TL-1HA First Build.... how hard can it be.............

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17-07-2019, 05:08 PM
ghalalb

3 Attachment(s)

TL-1HA First Build.... how hard can it be.............

Hello all. Well finally it arrived! My first build! More than a little nervous.........

I'm keeping it simple with a TL-1HA. I'll probably do a CBS style headstock, but otherwise keep it as simple as I can for my first build. Anybody with insight on the TL-1HA, i'd love to hear from you and i'm sure i'll be posting heaps. Setting the bridge in place is my first concern, but that's a while away yet!

My new mantra is 'take your time, take your time......'

so i've noticed a gap when butting the neck into the body. If that neck sits flush with body edge of the pocket there's a gap, if I sit the neck flush with the top edge, the neck (visually) looks out of alignment. Pictures below. Any thoughts concerns I should have about proceeding?
Attachment 31655
Attachment 31656
Attachment 31657
17-07-2019, 05:14 PM
FCD

Good luck with your build. I am building my first guitar which is a Tele style. Looking forward to following your progress
17-07-2019, 07:07 PM
dave.king1

I use copper shielding tape to tighten that gap if required.

Snail & Slug repellent tape from The Big Green Shed has exactly the same electrical properties as the much more expensive shielding tape, just narrower and more practical
18-07-2019, 07:53 PM
OliSam

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghalalb

Hello all. Well finally it arrived! My first build! More than a little nervous.........

I'm keeping it simple with a TL-1HA. I'll probably do a CBS style headstock, but otherwise keep it as simple as I can for my first build. Anybody with insight on the TL-1HA, i'd love to hear from you and i'm sure i'll be posting heaps. Setting the bridge in place is my first concern, but that's a while away yet!

My new mantra is 'take your time, take your time......'

so i've noticed a gap when butting the neck into the body. If that neck sits flush with body edge of the pocket there's a gap, if I sit the neck flush with the top edge, the neck (visually) looks out of alignment. Pictures below. Any thoughts concerns I should have about proceeding?
Attachment 31655
Attachment 31656
Attachment 31657

Hi mate.
Great choice of guitar kit!
Re: the gap- I’d wait till the bridge is in.
Re other builds. You can check out my build diary in the same kit.

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19-07-2019, 09:42 AM
kuanjb

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.king1

I use copper shielding tape to tighten that gap if required.

Snail & Slug repellent tape from The Big Green Shed has exactly the same electrical properties as the much more expensive shielding tape, just narrower and more practical

I had never heard of that tape. Always ordered copper shielding tape from eBay. Thanks for the info.

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19-07-2019, 02:06 PM
Bakersdozen

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave.king1

I use copper shielding tape to tighten that gap if required.

Snail & Slug repellent tape from The Big Green Shed has exactly the same electrical properties as the much more expensive shielding tape, just narrower and more practical

Got a link to this product? I can't find it on their website...I presume it would be cheaper too
19-07-2019, 02:11 PM
kuanjb

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bakersdozen

Got a link to this product? I can't find it on their website...I presume it would be cheaper too

https://www.bunnings.com.au/on-guard...-trap_p3010314

Can still get cheaper on eBay..... but only marginally.

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19-07-2019, 02:19 PM
Bakersdozen

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuanjb

https://www.bunnings.com.au/on-guard...-trap_p3010314

Can still get cheaper on eBay..... but only marginally.

Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk

Thanks mate. Much cheaper than dedicated copper tape marketed for our desired purposes
19-07-2019, 02:25 PM
kuanjb

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bakersdozen

Thanks mate. Much cheaper than dedicated copper tape marketed for our desired purposes

Try this:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F132327806774

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19-07-2019, 05:26 PM
dave.king1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bakersdozen

Thanks mate. Much cheaper than dedicated copper tape marketed for our desired purposes

Physically and electrically its the same as the dedicated stuff just not as wide and it solders nicely to tie it together, I've used it on a couple of guitars now
21-07-2019, 07:09 AM
ghalalb

Quote:

Originally Posted by OliSam

Hi mate.
Great choice of guitar kit!
Re: the gap- I’d wait till the bridge is in.
Re other builds. You can check out my build diary in the same kit.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks. I was going to set the neck first to figure out where the bridge should go, but after you mention this maybe i should centre line the body, find the bridge location from a loose neck and then work the final neck location from there?

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21-07-2019, 07:16 AM
ghalalb

Shaping the Headstock. I was very conservative with my cutting, and have been sanding heaps. Still a bit to do, the round end looks a little boxy still. I'm happy so far though.

My main motivation for doing this build is that i broke my left wrist badly and gives me something to do while rehabbing. I'm 6 weeks post injury, 5 weeks post op, and 1 week out of the cast. It's going to be slow going!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ab780f390d.jpg

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21-07-2019, 09:24 AM
OliSam

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghalalb

Thanks. I was going to set the neck first to figure out where the bridge should go, but after you mention this maybe i should centre line the body, find the bridge location from a loose neck and then work the final neck location from there?

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

What I did was put the pups in the scratch plate and sit it in place.put string on the two e’s and then line up the bridge so the strings were perfectly over the pups and lined up well along the neck. Then I knew the best spot for the bridge.
Good luck with rehab. How’d you hurt yourself?

