TL-1HA first build

[Groovyman32]

I used plywood as I have loads of off cuts in the shed. MDF would be loads better.

Yeah I think I'm going to make it so the gaps along the bottom edge and by the right shoulder match. The problem in the top right is there's not a lot of space to play with between the switch cavity and the edge of the template. There's probably just enough room for a screw. So I can make it bigger but not really any small in that area.

The original dlx tele is a bit of an odd shape - especially around the neck.

[Groovyman32]

A couple of days ago I made a new pick guard template from paper - lot's of cutting and sticking until I got the right shape. Today I transferred it onto ply wood and cut it out. Again, I used the plate from the kit to cut the neck and the pickups so everything lined up.

Then I went for it... I don't have a band saw and I thought my jigsaw would be too heavy duty for the pick guard material. So instead I used a cutting disc on my Dremel to rough cut. I tried using the router bit to just carve through it but that seemed a bit sketchy. Then I used a chamfer bit to get, well... a chamfer.

But it's turned out okay I think. Not perfect but useable. There's a couple of places where is gone a bit wonky due to the ply wood template (and it being my first attempt at anything like this).



I'm pleased with the knob spacing and I like the clean lines of it being all black (not multiply). I've tried to make it follow the lines of the body in the key places and I think I've got it well enough. I still have the holes for the pots and switch to drill and counter sink all the other holes.

The things I've learnt:

1. Don't make templates out of ply wood. They chip out too easily. In one of the pickup cut outs the inner ply tore out leaving just the outer skins... Not good enough for the router bearing to follow leading to one of the wonky bits.
2. Scratch plate material comes with two layers of plastic on it. I spent a few minutes trying to polish out scratches that were in the second layer before I realised
3. Avoid making your own scratch plate. Cutting it out is messy. The little chips of plastic go everywhere and stick to everything. As I'm typing this I'm still finding them in places where they should not have got. They're also all over the house even though I did it all outside.

If I was doing it again I would try to mount the router upside down and clamp it to a table. Hand holding it makes it less stable I think. It would also remove the "clamp, route, unclamp, move" dance.

I'd also buy a band saw and some kind of sanding machine before attempting this again. Both of these would make the whole process less arduous. I think it would be done in a couple of hours rather than half a day.

It's getting close now. I think I'm ready to start wiring and assembly?

[Simon Barden]

A very decent first go. You can always finesse the chamfer with a fine file and sandpaper.

I used a fine bladed jigsaw to cut close to the outline of the scratchplate that I'd drawn on in paper and stuck on with glue, then used a Dremel drum sander to sand down to the outline. Then a file and sandpaper to do the bevel. I'd really like a table router but I haven't got the space for one.

[McCreed]

Good work. As simple (conceptually) as cutting a pickguard seems, it is a job that takes time and attention to detail IMO. Not something you just "whip up". Especially when it can require a lot of handwork.

Scratch plate material comes with two layers of plastic on it. I spent a few minutes trying to polish out scratches that were in the second layer before I realised

D'oh!!! I appreciate that your humble enough to admit this! I haven't tried to polish it, but have been deceived by that second layer before.


In addition to Simon's advice on file & sandpaper, I find scraping bevels on pickguard material works really well and does it neatly and quickly.
I use my DIY binding scraper to get the angle established then fine tune things freehand. Fine files and sandpaper will also be part of the process here and there, followed by polishing the bevel.

A good sharp Stanley knife blade makes an excellent scraper, either in-hand or in the binding scraper tool. I recently acquired a set of miniature cabinet scrapers (to compliment my large set) they're absolutely brilliant but haven't used them on a pickguard yet.

[dozymuppet]

Man, I feel so silly for not having used a Dremel sanding drum when I had to adjust a pickguard recently... The amount of time I spent with a Stanley blade was way more than it should have been.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

[Groovyman32]

I did a little more fettling on the pick guard today, tidying up some of the curves with sand paper, needle files and a blade. No massively discernible difference but it's a little cleaner around the edges. I drilled the holes for pots and switch and to my relief everything fits inside the cavities of the body - was there ever any doubt? (yes)

My goal for the rest of the day was to try and get the neck bolted to the body. But (spoilers) I didn't get that far.

First I gave the body another polish - looking sweet!

Then it occurred to me it would be easier to install the tuners before the neck was bolted on, but before I could do that I wanted to polish the head stock face and file the fret ends. So I did that... nice.

And then I mounted the tuners:



This is a milestone as it the first major piece of hardware installed. I managed to avoid drilling through the headstock and I think got them straight enough.

I then dug out the plate the and screws for mounting the neck. I think one of you mentioned somewhere that the neck screws should pass through the body without cutting into the body itself. The screws are too big to do that so I thought I'd stop and go and research before drilling the neck holes in the body any wider.

So that's what I'm going to do now.

[Groovyman32]

Found the answer in my other build thread - thanks Mc. So I need to drill out the body.

Is there any advantage to upgrading the neck plate and screws?

[Simon Barden]

Neck plate, not really. Screws, maybe. Most of the kit screws are quite soft, some very (tuner screws especially). Using known good quality screws to fix the neck, especially as they could be used several times, makes sense to me. I’ve seen weak screws break off in the neck, which can be hard to fix.

[McCreed]

Headstock looks great. Nice gloss and the decals are buried nicely too.

[Simon Barden]

I think one of you mentioned somewhere that the neck screws should pass through the body without cutting into the body itself. The screws are too big to do that so I thought I'd stop and go and research before drilling the neck holes in the body any wider.

Here's a very good video explaining the principle: