T-style, Single Cut Leftie (non PBG kit)

You guys were so much help with the telecaster kit i received from PBG, I thought i would start a thread here for this build. It's a T style, single cut, left handed guitar in poplar, with a rosewood fretboard and mahoghany neck. I wish I could have purchased this kit from Pit Bull Guitars (bc the quality and community here are top notch), but the custom guitar orders were down when i needed to order it. So it came from a retailer here in the US. Parts got backordered, so I've only had it about a month to design and start working on it. My deadline is the 1st of September to have the art done, finish dry and be ready to assemble.

This one will also be wood burnt, painted and finished with water-based, wipe-on poly. So far, I've mostly completed the wood burning, and started on some color test swatches. It's supposed to be a surprise for my son's birthday (well, he knows it's an LP guitar, but not the specifics about the art), so you guys don't spill the beans about it!

Front:
https://i.imgur.com/mv8gYAU.jpg

Back:
https://i.imgur.com/xEEpwmy.jpg

Color Testing:
https://i.imgur.com/vbDMIeB.jpg

WOW, looks great!

Thanks Trevor Davies! I'm super excited about it!

Looks fantastic as it is, even without the colour!

oh boyobhboyohboy! looking forward to seeing this one when it's done.

Thank you Simon Barden and Rabbit!

I did have a question about how to protect the string-through holes. When I wet sanded the telecaster, there were two small places (around the pickup cavity and one of the predrilled holes) where water seeped and it caused the wood to swell under the finish.The cracking on the telecaster was minimal and in places that were covered, but it still bummed me out. I'm trying to avoid that with all the little holes on this guitar, especially on the back where it will be very visible. Would you fill them with paste wax, or is there a better way? And will a couple layers of poly around the rims of the cavity be a bad idea?

Wax is fine. Others have used solid beeswax, but I’m sure wax paste has been mentioned as well.

Poly round the cavity rims will be fine. I’ve not had a problem with finish cracking around cavities, but then I’ve normally been spraying the insides of the cavities as well as the top and back of the guitar. Just avoid getting much on the inside of the neck pocket. Mainly because if the neck is already a tight fit, then finish on the neck and the pocket sides can stop the neck from fitting at all without sanding it all back.

Simon has more experience, but I usually just ball up pieces of masking tape on larger holes like string through, neck bolt holes, bridge posts. Easier to remove than wax.

Another thing of beauty!

Thanks fender3x and Simon! I appreciate you guys' tips!

BTW, you should post your TL-1 here:

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ead.php?t=2205

There is also a headstock gallery here:

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...dstock+gallery

Your creations are something to aspire to!

Thanks for that link fender3x! I forgot about that thread.

I've made some progress on the front (still working on the back). Here's the front with a little paint:

With hardware placed:
https://i.imgur.com/UpRuA7J.jpg

Without hardware:
https://i.imgur.com/X9B5Shm.jpg

I'm going to sit on it for a couple days while i work on the back, then see if it needs any tweaking. But I'm happy with it so far!

That is spectacular. Wow!

You certainly work fast! Very impressive.

Thanks guys!

I started pre-planning and sketching in March when Luc told me he wanted this for his birthday in September. I got the kit at the beginning of June and spent 3 weeks drawing and redrawing until the design was right before burning it. And I have lots of practice tests for color. It may seem really fast, but it's bc I've been working on it since before I even thought about the purple guitar. The telecaster was practice for this one. I just calculated how much time I have left, and it's only about a week to paint this, then 2 weeks to clear coat and a couple weeks to cure, a day to polish it. I think I'll have just enough time to get it wrapped. Hopefully.

Aha! So this is the real present. Nice for him! Curious what you'll do with the Tele?

I always figure that a guitar I build will be valuable to me, but that its disassembled parts will have greater cash value, and that I'll never get $$$ back out of it that I put in... Your creations would probably put that rule of thumb to the test. If you keep producing them, I suspect one day your guitars will be collected.

Yep, this is the birthday guitar. The tele is his also. He went in half with me to buy the kit because he had never built a guitar before and needed practice too. He plays it. I think he likes it because it sounds different than his stratocaster.

I've considered buying a kit and listing it in my Etsy shop afterwards. But I think there's a lot of liability there. What would be awesome is if someone had me wood burn and paint the body and neck, then THEY did the finishing and building! Lol. I really enjoy doing these, but I am not fond of the clear coating, and building the electronics then setting it up is beyond my current abilities. So if you know anyone who wants to go in on a venture like that, send em my way!

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Originally Posted by ElleBrooke

I've considered buying a kit and listing it in my Etsy shop afterwards. But I think there's a lot of liability there. What would be awesome is if someone had me wood burn and paint the body and neck, then THEY did the finishing and building! Lol. I really enjoy doing these, but I am not fond of the clear coating, and building the electronics then setting it up is beyond my current abilities. So if you know anyone who wants to go in on a venture like that, send em my way!

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Do you live in Perth?

The top looks outstanding. The pickguard also works really well.

Thanks Trevor Davies! I am on the east coast of the US so unfortunately, nowhere near Perth.

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Originally Posted by ElleBrooke

I've considered buying a kit and listing it in my Etsy shop afterwards. But I think there's a lot of liability there. What would be awesome is if someone had me wood burn and paint the body and neck, then THEY did the finishing and building! Lol. I really enjoy doing these, but I am not fond of the clear coating, and building the electronics then setting it up is beyond my current abilities. So if you know anyone who wants to go in on a venture like that, send em my way!

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I can understand that. I also dislike the clear-coating and sanding. It combines skills I don't have with the worry that right at the very end I could have a catastrophic screw up. After I wrote the "collectors" post it occurred to me that there might be a market for the painted bodies and necks, which seems to be what you like. I am not sure the stock parts would really sell the product anyway. You might be able to sell the bodies and necks without the clear coat, or perhaps you could make a deal with an auto body shop to do them for you. I suspect they'd sell like hotcakes on either Etsy, or even better on Reverb, particularly if they were completely finished with Topcoat.

"But what do I know?" I thought to myself. So I thought further. In the tiny town where I was born in Washington State there was a company called Martin Archery which was for a while one of the worlds largest makers of archery supplies. In retirement one of the "Martins" turned to making guitars, and now has quite a following with the Walla Walla Guitar Company. If you were to shoot Terry Martin an email (https://wallawallaguitars.com/about-us/), I am guessing he could tell you a lot about the artisan guitar market.

Thanks for that info fender3x! Those WallaWalla guitars are pretty cool! It's certainly something to consider. There's really only so many guitars I can justify making with only the one player in the house. But I maybe could sneak a third one just to see if it would sell. 😂 And buying only the body would be cheaper... I already have designs in mind, just need the canvas!

After some marathon painting yesterday and today I've mostly finished the back. Now I'm trying to decide what to do about the neck and headstock. Gotta customize the headstock! Probably with another fish, but still deciding. The neck is mahoghany with a rosewood fretboard and trapezoid inlays. I'm debating whether to paint/stain the neck blue or pink or just polyurethane the natural wood. I remember fender3x's lesson about fender strats and teles mostly being natural wood, and gibson single cuts being painted/stained the same as the body bc of the set-in neck, so I'm leaning towards coloring the neck. What do you guys think about the neck?

Back:
https://i.imgur.com/g6WCj6O.jpg

The side with the natural stripe:
https://i.imgur.com/P9Bl7vQ.jpg

As it’s a bolt-on neck, keeping it natural/simply stained with clear over the top would be fine. It’s where it’s glued on that getting the neck matching the body takes on more importance. And as it’s really a LP-shaped Tele, then a natural/light amber tint would be most appropriate.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

As it’s a bolt-on neck, keeping it natural/simply stained with clear over the top would be fine. It’s where it’s glued on that getting the neck matching the body takes on more importance. And as it’s really a LP-shaped Tele, then a natural/light amber tint would be most appropriate.

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That makes sense! I remembered the lesson, but missed the logic. Maybe I will stain it lightly and put a color stripe up the back. Like a faux skunk stripe. Thanks Simon!

