know ;).

Latest progress shots:
Neck pocket 1:
Attachment 14566
Attachment 14567
Neck pocket 2:
Attachment 14568
Attachment 14569
Attachment 14570

[More in next post]

Loose assembly 1:
Attachment 14571
Attachment 14572

Loose assembly 2:
Attachment 14573
Attachment 14574

Bu**er:
Attachment 14575

Damn HG...just out of reach. If you don't find anyone to help, check out my TLA-1R build diary to see my home remedy for drilling my string through. lots of practice makes it less scary.