H's TL-1Q, first build.

[Andy40]

Karijini Red with white binding looks awesome. You can always stain the timbermate with the dingotone first to get the grain to pop a bit more.

[wazkelly]

Hello H and welcome to the GAS factory.

Having seen the dramas others have had with thin veneer tops do not recommend any Timbermate at all as that would require sanding back and also risk going through the top. A subtle way to enhance or pop the quilted top is to wipe as much of the stain off with a clean lint free cloth or rag after 1st & 2nd coats as that will load up the grain that has taken the stain leaving the rest a slightly lighter shade thus giving you a popped grain effect without too much worry or effort. Used this method on my flame top Tele and whilst I used inkjet ink it should work out similar with DT too. If you are tempted to sand stick with a very light 0000 steel wool scuff to take a minute amount of the top off those initial couple of stain coats and don't worry too much about smoothness or texture as subsequent coats will fill any uneven bits.

[UpperCaseH]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you said you measured to the MIDDLE of the 12th fret, and I thought (and measured) to the top of the (12th) fret wire on my build and the bridge did not have to be moved all the way forward. Maybe that's what you meant but I thought it worth bringing up just in case.

Sorry I was unclear - I measured to the crown of the 12th fret, in my mind that's the "middle of the (fret) wire".

Tonight I got the neck and bridge measured, aligned, drilled, and test-installed. Nerve-wracking, but not too hard. Measurements were all OK and I fit the low and high E tuners and strings (just held in place) to make sure everything was aligned and it went smoothly apart from breaking the (cheap plastic) handle off a (cheap plastic) clamp. Guess I need some new tools Did the bridge with the pickup in place as I'd read some people have trouble with the fit, but with the bridge plate moved just a bit less than as far forward as the pickup would allow, everything worked fine.

I marked the holes to drill for the pick guard, electronics plate, jack, etc, but then realised that I don't have the right sized drill bit , so I'll have to wait until the weekend to sort that out unless I end up with some spare time tomorrow.

Once the bridge and neck were in place, and I realised I couldn't do any more drilling, I thought I'd throw the strings on and see what happened. Turns out everything's lined up where it should be, so that's nice.

The action seems a bit weird and it makes me wonder if I've mucked something up. The first few frets are fine, but after that the action is quite high. I'll try to attach some pics so you can see what I mean. I tried tightening the truss rod (loosened it about an eighth turn, then tightened a quarter), but it feels like it's at the end of its adjustment without much improvement.

I'm probably just worrying too much and too early, but if there's something I can do at this stage that I haven't thought of (or if it's actually fine and I'm worrying unnecessarily), I'd love to hear about it.

1st fret:


12th fret: