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Hey everyone,
Got my first kit this morning, was pretty excited to open it up and have a quick look. Seems pretty good, the grain looks nice and I can't see any machine marks or anything yet.
One thing I did notice though is the string through body string holes aren't square and from the 1st staring hole to the 6th to slowly comes forward toward the neck. Is that normal? Doesn't seem right and is that going to be a huge problem going forward?
I'll put photos in the post below this one
Thanks!
Hi Ben, please post some photos of the kit and the string through holes. If the string through holes on the bottom of the guitar are all aligned and fairly equi spaced shouldn't be an issue. Do a mock build and put the bridge pickup in bridge plate, put the neck in the pocket and pickguard on and check you can push a string through the bridge plate ok. Will also run you through the scale length to make sure you will be able to intonate the guitar. Often the bridge pup cavities are too far south on pretty well all the Tele kits
Hi Ben, kit looks pretty good. The top string through holes aren't aligned but you can always drill them out a bit as it will be covered by the bridge plate.
I'm interested to see how the mock build goes as your bridge plate position is pretty well fixed with the string through holes.
The string through holes on the bottom look better than the top that's much more important.
My guess is the string through holes are new to the factory so they must be fine tuning the drilling technique.
Also make sure the string ferrules are included
does this have chrome hardware ?
no worries Ben, yes the ferrules are bottom, 2nd from right next to the neck screws. They hold the string ball ends in place and stop them pulling through the wood. They will be knocked into the string through holes on the bottom of the guitar.
Don't stress too much about the intonation we will run through that, probably best we check this before you go much further.
We just need to check the distances from the 12th fret to the bridge saddles.
Also if you want to keep your address and phone number private I'd remove that photo and turn the A4 sheet over and post another photo
Thanks for the heads up on the address there mate, deleted that pic.
Yea it has chrome hardware.
So although the holes aren't inline you think it will be ok? Or do you think I should be looking to send it back and get another body?
Thanks again
I think those holes should be fine as long as they feed through the tele bridge holes. They shouldn't adversely affect intonation as the sadddles will determine the scale length
Hi Ben, next step do a mock build. Put both E tuners on. Put the bridge pickup on the bridge plate, there will be 3 springs that go in between the plate and the pickup mounts. The screws should be in the same parts bag section as the springs.
Put the pickguard on so you can get an idea how it all fits together, no need to install neck pup yet.
Put both E strings on and put a bit of tension on the strings so you can get an idea of outside string to edge of fingerboard offsets should be pretty even both sides.
Then wind all the bridge saddles as far forward (toward the nut/neck) and please give us the measurement centre of 12th fret (fret wire) to both E string saddle grooves.
Ask any questions if you aren't sure.
Is there much movement in the neck pocket ? If it is a tight fit then we need to align the bridge so both E string offsets are about the same
Hey mate,
I hadn't seen your message until now, but I did a little mock build anyway, not as in depth as you said.
Attachment 11211
As you can see it fits together OK, where the bridge is sitting all the holes line up for the strings through the body
Attachment 11212
Its a little further back than I would have liked
Would have preferred it further forward maybe like this...
Attachment 11213
I'll do the tuners strings and bridge when I get a chance, maybe tonight. Neck fit in snuggly, I wouldnt say it was super tight, felt pretty good actually
Cheers again
no worries Ben, a little wiggle room in the neck is good. If you need to move the bridge forward you should be able to drill a small channel in the string through holes on top of the body.
I'd wind the saddles as far forward as you can and please give us centre of 12th fret to both E saddle distance where the bridge plate lines up with the holes like in the 2nd photo
The channels sound like a good idea, hopefully string on timber wont reduce the life of the strings
I wound the saddles forward to the point that the screw was flush with the end of the saddle as you can see here
Attachment 11214
Two of the saddles come forward far enough that from the edge of the saddle to the middle of the 12th fret is 330mm
The shorter saddle to the middle of the 12th is 325mm
Attachment 11215
I have no idea what any of this means of course, but I trust that you do!
Cheers
thanks Ben, so 12th fret to low E saddle (thicker E string) is 330mm and 12th fret to high E string (thin E string) is 325mm ?
might get away with these measurements to intonate ok.
Remember take these measurements on the same alignment as the string will roughly align
Hey mate, the thickest E string is roughly 325 and the thinnest is 330
What measurements are ideal?
Ben think you have the saddles mixed up. Clearly the thick E string is further away (shorter saddle adjustment screw) than the thin E string.
