Build #7 - Custom TL-1HA

[Trevor Davies]

Soo, it has happened again!
While waiting for final coats to gas off the Axe I have thought of another project.
I thought I needed to have a go at creating a Mr Scary (George Lynch's guitar from Dokken ).
I have placed a custom order for a TL-1HA - basically a blank tele body with no routes, rosewood fretboard and black hardware. It will be a long wait before it arrives.

Hopefully I'm up for the challenge. Lots of ideas floating around in my head as to how to do this. I think it will be a long, long term project. My dremel is on standby.

[m0j0]

This will be interesting and hopefully a learning experience for all. I bought myself a router a while back with the intention of doing something "interesting" one day. It's still in the box - never used one before. Anyway, I digress. Looking forward to this one.

[Trevor Davies]

The custom TL-1HA kit arrived last week. It arrived the day after being posted. All looks good.

I did a mock build to determine the placement of the bridge.

Also created a MDF template for the bridge humbucker and then routed the cavity. I cheated a bit with the template as I used the body from a TL-1TB kit as the template to make my template.

Also created a control cavity on the back. My intention is to have a volume and tone control.

I will not change the body any more - that way if I do not like the added skeleton I still have a tele!

[JohnH]

This is going to be fun to watch!

[McCreed]

I cheated a bit with the template as I used the body from a TL-1TB kit as the template to make my template.

Also created a control cavity on the back.

That's not cheating ion my book. That's being practical.

"Work smarter, not harder!"

[Trevor Davies]

I finally got the chance to work on Mr Scary again.

I did not want to use the Tele style headstock as Mr Scary needs a headstock "similar" to an Explorer. I have seen pictures where the hockey stick curves up and down - I'm going with down.

So I have filled the original tuner holes with dowel (not the second hole), cut off the top section of headstock at an angle of 60 degrees to the nut, redrilled the new tuner holes, grafted on the cut-off section of the headstock and a bit near the low E tuner, rough shaped, nicer shaped and sanded.

The tuner and screw do still fit for the lower E tuner (She is tight though)!

[Trevor Davies]

Got some of the skeleton for Mr Scary done. Had a few problems with the skull which has been holding me back - sorted now by using a piece of 12mm pine off-cut. The rest of the skeleton is 3 ply. Still got some work on the fingers, and the graft on the body for the top of the skull and the protruding bone, and lots more sanding!

Still not game to change/damage the body in case I do not like the overall result.

[McCreed]

Not my kind of thing... but that's effing epic woodcarving!

I know nothing about that type of woodcarving, so how do you do it? Fine chisels???

[vh2580]

Oh missed this one. Awesome work so far.

[Simon Barden]

Why not simply use real bones?