My first build. Dial to 11. TL-1

Off to a good start. I ordered my rig on Friday arvo and it arrived on Tuesday with emails from Pitbull and Australia Post telling me where things were up to. Compliments to Pitbull and Australia Post, 10 out of 10 for ordering and delivery experience.

Box was robustly packed and sealed. George Harrison knows if everything is in there...
Attachment 10218Attachment 10219

I know nothing about guitar construction but the tuner holes look like they were drilled by Freddy Kruger.
Attachment 10220

Excited but as nervous as a very small nun at a penguin shoot. If I don't screw this up I will be amazed.

Take your time. ask alot of questions, you will be fine..

Juddernaut ask any questions you have in this build diary, the forum will guide you and you will end up with a cool looking and sounding axe

I'm on the final stages of a Tele kit, my first kit. Read loads of build diaries on here , when you do hit a snag you will have already read about how to move forward. If not , just ask, the blokes here know how to remedy anything short of someone running off with your kit.

Welcome Judders. TL-1 is a great first kit. Of course Tele's rule :cool: enjoy

I'm in the finishing stages of my STA-1M Strat build, the guys have been awesome at helping me out with my build, don't ever be afraid to ask for advice if you hit a snag during your build process, we are all here to help.


My next build is going to be a TL-51 Ash Body 51 Telecaster kit, looking forward to doing the order.

Yes the tuner hole for the D string looks out of place. You will need to see what it looks like with the tuners in to decide if you want to plug and re-drill.

Thanks Fretworn. Is it simply a cosmetic thing or will it affect playability?

Another dumb question. I think I have a maple neck with maple fretboard. The fretboard and neck have black dots painted on. If I sand the neck I assume the black dots will come off. Am I supposed to sand the neck and fretboard?

Hi Judders,

Headstock Tuners
In my humble opinion, my wonky tuner hole on the headstock of my ST-1 does not, in any way affect the playability of my guitar. But I am far from a professional guitarist or musician. Just a guy who was in a band once that now enjoys playing with the headphones on.

It doesn't really ruin the aesthetics of you use the PBG tuners. If you go for vintage style tuners (with square backs) they wont align.

The intonation of the TL-1 that may be put out by the wonky tuner hole could easily be rectified by the saddle.

That being said, there are some guys on the forum that do not like wonky holes, have used a maple off cut from the headstock shaping process, filled the current tuner holes, put a veneer over the headstock (or painted it solid) and re-drilled straight.

Fretboard question

No dumb questions mate, we've all had our first builds and we're all learning one way or another.

You shouldn't need to sand the fret board unless there's some damage there.

Its not likely that you will sand the plastic fret markers off. They go down a fair way. If you sanded them off you'd have not much fretboard left.

Have a look at some of the piccys on Brendan's tutorial about replacing the plastic inlays and you'll see how thick they are.

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=2584

No actual build progress. I am mulling a few things over but I have bought some goodies.

Interested to know if anyone has seen the "3rd hand" jig. Might be handy to hold soldering iron if nothing else
Attachment 10363

Attachment 10364

nice collection mate

the helping hand is invaluable. Nice choice :)

http://www.ebay.com.au/bhp/soldering-third-hand

Hi judders,

May I make a suggestion. As its a tele kit and you have your soldering tools. you should be able to put everything together (as the kit is pre-drilled). You can also fit the pick ups and solder all electrics, string her up and give her a strum....raw.... The kit is very easy to de-solder and strip back down (say within 1/2 hour).

I found this technique really valuable on my TLA-1R build for four main reasons:-
1. You can see it all fitting together and figure out what you like and don't like;
2. If you come across and major/minor difficulties or parts of the body/neck you need to modify, you can address those before you start the finish;
3. you get more practice at putting it together, setting the guitar up, intonating and are less likely to scratch/dent the finish with your rad new skillz;

and lastly...

4. It gives you the patience needed to do a good job on the finish. A lot of first timers (me included) have at one time or another rushed the build because you can't wait to her her sing. Once you've already strung her up and had a play for as long as you want, you can then say, now its time to get down to business.

You have this advantage because you have a tele build, you can't do this with other kits as you need to finish the guitar first.

My last build took me 5 months (and I had a lot of time over xmas) and it was rushed a bit. My tele build is going to take longer, because i am not going to rush the finish.

Mate ...just a suggestion, no need to do that, its all up to you, but have fun.:D

Hey juddernaught,

Great kit you have chosen. You gotta love a tele! Everyone's advice has been spot one. Just take it step by step and ask a lot of questions. Guaranteed you'll love the guitar that comes out the other end! The fretboard will simply need some conditioning at the end of the build - some Dr Ducks axe wax or Dingotone guitar wax. If you decide to fill and re-drill that wonky tuner hole, the fill will be almost covered by the tuner itself as there is only a mm or so adjustment required by the looks of it.. Personally I never worry but I'm always in too much of a hurry ;).

Enjoy your build and keep us all up to date with your progress!

cheers,
Gav.

Thanks for advice guys. I have the beast laid out on the granny flat kitchen bench as I mull things over. One thing I am u sure of is how the bridge pup is attached to the bridge plate. I can't find pics or diagram anywhere but I have what appear to be three unaccounted for screws and springs so I assume they are part of the solution.