In retrospect, I probably should have chosen maple over mahoghany for the neck. I think I want to try to match the stripe around the body to the neck color. I tried a dab of polyurethane at the base of the neck and it doesn't seem to darken the wood too much, but i think it's going to be a challenge to match the poplar to the mahoghany.

https://i.imgur.com/B96Cp42.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VwdFtXm.jpg

I didn't realise it was a mahogany neck, I had maple in my head.

It's really going to need grain filling if you want it to feel smooth, otherwise any finish will sink into the pores.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

It's really going to need grain filling if you want it to feel smooth, otherwise any finish will sink into the pores.

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That is important to know! I guess I will be researching grain filling. Thanks for the heads-up!

So in awe of your painting.
You could continue the theme around the rest of the body and have a clean mahogany neck that doesn’t require matching. Or (from me selfishly wanting to see that thing covered in art) you could grain fill the neck, whiten and continue the theme up the neck as well.

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Originally Posted by vh2580

So in awe of your painting.
You could continue the theme around the rest of the body and have a clean mahogany neck that doesn’t require matching. Or (from me selfishly wanting to see that thing covered in art) you could grain fill the neck, whiten and continue the theme up the neck as well.

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Thank you so much! You've given me a couple new ideas to consider!

Very interesting and inspiring work!

Actually if the neck was the same woodcolour as the body I would keep it natural. But in this case.
If I may add an idea about colouring 🙂 dark blue neck and sides of the body. Could maybe try to colour it in PS first.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alexej

Very interesting and inspiring work!

Actually if the neck was the same woodcolour as the body I would keep it natural. But in this case.
If I may add an idea about colouring 🙂 dark blue neck and sides of the body. Could maybe try to colour it in PS first.

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Yes! Thanks! I am considering all options right now, so the more ideas I have to throw around the better. My initial inclination was to make the neck dark blue, and leaving that stripe on the sides natural. But it's a bolt-on neck, and in actuality a telecaster, so then I went back to making the neck natural and changing the stripe... I have a few days before I have to make a decision to stay on my time schedule, in the meantime, I'm totally open to suggestions!

I did not realize the body was polar or that the neck was mahogany. I Tele/strat hybrid with a poplar body. An under appreciated hardwood IMO. It's also usually the cheapest hardwood I can get at big box stores...which may contribute to my fascination. I saw something, on YT I think, about how to stain poplar to look like mahogany. This is not that video...but it's a similar idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KwpT4KueM0

I'll see if I can find the video. Meanwhile since you live in the US you can probably get some cheap pieces of poplar at HD or Lowes to practice matching...if that's the route you ultimately go. This post is strictly in the FWIW category. I don't think I'd be inclined to do anything other than clear-coat or paint that side for fear of disturbing what you've already painted.

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Originally Posted by fender3x

I did not realize the body was polar or that the neck was mahogany. I Tele/strat hybrid with a poplar body. An under appreciated hardwood IMO. It's also usually the cheapest hardwood I can get at big box stores...which may contribute to my fascination.... I don't think I'd be inclined to do anything other than clear-coat or paint that side for fear of disturbing what you've already painted.

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Thanks for that video!

I chose the poplar wood because it was the lightest color wood they offered. I thought it would be the best to take up the paint. It burned great and my colors stayed pretty true- so a double win for the poplar from me. My process for colorizing my wood burning uses acrylic paint thinned down with glazing medium to the point that it's translucent like a stain and semi-absorbs into the wood, but the glazing medium keeps it from bleeding like a proper stain would. It's kind of a faux-stain. You can even see the woodgrain through it. Most of the details are actually colored pencil underneath the paint. I didn't show you guys the colored pencil stage bc it's pretty ugly!

Because my paint isn't really paint, and it's not really stain, it's pretty flexible in it's applications. So I could paint that stripe to look like raw mahogany, and the woodgrain would show through like a stain, but not bleed all over the place. But would that look the best?

I drove out to the specialty wood store, and was sold a pint of Aqua Coat clear wood grain filler. It's supposed to be water based and low odor, ready to use straight out of the can. I went there to buy the timbermate wood filler in mahogany, and the sales guy talked me into this instead. It has a few mixed reviews online. Anyone use it before? Love it, hate it? Tips or tricks? I'm going to test it on some scrap wood tonight.

