TL-1L First build

[jugglindan]

..or maybe just have to do another tele build later.

thinline thinline thinline go on, do it thinline

[Twodogies]

thinline thinline thinline go on, do it thinline

Like your thinking. But as they don't come in a lefty model will have to custom order it.

[Twodogies]

Good morning

New tele bridge plate arrived. Only a bit of routing to tidy it up.



Strings pretty close and seems to have reduced gap from plate to pickguard. Looks a bit better. Still waiting on new pickguard so will wait to see how that fits.

Now the fun part drilling ferrule and string through holes. Bought a cheap drill press. got it set up. Runs perfectly. Put nice long drill bit in. Went to see alignment for drilling. Not enough clearance from drill bit to back of drill stand. Shit lol...Maybe should have checked the measurement first before buying lol.

Oh well looks like it's the old power drill....wish me luck lol

[Sonic Mountain]

Very common, its hard to find a press with a decent distance to the post that isn't enormous and $$$$. I get by with a cheap one and its really hand for lots of aspects of building, even if string throughs are tricky on some body shapes.

Even with a press the bit can wander around a bit meaning you end up with wonky holes. I think some people on here recommend careful measuring and drilling in two stages, front and back. That way at least you can get the spacing nice and tidy on the back of the guitar where you see them.

Definitely one of the more difficult things to get right.

[Simon_B]

Not enough clearance from drill bit to back of drill stand. Shit lol...Maybe should have checked the measurement first before buying lol.

Oh well looks like it's the old power drill....wish me luck lol

I have exactly the same problem with my baby drill press I've had for years. Good luck and steady hands!

[Simon Barden]

I adjusted my drill press so that it stood on top of the body and drilled through the hole in the middle of the base plate. Slightly more awkward to align but not too bad if you punch an indentation first.

Use the bridge to mark the hole locations in the top. Drill the two outer holes all the way through, and the four middle ones 3/4 through.

Then turn the body over, and use the two outer holes to align with the bridge holes. Mark the 4 inner hole positions and drill those to about 1/2 depth. The rear holes will now be in a nice even line. You may have to drill through the 4 middle holes to get a good path through if there is a slight mismatch because of drilling from both sides.

Then measure the depth of your ferrules and carefully drill the holes or those. You obviously need to be more careful as to depth if you have ferrules that sit flush rather than have the ones with a lip that sit proud. Even so, you don't want the widened section to be too deep otherwise it gets harder to feed the string through easily.

[Twodogies]

Very common, its hard to find a press with a decent distance to the post that isn't enormous and $$$$. I get by with a cheap one and its really hand for lots of aspects of building, even if string throughs are tricky on some body shapes.

Even with a press the bit can wander around a bit meaning you end up with wonky holes. I think some people on here recommend careful measuring and drilling in two stages, front and back. That way at least you can get the spacing nice and tidy on the back of the guitar where you see them.

Definitely one of the more difficult things to get right.

Morning Sonic.
I bought a brad drill bit. Supposedly a little better than a standard drill bit. Apparently the little spike on the end helps straight drilling. We'll see this arvo if true lol

[Twodogies]

I have exactly the same problem with my baby drill press I've had for years. Good luck and steady hands!

Nice little drill press but just no good for tele bridge. Will come in handy for other jobs.

Thanks. Might need a bourbon before to calm nerves lol

[Twodogies]

I adjusted my drill press so that it stood on top of the body and drilled through the hole in the middle of the base plate. Slightly more awkward to align but not too bad if you punch an indentation first.

Use the bridge to mark the hole locations in the top. Drill the two outer holes all the way through, and the four middle ones 3/4 through.

Then turn the body over, and use the two outer holes to align with the bridge holes. Mark the 4 inner hole positions and drill those to about 1/2 depth. The rear holes will now be in a nice even line. You may have to drill through the 4 middle holes to get a good path through if there is a slight mismatch because of drilling from both sides.

Then measure the depth of your ferrules and carefully drill the holes or those. You obviously need to be more careful as to depth if you have ferrules that sit flush rather than have the ones with a lip that sit proud. Even so, you don't want the widened section to be too deep otherwise it gets harder to feed the string through easily.

hey Simon.

Was thinking of adjusting drill press to suit but saw a couple of videos on YouTube about drilling straight holes without a press so might practice a bit and see how that goes before hacking at drill press.

More worried about lining up the forstner bit to drill ferrule holes but think I have found a way to maybe get that right.

Thanks for the tip

[Simon Barden]

I wouldn't use a forsner bit for that. OK if you can drill the ferrule holes first (but then you have top drill all the holes from the rear), but it really is a lot easier to drill them with a standard drill bit. Almost all ferrules have an angled base which makes a standard bit more appropriate. You're far more likely to get wonky holes using a forstner bit if you aren't drilling strait into the wood.