TL-1L First build

[king casey]

This is probably a bit late but the easiest way to go on a maple neck and fingerboard is are you looking for a vintage neck or just a nice neutral colour, if I'm doing an aged neck I use yellow Rit dye I mix up a weak solution and go over with just one or 2 coats and then use a spray can of clear acrylics lacquer if I want a glossy neck ill just polish it up or if I want a Matt super soft feeling neck I sand it back with 2000grit w&d and leave it like that, looks an feel beautiful

@ king Casey i don't reply much these days unless I can help but this method work especially well on squire necks don't use enamel or Bunnings clear that's good on furniture but not on necks ill try to upload a couple of pics for you it also works well over water slide decals I'm probably done over 50 Strats and Tele necks the same way, I thought Phil would have posted something like that its way easier than using messy enamels which look like crap

Hi Phrozin.
I've used SCA clear in the past but I've wasted a few trips to SuperCheap to find that they have none in stock.
I'm a cheap b@st@rd with finishes.
cheers Mark.

[Twodogies]

This is probably a bit late but the easiest way to go on a maple neck and fingerboard is are you looking for a vintage neck or just a nice neutral colour, if I'm doing an aged neck I use yellow Rit dye I mix up a weak solution and go over with just one or 2 coats and then use a spray can of clear acrylics lacquer if I want a glossy neck ill just polish it up or if I want a Matt super soft feeling neck I sand it back with 2000grit w&d and leave it like that, looks an feel beautiful

@ king Casey i don't reply much these days unless I can help but this method work especially well on squire necks don't use enamel or Bunnings clear that's good on furniture but not on necks ill try to upload a couple of pics for you it also works well over water slide decals I'm probably done over 50 Strats and Tele necks the same way, I thought Phil would have posted something like that its way easier than using messy enamels which look like crap

Hi Phrozin.
Actually not to late and any advice is always welcome.

I have colortone stain in lemon yellow and orange so might try a mix of those to see if I can get right look

Decided I'm progably going to finish it with SCA gloss acrylic lacquer. Also good excuse to get more stuff for the beast lol

[jugglindan]

The headstock looks great. I know how nerve wracking it can be to start cutting, so well done!

Unfortunately I can offer no trustworthy advice on neck finishes as I am yet to finish mine and my body finish is not without several issues

[Twodogies]

The headstock looks great. I know how nerve wracking it can be to start cutting, so well done!

Unfortunately I can offer no trustworthy advice on neck finishes as I am yet to finish mine and my body finish is not without several issues

Hey Jugglindan
Thanks..yes very nerve wracking lol
Good luck with your build. Hope all goes well

[jugglindan]

Hey Jugglindan
Thanks..yes very nerve wracking lol
Good luck with your build. Hope all goes well

Thanks! I need all the luck I can get. Sometimes it feels like I will never finish the body finish

[Twodogies]

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

New bride pickup finally arrived (well second hand but new to me lol ) and routed out bridge cavity to suit.

Think i got strings aligned properly.




Now the problems lol
Strings seem to line up ok but as you can tell center string lining up fret markers and center of bridge is slightly off center. (Middle string lining up with screw head and pencil mark on body).



The next photo shows bridge placement when the saddle on the right (high E ) is set at 648 from nut to front of saddle.



Notice the very big gap between guard and bridge.

Do you think there is enough room for later intonation if I move bridge about 5 mm closer to reduce pick guard gap reducing distance from nut to saddle 643?
Try to square up bridge and see if I can slightly adjust neck by loosening neck screws and slight pressure move the neck so it all lines up better. I have watched many you tube videos and the more I watch the more confused I get.

But then again I am waiting on a new Wilkinson bridge so maybe I should just wait till that arrives and see if that aligns better. The only reason I thought trying this bridge first was I could use it as a template drill holes etc without damaging new bridge.

Thanks for any input.

[king casey]

I've gone over my Squier neck after doing the neck radius.
F&W Golden Teak with Gloss clear (White Knights 'Squirts').

I would however leave it to dry for at least a week to harden.



cheers, Mark.

[Twodogies]

I've gone over my Squier neck after doing the neck radius.
F&W Golden Teak with Gloss clear (White Knights 'Squirts').

I would however leave it to dry for at least a week to harden.



cheers, Mark.

Beauty Mark Thanks for that. Only concern is not confident using cans that's why I thought wipe on might be easier. Oh well guess I better learn using spray on. Will grab a few cans from Bunnings tomorrow to practice on a spare piece first.

Sorry Mark one question would I use the white knights spray on the fretboard as well or use pitbill wax.

Thanks for your time.

[king casey]

Sorry Mark one question would I use the white knights spray on the fretboard as well or use pitbill wax.

No worries Twodogies. I use it on the whole neck including the fretboard.
This time I finished the neck before putting the frets on thinking that would be it.
Failed to leave it to dry anywhere near long enough (the frets arrived early) and had to sand some fingerprints off it.
Impatience really kills.

cheers, Mark.

[McCreed]

Good work on the headstock, except you cut it backwards

As for neck finish, I've not used the Dingotone products at all so can't offer much advice on that.
However with maple fretboards it is generally standard practise to seal them. I don't know what the DT "final coat" consists of, but in the description of the Final Top-Coat it states: "It will give you a hard finish that protects the neck and provides a silky smooth neck feel when playing." So I presume it is some kind of polymerised finish. This is typically what is used on maple fretboards.

So with your other option: FW stain & wipe-on poly (presuming both oil-based) no problem. Also recommend doing both back and fb as mentioned above.