first build - thinline Tele

Me being extremely cautious +
Backorder +
Australian post stuff up
= kit arriving 2 months after order.

Adam did an amazing job following up and I couldn’t thank him more for what he did.

Kit is a thin line Tele with Bigsby. Hope to spray sunburst pattern on body, with Acacia dingotone neck and dingotone wax on maple neck. Electronically - switch out the standard 3-way for a 5 way so I can do some coil splitting.

A mock build - https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a174c6a9cf.jpg

Note that the neck sent was a rosewood one. I am going to ask for a replacement maple one.

The body is mostly good, some binding was slightly loose around the neck joint https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1bc6eb725d.jpgand some finger marks, but should come off with sending.

Slightly concerned about the f-hole. Corners seem sharp and it seem a bit thin. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3f44badb3c.jpgWeird bits did a reinforced version on his 2013 thinline build, so I may do the same. Difference is I have access to a laser cutter so Less hand labour.

Turning over, it should be ok but the bolt on plate doesn’t complete match up with the pre-drill holes. Experienced builders - is this going to be a problem?

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...70f4f6e560.jpg

Thank you all!

Looks really nice. Neck holes are typical unfortunately. You just need to gradually tighten them up like wheel nuts going from corner to corner and it aligns up and looks fine. Make sure you lube the screws with wax.

Nice looking kit. I'm afraid I can't help much with the binding or screw holes, but it looks good as a kit - it'll come up real nice

I think you just gained a whole forum of new friends by indicating you can access a laser cutter!
It is a lovely looking kit, I quite like the Rosewood board, is the Maple a must have?

A dab of super glue will take care of that binding. Just do it before you start sanding. :)

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Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

I think you just gained a whole forum of new friends by indicating you can access a laser cutter!
It is a lovely looking kit, I quite like the Rosewood board, is the Maple a must have?

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I teach at a school that has one. We all occasionally use it as means to “upskill” - and it’s not hard to get a piece of scrap plywood.

As to the maple, my other guitars are all rosewood, so I’m after something different. One of the forums dingobass indicates that we can use the staining coat on the fretboard just not the finishing coat, so aesthetically having a consistent color (acacia) with spray on sunburst would be nice.

I'd check the neck screw fit in the holes. If they are tight, then the holes need to be bigger anyway so the threads don't grab the sides of the holes. You could then use a suitably sized round file to enlarge the holes a bit in the direction of the centre of the neck plate holes.

Acetone should melt the binding material and so stick it to the wood, which might be slightly better than using superglue, as superglue will be hard to remove cleanly if it gets on to the surface of the wood, whereas acetone will just evaporate.

I built one of these a few years back. I've never had any issues with the f-hole.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fretworn

I built one of these a few years back. I've never had any issues with the f-hole.

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Yes! I’ve followed your build diary. However, i can be a bit clumsy :/ and I am just afraid to snap the f hole right off, or have a clumsy bass player to knock the f hole into an I hole!

You could simply sand the sharp corner back so that it's rounder and less likely to catch on clothing and wires etc. It's your guitar, so you can do what you want!

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Originally Posted by Old Tooth Hopkins

I teach at a school that has one. We all occasionally use it as means to “upskill” - and it’s not hard to get a piece of scrap plywood.

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Damn, I work with the education dept and neither of the 2 schools I work at have laser cutters. Lucky bugger!

I’ve not long finished mine. I made the neck holes larger and all was well in the world. Good fun kit to be honest.


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Good one Rockfactor!

Do you find the bigsby heavy on a basswood body?

Not a real progress, but the replacement maple neck arrived. Very prompt service. So fitting it onto the body looks like this https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e78c418e4c.jpg

Now curiosity got to me so I had the two necks side by side. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1adf033ef8.jpg

The maple neck appear to have a longer section ahead of the truss rod hole. I also found that the maple one appear to be much smoother already. Nice little surprise as the neck is 22 frets (same with the rosewood, I just didn’t realize it at the time)

Experienced builders - do you normally sand the neck as well? It seems quite smooth already. If you do, do you hand sand the neck as it has a curved surface? What about the fretboard itself?

I’m planning on finishing the neck with dingotone acacia front and back. Leave the finishing coat off the fretboard as DB suggests, and put the dingo wax on the fretboard.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Old Tooth Hopkins

Good one Rockfactor!

Do you find the bigsby heavy on a basswood body?

