Ben's new Build - TLA-1

Hi Guys,

My name is Ben, I'm a Carpenter and part time guitar player from Brisbane. My best mate bought me the TLA - 1 kit for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I'm really excited to get started and learn the inner workings on how electric guitars come together, as I sure most of you probably found out on your first build. I can't believe I have never come across this before and after reading through the forum I'm already thinking of my second, third and forth build!

So...down to my build, I'm not in a massive hurry, I'd rather get it right and have to put a bit of time into it. I plan to start sanding over the next few weeks.
I'm looking to go for a classic 50's Telecaster finish in a classic white blonde (more white than yellow) similar to the picture attached. So my first question is can anyone point me in the right direction as to achieving this finish? I want the colour, gloss, still transparent so I can see the grain but smooth at the same time(no texture - do I grain fill for this?).

Secondly, what do I coat the neck in to tint it slightly darker than as it comes out of the box but not too yellow.

Let me know if I'm biting off too much for my first build.
I hope I'm not being too picky! :s

Thanks for your help in advance!

Hi Ben,
As I'm sure you know, ash has a huge grain depth, so you will need to fill the grain somehow. I have used feast Watson sanding sealer, but you will need a lot of coats to be able to sand it to a complete flat finish.
Translucent white? Sorry no idea, but let me know when you find out 😋

Welcome Ben! If you are going for a translucent white, you’ll need to fill and sand smooth, then maybe use a tinted lacquer to get the see through white you’re after.

https://www.guitaraust.com.au/finish...s-aerosol.html

The blonde white might be what you are looking for. Never used this stuff myself, so I hesitate to recommend, but I have bought from the site multiple times with no issues.

Looks like a good product, nice find!

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Originally Posted by Bennyrad

Hi Guys,

My name is Ben, I'm a Carpenter and part time guitar player from Brisbane. My best mate bought me the TLA - 1 kit for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I'm really excited to get started and learn the inner workings on how electric guitars come together, as I sure most of you probably found out on your first build. I can't believe I have never come across this before and after reading through the forum I'm already thinking of my second, third and forth build!

So...down to my build, I'm not in a massive hurry, I'd rather get it right and have to put a bit of time into it. I plan to start sanding over the next few weeks.
I'm looking to go for a classic 50's Telecaster finish in a classic white blonde (more white than yellow) similar to the picture attached. So my first question is can anyone point me in the right direction as to achieving this finish? I want the colour, gloss, still transparent so I can see the grain but smooth at the same time(no texture - do I grain fill for this?).

Secondly, what do I coat the neck in to tint it slightly darker than as it comes out of the box but not too yellow.

Let me know if I'm biting off too much for my first build.
I hope I'm not being too picky! :s

Thanks for your help in advance!

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Welcome Benny be careful its as addictive as ice once you start you cant stop before you know it you need a new room to stick them in lol

Awesome, thanks for the tips guys! Fretworn looks like a great page, I'm digging the White blonde (cc038) and the butterscotch(cc039), but being lacquer it's likely to yellow more with age from what I can read, so the white blonde is probably the go. I could see the green emerald looking pretty good too with a mint green scratch....oh god! I'll save that for the next one.
You're not wrong phrozin, addicted!

I'm going to start sanding this weekend.

Ben

Hi Ben, welcome and good luck with your first one.