#3:TL - 1 Custom

After jumping in and ordering the Tl1 Custom order that went wrong last month, finally get a chance to unbox and have a look. Was a birthday present so only got hold of it on Tuesday.

plans for the moment are something like,
Attachment 21534

Mocking it up, the body is really clean no dings or marks that I can see at the moment,
Attachment 21535
Attachment 21536

Only concern is the neck pocket. haven't done a bolt on kit before but it does seem a bit lose, going to be a gap that needs filled. Normal?
Attachment 21537

This will be a slow one, got the Srat on the go which will be a bit of a test bed for my painting skills before I tackle this one, also plan on a lot of fender hardware which I will be buying piece by piece.

I used some copper shielding tape to tighten the neck pocket on the Strat build, worked a treat

interesting, you have to build up layers, or did one do it for you? Sounds like some experimenting will be required.

Visually, the pickguard should hide any gap - unless the pickguard and the end of the neck don't have the same shape.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rossc0

interesting, you have to build up layers, or did one do it for you? Sounds like some experimenting will be required.

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A couple of layers on each side gave a very firm fit, a case of add as required

So any hints about basswood, as its mentioned a few places that its quite soft. Will it take an orbital sander, or am i resigned to do it all by hand?

Hey Rossco, no drama use an orbital but be careful to keep it flat and run with the grain. I usually get machine marks from bottom edge with 120 grit, then go over with 180 and 240 grit, then do the rest by hand to about 320 grit

Cheers, sigh of relief...

But basswood is soft and will mark easily, so be very careful not to put your nicely sanded body down on a nut, screw or screwdriver etc. or you'll end up with a dent that you'll either need to steam out or sand out. So make sure that the work area is clear of all extraneous items and have a soft towel or blanket to rest the body on.

OK, after a bit of a delay finishing the Strat and moving my daughter to the UK :-( back to the tele. Got it all sanded to 320, about to hit it with the ebony timbermate to try and bring out the little grain there is. But before I do that wondering if anyone has any reasonably fool proof method of creating a constant(ish) radius rolled edge without a router?