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No it’s not too bad at all to be honest. I did grow up playing a Les Paul though [emoji4] I’m really pleased with the way mine turned out.

Edit: playing a Les Paul, not laying... :)

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Old Tooth Hopkins

Not a real progress, but the replacement maple neck arrived. Very prompt service. So fitting it onto the body looks like this https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e78c418e4c.jpg

Now curiosity got to me so I had the two necks side by side. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1adf033ef8.jpg

The maple neck appear to have a longer section ahead of the truss rod hole. I also found that the maple one appear to be much smoother already. Nice little surprise as the neck is 22 frets (same with the rosewood, I just didn’t realize it at the time)

Experienced builders - do you normally sand the neck as well? It seems quite smooth already. If you do, do you hand sand the neck as it has a curved surface? What about the fretboard itself?

I’m planning on finishing the neck with dingotone acacia front and back. Leave the finishing coat off the fretboard as DB suggests, and put the dingo wax on the fretboard.

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I would always suggest to sand everything. The neck on my guitar had scratches that didnt show up until i had put a coat of stain on. Needless to say it had to all come off. Theres pics if you want to see under my name, nitroburner1000, on JM-1 page 11.

This build is progressing very very slowly.....

Good news is, I’ve got two students who are now going to order pit bull basses and start building.

Anyhow, got a brief moment to laser cut the f hole reenforcement. The web was lacking exact matches of the F hole so I had to trace it by hand, then scanned it, then image traced using adobe illustrator, then export to laser cutter.

Happy with the result. Now I need to pop it under the f hole and stick it.

Thanks weirdbits for the inspiration. Attachment 25472Attachment 25473

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Old Tooth Hopkins

This build is progressing very very slowly.....

Good news is, I’ve got two students who are now going to order pit bull basses and start building.

Anyhow, got a brief moment to laser cut the f hole reenforcement. The web was lacking exact matches of the F hole so I had to trace it by hand, then scanned it, then image traced using adobe illustrator, then export to laser cutter.

Happy with the result. Now I need to pop it under the f hole and stick it.

Thanks weirdbits for the inspiration. Attachment 25472Attachment 25473

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Gehoivey! That's some clever Vyving! You'll need to get some TEENY WEENY clamps to hold that in place while you glue it.

Gavmeister used to use very strong magnets to clamp his F-hole veneers while the glue dried.

I’m considering using tiny bulldog clips with a bit of packaging thin foam sheets to prevent denting.

The world's slowest build continues slowly..

Catching up works over the last few weeks..

I've reinforced the F-hole.


Attachment 27065

Attachment 27066

Getting the reinforcement in was difficult, getting the glue inbetween even harder, but I got there with some help.Feel a lot better with the F-hole now.

Also shaped the headstock with some help, and did a huge amount of sanding.

Attachment 27067

Attachment 27068

Attachment 27069

Finished headstock.

Nice jobs on the headstock and f-hole reinforcing.

There is a reason why it is called rock maple.

Bet you are glad all that headstock shaping and sanding is now done. Will never forget the first on I did but it does get easier with more practice.

Nice work on the shaping, goes well with the Tele shape.

In my other post, I was doing an experiment with how to laser cut the headstock, and how it interacts with stain.

Now that I worked out taping is the key whether unfinished or pre-finished, it's time to work on the neck.

I may have tighten the vice too tight during sanding I noticed some unintended dents that I had to sand out - same with the scratches between the fretboard and neck.

The hardest part about lasercutting the headstock is that it's an irregular shape, so I need to have a way to make sure it cut millimetre perfect.

I decided to cut on paper first - and thankfully I did because I had to rescale the original Adobe Illustrator design.

Attachment 27355

Also the neck was a bit big for the laser cutter so I had to put it on diagonally - measured at 24 degree angle. I put the neck onto where the cut paper outline.

Attachment 27356

Did a trial cut at very low intensity so it only "marks" the tape. Thank goodness I did, because the design was slightly off from where I wanted! I lowered the design by about 4mm to get to the right spot.

Attachment 27357

The result of cutting at the wrong spot will be disastrous as light laser mark will still burn about 2mm deep; it means either a lot of sanding to a destructive level or new neck/.

With a lot of deep breaths I hit "run" at the proper intensity.

Attachment 27358

YES! It worked!

Attachment 27359

Attachment 27360

Attachment 27361

With a quick clean, I was about to give it the first dingocoat

EDIT: The small size photos had a bit of pixelation that looks like dirt marks - the laser cut came up perfectly clean.

