TeleStrat dubious record attempt

I understand your position better now. I didn't realise (or forgot) that bass is your main instrument, so can see how you'd be torn over the investment in files.

The DIY feeler gauge nut files do work, but making them (properly) is time consuming. However, you only have to do it once.
You can probably get where you need to be by working with both the nozzle cleaners and modified feeler gauges. (rough in with feeler gauge, clean up with nozzle reamer)

As for top or bottom of nut, really either is fine. It's more personal preference as well as what the end goal is. If you have a nut that's too high but already has perfectly cut string slots, it may make more sense to take off material from the bottom, whether radiused or flat.

Thanks! I am also a cheapskate. But I am pretty sure that if I botch this with the feeler gauges and nozzle cleaners, I'll be back shopping for the best price I can get on Hosco or other files.

Took a detour because only after I had the pickguard installed and strung the guitar up to begin setup, did I realize that I really should have tested the electronics first....

My travails with the 4-way rotary switch that changes the Humbucking/single-coil states are documented elsewhere. That was last night and this morning's adventure.

Earlier this week I realized that I had a problem with the Tele 3-way blade switch. On the neck setting the bridge pickup worked. On the bridge setting the neck pickup worked. On the middle setting *nothing* worked. Clearly this was the fiendish work of Dyslexia Man, my alter ego.

I had wired the switch backward and crosswise. My brain (not kidding about the dyslexia) may be wired similarly. As a result incorrect did not look that different than correct wiring to me. This why I meticulously color code and chart out my wiring diagrams. Once I had figured out and charted how the switch should actually look, it did not take long to put it in. In the process I also noticed that I had put in the cheap Tele switch copy I got as a "tester" rather than the Oak Grigsby that I intended to put in...so swapped that out as well as re-wired the switch.

As long as I was doing all this, I also took off the neck and fixed a little paint issue. There was just enough space where the neck and body come together on the "south" side of the neck that you could see where the paint ended on the neck rout, so I added a little color there.

I'll put the neck back on in a few hours and...hopefully...begin the set up.

While the neck and strings were on and I was getting something from the pickups I managed to play the guitar's first cord. It won't be playable without some work yet, but it was still cool to hear it's voice for the first time.

Hooray!

Progress is progress, even if you have to take a few steps back on the journey to do so.

I have badmouthed Warmoth a number of times, but I have to give them their due on the neck they sold me back in the 1980s. When I went ran my rocker up and down the neck to find out how much fret leveling I would need to do...the answer was none. the frets were all perfectly level. Also, they were crowned and polished beautifully. The neck and fingerboard are also bird's eye maple with no skunk stripe. I'll try to get pics that do it justice when I am done.

I managed to crack the finish a bit under when I put the string retainers on, but they cover it up, so I will live with that. Also wish I had strung it up before putting on the decals. It's not terrible, but I'd orient them a bit differently if I had it to do again. The only way to fix that now would be to paint the headstock like the body and re-finish the top with a new decal. Not doing that--at least not any time soon.

I strung up the guitar (I guess I can call it that now), and adjusted the truss rod and the height at the bridge. I tuned to an open E and tried some tone caps, finally settling on a .033 uF. Then drilled the final two holds for the jack plate and closed it up.

The strings are WAY too high at the nut. I have been dreading fixing that, so it was not hard to leave this part for last. I started to sand the bottom of the nut, and suddenly saw the wisdom of what Simon and McCreed have been trying to tell me about cutting down from the nut slots.

I did not buy nut files, but will go back to considering it if I kill this nut. It's natural colored, whereas my bone blanks are white, which will go well the pickguard if this goes poorly, I tell myself. I cut some teeth into feeler gauges as I have seen done on YouTube. Completely went through two Dremel cut off wheels in the process.

I'd be crossing my fingers for this last part, but it's too hard to hold my improvised nut-saw-feeler-gauge when I do.

Just cut the slot for the high E string. The top of the string dropped from the top of the nut (or just slightly under) to 2.5mm from the top of the nut. Not sure why the blank was so high.

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Just cut the slot for the high E string. The top of the string dropped from the top of the nut (or just slightly under) to 2.5mm from the top of the nut. Not sure why the blank was so high.

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The slots cut in replacement nuts are primarily there as guide for the string-to-string spacing. There's no universal set depth because it can vary from instrument to instrument.

Even the production guitars from Fender or Gibson will cut them higher than optimum as a workable, but safe, depth.
It's a lot easier to adjust the slots down than come up. (via either filling, shimming or replacing)

Did an initial setup. The serrated feeler gauges work to make the nut slots, but are slow. Took me two days working a little at a time. Still need to sand down the top of the nut, polish and glue it. That said the guitar is playable and I could not resist the pic.

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Originally Posted by McCreed

Just for fun, I've posted one of my Strato-Tele below.

Attachment 34232

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Couldn't resist taking a pic, tho. I had purchased the paint before seeing the "Stato Tele". I got the case for it in 1987. So the similarities are coincidental, if striking





Attachment 37326

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One question... The grub screws for adjusting the saddle hight are sort of sharp and cut into my palm when I rest it there. What do real Strat players do about that (if anything)?

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Looks great!
Don't know if you mentioned it already but, what is the control set up with the 3 pots? Master volume plus tone for each pickup?

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The grub screws for adjusting the saddle height are sort of sharp and cut into my palm when I rest it there. What do real Strat players do about that (if anything)?

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There's a couple of remedies for this. One is simply buying shorter grub screws. The other is cutting down the long ones.
My method has always been shorter grub screws, but if you decide to shorten the existing ones, you can do it with a dremel and cut-off wheel. Just cut from the "bottom" end and round off the cut end a bit either with a file or use the dremel wheel like a grinder.

Note: if you buy new ones and the bridge is an "import" model (metric) the screws will be M3. If it's MIA (imperial) they'll likely be either #4-40 or #4-48 thread.