So I went with an alder Tele kit for my first shot cause I figure teles are nice and simple and alder is an easy wood to work with. I stuffed up my order and grabbed the wrong neck but the guys were awesome and sent me out the right one straight away so I figured I'd buy another body as well (ash Tele waiting in the wings when I finish this one). I went with the bone nut and the locking tuners, I also grabbed a gotoh ashtray bridge with the 6 adjustable saddles and some tusq string trees so hoping if I don't stuff things up too badly tuning should be rock solid. I'll try to post updates.
I love the way the stain caught the grain. I raised the grain with water first then sanded it back as it was a water based stain. There are a couple of slightly raised spots but for the most part it's super smooth. I used some water to thin it out once it was on and get it even. I'm not sure whether to sand it back and do one more coat or just jump straight to the clear coat. I'm probably going to use steel wool to apply wipe on poly so that might help the few little patches where the grain is raised to level out when I apply it. First time finishing wood so I'm relying entirely on YouTube lol.
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