TL-1 Build....well 1/2 of one???

Firstly a big thankyou to Adam for finding me a TL-1 body only, I wanted to do some experimenting with fabric so this was perfect.
The body arrived this morning and the sanding guy or girl at the factory did an awesome job, might have been the first one of the day, cause this body is pretty schmick.
Clean routs no tearouts and nicely sanded even on the cutout yay!
See the attached photos for more details including the fabric which is a 100% cotton quilting fabric in an awesome sugar skulls print. I will probably spray the back and sides black. The white pickguard came with the body (thanks Adam) which I will use as a template for cutting the black pickguard. I want to leave as much body showing as possible.
Neck and hardware, will depend on how much of a success or failure this turns out to be:rolleyes:

Great plan euroa! Can't wait to see your progress.

I'm watching with interest Euroa! Can you give us some detail about your process? I'd really love to do something like this myself.

cheers,
Gav.

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Originally Posted by gavinturner

I'm watching with interest Euroa! Can you give us some detail about your process? I'd really love to do something like this myself.

cheers,
Gav.

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Hi Gav

I've never done fabric before (paper yes but not fabric), but I think I will use a fibreglass resin to apply the fabric and then rout the edge with a round over bit once it has hardened to clean it up then apply a burst to hide the edge. Seen a couple of guys do it on youtube with mixed results. One famous guitar youtuber WEG (initials) did it with a vacuum press, but if you look closely you can see bubbles and he doesn't show the finished guitar!
So I might film it and see what happens!

Looking great - hope that it goes well!

Very cool. There is another build on here somewhere (i'll try to find it) where they used one of those "like glass" resins to set the fabric. The results seemed to come out very nicely. I was wondering if you could do this and hide the edge with binding. That's what I thinking of trying anyway. Might be a good experiment for a cheap pine scratch body methinks...

cheers,
Gav.

Also look up Solarez, like a surfboard resin that some use for guitars - a thick clear glassy resin that sets under UV light
Some YouTube vids on it.
Hard to find but I think Perry Ormsby in WA sells it
Or just a billion coats of nitro....
Cool project

Can't go wrong with skulls! Can't wait to see it come together

Looks like a really cool concept. I've got a guitar that has a semi-transparent screen-printed fabric over the top of the quilt, and it's a really interesting effect. Very keen to see how this goes, and to hear about your methods.

Gav, is this the one you're thinking of?

Resurrecting the green beast

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Originally Posted by WeirdBits

Gav, is this the one you're thinking of?

Resurrecting the green beast

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Interesting thread. But still waiting for those concluding pictures.

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Originally Posted by gavinturner

I'm watching with interest Euroa! Can you give us some detail about your process? I'd really love to do something like this myself.

cheers,
Gav.

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Hi Gav this ones for you, the process so far:

1 Sand body to 240 grit to leave a key for the resin
2 Tape edges and neck pocket to help with any drips
3 Cut out fabric with a 5mm overhang (I used quilting cotton as it has a little more weight to it)
4 Place tissue into cavities so fabric doesn't collapse into them
5 Iron fabric to remove any creases
6 Place fabric on guitar and mix fiberglass resin according to instructions
7 Using a wide short bristle brush apply resin, smooth out with a wide spatula or scraper. Make sure you have a good . coverage and that there are no air bubbles. I applied a little resin to one side and then the other side first to help . . stick it down
8 Leave to tack off for 4hrs
9 Using a sharp blade trim edges and cut out cavities
10 Allow to dry for 24 hrs then apply another coat of resin to make sure all the fabric is coated and help stick down the . edges around the cavities etc.

I'm now up to the stage of routing the edges, so far its gone really smoothly with no air bubbles... be warned the resin stinks don't do it in the kitchen like I did, the Mrs wasn't too happy!:o

Photos #1 Fabric laid out #2 Resin applied and cutting cavities out #3 Ready for routing edges sanding and topcoat (picture quality not the best but it is actually as dark as the first two photos)

Very cool euroa

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Originally Posted by Andy40

Very cool euroa

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Thanks Andy

Here's a photo after edge routing and sanding top to 600, wet down for photo.
Next black tint to sides back and front bevel.

cool effect Euroa, this will be a very cool tele, keep it way from the tele napper if he is a fan of skull pattern axes ! haha

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

cool effect Euroa, this will be a very cool tele, keep it way from the tele napper if he is a fan of skull pattern axes ! haha

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Haha, thanks Wokkaboy... I'm waiting on a pre finished neck to come in which is maple with black dots, and the hardware is black and chrome so should look cool, I was going to go all black but it looked a bit too dark. Back and bevel and sides are now stained black, starting to come together pretty quickly.

so will you have skull fret markers ? sure you can get stick on ones. Presume it will also have skull volume/tone knobs ?

will the headstock have the skull pattern on as well ?

