My first build diary: TLA-1

Hey all,

So I've taken delivery of my TLA-1 kit and most of the extras that I want to add to it so I thought it was time to get on here and start my build diary with a bit of an inspection and mock build

https://i.imgur.com/25fHYej.jpg

On inspecting the neck, there's a bit of a scar on one side of the heel. Looks to me like maybe this was done in the factory by some kind of tool?

https://i.imgur.com/OeLc0Q4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ikaVYM2.jpg

Also, it looks like the heel is approx 1mm thicker on the bass side when compared to the treble side

https://i.imgur.com/1HIXSLn.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Bbb5ZFj.jpg

What does the community consensus say? Will these issues be a problem?

Also, gave the neck a rough test fit

https://i.imgur.com/GCWFGpI.jpg

Looks like in order to get the scale length right with a decent amount of back and forward adjustment on the saddles as well as to get the bridge to mate up a bit better with the scratch plate, I'm going to have to enlarge the bridge pickup rout and move it towards the neck by about 8mm or so

https://i.imgur.com/rLU0YEx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/r4eogMF.jpg

If anyone out there with a bit more experience could let me know what the think and how I should best proceed, that'd be great.

Cheers,

Dan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan McEvoy

Also, it looks like the heel is approx 1mm thicker on the bass side when compared to the treble side

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Going by your photo, the heel height is 26mm either side.


Also there are many posts about the pickup rout further south than on a standard Telecaster.
It was noted in my build at post #86 here.
https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...light=King%27s


cheers, Mark.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by king casey

Going by your photo, the heel height is 26mm either side.

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Yeah, but the fret board is slightly thinner on one side. I think it'll be fine as long as it sits nice and level (overall) in the pocket. A bit of variation in fret board thickness is not unusual.

O.k, thanks. It does looks o.k when seated and appears reasonably level. As you can see from the pic of the damage on the heel though, from end on there's a clear cant. If I hold it with the heel level to my eye, it seems to slope away towards the treble side quite a bit. Hopefully it will be as you say, it's hard to see a tilt when the neck is seated but anxious to make sure I do things right

I had to open out the bridge pickup route for mine too. Was very quick and easy with the Dremel and a drum sanding bit.

Perhaps these two show it a little better? It's a tick under 26mm on the bass side from the looks of it and 25mm on the treble

https://i.imgur.com/p38C2Bj.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8ccl30k.jpg

FWIW, with a tele bridge (any adjustable saddle bridge really) you should move your saddles back at least 1/3 of their total travel to set your bridge position. Some say 1/2 but I've found 1/3 works for me. (you currently have your saddles all the way forward)

This allows another 2/3 of movement back to get the correct intonation. I have never had to move a saddle so far forward (flat intonation) that I ran out of adjustment. However I have seen numerous cases (particularly strats) where the low E had no more adjustment away from the neck (sharp intonation).

That said, and looking at your photo of the bridge and tape measure, if you screw that E/A barrel back about 4-5mm so the compensated "A" saddle falls right on the 25.5" mark, I think you'll be fine. It might not be enough to avoid routing the bridge side of the pickup cavity, but it should at least minimise how much you need to remove and still allow the bridge plate to cover the pickup route.

Also, are you planning on using that bridge as a top-load or string-through?
There are further considerations to be had with using either method.

I had taken into account already the position of the saddles as I noted in my post saying that it needed to be moved to allow me to adjust the saddles back and forward. I could possibly place the bridge without moving the rout but as you say, my saddles would be at the absolute end of their travel. In order for me to have that level of adjustment and to mate the bridge up neatly with the pickguard, I'll have to extend the rout by 8mm or so.

I will be using the bridge as a string through, got some brass ferrules on their way

I have the high 'E' saddle set as far forward as possible whilst still achieving the 25.5" scale.
It aint gonna be shorter than 25.5" eh?
This is purely to minimise the centimeter difference between the standard pickguard and cack-handed rout placement.
Purely aesthetic you may say but still looks are everything.

cheers, Mark.

Compare the Wilkinson bridge with the kit one and it will be obvious as to why you need to open the pup route up.

I think all of us who have used aftermarket bridges designed as a direct replacement for a Fender bridge have been down this road

Laying the standard kit bridge with the Wilkinson and lining up the pickup hole shows that the kit bridge extends further backwards, so if anything, the problem would be worse with the original bridge compared to the Wilkinson

Wilkinson over the kit bridge:
https://i.imgur.com/6HWI3FT.jpg

Side-by-side:
https://i.imgur.com/vNwsqab.jpg

The Wilkinson is actually original Fender specs as far as I can see, the kit bridge and scratchplate seem to be sized as per the Squier models

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dave.king1

Compare the Wilkinson bridge with the kit one and it will be obvious as to why you need to open the pup route up.

