Arzi's barncaster TLA-1

Hi guys

After about 6 months building other stuff one of our guitarists said he needs a Tele so just put an order in for a TLA-1 kit an hour ago.

What I'm visioning it to be is a "barncaster" type - a worn / weathered / worm eaten body in shades of black and gray with the neck showing similar colors faded from lighter fretboard to darker back and headstock. Was gonna achieve this with thought out abusing of the wood and different shades of gray and black stains sanded to worn look. Tried the steel wool and vinegar some time ago but it does not keep the gray look when using Tru Oil so have to dump that idea.

I'm gonna upgrade the pickups using Tele set vintage wound by Q-Pickups - a Kroatian small manufacturer. Those are Alnico5:s with vintage specs on resistance and build materials. Also gonna put a 4-way Grigsby with vintage push-back wiring and larger pots. Maybe upgrading the tuners too, bone nut and roller string trees if necessary. Black or black pearl pickguard depending on how the finish looks. String through body.

Maybe try to weather the hardware too. Before I start in a couple of weeks, I'd like some advise on something:

What type of methods and with what results have some of you had weathering / seasoning wood? What did you coat it with - clear, TO etc?

Has anyone tried ageing the chinese chromed hardware - does it behave similar way as steel or does it just end up s**t in some way? Like dipping and soaking it in some blend of chemicals? Is there a way to treat the stock hardware to achieve the look I'm after?



Anyway - thanks for anyone who might be able to help on these matters. Can't wait to get started... :)

Arzi

check out my GD-1 build and my speaker cab for ageing wood.
With chrome hardware you need to get the chrome off, bad news is it's a bugger to get off. Course grades of emery cloth work best (sanding drums on a dremel ), then once you have bare steel, salt water rusts things quick, both vinegar and lemon juice will stain bare steel. Boiling salty water and vinegar is a good combo ! If you get black hardware ( my GD had a black floyd copy) it's only paint or powder coating, painst stripper gets to work on that quick.

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Wow!

Those look so cool!!

I might just leave the chromes on then - leave a bit of contrast on the wood. Might look good that way too. I figured the chrome would turn out to be a lot of work to change the way I wanted.

You've done a great job on the wood

I thought about charring the body at some point - like the way they preserved wood in Jaoan long time ago. Can't remember the name of the technique right now, but that would also make cracks in the glue seams on the body by burning some of it due to heat. And since the body has like three pieces at least - too many straight cracks as a result. Would have looked awesome though...

Thanks for the advise!

nice job some how when i look at the amp and guitar i think of ned kelly lol maybe the pain killers

Ok....

Got to mock up build stage at last. The neck would seem to be a good fit to the neck pocket - when treated wit TO should be a nice tight fit. Nice straight neck too with a fun grain on the fretboard.

As I´m switching to a six saddle bridge, I have to route the pickup cavity larger to be able to fit the neck pup as you can see in the picture. The bridge is placed where it should be 2 x 323mm (saddle to 12:th fret distance) and it needs some extra space.

The pickguard is a perfect fit and so is the control plate.

Haven´t tried to fit the 4-way switch yet to replace the stock one if it fits but I'll work it out if it doesn´t.

A 4 piece body is showing some nice grain and even though it has some different shades it´s ok for the color scheme I´m after. Actually should work great with the "banged up" look.

Decided to switch to Wilkinson ez lok tuners as it´s a cheap and easy mod. Bone saddle is on it's way too.

Next week It'll be sanding and placing the bridge with routing the pup cavity. then drilling the holes for string through placements.

Can't wait to get started on this... :)

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mock build looks good Arzi, what colour stain you doing ?

Hi Woks

I'm planning on staining it black after I "wear down" the wood, then sanding it back and then adding a shade of gray next. Trying to achieve an old gray wood look. Also gonna use a light gray on the fretboard and darker shade on the back of the neck plus headstock - sanding it so that it also looks faded and old. TO coats on top. We'll see how it turns out.

I am seriously impressed with the grain on that maple fretboard Arzi....nice score.

Update...

After being sick with a persistent (man)flu and popping antibiotics for over a week now I finally got to do some work on the guitar. Today I attached the neck, placed the bridge, routed the bridge pup cavity larger to accomodate the six saddle bridge (pup placement is a few millimeters different to the stock one) and drilled the string through holes on the body. Also positioned the scratchplate and control plate.

Another "Murphy" for me - the drill press at my workplace was broke and to proceed in my build I had to try with just a power drill. The result was not perfect but not a disaster either. Since it's gonna be a "barncaster" I'm not too broken because of it. Should not affect playability.

Didn't have a chance to post any pics but I will after I get them downsized on my pc.