Are you taking these measurements with the ruler alignment in line with where the string will roughly go ie parallel with the edge of the fingerboard ?
Yea sorry mate def had the saddles around the wrong way. Thickest E is 330 thinnest 325mm, aligned to where the string sits
Have a look at this pic, to the naked eye it looks like the neck is tracking upwards and not horizontal.... is that normal?
Attachment 11216
Sorry for all these questions, I just don't know what is normal and if it isn't normal I'm not sure what a deal breaker is and what can and can't be fixed
Cheers
Hey Ben, don't worry about all the questions, I presume this is your first kit so that's fair enough.
All good with the measurements, I think these will be ok, but I would mount the bridge plate as close as you can to the pickguard so you may have to drill out the top string through holes slightly.
Don't worry about the neck alignment, if there is a bit of play the alignment will work out when you have the 2 E strings on and have the bridge in its final position. Any small gaps between the neck and pocket will be covered by the pickguard.
Going to try do the mock build properly with the tuners and strings on the E strings. Having trouble figuring out how to fit the tuners, they are really lose and have no screws or anything to hold them in place....
Ben there should be 6 tuner collars with threads, 6 washers and 6 small screws, I can't remember seeing it in your parts bag, hope they remembered them, they are a must !!
I think these are what you are talking about???
Attachment 11217
They were in a seperate box for the tuners, but.....with the set in washers (i think they are what you are talking about, they are very lose and just fall out the back and i can't see how to use the screws to make them tighter. Probably the easiest solution, I just can't see it....
If that wasn't it, this is all the screws ect that I got...
Attachment 11218
with those style of tuners, you put the bushings in the hole from the front, then put the tuner pole thru from the back, the little screws go between the tuners and hold a tuner on both sides, you should find 2 tuners are different from the other 4, these go on the ends and will be the E string ones. They should have a full mounting hole on one side and a 1/2 hole on the other.Attachment 11219
Cool, so without drilling holes in the headstock I can't fit the two e strings properly can I?
not entirely. with that style of tuner. It's not a bad thing. The Kluson style tunners are easy to fit because they have a nice square bottom. Fit them loosly in place. put a steel rule or other straight edge along the bottom and they will be pushed into alignment. Mark the screw holes with a pencil and drill a hole.
I don't think the other guys realised this kit came with Kluson style tuners, I didn't! I had to buy mine as extras!
Thanks mate, yea the tuners look awesome.
I'm just not ready to drill holes yet, still trying to get my head around a few things and don't really feel I have a handle on anything yet, so not sure I'm ready to go drilling yet as I'm afraid I'll stuff it up.
But then again I can't really finish the mock build without attaching the two strings so maybe I kind of have to
Yhep... you really do need to install the tuners.
May as well do them all and drill the holes, (always best to drill all holes before finishing)
Pro tip: so you dont accidentally drill right through the headstock, wrap a piece of tape around the drill bit so there is the length of the thread left. When you drive the screws, a dab of wax or soft soap on the end of the thread will help drive the screw without breaking the head off...
Ok cool, I'll fit the tuner heads on the weekend and do a proper mock build and then we will know how bad the neck angle, string through holes and scale lenght are and what I need to do to fix them!
How often do kits come out that are perfect and need no adjustments before putting them together?
Well, nothing is ever perfect as such... but these kits are designed with a little wriggle room to enable the first time builder some lee way when assembling..
Don't panic, it will all come out fine in the end.
Ask as many questions as you need, the only dumb question you can ask is the one you don't ask 😂
Take your time and enjoy the process!
The way I look at the kits is, they are the same as any store bought guitar, I'm just doing the work they usually do in the factory that we don't see. The main thing is don't rush, don't let people distract you while you work, measure twice then measure again before cutting or drilling anything. If you aren't certain, stop and ask a question.
My Tele was my first build and to be honest I enjoy playing it and it's sound as much as I enjoy my store bought Gretsch.
That's all true, I'm sure if I take my time and fix a few things up I'll be able to get it all good. It's just disappointing as the only reason I bought the TL51 over the other TL models was it had string through holes, because they are in the wrong spot I now need to do work arounds for bridge positioning and scale length. Not a huge issue but prob should have just saved the $50 and drilled them myself in the correct position
The string through holes may not be in the wrong spot, when you measure scale length it is normal to add 4-5 mm to the measurement.
This is called compensation, which allows for correct intonation of the guitar.