Embarrassing admission....Happy Number 38 guitar to me.

I had some good news and a good outcome this week. So I have lashed out and bought a Tele guitar kit to build just for me.

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...ic-guitar-kit/

I have added the upgrade locking grover mini tuners, a bone nut, all chrome hardware, with a maple fretboard.

And a neck and Bridge set of these.....

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...bridge-nickel/

Real Parts order has been done.....

2 x 500K mini CTS pots, 1 x 0.0223uf orange drop cap, oak Grigsby three position switch, switchcraft jack socket, recessed electro socket chrome jack socket hardware, chrome control cover with USA thread holes, chrome strap locks.

Embarrassing to say I left and didn't go too far. Amazing what your life and your head can do to you at times. I can't do without my building fix.

Somewhere on the finished guitars page is a series of photos of a build by DingoBass of a Tele with a mix of orange and yellow/amber. I think I will try something like that.

So Humbucker sized P90 pickups and a bigsby on a tele semi-hollow body......nice.

I am thinking that I may go to the big green shed and check out the satin finish of the Cabots spray poly. I think that stuff is great for me to use. Paint not so much, the oil and stain finishes I can do.....the colour with a spray poly finish will be as close to paint I will ever get.

I am sorry I ran away so quickly when the world got tough for me. It is nice to be back. :)

Glad to have you back Ozzie. And #38 just for you? I can't think of a better reason to get back to it. And your plans for the newie sound great.

I left it way too long to get back into building and I am still suffering from it.

Cheers
rob

Bro, sometimes you just gotta bail on it. I think most of us have been there in one way or another.😉
good to see you back, looking forward to your Tele!

I feel pretty silly...but thanks for the welcome.

Admission time..... I have PTSD from a misspent youth...in a good way...I saw some horrible things and now at 57 they haunt me. In the past year they have turned me inside out.

Until I let "The Black Dog" gain control of me and stop me from having hands on with building guitars and basses I did not fully understand what this means to me. It is my safe place. The feel of the wood, the smells, the finesse in fitting that part just so into place.

The support here is immense. This forum is way better than two zoloft per day.

Thank you from all of us who need you guys and girls out there. This is a safe place to be, and I can't wait until Adam ships my new weapon of mental health relief.

Merry Xmas to you all....and may your builds be completely enjoyable and as challenging as you wish them to be. :)

Looking forward to seeing you get into it.

Nothing better than getting your hands dirty and creating to shake off anxiety and depression. I can relate the to Zoloft comment, that stuff robbed me of the good as well as the bad.

Like Frankie says a lot of us here have dealt with varying degrees of these issues, there's no shame in it, life can be really hard. I'm thankful for how wholesome and supportive this community is. It's a breath of fresh air in an increasingly murky online world.

@Frankie, Ozz and Sonic

Amen!

Yeah to all of the above brothers!!!!!


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Thanks for sharing ozzbike - looking forward to seeing the progress on your thinline - I made my first scratch build, which was a thinline style, (using old pine wall studs for the back, and King Billy Pine for the top), with the help of a mate. I am about to receive a GR-1SF kit and the learning curve will be good for me on this one.
Getting a bit creative is great therapy for everyone, particularly us old fellas!

Thanks Ozz.
That took great courage and inner strength!

Welcome Back.

Looking forward to the build.
Cheers
Ricky

Your kind words make me very humble, thanks guys.

The Black Dog took away my sleep last night. Wonder what will happen when you get a Real Parts delivery late in the afternoon and then don't sleep???

Da Da.....we have a wiring harness. Sorry weirdy, this time I am going to see if I can actually get an oak-grigsby to work from a diagram....not that I am averse to left field suggestions for later use. :) :)

But finished at 0325am this morning the semi-hollow body Bigsby gifted Tele wiring harness sans the pickups.

So laying in bed at 0217am today and I have an ah ha moment. I forgot the treble bleed in the wiring harness. Fire up the soldering iron and da da we have what I hope is the finished item. :)

Hi Ozzie, you can't keep a good man down! Always enjoy checking out what you are up to. Truly inspirational for all of us.

Here's to many hours of productive fun.

Cheers, Waz

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

Hi Ozzie, you can't keep a good man down! Always enjoy checking out what you are up to. Truly inspirational for all of us.

Here's to many hours of productive fun.

