Tl-1

Picked up a TL-1 in the 3rd anniversary sale. As I've been on a Tele roll here we go again! Kit all in order, neck pocket fit nice and tight.

This will be Esquired. Finish - body, one wash of colortone red mahogany then FW Japan black over it (just tested in neck pocket looks ok but this is all subject to change... ) Then.. Nitro finish all over.

I'll also stick in a bridge upgrade with twin blade pup, Bourne mini pots etc. plus bone nut & tuner upgrade.

And body carves which are a work in progress..



Attachment 4898



Attachment 4899

nice one Ponch, so the Esquire is just the bridge pickup ?
will you be buying rattle can nitro or spraying from a spray gun ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

nice one Ponch, so the Esquire is just the bridge pickup ?
will you be buying rattle can nitro or spraying from a spray gun ?

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Yep, just the bridge pickup. So the 3 x way control will be volume & tone, volume & no tone and no volume/tone (output direct to output jack). Finish will be the Behlen nitro lacquer spray cans...

Quick update. Body carving complete. Carved out pup cavity with chisel so the Tonerider pup fits and I can move the bridge north a bit. Tweaked the Esquire pickguard so it fits. Angle looks a bit funny in this photo - it fits ok in the cutout and not too close to the side. Drilled neck screws, bridge next, then time for sanding..

Body finish plan has changed (and sure to change again) now planning to use FW tint (mahogany) diluted (100ml Metho w/2 teaspoons dye). Comes up nice and deep red.


Attachment 4982



Attachment 4983

Good stuff Ponch looking great. The stain plans should be a nice deep red. Can't wait to see the stain coat

Deep red with black pickguard. Not my first choice, I tend to like black pickguard with lighter colours only. But I'm very willing for you to prove me wrong.

haha Fretty you are a hard man to please. Just think of Angus Young's cherry red SG's with black pickguard

I know, it's just personal taste. I'm sure Andrew's guitar will look great.

all good Fretty I know everyone's personal taste is different.
Looks like we're doing a nice thread jack on this diary haha

Oh looks like I've been thread jacked lol. Good point Fretty on the color scheme, something I need to consider....

Ponch is it possible to fill in the neck pup cavity and not need a pickguard at all ?
I suppose the Esquire does have the pickguard

Personally, I think it sounds like a killer colour combo.
http://guideimg.alibaba.com/images/s...up_1560929.JPG
Yep. Rad.

I agree Pabs that looks hot !

6 posts to overlord Pabs !

Awesome colour combo. Gonna look sweet Andrew!

cheers,
Gav.

pabs raises an interesting point. i was thinking of doing a similar colour on my tele, only with a red to black burst and black pickguard

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

Ponch is it possible to fill in the neck pup cavity and not need a pickguard at all ?
I suppose the Esquire does have the pickguard

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Yep you could do that, would look good with a nice chunk of ash (no route cut) so you could see more of the grain

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BenWA

pabs raises an interesting point. i was thinking of doing a similar colour on my tele, only with a red to black burst and black pickguard

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That sounds nice. I'm always up for experimenting with finishes, keep an eye on this one to see how it turns out. If crapola I can always sand back lol.

Bit more progress. Using full sized pots so widened the control cavity.

Wiring harness complete. Just need to connect pup to it and run the earth to bridge.

Only body mod left before final sanding is to fix up the jack hole a bit so it takes the US modern style jack socket.



Attachment 5026

nice one Ponch, Wiring looks tidy. The cup style jacks are by far the best looking. What pups you putting in this stock or another ?

C'mon Wokks, it's all about the details...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andrewdosborne

...Carved out pup cavity with chisel so the Tonerider pup fits...

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Looks good Andrew.

cheers Weirdy you are always on backup hahaha

Small update. Dye applied to body. Looks a lot darker in real life. The body, considering it's basswood, has some interesting features including some flaming!

Attachment 5133

Attachment 5134

Loving it.

wow Ponch love the colour and some of that basswood grain on the side look excellent.
We should ask Ads to ask the factory to make the neck pup cavitiy smaller on all the TL kits so you can get a pup ring to cover the huge cavity !
I've seen some pretty cool grain on some basswood kits too. Its a lucky draw what you get !

Good idea on the neck pup tweak. Personally I reckon it should be the 'standard issue' sized pup route (for single coil) then at least you can carve out a larger route if required.

yeah thats even better Ponch than having a humbucker size route.
Might send an email to Ads to see if he can ask the factory to change the neck pup route of all TL models or start a thread on the forum to see if everyone agrees first.
Then can get a cool single coil pup ring and not use a pickguard

great idea wokks, would be nice to see some teles without pickguards

Quick update.. just got back from tropical hols & have now sufficiently defrosted enough to continue on this project. Good to get back to the workshop ;) but seems I have come back to winter..

Firstly thanks to Pablopepper for the awesome Esquire pickguard. Two ply white/black (matte) and far superior to the 'genuine' USA pickguard one I have. Awesome stuff. And, Pabs, I love the picks!

Finish on body complete. I ended up using one coat of satin poly rubbed in then one coat thinned 50/50 to finish off. It has cured nicely over the past week. The mock up shows kit bridge. I now have a Wilko compensated one to use.

Now to work on the neck..

Attachment 5545

Gee thats a really nice colour.
Can't go wrong with a Pabs pickguard either :)

That is looking supreme Andrew.

Cool. That's come up very nicely.