Hi all

First time builder here - nervous and excited.

I've dabbled in playing guitar for 30 years - never really got good but passable enough to play in a couple of garage bands and play a gig or two. My axe has been a black Japanese strat with a fantastic, warm, smooth neck pick up (from the factory but maybe I got lucky).

But I've always wanted a telecaster and for years I've been contemplating what I would buy - I saw a beautiful cherry sunburst Frankenstein strat with a humbucker, middle and neck pickups and with a maple neck that felt soooo good. The $5000 price tag scared me away...but only just

I like Prince's tele but have since found out that it's a Hohner tele replica and decided that doing a sunburst finish might be a bit much for my first guitar. Maybe for a hollow body tele in future...

So, I've settled on trying to make my own "tribute" to Springsteen's workhorse tele (which I understand is a hybrid of at least two guitars). The tribute is fairly low level - a butterscotch stain and black pickguard - but I think that's as far as my skills will go.

Here come the questions:

- the holes for my bridge are pre-drilled. I've mock-up assembled and the bridge matches the cavity and pickguard well. Given the amount of travel for the saddles on a Telecaster bridge, is there any reason to assume that I'm going to have much trouble with scale length? Otherwise, why are the holes pre-drilled at all?
- can anyone recommend a decent vice/clamp? I've seen a ~$50 Stanley "hobby" one at Bunnings. It's mainly for cutting the headstock to a tele shape
- also, is there anything I might want to look out for when buying a clamp for the neck (again for the mock up build)
- a member here (thanks RocknRolf) suggested I might consider using some stain/filler to bring out the grain in the Ash. Is there any reason that Timbermate 250g Ebony Wood Filler won't be totally groovy for Ash?

Thanks all, in anticipation. Keep on rockin'