1st build: DTL-7

[davidaviola]

Greetings all,

I've been entertaining the idea of building a guitar from a kit for a while now and, in parallel, I've been looking for a 7-string guitar that looks and plays more like a Fender and less like a metal axe. A Tele always seemed like a sensible first build, so the DTL-7 was one of those things that ticks all the boxes and it finally pushed me into taking the plunge into kit building.

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...ash-body-copy/

The kit is already in the mail, thanks to Ben Pettit, so I thought I'd start my build diary and jot down some ideas to get organized and get some opinions.



For my first build, I plan to stick to the standard kit for the most part, partly due to insecurity, partly because the Tele Deluxe is already pretty close to what I want from a 7-string guitar. So, I want to make sure I build a playable guitar with the parts that come with the kit before experimenting with other pickups, custom pickguards and whatever.

As a reference, I'm using the 70's Mocha Telecaster Deluxe. I've always loved the color and the goofy CBS strat headstock. So, my preliminary concerns are:

HEADSTOCK SHAPE: I'd love to cut a CBS-style headstock, but, judging from the images on the website, I just don't think there's enough wood in the paddle to pull it off. I might try to draw something inspired by it or just go with a regular Tele-style headstock, but, either way, there are no templates for seven-string Fendery headstocks on the web, I think...

NECK FINISH: It's a maple fretboard, and I'll do a matte finish. I also like that yellowing ting that maple necks get with age. Is there any way to do it with the finish? I've also been reading about people using shoe polish to add that sort of vintage tint...

BODY FINISH: I'll probably go for a glossy mocha finish, so I'll try to source a similar stain and then clear coat it. We'll see how the body looks once it's here. This is the part I'm most insecure about, because I never finished a guitar and solid painting seems to be more forgiving, but, the way I figure it, I'll see how the stain looks and, If it comes out badly, I'll just paint over it.

WIRING: I'm thinking of adding a second 3-way switch as a master series-parallel-split control for both pickups, because I'm not too keen on pull-push pots, but I still have to figure out if it will fit beside the pickup selector once the kit comes. I also considered using only a master volume pot and put the remaining one to another use (maybe something like the Dan Armstrong wiring I have on my Strat), but I never had a guitar with individual volume controls, so I thought I'd try it out before making my mind.

That's what's on my mind right now. I'm sure more tangible issues will arise once I'm in the nitty gritty, and I'll be grateful for all guidance you can offer. For now, I'm curious if any of this sticks out as a very bad idea to more experienced builders.

Thanks!

[McCreed]

Welcome David.

Sounds like you have a solid vision for project, which always a good start IMO!
I'll comment on your ideas in the order you posted them:

Headstock Shape -
I believe your assumption is correct in that there is not enough paddle to get the CBS shape. The only way to do it with the kit neck would be to join another piece of maple, and then veneer over the front & back to hide the join line. Entirely doable, but may be a lot for your first outing.

Neck Finish -
There are basically two ways to achieve the aged or vintage colour on a maple neck, you can stain the maple before you clear coat, or tint the clear coat. (I think I did both once on the same neck?). It's personal preference as to which method is better or best. They each have their advantage.

Body Finish -
That kit has an Ash body which is a very open-pored timber and will require grain filling if you're after a mirror-like gloss If you wish to have sort of a rustic look, then you can get away without grain filling. When grain filling, you can fill with a darker colour to accentuate the grain pattern. Ash is really good for this.

As for colour, you may need to experiment a bit to find the right one that works for you. I have no idea what products are available to you in Brazil. One tip though, is if you're using a shade of brown to get the Mocha, dilute it so it goes on much lighter, and build coats to achieve the level of "dark" you want. It's much easier to go from light to dark than dark to light with stains and dyes.

Wiring -
Switch options are again a personal preference, but you should have plenty of choice with that kit. The kit photo does show 4-conductor humbuckers, so splitting should be doable, and hopefully it doesn't come with 2-conductor pickups.
I'm not keen on push-pull pots either, so mini-toggle switches have been what I use. Looking at the routing on the body, you could likely fit a mini-toggle in the wiring channel from the switch route to the neck pickup route. I can't say whether it would be in way or not without seeing it IRL, but it might work there without doing additional routing. The good thing is with the massive pickguard on those, you can lots of stuff that will be covered up.

Look forward to seeing your progress!

[davidaviola]

Thanks for all the input, McCreed!

I'm trying to keep things simple and woodworking is what intimidates me the most in this project, so I'll leave the CBS headstock alone for now.

As for finishing the neck, I might also consider a couple of layers of shellac. I have a bit of blond shellac that I've been meaning to use for a while and it might just add the tint I'm looking for.

EDIT: From what I've been reading, shellac seems like a very bad idea for a first build, particularly for the neck finish.

