TL-1HA first build

I wanted to do something along the lines of the 72 Deluxe Tele in a natural finish for my first build.

I actually started this a few weeks ago but just haven't had the chance to sit down and create the post until now. I'm not finished yet, so plenty of time for you to offer advice. Or laugh at my mistakes.

First step - a plan. Pffffff. No wait, there was one. Sort of. Look I really just had a vague idea and then went in all guns blazing.

Mock build. Didn't like the cream pup surrounds but other than that all looks good. Adam helped me out with a black set, but I may just mount them directly to the pickguard instead as it looks cleaner.

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Next headstock. I wanted the fatty 72 Deluxe style but the blank just doesn't have quite enough meat. I marked out both a standard looking Strat style and the Tele Deluxe. Then went at it with my jigsaw. This looks gruesome, but it's not hard to clean up. Oh, the templates were from that "Fenderheadstocks.pdf" I've seen referenced several times. I can send it to you if you like.

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The idea for the neck was to keep it real simple, but to give it a finish that would feel nice and still protect it. I found Chris with his Highline Guitars channel and liked this video

So with my BLO and some paper towell I put the first coat on

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I think I'll just do the fretboard in the same way, just not so many coats. The neck itself I have applied 3 coats now. And lastly I wet sanded it gently with 1200 grit in a mix of turps and BLO. It feels NICE but I'll show you that once I attach it to the body

It's looking good so far. I am doing the semi-hollow version of this kit. I went with a strat headstock on mine.

DC

Looks like it's coming along nicely!

Thanks all - keen to get this thing finished for two reasons. First so I can play it, and second so I can make anothery.

So moving to the body. My plan was a natural finish, but I still wanted to end up with a decent gloss finish. I decided to fill the grain and then use a wipe on poly approach. Again inspired partly by this youtube video.

I didn't want a dark grain, but I wanted something that would stand out a little. So when I mixed my Timber Mate with a little warm water I added some gold sparkly acrylic, and then for whatever reason (I thought it looked a bit pale and boring) I added about 3 drops of orange. It still looked pretty ordinary, but I figured there was only one way to find out how it would behave.

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So applying with a plastic scraper thingy I just basically smeared it all over the place. Let it dry for a few days and then rubbed it back with a damp cloth. It comes off really easy, and I actually thought I'd just removed it all. However once it dried and I gave it a really light sand (600) it felt very smooth and I couldn't feel any ridges.

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Colour? Didn't look any different really. Can't see any gold sparkly that's for sure. I guess I did rub it all off.

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OK so decided to go with a wipe-on poly approach and made my own tru oil. I went 56% turps, 33% poly and 11% (ish) boiled linseed oil. The poly I chose was the Monocel Clear Wood Varnish - ultra friggen gloss. Because why not. Looked like a nice dark honey, but of course not as thick in consistency.

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As soon as it hit the timber I loved the colour. It didn't bring out any of the gold sparkle I'd hoped to see from the wood filler and paint experiment, but I no longer care.

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The one thing that emphasizing the grain does is clarify whether the slabs align with the general axis of the guitar. In my case, sadly this is not the case. Oh well. Next step - keep layering the wipe-on

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Managed to get the neck on over the weekend, and brought it inside for the first time to meet the family.

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Looking really good!

Yes, looking good.

Curious how you're finding the home-brew "tru-oil".
How many coats per day have you been able to get on?
What's your drying time between coats?
And lastly, how many coats total do you have on that last photo?

I only ask because I tried a different "recipe" (equal parts all) and I got nowhere near the performance of genuine Tru Oil.
I mucked around with ratios and still wasn't happy. I even tried adding a little naptha as a drying agent.

Cheers,
Mick

Hi Mick,

I did 3 coats with the same ratios - one per day then left it for a week. The weather got cold so it put me back a bit but I think the extra time is a good thing for this stuff.
Then I gave it a really light rub back with 1200 grit. As light as it was, I still exposed the edges which didn't really surprise me as the coats are really thin.
So the next 3 coats I did were more a 50/50 mix of turps and poly. Just a few drops of Boiled Linseed Oil for colour, since I was happy with the darkness as it was.
These coats were thicker and went off faster so I had to work quickly. Also the weather wasn't the best so it took me another week to get them on.
That's it, only 6 coats. I'm happy with the finish (although I'm sure a good polish would snooth it out more) but I just want to get on and build so I can play. I figure I can always pull it apart and do more body work later if I want.
I've not used tru-oil so can't make a comparison. But the good thing about DIY recipe is you can just make enough to use on the day. (I was only making around 20ml once I figured it out)

Scott

That's looking so nice. I've been looking at my KO tele the last few days thinking I want to strip it back and add a new finish. Something like this is very tempting.

