My first build: DTL-1

[gpjt]

Thanks for the advice, guys! Understood that clipped tangs and filler is a perfectly normal way to do a fretboard.

When I noticed the off-colour filler on the PBG neck I realised that I literally couldn't remember what the side of my old guitars' fretboards looked like, so checked my LPJ -- the only electric I have now -- and it doesn't have any visible filler, and what looks like the full height of the tang (1.5mm or so) is visible:



Then I checked a bunch of photos online of Tele fretboards, and they all looked like they were the same as the LPJ (though to be honest it's bloody hard to see -- photos of the sides of fretboards are surprisingly hard to find!). That, plus some vaguely-remembered Crimson Guitars videos had made me think that it was always visible-tang or bound

But now I know that there's another way, which happens to be the way this neck was designed. I *knew* this guitar-building lark was going to teach me stuff

[gpjt]

The tuners I ordered are on their way, but it looks like they'll take a while. However, the Wudtone honey body finishing kit and the vintage yellow neck finish arrived today, so I decided to cut up some scrap timber and set things up so that I'll be able to hang the body from its neck rout and the neck from the heel so that they can dry without touching stuff. Lots of beeswax on the screws so that they went in and came out smoothly. Looks like it will work OK:



Apologies to anyone whose brain was crashed by the bathroom tiles, they were the landlord's choice.

[gpjt]

Next, I thought about what might block applying the finish. The holes for the neck and the bridge are all pre-drilled. There are two possibilities:

1. The holes are in the right places, so I can start with the finish as soon as I've finished sanding down to 190.
2. The holes are in the wrong places, so I need to dowel them and re-drill before finishing.

The way I see it, the only way to find out the answer to that is to put the whole thing together pretty much completely. I don't need the new tuners for that, because while I will be fitting the E strings to check everything lines up (and to see whether that short fourth fret is an issue), the line that they follow will be determined by the nut and the bridge saddles.

So:



The fourth fret, while it bugs me a bit, looks like it won't be a problem for playing:



The neck fits in snugly:



I also realised that I'd been worrying over nothing about the bridge. When I did my measurements earlier, I'd moved the saddles far enough forward that there was no screw protruding from the "front" -- that is, the nut side -- of the saddle, and treated that as as far forward as it could go. But looking at it with strings on, it became clear that the bulk of the force on the saddle is downwards towards the body of the guitar -- with some toward the nut -- so it can be safely moved forward a bit so that the screw doesn't go all the way through, like the middle one here:



I'd still want a fair few threads inside the saddle -- it wouldn't do for it to be loose -- but that buys maybe 3mm, which should be ample given the numbers that McCreed posted earlier, unless there's something very odd about this guitar And if that happens, there's always the possibility of using longer screws.

BTW does that pickup look right to you guys? The camera angle sucks, but the bottom E is pretty much centred over the pole, but the top E is to the right of the centre of its pole -- maybe 80% of the way across. All of the bridge saddles are touching, so the strings are as close as they'll go, and the nut slots look like they're pretty much in the right places (and anyway the nut is miles away).

[gpjt]

So, next steps before starting to apply the finish:

• Finish sanding down to 190
• Drill two holes the size of the tuner screw holes in the offcut from the headstock, and try McCreed's toothpick trick and Simon's suggestion of wood filler in them, the do a test finish to see which looks closest to what I want after a coat of the planned neck finish.

[McCreed]

Then I checked a bunch of photos online of Tele fretboards, and they all looked like they were the same as the LPJ (though to be honest it's bloody hard to see -- photos of the sides of fretboards are surprisingly hard to find!). That, plus some vaguely-remembered Crimson Guitars videos had made me think that it was always visible-tang or bound.

That's interesting. Of the 11 unbound neck guitars I own (a mix of production and built by me) none of them have exposed tangs. They consist of both rosewood and maple fretboards and include 1 acoustic and 1 bass.
Also none of the necks are scratch built. They were all factory manufactured.


Any chance your LPJ was been re-fretted?


And, yes, those tiles would give seizures if I had to look at them for too long...

[Simon Barden]

I mentioned this another thread recently. I got my bender from Aliexpress (similar mob). It's excellent quality and looks identical to the one Stew-Mac sells for 3 times the price.

Hopefully yours arrives in a reasonable time.

Yes, I used the same company you mentioned. Just got the Aliexpress name wrong!

[Simon Barden]

The LPJ won't have been re-fretted. My 2013 Gibson Melody Maker LP has exposed tangs. As does my 2019 Maton EBG808TE acoustic and my PBG EX1 neck. Also a 2005 Fender John Mayer Strat I've just set up for a friend.

So exposed tangs seem to be pretty normal. It may just depend on model year or maybe even what stock of fretwire is available. If there's a box of pre-cut frets for bound fingerboards with the ends of the tangs cut away, and they get used on an unbound neck, then filler will be needed. If the frets are 'intact', then it won't.

[Andy40]

Hi GPJT.

great build so far. I just wanted to chime in as this issue has been bugging me lately. see how your high e is not quite over the magnet poles. I had the same issue with my Ash tele. Look it will play fine but the high e will be slightly thin and twangy. If you're a country player this will have you high fiveing your guitar. But if you're like me, it will irk you a little bit. It probably means that your neck is on a very slight angle in the neck pocket or the bridge placement is slightly off.

It was only pronounced in my guitar because my pickups were Alnico pole magnets (rather than a ceramic bar magnet with slugs) and a the pickup was not wound hot.

Nevertheless, if you have my disease, you can compensate it but raising the pickup closer to the high e.

Good luck mate

[Simon Barden]

BTW does that pickup look right to you guys? The camera angle sucks, but the bottom E is pretty much centred over the pole, but the top E is to the right of the centre of its pole -- maybe 80% of the way across. All of the bridge saddles are touching, so the strings are as close as they'll go, and the nut slots look like they're pretty much in the right places (and anyway the nut is miles away).

It's not quite right, but looking at the top picture of the four, the bridge itself doesn't seem to be sitting quite square, which could explain some of the string position over the pickup. You may also have the treble side of the pickup pushing against the side of the cavity, which even if it's using up say 0.5mm of play in the pickup screw holes, can make a difference. So worth checking for both.

If the bridge isn't square, then keep one of the existing rear screw holes and plug and redrill the rest.

If the pickup isn't touching the sides, you may be able to just push it a bit more to the treble side and improve the pole alignment.

[Simon Barden]

One alternative fix is to get some compensated brass saddles (they will sound nicer as well) as they don't come with notches like the kit saddle. The top E string looks like it's pulled slightly out by the saddle notch, and a straight run from the string hole llooks like it will cure the issue. You can look round for Wilkinson ones, but these Vanson ones look identical and I know they get their parts from the same factory as the Wilkinson ones are made and and are about half the price. They aren't rocket science! https://www.amazon.co.uk/VANSON-Comp...DBAM5BH8V6WTRH