My First Build - TLA-1Q! Hoping to build a Tuff-Dog Tele

Hi All,

I just received my beautiful TLA-1Q kit in the mail. My goal is to build a tuff-dog Tele. The top looks beautiful so I am excited. Wish me luck!

Pete

So, I have started my mock build and it is looking great with the possible exception of the bridge position. It appears to be about 1/4 inch too far back. Will I need to route it closer? I will be using a tough dog pic guard so it won't be obvious if I don't reroute, but I don't think the string length will be right. I measured from the nut to the 12th fret and it was exactly 12". I measured from the 12th to the bridge and it was 12" to the front of the gold plate of the bridge. Is that correct?

Questions:
1. Do I need to reroute?
2. Does the neck look good? It is very tight in the pocket.

A gap between scratch plate and bridge plate is usual, so that's not a worry.

I've attached a couple of photos of my JV Japanese Telecaster with the rule up against the nut. Hopefully that's a reasonable guide. Its a home built scratchplate BTW, so not a perfect guide to how the scratchplate should look.

That is a great help! Thank you!

As Jim says, there is normally a small gap between the bridge plate and the pickguard. Just search the web for images of Fender Teles and you'll find that it's part of the general design. The control plate butts right up to the 'guard, but the bridge sits off a bit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brandanop

I measured from the nut to the 12th fret and it was exactly 12". I measured from the 12th to the bridge and it was 12" to the front of the gold plate of the bridge. Is that correct?

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That's very incorrect, as the scale length is 25.5", so the 12th fret should be very close to 12.75" from the nut. Make sure you haven't measured to the 11th fret (on my Tele the 11th is just slightly under 12" from the nut). It's best to use a solid rule (as in Jim's pics) rather than a tape measure.

You are then better off measuring from the nut to the top E saddle for the overall scale length. Your pictures show the B/E saddle in the correct position for measuring the scale length. Measure from right by the top E slot to the middle of the top E string saddle. The intonated string length will be slightly longer than the scale length by 1mm or so.

Sometimes the Tele kits do benefit from some slight enlargement of the bridge pickup rout, but it's normally only by a maximum 2mm or so, and can normally be done using a sanding drum on a Dremel.

I re-measured and it seems right on! Thanks for this help again Simon! You are awesome.

So, I made some progress today. I did a mock build and validated the length and neck fit. I dyed the face gold after dyeing it brown and sanding back. I also cut the headstock by hand and then sanded it.
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brandanop,
Love the gold top. I am building something similar (see my build log).
I have stained the finish on mine but am interested as to what stains and technique you used.
Also interested as to what the back looks like.
I had a lot of fun staining mine but have ended up with a brown guitar which was not my intention haha.
However, the more I look at it the more I like it.
However, my second one will be more like I intend it to be :)
Cheers, Fatboy.

Hey Fatboy,

Thanks! I hope it still looks good when I do the nitro. My process so far is that I used 1/4 tsp of brown Keda dye in 5oz of isopropyl rubbing alcohol and 1oz of hot water. I used a cut up t-shirt to apply the brown dye to the veneer. It dries quick and about 15 mins later I very lightly sanded the super thin veneer until it lighted up a bit. I didn’t sand much at all. A few hours later, I used 1/4 tsp of yellow Keda dye in 7oz of rubbing alcohol and 1oz of hot water (a little more dilute than the brown). I used a new clean t-shirt to apply the yellow. I did not wipe or sand it off. That is it! Next, I plan to use black lacquer to paint the burst and the sides and back. After that I will spray with Mohawk Clear Stringed Instrument lacquer.

Geeeeezzzz. That looks good. Do you see the face down the middle where the veneer joins? RotoTok had a spectacular example of such a feature. Ask me (which you didn’t), I’m happy with right now.

Thanks Dark Mark! I didn’t notice the face until you said it. That is so cool! Part of me wants to just leave it as-is, but I don’t like the glue marks around the edge. I want to cover those.

Fair enough, I wasn’t sure if it was glue or not. You won’t be able to not notice the face now, shame I it will be covered by the bridge

I have been updating my guitar finishing thread daily, but neglecting this one. Just in case it helps others, I am going to add this update to my progress. I am still working on finishing the body and neck before I move on to the final build. Here is my progress so far.

Here are pictures of the posterboard mask I made. I used screws to lift it 1/4in above the guitar body to allow for the burst. I sprayed down and slightly toward the middle of the guitar to get the overspray into the gap in the mask. It came out better than I expected. I used encore brown lacquer from Mohawk to get the look.
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Not bad so far!

Today I cleaned up the binding so that I can continue to spray 3 more coats of Nitro clear coat later. I will do 3 more tomorrow and then let it cure for 2 weeks before final sanding and buffing.
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Here is the custom headstock decal I made. I am not psyched about the way they wrinkled when I sprayed the nitro.
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The pic below is the latest and current state.
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Did you make the decal? You'd need to clear it with the nitro, that wrinkling is a reaction with what ever clear was sprayed over the decal.

Looks to me like the decal is applied to raw wood.
It should go on at least one coat of clear to properly adhere.

cheers, Mark.

Yeah I think you might be right, that would give a similar result.

I did make it. I only sprayed with Nitro, but it was wet with water when I sprayed. Letting it dry out made it curl. I think Mark nailed it, I put it on raw wood. It is now under 8 coats of Nitro so I may live with it until it drives me crazy and then fix it.

Final coat of nitro lacquer is on! Now to wait... This wait may kill me. lol.
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This is why you buy and start another kit guitar, to fill in the gaps when waiting!

Finished! Final pics at this thread: https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...t=10067&page=4

I love the warm golden colour you got on this!

I think I will name her Impatience :)