I think the biggest threat for a tele nap would be Dedman ! he loves skulls !

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Originally Posted by cade711

Can't go wrong with skulls! Can't wait to see it come together

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I can't argue with that or with Wokka

haha yeah Dedman this build may motivate you to build a skull covered axe !

maybe not Wokka, 1 1/2 built and 2 others in the cue as it is

Sorry to disappoint Wokka and Dedman the only skulls will be on the body. I got some sample hardware and pups from China from a company that supply and manufacture for Wilkinson, so that's what will be going on (Pups are ex korea though not China).
This Tele is a bit of a test bed for the samples and for a prefinished neck that's coming.

Love this tele body!!

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Originally Posted by euroa guitars

5 Iron fabric to remove any creases

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You've got most blokes stumped right there. ;)

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Originally Posted by koldo2552

Love this tele body!!

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Thanks Koldo!

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

You've got most blokes stumped right there. ;)

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OK should I amend #5 to:
5. Give cloth to other half and state your taking up sewing and could you please have it ironed.
:-)

So in the mail this morning the neck arrived, and all I can say is wow!
Thought I would try something different and order in a prefinished neck.
Maybe I got lucky, but this neck is really nice.
Flat sawn Maple neck with nice straight grain, Maple fretboard, nicely inlayed and fretted.
Nice looking gloss poly.
I will fret dress and sand the back of the neck flat. It has a polycarb nut so not sure if I'll change it at this stage??
I will also need to rerout the neck pocket as the pocket is about 5mm too small, but far easier and less time than building a scratch neck.
All in all really happy with this one!:cool:

G'day EG, what are the dimensions of the neck heel I have a non PBG Tele with a neck that I can't get along with that I'd like to swap out and it's quite a bit wider at the heel than the PBG F type necks so they don't help me much

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Originally Posted by dave.king1

G'day EG, what are the dimensions of the neck heel I have a non PBG Tele with a neck that I can't get along with that I'd like to swap out and it's quite a bit wider at the heel than the PBG F type necks so they don't help me much

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Gooday Dave,
56mm at the heel 42mm nut Its a Guitar Fetish neck and this is there blurb below, thought it was funny to have a "vintage spec" neck with a 12 inch radius ???
But anyway it is a nice neck cost about $94usd posted to Oz

This is vintage spec 21 fret, 12" radius, clear gloss finish and standard 2 3/16" wide neck heel. The bi-flex stainless steel truss rod is accessible at the neck, and the headstock is cut for all 9mm Kluson style tuners, but may very easily be opened up for standard Gotoh/Grover style if you wish.
Each neck is equipped with nice Medium Jumbo fret wire- which measures .036" tall and .106" wide and is forged from 18% nickel/silver hard alloy.

Thanks EG I'll throw the tape over the other Tele and see if it will fit

Recut neck pocket and did a mockup to see how it all looks before the lacquer goes on.

wow very cool Euroa looks tops ! Spewing about no skull knobs ! haha

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

wow very cool Euroa looks tops ! Spewing about no skull knobs ! haha

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Hey Wokka, maybe there's something in this lot you might like!

Went completely MAD today, considering how well the prototype went I thought I might get a bit more skull fabric...
came home with enough fabric for 22 guitars!

Who's up for a white Tele with pink ,ladies and black hardware Haa Haa!

You're planning a Bay City Rollers tribute with that tartan, don't try to deny it!

good stuff Euroa, some cool fabric there !

I reckon skull fabric on the headstock would look very cool !

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Originally Posted by WeirdBits

You're planning a Bay City Rollers tribute with that tartan, don't try to deny it!

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Damn the secret is out!....You've put me off the tartan now, and I thought it was cool:confused:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

good stuff Euroa, some cool fabric there !

I reckon skull fabric on the headstock would look very cool !

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I think you might be right, but my headstock shape is pretty small- some of the smaller prints might work.
Also waiting for a sample of a 'logo badge' that will go on my headstocks and that will take up a bit of room too (and save me doing inlays or decals)

Okay so the guitar is now finished, don't have a photo at this stage as the guitar is at Bandcamp (An annual get together around these parts) But I do have a Youtube video of it being played.
So the specs are...
Basswood TL-1 body XGP all maple neck, Korean Wilkinson hardware and pickups Resin Fabric Top, stained and lacquered sides and back and my custom made brass ferrule tone block.
All in all really happy with the playability and sound of this guitar here is a link to the clip

I will post some pics when I have it back


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYgSEerrgA0&t=2s

Sounds nice Euroa and one of my fav SRV tracks!

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

sounds great Euroa, keen to see some finished pics of the axe as the video is quite dark. Is that you playing it ?