Cheers, Waz

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Thanks Waz,

No inspiration...just a fruit cake trying to keep one foot moving forward in front of the other. :)

That’s great news you are back building..👍
When you say number 38 and this one is for you. What do you do with your guitar builds Ozz?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rodc

That’s great news you are back building..👍
When you say number 38 and this one is for you. What do you do with your guitar builds Ozz?

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I will have 38 at the end of this one here with me. I have made over 50 now...family and friends.
What got me to come back...was that I had started going back over my older, less played guitars and trying to make them better.

It is like keeping your children’s early drawings from school, and then trying to turn them into a masterpiece later on.

I decided that I enjoy the challenge of the whole package of building a Bass or Guitar, not just the repair or upgrade work.

The sanding, staining or painting and finishing, plus make the complete wiring harness...then putting it all together and doing a very playable setup and using the guitar is what I need to do.

I don’t drink, don’t smoke and most women are way to complicated for me....this is my vice.

I play every day. I have over 3000 songs on Rocksmith 2014 remastered and a series of favourite playlists within that...mainly from the 70’s.

I keep them dust free, waxed, fingerboard oiled and tuned. 🎸🎶✌️

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ozzbike

I will have 38 at the end of this one here with me. I have made over 50 now...family and friends.
What got me to come back...was that I had started going back over my older, less played guitars and trying to make them better.

It is like keeping your children’s early drawings from school, and then trying to turn them into a masterpiece later on.

I decided that I enjoy the challenge of the whole package of building a Bass or Guitar, not just the repair or upgrade work.

The sanding, staining or painting and finishing, plus make the complete wiring harness...then putting it all together and doing a very playable setup and using the guitar is what I need to do.

I don’t drink, don’t smoke and most women are way to complicated for me....this is my vice.

I play every day. I have over 3000 songs on Rocksmith 2014 remastered and a series of favourite playlists within that...mainly from the 70’s.

I keep them dust free, waxed, fingerboard oiled and tuned. [emoji450][emoji445][emoji3577]

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Youre a cool dude


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Olisam,

Thanks for the nice words.

I would think that I am more just a little bit nuts.

This is the one with a maple board, bone nut and Tonerider Rebel 90 pickups. Aussie Post hints that it may arrive tomorrow. :)

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...ic-guitar-kit/

You are an eager beaver, wiring 9/10th done before you’ve even received your kit. Look forward to see what finish you’ve got in mind. I’m sure those pickups are going to sound pretty good.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DarkMark

You are an eager beaver, wiring 9/10th done before you’ve even received your kit. Look forward to see what finish you’ve got in mind. I’m sure those pickups are going to sound pretty good.

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Mark, you have hit straight to the heart of the issue. The wiring harness came as Real Parts are just up the road from me and their stuff gets here quick. So yes keen, got it done and just needs pickups now.

The colour scheme has me pondering things. The body has a single binding on the top edge. I have considered trying a faux natural binding on the back edge of the body. I intend to try and roll over the edge by hand with sanding. I have been thinking about measuring and marking 4mm lines on the side of the edge and on the back.....then sanding the wood down flat in between the two lines all the way round. Then roll the two edges over with sand paper again.

I am just going to get a few guitars I have with round over edges and line up two straight edges and see how far I need to mark the lines back on each side. I don't know if 4mm either side will make the right size rounded over edge.

I have some gloss water based wipe on poly....and a couple of little water colour paint brushes. After the edge has been rolled over I will tape the edges and then paint on about six coats of the water based poly.

I intend to use alcohol based proof tint stains all over the body. This should help stop bleed through into the taped off edge areas.

I am thinking to use a Maple colour on top of the body.....the sides the Golden Teak colour....and maybe an Oak colour on the back of the body.

The colours available are here.........

https://feastwatson.com.au/products/...ain/prooftint/

I think I will use timber mate...presently liking the colouring from the cedar/blackwood variety....all over the body and on the headstock and rear of the neck. I think that I will try a different decal method on the headstock.....the quality clear parcel tape over a laser printed decal method.....and then use some aerosol cabots gloss polyurethane to seal it in. I am thinking that I may use some satin/semi-gloss polyurethane on the back of the neck.

The last build I did with the zebra wood veneer introduced me to the benefits of CA glue. I am really tempted to repeat that on the body.....and either polish that to a nice gloss finish...or spray gloss poly over the top.

My parcel postie will be busy but he stays out each day until he delivers all his stuff...so I could get my guitar at 8.00 p.m. tonight.

I have also consider returning to my norm of oil and waxed finishes. Same colour scheme and losing the faux binding on the back of the body......but I would keep the gloss headstock and satin back of the neck.