Yeah it's kind of that American Pro Shawbucker look... I dig it too. And having faffed about with this enough I'd be happy to strip it back later and re-finish or even paint it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RagingBull

Yeah it's kind of that American Pro Shawbucker look... I dig it too. And having faffed about with this enough I'd be happy to strip it back later and re-finish or even paint it.

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Know what you mean about pulling them apart.
I have refinished a few of mine multiple times after plying them for a year or so. Great fun!!


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More photos required!
Bridge and tuning machines fitted. I forgot to take a photo of the fishing line I ran from the tuner holes down through the nut slots and taped to the end of the body. I used that to align my bridge position, and measured the 12th fret then again to the leading edge of saddles.

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Next I prepped for the soldering. Quickly realised my 20W soldering iron was just not hot enough, so pulled the pin after this stage and bought an 80W the next day!

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...and just as well I stopped there as I realised (as you may have) that I'd neglected to shield my cavities!

Missing the shielding is not the end of the world with humbuckers, but if you are going to do it, it never does any harm and it can help in a really electrically noisy environment. Just beware of signal connections accidentally grounding on the shielding, so its always best to stick some insulation tape over the top under pots and switches.

OK so last night I soldered like a badada (Bad News anyone?) and then tonight I managed to finish it off and plug it in to my headphone amp and test it. Pickups working in unison and in isolation as per the 3-way switch. No hum. No tick. I have to say I was very surprised considering I broke one wire off when fitting the pots to the pickguard.

Anyway, found some old strings and put a few on. It even plays OK! Very happy so far. Hopefully this weekend I can screw everything into place and then setup neck, saddles and intonation.

Oh one question for those still reading. The pots have a little lug on them that seems to prevent them mounting flush up under the pickguard. Did I miss something? Do these have to be bent out of the way, or are they meant to fit into a little hole somewhere so they keep the pot from turning around? (the latter would make more sense)

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Thats beautiful man


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Really nice work nice and clean, very tastefully done. Between this one and the GoTM runner up I want to build another Tele!

I normally just break those pot lugs off with pliers. You could drill a small indent hole for them if you want (some pickguards have a hole by each pot hole location for this purpose), but if the pot is loose enough to rotate when you turn it, then it's too loose anyway and will need tightening.

They are useful if fitting a pot in a tight location (for the pot body) so it's hard to grip to stop it turning when doing up the external nut, as the lug stops the pot rotating so it can be tightened just from the top. But it really is redundant in most guitar-based applications.

They snap off easily with a couple of back-and-forth movements.

I always snap the lugs off pots. In all my tinkering I haven't encountered anything that had the alignment hole for them. As well as holding the pot in place, they can also make sure the pot is in the right orientation. This is most helpful with chamfered pot shafts (the ones with the D profile) as the knobs only fit in one orientation and you need the knob marking to be in the right place.

Edit: I know I said "this is most helpful", but I should have said "I imagine this is most helpful", 'cause I haven't had anything with the holes. But I have used those types of knobs and it is a minor nuisance to get them to stay lined up right, so I imagine the alignment lug might help with that.

Thanks all that is really helpful and nice feedback.
The lugs are getting the chop then!

OK first thing today was to remove those little lugs from the pots, trying not to break anything else in the process.
Got that done, then fitted and screwed the pickguard and intput jack.
Then realised I hadn't removed the plastic film (there are 2 layers!) so carefully undid the switch and each controler then did them all back up again.

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Happy with that. Then onto the headstock decal. I decided to stay honest to the guitar's heritage and I think it came up nice.

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Short-lived though because I only want a single string tree and it was always going to go right over my logo. Function before fashion. Still looks pretty sharp I reckon. This time I remembered to get a photo of how I marked the position relative to strings.

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Next was to add strap knobs and string it up. And before I knew it I was done!

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Looks really really good!

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Some final glamour shots. I also tuned it up and played it. I'm absolutely gobsmacked just how nice it feels and sounds. No hum, not fret buzz, and the response from the volume and tone controllers all works as expected.
I think the thing that makes it so special is that I did it myself. OK... with a bit of help from the forum and Adam's wonderful videos!

FIN

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Nicely done! Congratulations on your first build, and thanks for sharing your info on the DIY tru oil. I may have to revisit the idea.

How do you like that Artist LP? I've been tempted a few times to try some of their other models.

Hi McCreed - decent for the money. I got mine several years ago when I was first getting back into guitar. I'm a bit of an Ace Frehley fan so wanted a cherry burst LP but just couldn't spring for an Epiphone or Tokai (let alone the real thing). Other than the binding and plastics yellowing a little over time, it's a great guitar and I've never had any issues with it. Sounds great too! Yet to wire some pyro into the neck pup cavity, but you don't rush these things.

Looks great