Rolf's TL-1A

[RocknRolf]

And with those glue spots by the edges of the veneer, they’re real buggers. I tried everything but they don’t seem to go, so I had to use a solid colour around the edges. I’m sure you’ve found a better solution. All the best!

The gum/razor/sand seems to have done the trick. I think only I'll see them because I know where the were.

The question regarding the pickguard was pretty rhetoric and getting your feedback gave that reassurance. The hard part is finding humbuckersized single coil mounting rings.

Guitar fetisj is doing a single coil humb. sized mounting ring though and saw these GFS gold foil single coils.


Anyone experience with these? Or any other decent pick ups around 30$. (I know this is down to taste but still, simple do's and don'ts for a noob like me, highly appreciated)
And can I (if I decide to) mount a neck humbucker in there without altering the wiring?

Thank you guys, have a great weekend.

[Fretworn]

You do have to cover the massive neck pickup hole. Maybe cut your pickguard down so it covers less of the top.

[McCreed]

The hard part is finding humbuckersized single coil mounting rings.

Yeah, I went through this last year. You can get them from the US, but it's more difficult finding them here.

The of part of the equation is getting ones that are not angled like a strat bridge pickup. You can find tele neck pickup rings, but I'm presuming you're going for a strat-size pickup, yes? And I don't think I've ever seen a humbucker-size ring that will fit a tele neck pickup (they are smaller than a standard strat SC, but you probably knew that already).

One option is similar to what Fretworn suggested, except mine is buy a cheap tele (or strat) pickguard and cut it down to make your own pickup ring. This was how I achieved exactly what I wanted.

[RocknRolf]

The of part of the equation is getting ones that are not angled like a strat bridge pickup. You can find tele neck pickup rings, but I'm presuming you're going for a strat-size pickup, yes? And I don't think I've ever seen a humbucker-size ring that will fit a tele neck pickup (they are smaller than a standard strat SC, but you probably knew that already).

@McCreed
As I said, I am a noob at this, I did not know, haha, but comparing pictures of the two I now see what you mean.
The bridge pickup of the Tele is a little fatter than the strat.

However, I do not see any difference between the neck pick ups correct?

One option is similar to what Fretworn suggested, except mine is buy a cheap tele (or strat) pickguard and cut it down to make your own pickup ring. This was how I achieved exactly what I wanted.

@Fretworn / @McCreed I found these rings at guitarfetish, and reason I am trying to source (a) pickup(s) there is to use the shipping costs of about 20AUD for a bit more than a 4$ pickup ring :-).

You'll see how I go, thank you!

[McCreed]

The bridge pickup of the Tele is a little fatter than the strat.

Yes, and the standard tele neck pickup is even smaller than a standard strat single coil.

A tele neck pickup is approx. 15mm wide by 72mm long, a strat SC is approx. 17.5mm wide and 80mm long.

re: GFS shipping; the only thing to do is place a big enough order (of other parts) that it makes it more economically feasible.

[RocknRolf]

I kicked myself a couple of times this week for pursuing a pickguardless guitar.
Basically the shipping costs makes it a no brainer to opt for more upgrades (aren't we all easy to persuade or make reasons to upgrade ). But in adding an extra pickup the shipment costs jumped up another 10$ totalling 25USD for 40usd on materials.... Anyways I'll figure out what to do.

Today I took the tape of the body and spend hours tidying up the binding. Though I did sand the binding before the stain and I used automotive tape, some of it still bled through into the binding. Most of it I was able to sand away, but there are three spots, minor spots that still have this *cracked* look.

If anyone has an idea how to remove them, that'd be lovely, if not, they are really small...can live with it.

[RocknRolf]

@McCreed, thanks, I've learned a lot about pickups this week

[DarkMark]

Core, that looks good. I actually like the dark cracks in my binding. I think it makes it look more vintage. The only thing I’ve seen to hide those marks was someone painted over them in the binding colour.

[McCreed]

re: binding, whilst you can sand it, it find scraping is more efficient and effective.
With sanding, it can be difficult to *not* get a rolled edge on the outside of the binding. Scraping provides a nice sharp clean edge. I would guess that most builders do scraping in lieu of sanding.

If you do a web/YT search you can find many variations on a them for DIY binding scrapers.
I made mine pretty much identically to the one in this link: https://www.homemadetools.net/homema...urce=prevarrow.

As for the bits in your pic, I don't think they're that noticeable and you may be the only who'll see them. However, if it bothers you, try making a scraper. You might even already have all the stuff you need and not require a trip to the hardware store!

The advantage to the scraping tool over just going "freehand" with a razor, is control. You don't want to slip and run that pointy corner of the razor across the finish you've just laboured to achieve!

And that burst is fantastic! Can't wait to see it clear coated.

[ILRGuitars]

Goof Off and a cotton bud can help remove stain from the binding too.