Andy40's TLA-1R Build

Cheers mate. Was there much of a tint in the OS Final Coat or was it clear as I couldn't pick any difference or maybe it was that long ago that I can't remember?

Colder weather has it's challenges just like the heat & humidity in the height of summer too. Trying finish off my fretless neck project and almost get there on many occasions only to find a tiny spot where a final wet sanding had just gone through and lost count of how many touch ups and full re-applications of the CA glue used to finish it off. Not the most forgiving stuff I have ever used and hopefully will have that job nailed by the end of this weekend.

No matter what product we use for finish the common factor seems to be lots of patience is required between each layer and even more time before attempting final sanding and polishing, even more so as the temperature drops.

Yeah Waz, totally agree with your conclusion there about different types of finishes.

No there was no colour change with the DT final coat.

Reckon I got the knack of this Dingo tone final coat thingy.

So my updated technique works like a charm. If you wanted a satin/low gloss finish, you wouldn't even need to sand back or polish!

Laid another thin coat down last night, its dry, not cured. Given that it was pissing rain, shows that even if its pissing down rain and cold, the technique prevails.

Sorry pics slightly out of focus.

Attachment 12635

looks unreal Andy you have passed the Dingotone test with flying colours
Must be close to wiring and assembly ?

Love you still got a wood fired bbq in the background, can't beat them haha

Lol yep 70's house and inherited with that house. lol

Just got to wait the 21 days or so for it to fully cure. :D

Looking great Andy, so just to clarify, you are using the two rag process, wiping off the excess with a clean rag?
It will be interesting to see how his process works in the cold we are having here in Tassie at the moment.

Thats right Zandit. 'cept when i use the clean rag to wipe off the excess, I wrap the clean rag around an eraser (instead of my finger) which 1. takes off the excess and 2. smooths out any mirco runs in the finish. Mind you you don't need this process with any other of the DT coats except the finish.

With the clean rag I usually try to aim to wipe all of the DT off, which is near impossible as there will always be a thin film over the guitar. I reckon in cold weather you should aim to do ultra thin coats and more of them. the thinner the coat the faster it will dry in the colder weather and less likely it will stuff up.

Patience is a virtue.....I've only been working on this build since January!!!!! new PB of a 7 month build....

Looks like everyone has misjudged my Dingotoning skills.

After a about somewhere between 6 and 9 thin DT final coats and a further 21 days of curing time I managed to wet sand through the finish, the intensifier and stain coats in an attempt to level the finish. I only lightly used 600 grit and 1500 grit.

You cannot see how bad it is in the photo but you can get the idea.
Attachment 13033

I've had to restain it.

I'm not going to post anymore until I get this back on track. The depths of my dissappointedness knows no bounds.

Ouch....those coats must be thinner than TO's to go through that easy.

I reckon starting with 1500 for wet sanding is about the right grit level as even it can take off drastic amounts of finish if not too careful. On my fretless neck conversion I started off at 2000 every time and still went through in patches.

Must be a Tele thing as mine needs a few touch up's too and just ordered some more naughty oil from PBG less than an hour ago.

Hope this doesn't set you back for too long.

600 can be surprisingly bitey :( Thats a bummer Andy

Back on track.....watch this space!

Attachment 13203

Stop hiding the finish under artsy B&W photos Andy!!:p

Here she is....

Attachment 13204

Fan-bloody-tastic Andy! She looks a million bucks and well worth the 8 month pregnancy :eek:

Beautiful Andy, another one to add to the loungeroom!

looking very speccy Andy, you are damn lucky you live far enough away from the tele napper.
Have you done the 4 way switch mod ? electrics look flash !
Presume you have tonerider pups

Thanks Deddy, Zandit and Wokks. 8 months phew! I've never wanted a Tele so badly.

Yhep Tonerider hot classics, but just the standard 3 way switch wiring jobbie.

Got to intonate her this arvo and play for an hour or so. got a little bit of tweaking to do but shes got a beautiful voice.

Before you ask Wokks, shes finished with a thin coats of Tru-oil of the DT final coats. I realised that I was asking the DT final coats to do things that it is not designed to do...ie be thick. Next time I'll plan the finish a bit better.