The sales guy also suggested that I oil the fretboard before grain filling the neck. This way, I could also oil the neck, to prevent any over-staining from the fretboard oiling. I was planning to just use MusicNomad's F-one fretboard oil which is supposed to *not* be lemon oil, linseed oil or waxy. If the neck is properly sealed with poly, the oil shouldn't discolor the neck, right? Or should I oil it first, like he suggested?

The internet tells me one thing, the woodworking sales guy tells me something else, but I know I can actually trust what you guys say.

I’ve used the Aqua Coat grain filler. It’s pretty costly here in the UK but it was worth trying. It goes on easily and sands down well, but I still found it shrank a bit. But there are very few ones that don’t. The Solarez UV-curing grain filler was best for that, but I found I had some reaction issues with my nitro finishes, and like the Aqua Coat, it’s expensive over here (both over double the US price).

I doubt that fretboard oil will do much to permanently ‘stain’ the neck wood. Like any liquid, it will make any dry wood look darker, but will dissipate over time. I would imagine that the F-one is simply overpriced mineral oil (aka chopping board oil), which is the main ingredient of commercial ‘lemon oils’, which mainly add a bit of colour and lemon essence. Mineral oil is a lot cheaper!

But if I was working on a dark wood fretboard, I’d certainly be masking off the top of the board before grain filling (I’d grain fill the sides of the board if it was rosewood or another wood with visible grain structure). I’d then also tape off the sides of the board if staining or spraying tinted lacquer snd then unmask the sides when spraying the clear.

Would I oil the sides of the board first? It depends on how dry the wood is. If it was very light, I’d oil the top and see how much of a change that made to the colour. Whilst clear will normally darken bare wood a bit, it won’t do it as much as the oil would. So if the wood is already pretty dark, I wouldn’t bother, but if light and the top darkened significantly, then I would oil the sides if the board as well. I’d then wait at least a couple of days before applying any finish, to allow it to soak in properly and any surface oil to evaporate.

Wow Simon! That's a lot of really good information. Thank you so much for typing all that out. I will definitely be following your instructions for the fretboard and neck!

I looked into the Solarez, watched a couple tutorials, and it all seemed a bit like magic. (I know it's actually science. 😂) I'm going to look into their resins for another (non-guitar) project. If I can source it. There aren't too many places here to purchase it. The Aqua Coat was also pretty pricey here, but it seems it will last a while. I'm prepping scrap wood and sanding the neck this morning, so hopefully I can get the grain filling underway.

Still deciding on headstock design, and what to do with the neck/side stripe. Just goes to show no matter how much planning you do there will always be something unaccounted for.

If it was all simple, it would get boring rather quickly. You need something to keep your mind occupied!

I have now used Aqua Coat clear on three or four guitars, and figure I can do one more before I go through my pint. I am not great at this finishing business, and partly for that reason I have come to like it better as I gain more experience. I should add the proviso that I have only used it over or under bare wood, shellac and water based finishes. I think someone better at finishing might be able to use the filler on bare or sealed wood and be done with it. In my case, I often find problems after starting to put the finish in. So, I have some experience using Aqua Coat over shellac, water based stain, paint (water based MTN94) and two clear coats: General Finishes High Performance and Crystalac BrightTone. In the case of the clears, I have filled in where I see a problem with the AC and then added more clear.

My most recent project was an ash body. I rushed finishing to have it ready for my daughter's school project. She got an A on the assignment, but the result was...not great. Lots of grain showing through. So I sanded it to more-or-less flat, leaving lots of residual paint, and began adding AC. It worked beautifully. The trick (at least for me) is to use many very thin coats. The can says two or three coats, but I probably used 12 or more before getting it adequately flat. As Simon says, it shrinks a bit, and so it needs to build up on trouble spots before it is really flat. Fortunately, it also dries quickly so you can add quite a number of coats in a short time. Of course this is a problem with any sort of filler that relies on evaporation to dry/cure. I haven't tried Solarez, but the only product that I have found that doesn't shrink is Bondo and I hate that stuff.

The one thing I would be cautious about is using a water based product over oil. I am sure that many do fine, but a few don't and I am not sure about AC. I would test, or contact the mfg or both. It's worked over/under everything I have thrown at it, but I don't use oil based products...mostly.