I think all of us who have used aftermarket bridges designed as a direct replacement for a Fender bridge have been down this road

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^This

Granted it is only my first kit but I have a Wilkinson bridge and tonerider bridge pickup.....the curved edges of the pickup base pate fouled with the route at 12 and 6 O'clock when the bridge was appropriately positioned for scale length. It wasn't much that needed taking off. Perhaps it is different for the stock pickup?

Just saw your pics above - that shows exactly what I had to do. The pickup must be a bit different too.

Yeah, the hole for the pickup is slightly wider in the Wilkinson bridge too. Thinking I might grab another Tonerider for the bridge or possibly an MIM Tele bridge pickup that I know a guy is selling locally to me. The mounting holes for the screws are positioned the same though so the stock pickup will probably do for the moment but would have a bit of a gap at each side

O.k, so I've got my TLA-1 up on a table to see if I can get a better eye-level view of what is going on with the neck. When viewed from the side it looks to be the best part of a millimeter higher on the bass side as opposed to the treble side

https://i.imgur.com/EQ89vQB.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/vVMYOq1.jpg

Realise this isn't the most scientific test but a spirit level shows a bit of a slant too and you definitely have to hold the body at a bit of a tilt to look straight down the neck

https://i.imgur.com/0DWb6et.jpg

I've also noticed another issue which is possibly a bigger problem, the break angle on the neck appears to slope outwards from the heel

https://i.imgur.com/nKIIwIR.jpg

I put a level on the body and neck to confirm

level when on the body:

https://i.imgur.com/QvgZmup.jpg

Yet shows a tilt down towards the heel from the headstock end when placed on the neck:

https://i.imgur.com/yubf7mr.jpg

What does everyone think? Is this salvageable or should I be looking to get a replacement neck?

You could always try using shims to get the angle you need.

Possibly, I do have some StewMac shims which I could use too. However, I'm not really keen to have to shim what is essentially a brand new guitar and I'm not really certain about having to work on the neck too much. That's kind of why I bought a kit, otherwise I would have probably built from scratch

I noticed an angle to my neck when i fitted it as well. It's maybe not as pronounced as yours though. So i laid the guitar flat and measured the fretboard height at the neck pocket and then at nut end from the surface the body was laying on, with a definite rise. I compared it to my Fender Telecaster and found the same rise...... which certainly surprised me. It was maybe 5 to 7mm overall. I still figure I may have to shim but would wait and see once I'm setting everything up

Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

Have you cleaned up the wood in the neck route around the drill holes. Your original photos showed that the drill had forced wood up into the cavity (obviously the bit was nearing the end of it’s useful life). That will have an effect on the necks ability to seat properly.

Yeah, I've cleaned that up a little since those original pics to make sure it wasn't that. The heel of the neck definitely gets thinner towards the body end and the treble side. Think perhaps it could be a '4:59pm Friday' special, looks like someone right-handed has pulled a bit vigorously upwards and to the right when finishing the bottom of the heel

So, I've finally gotten around to getting a bit more time in on my TLA-1 kit. Got the bridge pickup rout extended, router bit couldn't quite reach the bottom. I'll probably take care of that with a dremel later, main thing is to get things moving forwards so I can do a full mock build:

https://i.imgur.com/5zzsFRq.jpg

Bridge mounted:

https://i.imgur.com/bGqOeTV.jpg

Done a bit of initial shaping to the body, mainly around the cutaway, to make things line up with the scratch plate a bit better:

https://i.imgur.com/ShPoWqx.jpg

Aaaaaannnndddd.........Bugger :( :

https://i.imgur.com/van0irk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CGJVPzh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IkvIKvf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2pUVZTt.jpg

I couldn't find anything on a sure-fire on how to determine the exact centre-line & I used several methods to try and determine it, they all came out within 1mm of where I placed the bridge but there's clearly a much greater distance from string to edge of the fretboard on the treble side sadly. I unscrewed the bridge after this and making sure the two strings were the same length and the bridge square across the guitar, I determined that I would have to move the bridge towards the treble side by 3mm which places the centre-line from the bridge quite obviously toward the treble side of the guitar.

Nut has shifted a bit possibly which may contribute but not the full 3mm it seems to be out by, was going to replace that with a GraphTech one anyway as I figured I'd just do the initial mock build with this one but might have to replace that first possibly?

https://i.imgur.com/RerLEOt.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/osdKX9B.jpg

Anyways, looks like I will have to plug those holes with dowel and re-mount the bridge sadly. Any help or suggestions on what might be my best course of action from here would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Dan

There's normally some wriggle-room when screwing the neck in position. Can you push the end of the headstock to get the strings running more parallel down the neck? If you can, then you'll be able to fix the neck in that position.

Those compensated saddles will sit slightly different with 2 strings over them rather than one.

cheers, Mark.

I'll just reiterate what Simon said.
It looks like you just need to align the strings by adjusting the lateral neck angle.
If you measure the distance from your centre mark at the neck pocket to the centre of each E string in your photo, they look pretty equal to me.
This is one of the beauties of screw-fixed necks vs set necks, they're adjustable!

If you haven't drill the holes in the heel yet, you're laughing. Set the correct string alignment first, snug up your clamp and mark the hole locations via the holes in the body.
Once you screw the neck on, you be able to realign the strings easy peasy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

There's normally some wriggle-room when screwing the neck in position. Can you push the end of the headstock to get the strings running more parallel down the neck? If you can, then you'll be able to fix the neck in that position.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by McCreed

I'll just reiterate what Simon said.
It looks like you just need to align the strings by adjusting the lateral neck angle.
If you measure the distance from your centre mark at the neck pocket to the centre of each E string in your photo, they look pretty equal to me.
This is one of the beauties of screw-fixed necks vs set necks, they're adjustable!

If you haven't drill the holes in the heel yet, you're laughing. Set the correct string alignment first, snug up your clamp and mark the hole locations via the holes in the body.
Once you screw the neck on, you be able to realign the strings easy peasy.

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There is a tiny bit of wiggle room but the neck sits really tight in the pocket, there is nowhere near enough to allow for enough adjustment to get the strings to align properly, this was the very first thing I tried

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan McEvoy

There is a tiny bit of wiggle room but the neck sits really tight in the pocket, there is nowhere near enough to allow for enough adjustment to get the strings to align properly, this was the very first thing I tried

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Right, so looks like I was a bit silly here and didn't take time to back everything off and loosen it enough to shift the angle of the neck when I tried to do it after I finally got the bridge on and getting things aligned (was particularly worried at the time of possibly cracking the thin wood at the top of the pocket on the cutaway side). Finally got a bit more time to put in some work on it and starting again, If I take it slowly and wiggle the neck down just right, I CAN actually tilt the neck over and get it ALMOST lined up right (there's still maybe half a mm difference between the string alignment in relation to the neck) but not without opening up small but noticeable gaps. I THINK I can possibly fix this up with some light sanding around the pocket but I'm super nervous of going to far and then definitely having noticeable gaps around the neck/pocket edges

O.k, so a bit of an update. Really wish I had more time to work on this. I've got the neck positioned here so the strings are aligned as closely as possible along the neck with the spacing from string to edge of fretboard as even as I can get it. Pictures are attempting to show (sorry for my crappy camera) the gaps I get around the pocket when I try and align the strings correctly with the neck wedged down into the pocket as hard as I can. Really unsure how to proceed here, I don't want to take anything off and wind up with gaps around the neck or any problems of that nature. Any help on how I should best proceed here would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers, Dan

https://i.imgur.com/SJvN9Qm.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0UfbfR3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FUVF1Cw.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UJrKQfK.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WaSZeR4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7FIqb1O.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan McEvoy

I had taken into account already the position of the saddles as I noted in my post saying that it needed to be moved to allow me to adjust the saddles back and forward. I could possibly place the bridge without moving the rout but as you say, my saddles would be at the absolute end of their travel......

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My Tele kit came with the holes for the bridge pre-drilled as per my request. The worker didn't enlarge the pickup cavity and the holes are drilled a bit too far south. But before drilling another set of holes I'm going to try swapping the intonation screws for some longer screws. They're simply 3 mm machine screws so they're easy to swap. It's worth a try before resorting to drilling.

You're very nearly there. A bit of light sanding on the sides of the neck pocket should get you there. Use a good square piece of hardwood for a sanding block and take your time. Use the bottom of the pocket as your guide for keeping the sanding edge square to the bottom.

Also FWIW, you want enough room in the pocket so the heel, just about drops in. You shouldn't have to press hard or tap it in or force it. Don't forget you have finish going on the neck and potentially some in the pocket, so you need to allow for the thickness of your finish material.

As for gaps, I've seen production guitars with far worse than what your showing. I'm not saying don't try and get it as even as possible, but it's not tehe end of the world if it's not "perfect". By the time it's finished the pickguard is on, I'm reasonably sure the only person that would notice it is you.

Hi Dan,

I usually don't mind a bit more real estate on the treble e string rather that the bass E string just to aid vibrato.

That being said, when checking the neck alignment try to get each string over the magnet/slug pole piece or that string will sound thin.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy40

That being said, when checking the neck alignment try to get each string over the magnet/slug pole piece or that string will sound thin.

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I'd say could sound thin in a worst-case situation. You'd have to be a long way off a pole piece to lose any significant volume.

The bridge pickup will invariable be OK, as the spacing there is determined by the saddle spacing, so it's only the neck humbucker you need to worry about. And the 50mm spacing of the Tonerider pole pieces should be fine for the neck position.