I've also considered using the shellac in lieu of the clear coat for the body - the idea would be to test it over a couple of stain options to see if I can compensate the yellow tint with a more vibrant stain... I have a beater guitar that's stripped and just begging for a refinish, so I might experiment on that a little bit. It's a different word (poplar, if I'm not mistaken), but it might help me hone my finishing skills.

A mini-toggle in the wiring channel is a good idea! I'll grab one and see of it fits.

[Simon Barden]

You'd need a 4-pole double-throw on/on/on switch if you wanted a single master series/parallel/split switch that did the same thing for both pickups. You can get mini-toggle switches like this, but with four poles,it will be quite wide, so unlikely to fit in the same position as the pickup selector switch unless you increased the size of the rout.

You do have room to do this under the big scratchplate, and it doesn't have to be neat as it will all be hidden!

Two two-pole/double-throw on/on/on mini-toggles might be a better option if fitting them in the wiring channel, but fitting them near the volume and tone controls would be much neater from a wiring routing view.

The pickup leads will go to the toggle switch, then to the volume/tone controls, then to the pickup selector switch and then back down to the output jack. Having the toggle switches in that upper wiring channel will involve a lot of wire crossing. If you have space to fit them by the volume/tone controls, then the wiring becomes a lot easier and less tangled, though there's not a lot of space in that area to fit them so they aren't in the way, at least not without routing out some extra room or fitting them in the lower wiring channel and having them operate at a slight angle.

Push/pull switches are good for doing coil splitting but you only get two positions, so you can't do series/parallel/split on them. I prefer push/push switches as they are far easier to operate, but they only seem to come in 500k versions (or at least that's all my normal guitar electronics suppliers seem to stock). 500k is fine for humbuckers, so if you can live with series and split options, you can see if you can find some.

Always check the depth of your control cavity before getting push/pull or push/push pot switches. You want short-shaft pots as they are fitted direct to a scratchplate, but if you can only find medium shaft pots, they will have to be spaced off the rear of the scratchplate with a nut and washer, increasing their effective depth. Either that, or else the knobs sit very high from the scratchplate, which isn't a good look.

[davidaviola]

That's a good point, Simon. I've been thinking about how it's gonna look from the outside, but I definitely want to avoid the wiring looking like Cup Noodles below the pickguard. I'll see the best way to fit the switches when I'm ready to wire - I'm not opposed to add 2 mini-toggles either.

[McCreed]

Having the toggle switches in that upper wiring channel will involve a lot of wire crossing.

Yes, good point Simon. I didn't think beyond fitting the switch! D'oh!

As for finishing the neck, I might also consider a couple of layers of shellac. I have a bit of blond shellac that I've been meaning to use for a while and it might just add the tint I'm looking for.

EDIT: From what I've been reading, shellac seems like a very bad idea for a first build, particularly for the neck finish.

Yes, shellac is also an option to achieving some colour. I completely forgot about it!
However, using shellac as a top coat is not a great choice IMO. It tends to be quite brittle compared to polyurethanes and lacquers.

Whilst it is very user-friendly and cheaper than poly or lacquer, if it was a cheaper and durable finish, Leo Fender would have used it extensively. He was a notorious tight-wad and counted every penny that went into the production of his instruments.

One advantage to shellac is that it is pretty much compatible with anything you put on top of it. I use it for sealing bare timber, or if doing a refinish, over any old remaining finish before applying primer & new finish.

Below is a neck I applied shellac to before spraying with satin poly. I had re-radiused the fretboard and and re-fretted, so you can see the natural colour of the maple in the first pic. Second one is after the shellac. The headstock shows the colour a bit better.

[davidaviola]

That looks beautiful, McCreed. I might gobthat route with shellac and poly, then. Did you apply the shellac with cotton balled up inside a cloth? Did you have any trouble around the frets?

[jonwhitear]

That does look good. I hadn't thought about using shellac to give a maple neck a nice "vintage" tint, but that looks like it does the job nicely. Presumably, you could lacquer over the top of it. Is that blonde shellac?

[McCreed]

Did you apply the shellac with cotton balled up inside a cloth? Did you have any trouble around the frets?

I sprayed it with my small touch-up gun, but have applied by hand before. I just use small squares of clean cloth folded over into a smaller square. I’ve done wipe-on poly the same way and not had any problems around the frets.

Presumably, you could lacquer over the top of it. Is that blonde shellac?

Yes, lacquer goes over shellac just fine, and yes it is blonde shellac.

[Andyxlh]

You can do a 1970s headstock from a standard paddle, I did it in the Tele blaster build in my signature
Looking forward to following this one, never seen a 7 string Tele. I’m lost anywhere past 4…