This is dingotone neck stain of "Acacia".

Attachment 27364

It is a lot yellower than I envisioned. I was thinking it will be similar to my MIM fender strat neck
Attachment 27365

I am assuming it would fade as it absorbs.

I roughly did two runs which included the fretboard. If the fretboard fades first, I'll have a relic look. Dingotone is actually quite easy to apply!

Some parts look "slightly" uneven, maybe it's the lighting or the grain of the blonde maple.

laser engraving look fairly natural underneath the finish.

I'll probably go back in a few days to apply another dingo-stain, and wait 20 days before the top coat (NOT applying it to the fretboard this time)

Feedback much appreciated!

That logo looks superb! Well done for holding your nerve. :)

That looks fantastic! Sorry, I have to rush out and buy myself a laser cutter.

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Originally Posted by DarkMark

That looks fantastic! Sorry, I have to rush out and buy myself a laser cutter.

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You too huh?!😜🤫
edit: although it may be safer to keep a laser cutter as far as possible from Igor.....

Great use of tech. I'm glad your experiments worked out for you.

Experienced builders: Is this what Acacia should look like?

Dropping by the workshop today to see if the colours faded a little. It is very yellow the first stain...Attachment 27370

Nice build! I actually love that neck colour !
:)

I can't speak for the acacia, but when I applied dingotone Bloodwood on my tele neck, it came out as an orange red at first, and I hated it, and then lightened significantly after a few weeks to the colour i liked. Not sure why, maybe the top coat had an effect? I'd wait a bit and see how it looks.




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Quote:

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Originally Posted by michaelS31

Nice build! I actually love that neck colour !
:)

I can't speak for the acacia, but when I applied dingotone Bloodwood on my tele neck, it came out as an orange red at first, and I hated it, and then lightened significantly after a few weeks to the colour i liked. Not sure why, maybe the top coat had an effect? I'd wait a bit and see how it looks.




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Could you link me to your build diary for the blood wood neck so I can have a look at how it fades?

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Originally Posted by Old Tooth Hopkins

Could you link me to your build diary for the blood wood neck so I can have a look at how it fades?

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Sure Old tooth! Here you go - let me know if there are any issues

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url...0&share_type=t

Michael's First PBG Build - TL-1



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Checked the first coat today, and stained a second coat to get more evenness.

But i realised a problem which I need to consult an experienced builder.

I did a quick mock build again, and I found the fretboard sitting a fair way up from the body. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6e3be19fb8.jpg

When I last did a full mock build it was with the rosewood neck before I sent it back to exchange for the maple.

On the TL-1TB kit the pick guard is quite small so it doesn’t cover that area. I don’t think “thinning” the neck is a good idea.

Besides making a custom pick guard to “fill the gap” do I have any other options?

EDIT: Just referred to another mock build of a thinline - is it because this one is 22 frets as opposed to 21 frets?

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...847#post162847

P.s the mock build is so I can use photoshop to look at how the proposed paint colour will go with the neck stain. Watch this space.

That gap looks pretty normal for an unmatched neck and the fretboard sits up like that on my tele as well. It all seems to work fine though

Looking at the bridge and pickup adjustment on mine, you could probably get away with taking a few mm off the heel to get it to sit down further. I'd just be very careful as you don't want to introduce any unwanted neck angles. Also looking at the PU surround, you want to make sure the strings clear that. I have a much flatter metal one on mine.

If the gap between the heel and the body is really bothering you I would probably fill the neck pocket to take up the gap rather than modify the neck. It might work to use some putty of some kind and then put glad wrap over the neck heel and push it in to form the shape properly.

I also haven't used dingo tone either, but it might help to hang it up in the sun and get some UV on it to help it fade a bit.

https://i.imgur.com/7y1pVg5l.jpg

Thanks Sonic - much appreciated.

I'll use a mock build photo to play around with different designs. May do a custom pickguard.

I'm reasonably happy with the dingotone so far, just wasn't sure if it's my unevenness in applying or the grain of the wood.

I do realise the end grain near the top of the headstock absorbs the stain like no tomorrow and thus a lot darker. Hence the second coat to try to even it up.

and nooooooo I will not dare try to shave the neck thinner! I'd be a can of worms.

On my 2 Tele builds the neck sat between 5mm too 7mm to high of the body and ended up sanding down the base of neck pocket to drop the level so that action setup at bridge and intonation was easier to achieve.

Cheers, Waz