Unreal Andy well worth all the time and patience. It has paid off

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Nice shot of the finished axe buddy. You showed a lot more patience and perseverance than most on this one. Well done.

Thanks Waz an Ponch.

I friggin love this tele.

workin out all the kinks though.

Can anyone tell me why my volume pot is sweet as (ie when i turn it up it gradually increases perfectly) but the tone pot does almost nothing until the last say 1/4 of a turn?

Its wired correctly ....maybe i chose the wrong pot although i ordered one audio taper and one linear?

You're running the linear pot for the tone, right? Switching it to an audio taper should help.

I reckon you probably have one of each kind where the volume is most likely an audio pot and the tone a linear pot.

Hope I got that the right way around as easiest way to describe it is one is more gradual across it's sweep whilst the other is more dramatic in the last third or quarter of the sweep.

Some store bought axes have one of each as when looking at pot values to help with a question for Dedman on what to use for P90's the Gibbo website had one of each and also differing values????

On all of my builds I used audio taper 250k for single coils and 500k for Humbuckers as they seem to work in a more manageable and useful way.

I think on the pots they may have some form of an identifying feature and seem to remember on the stock PBG ones the 'A' was audio and 'B' might have been linear and if using the pre wired Tele Control Plate bet this is how it has been set up. If you don't like it just swap it out for same value you are using on the volume pot.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WeirdBits

You're running the linear pot for the tone, right? Switching it to an audio taper should help.

---

I can't seem to tell the difference, so I need to make the tone an audio taper pot? Sorry im a bit confused.

Hi Andy, sounds like you need to install same type as volume pot for the tone pot. Did you use standard PBG's or ordered in CTS or Bourns?

You could always rob one from another of your other unfinished kits whilst waiting for a replacement part to arrive?

Thanks Waz. Yeah im usually ok with the standard PBG pots as they are marked A or B. These are gotohs and its first time ive used them.

Yep, the tone changes you're getting are what can happen with a linear pot in some configurations. The rate of change of the resistance is consistent across the entire sweep of the pot, so it doesn't change fast enough at the start (10) and too fast at the end (0)... the result is all your tone goes whooop at the very end. A log pot has a big change initially and then a small change at the end which, in my opinion, is better suited for the tone on a Tele (particularly if it is wired on the out of the volume vintage style rather than the in).

What markings, if any, are on your Gotoh tone pot? Could be back, side, pot face etc.

Thanks Weirdy. I can't see because I've soldered all over the back of the pot to earth wires. but needless to say, your description of how it acts is dead on. so I'll have to get an audio taper pot because i just can'[t get half the tones I want out of the tele.

Don't go anywhere Weirdy , I'll need you when i start wiring my SGD-612

Interestingly, today I changed the Gotoh tone pot with my standard PBG kit tone pot.

It fixed the issue, but the quality difference was noticeable. There was nothing wrong with the PBG kit tone pot, per se, but it was a bit scratchy and immediately the guitar lost some of the nice sound that came out. (not sure if theres more resistance in the PBG or not)

I had to change it back to the gotoh.

At least you now know which type Gotoh pot to order now to get a smoother tone control roll off.

Beautiful looking build, mate. Very classy looking. How do you apply your finish? Do you use an air sprayer?

Thanks Mitty. I used Tru Oil which is a wipe on finish. Its a very forgiving finish, but needs a lot of elbow grease.

I forgot to mention...thanks to wierdy...

got myself a Gotoh audio taper pot the other day...she's all wired up....ohhh man the tones!:eek:

Attachment 13623

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andy40

Here she is....

Attachment 13204

---

Looking awesome mate.

yep i like that nice job

just an awesome tele, very nice

Thanks Nitro, phoz and Stan.

Yep this is one awesome tele and just love the colour scheme.

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

Thanks Ponch much appreciated.

I've given this guitar a flogging over the last 3 months and I finally broke a string. Took the time to give her a clean and polish.

The Dingowax in the fretboard just buffed right up again, no need to re-apply.

Attachment 15623Attachment 15624

still looks as though you just finished building it or assembling it for the first time Andy, cool build