I do use block oil on rosewood...or nothing. I only use the block oil when the wood looks very dry. Looking at your neck, I'd probably use nothing on the fretboard to start with. You can always add it later.

With regard to the mahogany part of the neck, I am not sure what advantage there is to using an oil finish. Your paints produce stunning results, and might be as good a way as any to add a bit of color to the mahogany if you decide you need that. Fill with teh AC and go for it. You might be able to do the same...and get a good match...on the sides if yo decide to make them darker, although poplar does not need much filling. If you are comfortable with that approach why change it?

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Originally Posted by ElleBrooke

I chose the poplar wood because it was the lightest color wood they offered. I thought it would be the best to take up the paint. It burned great and my colors stayed pretty true- so a double win for the poplar from me.

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You may have gotten lucky. Poplar is tight grained so doesn't usually need finishing, but often has big green streaks in it. This is the poplar back of my flamenco guitar...

Attachment 44622

I think the luthier was experimenting, and used poplar because it's a cheap tonewood. I like how it looks, and it sounds great, but the conventional wisdom is that poplar is best for solid finishes.

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My process for colorizing my wood burning uses acrylic paint thinned down with glazing medium to the point that it's translucent like a stain and semi-absorbs into the wood, but the glazing medium keeps it from bleeding like a proper stain would. It's kind of a faux-stain. You can even see the woodgrain through it.

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I would really like to know more about this paint. My most successful stain job was done using a dye stain that I mixed 10% clear coat in at the mfg's recommendation. I am curious what products you use, and what the mix ratios are?

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Because my paint isn't really paint, and it's not really stain, it's pretty flexible in it's applications. So I could paint that stripe to look like raw mahogany, and the woodgrain would show through like a stain, but not bleed all over the place. But would that look the best?

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I tend to like contrasting wood choices. Fine for light and dark woods? My wife has pointed out to me, however, that two light, but different, colored woods don't look good together. This is why my poplar strat body with the maple neck has a solid finish. I suspect this is also the reason that I am not authorized for fashion purchases at my house.

One thing I forgot to mention about AC grain filler is that you can use a water-based or water-soluble stain to colour it. So as long as you have the stains, then it saves having to get the requisite coloured grain filler each time (if you want a coloured grain filler).

I swear you guys are like the infinite well of knowledge. fender3x thank you so much for all of that info on AC. I am going to hold off on oiling the rosewood as it looks pretty hydrated and healthy right now. But the block oil looks like what I would need.

The flamenco guitar is absolutely beautiful. I love the mirrored graining. My LP has one good streak of green on the backside, but was relatively even in grain. They're some light marks which come through in the sky on the front. But I think it adds character and texture.

Your wife is totally right about the two different light woods not matching. Even just differences in the tone of stain can make it look... Off. It is just distracting to the eye unless there's enough of a difference that it is obviously on purpose. So light and dark usually works, but subtler differences usually don't.

I started experimenting with the AC last night on a piece of scrap pine. I didn't prep it very well, and was surprised by how smooth the AC made it despite the lack of prep. I also found that the AC seems protective enough that I can use it over woodburned areas and still sand with losing the burn. I have some of my paint concoction drying on the scrap ATM. Just double checking it doesn't do anything weird before I use it on the headstock.

My paint mixture is Golden acrylic glazing medium mixed with craft acrylic paint in a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio (equal or more paint than glaze). If I was using a more full bodied artist's acrylic paint, I would use more glazing medium probably 3:1 or 4:1. But bc I am using craft paint (usually metallic craft paint) it's pretty translucent already, so 1:1 is pretty good. I started using this bc I could make it translucent enough to not cover my wood burning lines while still being vibrant. I use Prismacolor colored pencil underneath the paint-glaze to really make the colors pop or add contrasting colors under the paint. Whenever I use just watercolors or watered down acrylics, it tends to bleed. Straight acrylic covers the wood burn lines. Just using colored pencils looks like crayon drawing. So this solves all of those problems for me! I've experimented with using water based dyes with the glazing medium, and that works also.

Simon: That's a neat trick with the clear AC! I have some dark water based wood dye that I can play with and see what happens.