The kit looks great Arzi, and I like the sound of your plans. Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

cheers,
Gav.

OK...

the first step in "distressing" the wood is close to done. I found a great youtube video on how to take out some of the softer wood between the grains with a power drill and a brass brush (or something). took it with the grain and her are some results. Maybe gonna work on it little more to tidy the grooves up a bit or not.

next it's some banging with different tools and making some "worm holes" on appropriate places. What this type of removing wood should do is I propably won't have to use different shades of stain becaus it will soak more on the harsh grain and also create natural shadows in the cuts. all it should need is a light sanding in the end to create lighter areas on the color and grain.

I might use the same on the top of the headstock as well but not on the rest of the neck cause I want it to feel smooth to play. Just stain and sanding to look weathered.

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cool effect Arzi, on the bright side you skip all those hours of sanding !

Hi Woks

Yep - no sanding but still quite alot of work. Not the same as before though which is refreshing I must say. :)

yeah I bet its hard work with the drill and wire brush.
What are the stain plans and colour of the neck/headstock ?

;) me likey!

The colour plan is to give the body a gray look to go with black pearl scratchplate and chrome harware. Same shade of gray to the headstock top and very light/dirty shade of gray to the fretboard and gradually getting darker gray to the back of the neck.

Just got a tip how to age the chrome hardware too. Some builders here have used hydrochloric acid's fumes to do it (by putting the hardware in a larger container, then putting the acid in a small jar in it and closing the lid for a few hours. Need to use proper masks and other protective wear while doing it but it does work. Don't know if I'll do it but apparently it can be done.

And Woks - not as hard with the drill and brush I admit... 😂

Okay...

So I got the body "abused" and went to staining it and puttin on the Tru Oil. Had a hard time banging the body and poking extra holes in it - my heart almost bled but in the end... well you decide.

The color was what I was aiming for (weatherd gray) until the coats of TO when it turned mostly brown color. Still a hint of gray is there but main thing is it does look like something out of a barn wall. Steel wooled the 4 coats of TO and came up with this.

I really love the flames on the fretboard. Gray stain sanded away and TO on the neck.

The real color is way more brown than in these pics.

Here goes:

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Love that fretboard, and it'll only get better with wear.

Dooooooode! Awesome

Thanks guys. I'm pretty excited of the results myself. Have had so much fun with this one and I love this type of rustic look that I'm definately gonna do this type of build again. A bass next time.

That looks great. Sounds like you're nailing the look you had planned.

Unreal, great look and the fretboard is a stunner. It's going to contrast well with the body

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cool effect on the fret board and a nice "sandblasted" look on the body.

Hi everybody

I didn't seem to have time to post any of the work phases until now and the Barncaster is finished. :)

Got it set up and going.

Electronics are 500k pots (yes I know - 250 would be the standard), 0,47 capasitor instead of 0,22 (yes I know...). 4-way switch to add the series effect. Found out a story about using a 0,47 in a Tele would do something amazing so I tried. Conducting aluminium tape to the pup and control cavities.

Q Pickups Alnico 5 Tele set with 6,225 KOhms in the neck and 8,01 Kohms in the bridge. A Kroatian small time manufacturer and they should have been made with "vintage" specs including for example using bee's wax (!?).

6-saddle bridge for better intonation

Wilkinson EZ-LOK tuners (wonderful product if I may add) and rolling string trees

D'Addario EXL120 42-9 strings (I messed the Ernie Balls while tuning... :( )

Levelled and polished the frets

Haven't been able to try this one with a good amp so far but everything works with my practice amp.

Here goes:

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More pics... for some reason my phone's camera took some really grainy photos. Have to get some better ones if I decide to take part of a GOTM

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Hi Arzi, those shots are good enough for GOTM.....you have got about 3 hours before closing time. Might need to put a name on the headstock to complete your entry.

Absolutely love the weathered relic look and Ash has such interesting natural grain to work with. Well done.

Nice Tele Arzi.

Looks great the contrast with the weathered stain and look and the clean chrome. and nice upgrades. I'll have to try those Wilkinsons.

Nice job Arzi, oh that fretboard is unreal!

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Arzi, I love it. It looks like it could have been made out of old fence palings. Great attention to detail.

Love that fretboard, very nice Arzi.

I love it. Perhaps a a pick guard made from gal iron is the only thing I would change.

Thanks guys. I like what I accomplished with the looks plis it was a very therapeutic build cause I didn't have to take so much care to achieve a spotless and perfect surface but more like every ding adds to the character. Fun and fast forward building. Gonna do this again for sure. Maybe with a Tele bass next time.

Was too much hassle to aquire the hydrochloric acid to age the chromes and gives a nice contrast to have old and new looks combined.