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21-07-2019, 09:57 AM
ghalalb

Quote:

Originally Posted by OliSam

What I did was put the pups in the scratch plate and sit it in place.put string on the two e’s and then line up the bridge so the strings were perfectly over the pups and lined up well along the neck. Then I knew the best spot for the bridge.
Good luck with rehab. How’d you hurt yourself?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Mountain Biking, flying down the trail feeling 21 again, crashed, looked at my buckled wrist, felt every 46 years I am!

Thanks for the advice, appreciate it!

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23-07-2019, 07:38 AM
ghalalb

Question, i'm going to tru-oil the neck. I've sanded everything down to 1200grit except the fret board. Should I sand that too?
23-07-2019, 11:50 AM
ILRGuitars

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghalalb

Question, i'm going to tru-oil the neck. I've sanded everything down to 1200grit except the fret board. Should I sand that too?

NOOOOOOO!!!! In fact 1200 grit is probably too fine. The pores in the wood need to be open to allow the oil to penetrate. Usually 240 to 320 grit is fine enough. Once to oil has penetrated, hardened and built up some coats, then its fine to sand to your desired level of smoothness. You should never need to sand the fret board.
23-07-2019, 12:14 PM
ghalalb

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILRGuitars

NOOOOOOO!!!! In fact 1200 grit is probably too fine. The pores in the wood need to be open to allow the oil to penetrate. Usually 240 to 320 grit is fine enough. Once to oil has penetrated, hardened and built up some coats, then its fine to sand to your desired level of smoothness. You should never need to sand the fret board.

Roger that, I'll back hit it with some 320 to open it up.

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23-07-2019, 12:18 PM
FrankenWashie

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILRGuitars

NOOOOOOO!!!! In fact 1200 grit is probably too fine. The pores in the wood need to be open to allow the oil to penetrate. Usually 240 to 320 grit is fine enough. Once to oil has penetrated, hardened and built up some coats, then its fine to sand to your desired level of smoothness. You should never need to sand the fret board.

What ILR said. I have one of my experiments that i decided to just sand the bejeezus out of. I went from 180 to 240 on the neck, though it felt great and continued on up to 2000, then hit it gently with micro mesh pads dry all the way through to 12000.
It is so polished now, that it doesn't even seem to pick up grime from my sweaty hands.
04-08-2019, 03:38 PM
ghalalb

Bridge ,neck and pick guard drilled and fitted. Now off they come for finishing. All going well i think.......https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4627e9677e.jpg

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06-08-2019, 12:59 PM
OliSam

Quote:

Originally Posted by ghalalb

Shaping the Headstock. I was very conservative with my cutting, and have been sanding heaps. Still a bit to do, the round end looks a little boxy still. I'm happy so far though.

My main motivation for doing this build is that i broke my left wrist badly and gives me something to do while rehabbing. I'm 6 weeks post injury, 5 weeks post op, and 1 week out of the cast. It's going to be slow going!https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ab780f390d.jpg

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

thats a beautiful headstock, dude!
11-08-2019, 05:57 PM
ghalalb

A bit of priming going on.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...aebbac5d8e.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5f1a404a36.jpg

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16-08-2019, 04:26 PM
ghalalb

And now a little soldering. Rather than solder everything into the body I'm going to use some connectors so i can remove everything easily if need be.

So far the only real challenge I've faced was the screws for the humbuckers were longer than the cavity. I shaved a couple of mm off to get the pickguard sitting flush. Everything else has gone smoothly. (touch wood)

The body has 3 layers of primer, 1 more and I'll top coat. The neck has about 12 layers of Tru-Oil, so I'm going 3 more then done.

The pressure is on for a name. Going with a red for the body, i asked my daughters to suggest a colour, the went for orange 1st, then red, i felt orange was a 2nd build colour........https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5d2e21d59e.jpg

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17-08-2019, 04:29 AM
ghalalb

99% there on the wiring, ran short of connectors to do it all but that can wait.

Time to sand some primer off the body and give that a last coat of primer before top coathttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8e96f1e3f8.jpg

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17-08-2019, 06:32 AM
McCreed

Looking good ghalalb.

The little connectors is a good idea. I've been threatening to use them for years, but have yet to incorporate them into a project.

I think they would be particularly handy on the multiple common ground connections. De-soldering and re-soldering those to the back of a pot can be a PITA (and where I can sometimes let myself get a bit ugly if not mindful).

However, I started doing my common grounds using a ring connector years ago which makes thing tidier. and easier to undo & redo.
23-08-2019, 01:57 PM
ghalalb

Doh! I just discovered I used the A and B pots the wrong way round...... Oh well I'm an all on volume and tone player anyway......

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24-08-2019, 10:39 AM
ghalalb

Tru-oiled, rubbing compound after some 0000, machine heads in, and a little model number homage to pitbull on the back of the headstock.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cb7f57802e.jpg

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24-08-2019, 10:51 AM
ghalalb

Decaster - Tele Deluxe, geddit?.......https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6b8eea82d9.jpg

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01-09-2019, 12:56 AM
ghalalb

Strung and done! Nearly........ Needs a nut file, a little more work on the bridge, some more polishing, string trees and strap buttons. It plays nicely, will post some more photos and sounds soon.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...35d808f426.jpg

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05-09-2019, 06:21 PM
JohnH

It came up really well. Love the red. Look forward to hearing a demo
07-09-2019, 11:12 AM
McCreed

Looks great! Good effort getting it done in just over 6 weeks too!
What's it weigh in at???

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