My First Build TL-1TB

Hey team,

Got my TL-1TB in the post the other day and am excited to get started on my first build. I’m definitely an amateur when it comes to this stuff - I’m expecting the build to challenge me and hopefully help develop better knowledge of the instrument I’ve been playing for so many years.

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First thing I did was to complete a mock build - upon doing this I found the neck did not fit snug into the pocket, so I didn’t continue with the mock. I’ve done some research and have found that it is best to sand down the pocket (not sure if it’s called the pocket) rather than the heel to make a snug fit. I have noticed that the heel does have a kind of corner on the ends rather than smooth curves to it - this is the reason it is not fitting snug. Is this corner normal or should I sand it to a curve that matches the pocket?
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Shows gap
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'The Corners'
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I’m also trying to decide on my finish. I like the natural wood look and like the dingotone options, however - no international shipping on these! So I might have a look at the TO option. Is this the only thing you use to finish or does it go with something else? More research needed!

I have gone with a maple fretboard - no idea how i'm going to finish this...

I’m also not sure, when doing mock build, do I fix my bigsby to the guitar or just use some clamps to keep it in place when checking Alignment?

Kia Ora Bro, Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your first kit!

Your neck heel corners, id give them a gentle sand to make them fit the corners of the pocket.

After that, you loosely clamp the neck in and use a couple of guide strings in place of the e's to along the neck to the bridge.
As the kit comes with a Tune O matic bridge your scale length is pretty much set for you, It should be 25.5 inches, Nut to Bridge saddle +/- 1/8th of an inch (647.7mm +/- 3.1mm) or there abouts. it will vary a bit due to the angle on the bridge and the eventual intonation set up. If that is all sweet, then you can loosely place the Bigsby and align the string slots to the bridge, then mark where it will attach.

There is a fair discussion on whether it is better to drill all your attachment holes prior to finishing or after, the general consensus is its up to what you are more comfortable with. I do it beforehand, because the through of doing it on a freshly finished body causes conniptions.
Doing it before means you can actually get the build into a playable (-ish) state before proceeding and potentially identify any serious issues before going too far.

Finish is completely personal, but you will need to seal that Maple board, else its gets grubby real quick from your fingers. You can do that with tru-oil or Poly or epoxy etc, its really up to you.
if you want the wood grain to show through, you can use a sanding sealer to get it flat and then just clear coat over it. Or if you've got some really cool grain structure, you can most the sealer or fillers and spray a poly over it. It will sink into the grain and leave you with the tactile feel of the grain under your fingers. Yours looks fairly flat, you might bring up some grain highlight with a contrasting skim coat of Timbermate, or it might stay pretty beige, again, its something that is up to you.

What ever you do, test test test before pulling the trigger on the actual body!

Once you've checked all your alignments, placements and angles, its time to SAND!

At any point if you need a hand or are confused by something, post it up and the Forum rescue crew will come a running...er...typing.

Best of luck with it!

Thanks FrankenWashie for the advice.

I think I have sorted out the neck - it is now fitting in the pocket OK after sanding the corners. Slotting it from a vertical position rather than sliding it also made a difference. There is still a small gap there but, looking at the forums, that seems OK. Some say the pick guard will will block the gap, but the one with this kit does not reach that area. I might look for one online, seems like there are a few options.

I put the strings on, after putting the bridge in positon using some masking tape - the scale came out spot on. The high e string was sitting just above the fretboard, but the low e (I used cotton in place) was slighlty touching the fretboard. I know that the saddles can be adusted so the strings clear the board - should I be worried about this low e not clearing the fetboard at this stage?

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I found a Telecaster template and used that - made the end slightly bigger.

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Used a jigsaw & sanded back - still a bit of sanding to do.

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Going to move onto the finish of the body - I have removed a few glue spots using a wire brush, have noticed a few issues with the grain at the bottom near the plastic (which I have taped up). Any suggestions on what to do here? I'm worried sanding this down will go below the plastic binding. I have bought some walnut wood filler - something I am planning on using before I get to Tru Oil. If I use this, will these bits at the bottom be highlighted with the walnut colour or will it fill it in...?

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