Partscaster Re-Born

Just to add another project to the list...

I’ve had this partscaster knocking around for a long while.. the time has come to rejuvenate it.

Fender neck (about 10 years old), Allparts alder body

The neck will be Tru Oil finished. The body- sonic blue or very similar. FW - no SFG here!

The neck is currently sanded on the back (seemed the thing to do back in the day).

First task get the old finish off. With my JBA kit I really have become a slave to the sanding God’s.

Electronic-wise (and thanks for the idea Chuck!) it will have a strat neck and middle pup and standard Tele bridge pup. I love a stratish sound but prefer Teles!

GFS sell these handy pickguards...

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Tele-Cus...te_p_1228.html

And some pictures

Before
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After 15 minutes with some 120 grit
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A long way to go yet.... not looking forward to sanding the sides...




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Nice - although you know I also liked it as a George Harrison-style rosewood tele!

You can find the wiring diagram for the Nashville tele with a blend pot at Tonefiend...

Thanks for the wiring link Chuck. I think if it had a rosewood fretboard I would have kept as is. But for me it just feels right having a light coloured Tele body with maple neck

another cool project Ponch, did you finish the allparts body or did it come that colour ?
sonic blue with 3 pups should be excellent. Which switching diagram will you use ? noticed they both had 3 pots where you only have space for 2 pots on a standard tele control plate.

I would route your middle pup cavity before you sand the top too much. You will need to line it up when you get the GFS 2 single pup pickguard.

Woks, came as plain alder. The stain was FW Japan brown mixed with some Japan black. At this point in time only a quick sand all over to get rid of old stain so I can vacuum up the horrible stained dust, then onto the neck. That will keep me busy until the pickguard arrives.....

Not 100% sure on the electronics yet but the path of least resistance would be 2x controls ;)

sounds good Ponch, I'd go a 5 way strat switch with a master volume and master tone.

Love the tip for using a clothes peg to hold the loose strings, will use that next time !

I think I can remember this build now, it's going back a few years now !

Awesome work Ponch.

I always wanted a Nashville tele too!

I am redoing my Squier strat so I can test up my hand wound pickups. I grabbed some "fish pond gloss" Dulux Duramax spray paint from the green shed for $10 or so and bingo very similar to "sonic blue";)

Progressing with the neck. Up to 5x coats of Tru Oil and wetsanded with same at coat 4 (240 grit) then every 4th coat up to 600 grit. Neck was stained 50/50 FW Old Baltic and Colour Reducer

Looks a bit dark in these nighttime shots. And the neck has flame :) Tru Oil is always good at highlighting any wood features

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And my new GFS pickguard arrived today. 8 days door to door from the USA!

Fits perfectly and all screw holes align. Next job routing out the middle cavity. Luckily the join on this 2x piece alder body is dead smack in the centre so should help align things up

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy40

Awesome work Ponch.

I always wanted a Nashville tele too!

I am redoing my Squier strat so I can test up my hand wound pickups. I grabbed some "fish pond gloss" Dulux Duramax spray paint from the green shed for $10 or so and bingo very similar to "sonic blue";)

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Hey Andy have to used the Dulux Duramax yet? I was curious as to how it turned out. I've been doing some research looks quite easy to use, quick to cure and relatively cheap. I was going down the nitro path but expensive compared...

pickguard looks good Ponch, you got me keen now to build a 3 pup tele !
think the duramax paint should be ok to use, make sure you use a compatible clear coat so same brand

Go for gold Woks!


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haha that's it Ponch, means I'll have to cut another tele on the CNC haha

you just going to use a strat 5 way switch ?

would love to put 3 mini buckers in, what a beast that would be !

Yeah ponch, it was cheap and easy. Haven't shined it yet

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Nice one Andy off to the green shed I go!


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Started on the pup route. Marked location, drilled out as much as possible then followed on by chisel. I’ll next clean up with dremel

The neck should be finished by late this week

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And cleaned up. The Strat pup fits perfectly in it. The existing neck route needs to be widened a tad. Now to figure out best way to deal with the middle pup wires...

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Nicely matched planks of Alder there Ponch.

Yes almost a shame to paint it... I drilled the middle pup wiring hole, basically straight down the centre line from the neck pocket, through the middle cavity to the bridge cavity. Bridge to control cavity has a nice wide hole and can fit 2x sets of vintage cloth pup wires


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good work Ponch, on the same day we were both routing the middle pup cavity on a tele ! I did a similar thing drilled 2 long holes to connect the pup cavities

https://scontent-syd2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...aa&oe=5A56CF31https://scontent-syd2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...73&oe=5A502758

Nice one Woks great minds think alike ;) Now I've got the pup route out of the way time to finish the body and get onto the wiring. I've decided on 5 way switch (Bridge, Bridge+Middle, Middle, Middle+Neck, Neck) with volume & tone.

The neck is almost done a couple more light TO coats then leave to cure for a bit before fret polish & reassemble of hardware.

Your Tele looks good I like the 2x stripe grain feature!

cheers Ponch, that's why I chose that part of the marri slab, should look good once its sanded and grain filled.
I am planning similar regarding wiring.

Hey wokks and Panch, how high do your tele necks sit above the body when the heel is seated in the pocket? (not counting the pickguard)

hey Andy, I can check when I get home from work, otherwise measure your ash tele and work on that. From memory my neck pocket is 17mm deep

I lent it to a friend :(:o

Mines about 7.25mm (looking from the side) hope that helps


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The pups all fit & wiring makes it to the control cavity

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looks great Ponch, did you have to enlarge the neck pup cavity ? I only found out the lipstick tele neck pups are a bit smaller than a strat style single coil

@ Andy just measured about 3 teles and my fingerboards sit about 8mm above the body (not the pickguard)

I think PBG teles have a 16mm deep neck pocket, My CNC bodies cut to 17mm deep so the neck sits a bit lower.

Cheers Woks, yes the neck pup route was a tiny bit too small, just a small amount filed away around the curved side parts sorted that out and allowed the Strat neck pup to drop in.

yeah Ponch I found the cavity was a bit narrow. I didn't have a strat size pup template so used the tele one and had to move it about 4 or 5 times to get it big enough. Worked in the end !

Thanks guys, pups look good ponch

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On both my Tele's they needed neck pocket lowered so that about 7mm was sitting above the deck at neck joint otherwise action was ridiculously too high. From memory the Blue one required about 5mm taken off.

I’ve been resurrected, watch this space!

Body finish will now be Feast Watson black stain with TO.




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:eek:ooooooo exciting

It didn’t take much to get this sanded ready for staining.

FW is on, I wanted black and that’s what I got!

I’ll whack on another coating later, leave a few days then hit with the TO

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Quick update after about 8 coats of TO. Starting to gloss up. Dust is a real pain with black based finish!

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And here is my style of applicator. A little square of worn T-shirt with a ball of T-shirt material inside. Takes about 5 mins to make one and when loaded up with TO makes for easy smooth and even application.

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So finally, after finishing then refinishing again I've got this done. Electronics completed last night, all is good. My Tele now sounds like a Strat! Cannot think why....... My wife also commented on how good it sounded - a first!

The 5-way switch required standard Tele knob to be shortened slightly to allow it to click into 1st and 5th position.

Here is the link to wiring diagram.
https://www.mojotone.com/support/Sch...er-nashville_2

Finish ended up being FW Japan Black Proof Tint, about 6 coats of Tru Oil (last 2x coats had some FW Black stain added). Then knocked back with ultra fine wire wool after it cured.


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Mr Osborne! Glad to see you back!