First time builder TL-1TB

[FrankenWashie]

It's a very different look and I really think it works very well, nice job Sockpuppet!😎👍🏾

[Fretworn]

The neck has a Railhammer Gnarly 90, and the bridge is from my Hagstrom Viking.

That's an interesting combination of pickups. I always assume that Railhammers are high powered pickups, but I'm assuming the Hagstrom is lower powered.

[Jed51]

Looking really good! I am interested in this kit as a possible second build, but not sure about the Bigsby vs the sprung bridge of the 1TP. Will be interested in your thoughts re how it plays when you're done? Anyone out there with an example of the P?

[Sockpuppet]

That's an interesting combination of pickups. I always assume that Railhammers are high powered pickups, but I'm assuming the Hagstrom is lower powered.

Thought I would measure them both on my multimeter
The Railhammer is giving me a reading of 7.9k, the Hagstrom hj50 is reading 12.9k

They came out of my hagstrom viking when I replaced them with 2 Railhammer hyper vintage humbuckers. They weren't bad sounding, especially played clean or with mid drive but the Railhammers were a huge improvement in every aspect.

[Sockpuppet]

Looking really good! I am interested in this kit as a possible second build, but not sure about the Bigsby vs the sprung bridge of the 1TP. Will be interested in your thoughts re how it plays when you're done? Anyone out there with an example of the P?

I've never played a guitar with a Jaguar type bridge before, so I can't comment. But I love the look of hollowbodies with a Bigsby installed.

[Dedman]

I have to say I was impressed with the quality of the Bigsby that comes with the kit, I thought I may have to buy a genuine one or similar but I the only fault I can pick is the arm sits a tad high for me. Haven't tried a jag style, been tempted by that 1tp kit too.
Yours should sound and play great Sock.

[phrozin]

i'm liking that stain job there sir its a no nonsense stain, i'm going to be following this build i almost got this kit, love teles with Bigbys and humbuckers

[Sockpuppet]

Hi everyone

It's been a very slow couple of weeks. Haven't had a lot of time to do much

Cavities painted with shielding paint


Cleaned up the the edges with some steel wool



Started doing the fret work
Fretboard taped and marked with black marker

[Sockpuppet]

Got the neck as straight as I could




Frets levelled


Marker removed from frets

[Sockpuppet]

And finally frets crowned and polished



At this point, I was not too happy with the how soft the tru oil is, as the slightest bump seems to be putting dents into everything, so weighing my options, it looks like Wipe-on Poly might be the way to go for me.
I'll have some more photos up once I've started the wipe-on poly process

I will be starting with the neck to see how that goes first. If anyone has any suggestions for me, I am all ears.
The process I will be taking is :
- Scrub neck with steel wool
- 3 coats of Wipe on Poly satin finish
- Light sand after the first 3 coats, then another 2-3 coats with sanding between.


The spring for the Bigsby was also a tad too high. So out come the bolt cutters to bring it down, then used a file to shape the edge so that I wouldn't accidently stab myself.


I've also filed down top of the spring where it was cut so it wouldn't sit too unbalanced.