I have a long busy day tomorrow....so I think I will just get to have a look tonight and she will have to wait until later in the week.

I have to admit that I am pretty keen to get into it again. :)

The new Tele has arrived.

It appears that the Grover chrome tuners are on backorder (Still listed as available on the website...best check before you buy.)........the rest is here. Nice.

And some more bits....and the Rebel P 90's...big pickups.

I have sanded through the grades, cedar/blackwood flavoured ( :) ) timbermate on both the neck and body. Sanded to 240grit and then two light coats of the shellac I made....following somebody else's thread and tried a different ratio. The shellac has given everything a nice honey/amber hue.

I note that the body has binding on the top edge but nothing at the back. So I trawled through lots of YouTubeness and thought I would have a go at making some FAUX BINDING around that back edge.

I did some practice sizing on a piece of pine.....4mm on two sides gives you the square root of 32 mm on the long edge and I thought that would be close enough to a 1/4 inch round over bit in a router which I don't have. So starting at 120 grit and working back up to 320 grit I made a flat 45 degree angle between the lines....and then rounded it over.

I have to say the taping up is worse than the sanding.....ouch.

So the video made by the person with the most teeth suggested using two different based liquid materials on the body and the faux binding edge. A risk reduction strategy I can align with. He suggested, through many teeth, that a water based sanding sealer on the edge will not be effected by alcohol based dyes, which are what I intend to use.

A trip through my wheely box of many things found this old girl....I actually got it from a Masters Hardware....wow. So it is water based...raid the childrens art brushes in Woolies and I am away.

This has one coat on and will end today with two. It has been suggested...yes with teeth....that I apply about 6 coats.

I am interested to see how this darker ratio shellac will react to the stains as I apply them. 30 degrees here now and fat me needs aircon.

EDIT:- The headstock is from a Tele Thinline template I found in a pile I had saved on my computer. For the first time on a build I cut the back of the headstock to shape as per the template as well. I looks different.

two more pics.

Wishing you lots of luck with that.

Cheers Waz

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Quote:

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This has one coat on and will end today with two. It has been suggested...yes with teeth....that I apply about 6 coats.

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I haven't used water based poly or Minwax full stop, but with my home-brew wipe-on poly, I do a minimum of 12 coats on necks.
I switched to spraying my poly (thinned) with an airbrush or touch-up gun last year and I still apply 12+.

I suppose it depends on what kind of feel you're going for.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McCreed

I haven't used water based poly or Minwax full stop, but with my home-brew wipe-on poly, I do a minimum of 12 coats on necks.
I switched to spraying my poly (thinned) with an airbrush or touch-up gun last year and I still apply 12+.

I suppose it depends on what kind of feel you're going for.

---

This is only to create the faux binding edging. I will stain the front, side and back and then seal/clear coat/oil/wax a finish over that. I am still working on that.

So at this stage it really is only to keep the edge defined and colour free naturally...I hope.

I have read some other poor fellows build thread and his hassles with binding and hidden cracks and stain marks in binding. I think I will tape up the binding on the top edge and also run a few coats of the poly over the binding now....I think I will sand and polish/buff with steel wool first the binding and then paint on some poly on the side and the top edge.

The thin top edge will be really hard to do and to keep the poly off the surface I need to stain. Wow....binding is such a wonderful thing to deal with.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sorry, I thought you were just talking about doing 6 coats of poly on the neck. Don't where I got that from.

Lots of taping, paint brushing poly on edges and binding.....and we have a 3 coats tru oil neck with a maple stain headstock.

The body has a single coat of maple on the front and a single coat of golden teak on the sides. I am yet to decide what to do with the back....thinking maybe one more shellac coat and then finish over the lot.

I will sand the edges to 400 now....even out the tape lines....see what I have and then most likely run a very light coat of golden teak over again.

The faux binding is doing its job....one photo you can see some stain on it....wiped straight off.

The fingerboard is a quandary. Natural with some wax.....tru oil with some wax...spray with poly????

I am thinking that the whole body will get spray gloss uv stabilised exterior Cabots Polyurethane.

Some piccies of the sides....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by colin2121

Looks great!
Interested to see how this one comes out.

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Thanks for the interest.

I went to Bunnings today.....Golden Teak and now some Elm stain in the arsenal. The Cabots range has an interior and exterior range of spray Poly. Both appear to be oil based. I got a can of both Gloss and Satin.....$6 per can dearer for exterior stuff. I bought the exterior stuff.

I think I will see how the shellac has dried this afternoon.....put an extra coat on the back before I went out.

I think it will be Elm on the back, and another coat of Golden Teak on the sides..... I like the look Tru oil gives the wood.....maybe three coats of it then hang for a week and then spray Gloss all over the body.

The neck I am going to finish with the Satin.....will let it hang for about a week now.

The headstock will get a couple of gloss coats and then some decals and then some final coats of Gloss and a good buff. I hope the colours come out alright.

Nope...the look with the Elm is terrible.

After Xmas...sanding time....The Yellow sides look good though.....Maybe a sandwich with Maple on the front and the back.

Anyway.

Merry Xmas to all. I hope you and your family get a little time together, in person, via phone, or zoom. :)

I have sanded back to bare wood on the back. One coat of Maple stain on the front and back....and then three coats of Tru-Oil on the front and the back.

Tomorrow I will check out the Faux binding and the real binding.

Then some taping up will ensue and then I think the side will get one more coat of Golden Teak. Then three coats of Tru-Oil on the edge.

I then want to let it hang for a week or so and then a light sand to either 320 or 400 grit and then the coats of spray Polyurethane begin.

Piccies in the morning.

I don't mind the colour mix. The front and back have had three coats of Tru Oil....sides just colour. I have sanded the white binding with 400 grit paper this morning.....the Faux Binding has taken on an amber colour from the poly.

I found a big gouge in the front of the guitar just forward of the control cavity.....I thought it was just a surface mark and had surface sanded lightly. Very loose fibres and bigggg hole opened up. Not all the way through....but seeing as I had to fill that I found everything on the front...sanded and filled.

Some colour on the front again tomorrow.

The body is getting Gloss Polyurethane all over....first three coats on this morning.

The headstock will be gloss poly.....I am thinking I may stain the fingerboard....and then gloss poly it too (Maple.)

The back of the headstock and the neck will get satin poly.

I like how the colours work under the poly.....with three coats of Tru-Oil and then hung for a week.

The Faux Binding has worked well and seems to nearly balance out the bright white binding....nearly.

Edit:- I sanded the binding to 400 grit....then lightly brushed some water based gloss poly on it. After the stains were done I sanded the poly off as the white binding had taken on a brown tint...but only in some places. The top edge was slowly scraped with a stanley knife blade just held in my fingers. Sanding did not work...scraping was it.

I found two very very small cracks on the bottom left bout of the body with some fine Golden Teak stain in them from the sides. Not a drop from the Maple stain on the top.

Hint...do some prep work for binding. Wow I say. Thanks for the ideas I got guys. :)

Good colour mix Ozzie.
The sandwich effect looks great.

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That finish is looking so good. Tidy work.

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Waz and dozy...thanks for the kind words. I hope 2021 brings cool projects to you both. :)

I had a look at the neck and the body today.....over 24hrs hanging and drying. The fact that wood is a natural product is both confusing and beautiful. I find lines and areas where the stain does not penetrate...and other places where it looks like a tide mark.

I am happy with coverage of the stain, and today I put the headstock logos on. A new process I saw on YouTube. It worked really well.

I bought a roll of expensive clear packing tape. I then used my colour laser printer and printed the desired logos on normal A4 paper at higher colour density.

Then cut a section of tape bigger than the desired decal. Then put it down on the front of the decal words/designs. I then used the soft round edges of a rubberised pair scissors to rub the tape down on to the printed decal. About 2 mins of rubbing.

Then cut close to the decal. Drop the cut out decal into a bowl of room temperature water and leave for 5 minutes. Softly use my fingers to roll and ball up the paper on the back of the tape until it was clear with the printed decal being the only thing left behind.

I then dropped the decal onto the headstock and dabbed the water dry. They I used an old bank atm card and pushed the water and air out from under the tape. I then hung the neck to dry for about four hours. I then repeated the bubble squish again with the atm card.

I will let it hang until Wednesday and then spray a couple of coats of Poly over the tape. Then hang for a little...maybe a week and then sand to 600 (wet) and see if it hides the edges of the tape effectively. Maybe some more coats after that....mmmmm....loving the poly it is so easy to spray even for a spray Gumby like me.

Hi Ozzbike,
I have tried the same decal method using packing tape and laser printouts. The process works well. It takes me quite a few layers of tru-oil to cover the edges though. Hopefully the spray poly works well.