At this stage my thoughts are to follow Andy 40s advice and stick it all together, test, dissemble, finish and reassemble. 1st step would be to screw pup to bridge pickup and position neck.


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Judder, I had the same question about how to attach the bridge pup. There are 3 screw holes around the pup cutout in the bridge. Put a bolt through each of the holes in the bridge, put a spring on the bolt, then thread the bolt onto the pup. By doing that you can control the height of the pup by turning the bolt - clockwise to raise, counter-clockwise to lower - the spring compression will keep things from unwanted movement.

Peter is spot on Judders. I tried to find a photo, but i didn't have one. soz but i think you get the idea.

Wonky nut.
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...a2c05406cc.jpg

Measures as parallel to the first fret but looks way wrong to the shape of the neck. I assume this is cosmetic and that I could sand or file it parallel?

The screws for the tuners are tiny. Anyone know what drill bit size to get? Tried self-tapping but that ain't gonna fly

Wonky Nut

Wonky nut? Whoah, it looks like some sort of eye illusion. I cannot tell from the photo whether the nut is completely parallel with the first fret and the fretboard transition to the headstock is on an angle, or the other way around!

Could you please check that the nut measurement is the same distance from the first fret all the way along the length of the nut?

If nut measurement is the same distance from first fret, I think you only have a cosmetic problem with the fretboard transition, I would PM DB for a fix. My best guess is that it may be fixed by taking some material off to straighten the transition, or fashioning a bit of maple off cut from your headstock to fit on top of the transition glueing it, and re shaping the transition with a rasp, file and grades of sandpaper.

However, I am no expert, check with the others first (just and idea)

If nut measurement is not the same distance from first fret, you can make a maple shim from off cut from your headstock to glue into the nut channel, sand and shape to fretboard radius with a bit of sand paper double sided tape to an eraser, then measure, and mark and re-saw the nut slot (if you have the tools).

Screws

Are you just drilling the screw holes for the tuner screws? or did you snap one off?

I think I use a 1/16 drill bit size for mine, but I just check by holing the screw behind the drill bit to see if the thread sticks out.

If you snapped on off, there are no easy answers. I still have a snapped screw in one of my tuners of my ST-1 :(

Thanks Andy. I had already checked distance to first fret along the length of the nut and it is consistent. Therefore, I assume it will play ok.
I haven't broken a screw yet and hope not to break one. I will get 1/16 drill bit.


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Thats a relief Judders. Phew! I'd be surprised if it didn't play ok. You just have to deal with the aesthetics.

Don't completely quote me on the 1/16 as I only had imperial and i think the screw measurement is metric. probably just take the screw down with you to the hardware and measure it against the drill bits till you get one thats the right size. If you're like me take your glasses.

Attachment 10895

To me it looks like the transition from the nut to head-stock is wonky. If the distance from the fret side of the nut to the first fret is the same across the board I would tidy up the head-stock side of the transition to straighten it up a bit.

1.5mm drill bit for the tuner screws. The good news is a got the tuners on. The bad news is as I suspected; the holes are all over the shop.

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...1b31a77504.jpg

Will see how it plays



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Judders, it probably looks worse as the headstock isn't shaped and its rare that all the tuner heads are lined up like that.

Cut your headstock shape and put the tuners on in a random position and think you will be surprised I doubt you will notice the mis-alignment as much

Is this neck pocket snug enough?

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...aaeb8720b4.jpg

At widest point a thin business card can sneak in

Good to see you have the drill bit sorted.
I always smear a tiny bit of wax on the end of the thread to help drive without snappage...

With the nut end of the fingerboard, if as pointed out the nut is parallel to frets it is simply a job for a half round rasp and sandpaper.

Neck pocket has a little wriggle room to help get neck to bridge line up spot on.

Oh, and hows the weather in Canberra?
Bloody freezing no doubt... I really dont miss Canberra winters 😃

Used wax from one of missus' candles.

Record warm temperatures for this time of year in Canberra. It will get absolutely freezing soon and lasts for six months. Dreading it.


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Tell me about it... spent 15 years in Canberra and never got used to the winters there..
Living right next to lake Ginninderra probably didn't help.....

15 years of Canberra winters is punishment DB. I know its a beautiful place but since the V8 supercars haven't raced there in 14 years I don't see any attraction plus too many pollies !

EDIT congrats on over 4000 posts DB, you are the 2nd biggest forum poster !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

15 years of Canberra winters is punishment DB. I know its a beautiful place but since the V8 supercars haven't raced there in 14 years I don't see any attraction plus too many pollies !

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even fly fishing for trout does not attract me to live there

hey Andy, maybe DB should open an eastern states Naughty Warehouse and have it in Canberra, that should be enough punishment to not want to go there haha

Is this right way? Does it make any difference if it is upside down?

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...d92b7ab0c2.jpg

Looking at back of pick guard

Probably not as the wires will get caught up in the end of the neck.

Most of the Tele's have the neck PU route so big it is ridiculous yet the positioning of the neck PUP is very, very close to end of the fret board hence why the wires need to come out of the back. I was luck with the Wilkinson PUP's I used as they had their name stamped on them and that was a big hint as to which was the right way around.

Hey Judders, rotate the neck pup 180 degrees as Waz says and the wire will have a clear path and a shorter path back to the control cavity

I know this is for a strat and I have a tele but can I confirm that my tuning pegs are not staggered and any tuner can go in any position?

Confirmed.