Teleburster TL-1A aka G-special

[keloooe]

The DB of neck joints is here!!! Brave stuff WeirdBits!!!

[GlennGP]

Quote from WeirdBits on April 1, 2013, 20:24

I think 'too crazy' may already be in the rear view mirror, DB.

Ba-HA! It's been all short-breathed admiration from here, Weirdy!

Quote from WeirdBits on April 1, 2013, 20:24

But, I'm not planning on doing too much more to this kit... maybe.

Adam, it's partly aesthetics, partly feel and partly to just see if I could do it.

Like DB said, those are some pretty good reasons! Just keep knocking on wood whenever you get a bright idea!

[WeirdBits]

String-Thru Time!

(part 1 of 2)

I always planned on making this build a string-through-body, but it's also the process I was most nervous about. It needs to be done very accurately, and for that you need the right tools… which I don't really have. Getting it wrong would be very, very bad and most likely pretty damn ugly. It was going to be a challenge.

First up, I lined up, drilled and bolted on the neck, as I wanted to make sure it was in position and fixed before I started to position the bridge and string-thru holes. I used a fishing line centre line strung up just above the neck and running above the body (it's best to used a dark fishing line). This allowed me to position the neck accurately in relation to the body before clamping and drilling the neck mount holes, and later mark my actual centre line on the body. For anyone else using this method, make sure you actually measure the mid-line of the neck at various points and position the fishing line over those mid-points, as the dot inlays may not all be exactly symmetrical and aligned with the centre of the neck (see first image below).

Once I had my neck on and centre line marked I measured out the scale and began to position the bridge. This has to be right so I took a lot of time, checked and re-checked, then checked again. By running a piece of wood over the bridge and clamping it in place I could do all of my measurements without risk of it moving, before tweaking the position, re-clamping and re-measuring. My 600mm steel rule was invaluable at this stage to not only get the scale accurate but also ensure the bridge was square and aligned accurately around the centre-line (first image set, below). I also ran two additional lengths of fishing line as the high and low E strings, hooked into their respective nut slots and over their bridge saddles. This allowed me to check the string runs along the edge of the fretboard and helped with the final tweaking of the bridge position. Once I was happy I marked everything and then doubled checked again with the bridge removed (single, second image below).

Now the hard part. My drill press doesn't have a deep enough mouth to accommodate the guitar body to drill the holes… which means accuracy is very much an issue. I could have maybe modified the press to give me a slightly deeper reach, perhaps, but that would have put its accuracy and consistency at risk. Instead, I decided to try to create some templates/guides that would provide enough accuracy and consistency to get the job done. Unfortunately, I only have a standard length 2.5mm drill bit for the string-thru holes, so that limited how thick my guide could be. I made one template for the bridge mounting and string-thru holes, and another (much thicker) template for the string ferrule holes/recesses. I then did several tests drilling string-thru holes on some wood the same thickness as the guitar body and then using the string ferrule template until I was happy with the result (see last set of images below, including the results of a ferrule hole test).

To be continued...

[WeirdBits]

String-Thru Time!

(part 2 of 2)

Now the really hard part.

I drilled the outside two bridge mount holes which then allowed me to screw and clamp my template in position on the body. I drilled the other two mount holes, screwed them in too, and then carefully drilled the string-thru holes halfway through the body. I then removed the template and drilled ONLY the two E string holes all the way through the body, the middle four string holes were left only halfway through. Why, next...

I flipped the body over and there were the holes for the two E strings. There are two reasons I only drilled those two holes all the way through:

• Templates like this will always have some inaccuracy which is amplified the further you drill… stopping halfway helps to minimise the variance.
• The brad point bit for the ferrule holes tends to follow existing holes, regardless of your template, so it's better to drill the ferrule holes on an unbroken surface (you still need the E string holes to actually align the template, so it's a trade off).

A couple of wooden skewers helped to align the ferrule template with the E string holes, I checked and re-checked then clamped. I then measured how deep the ferrules would need to be, added the thickness of the template, added the depth of a rout I was going to add (I prefer the ferrules recessed into the body) and used a length of tubing over the bit to set that depth (see inset image, first sequence of images below). Even the slightest variation in the alignment of the ferrule holes makes the result look horrible, so I was well and truly soiling myself at this point (no pictures, sorry).

Now the really, really hard part.

I drilled each ferrule hole as carefully as I could and then removed to template to check the result… not too bad. I did a partial push in of the ferrules to check the alignment, and I was reasonably pleased (see second set of images below). I then positioned and clamped my string through template on the back of the body, with the same orientation as it was on the top of the guitar. That is, the high E was still positioned as the high E but what was the top of the template was now against the back of the body. This was for consistency and to, hopefully, increase the chance of the holes connecting. I then drilled the middle four string holes halfway again… and they joined up! Whew! I then got out my Dremel again and did the rout for the ferrule recess. It ended up being about 1mm deeper than I planned, but I'm fine with that.

The result… I now have a string through body (final set of images below)!. Once I start sanding I think I'll put a bevelled edge on the ferrule rout. Overall, I'm reasonably pleased. It's certainly not perfect, but not too bad as a first attempt at a string-thru sans honking great drill press. Don't worry, DB, that's the last of the routing on this body

[dingobass]

Nice work Weirdy

I too like the string ferrules to be recessed so no arguments from me!

Sooooooo glad I have a big arsed drill press, makes life easy when I see how you accomplished this.

most folk would just attack it with the cordless drill and hope for the best, nice to see you thinking it through and the results show how worthwhile it is to nut things out first. 8O

[pablopepper]

This is definitely my favourite build thread atm. Who knows what will happen next?

This is some really fun stuff Weirdbits. Keep it up!

[Gavin1393]

Echo DB, really excellent work sans drill press.....

[robin]

Wow Scott, inspirational stuff.

This thread gives me confidence to keep going. I bet when you started this build you had no idea how epic it would turn out

cheers
rob

[keloooe]

Wow... just wow... This build is going to be fan-friggen-awesome when its done!

[WeirdBits]

Quote from robin on April 6, 2013, 06:59
[...] This thread gives me confidence to keep going. [...]

High praise indeed, thanks Robin, and thanks to everyone for your comments and encouragement. It has certainly turned into a far more extensive build than I originally envisioned, but I'm gaining lots of experience which is what I wanted from this kit as a first build.

Hopefully, I will finally be able to start applying (and experimenting with) the Wudtone finish in the next couple of days... I guess then we'll really see how well my worm hole repairs have turnd out. And, while that is drying I'll be able to get to work on my other kits.