AJs TL-1

[AJ]

thought, oh well time to start a build diary for this beast.
I started off by sanding etc etc and laid a stain down on the body, but was not happy with it as at the top edge in the bottom of the cutaway , the join of the pieces of wood showed through the staining ( the body must have been routed just off center in the factory, so change of plan was in order. Would have gone the timber mate route if I had realized before I'd started. It now been done in shiny black. Have not decided whether to do some art work on the body and a modified pick guard, will make that decision before I do the clear coatings.

leveled the frets and redressed, removed the plastic nut, ready to make up a bone nut from the blank material I have. Shaped the headstock and got the second coat of wood tone gloss on. I used fret juice on the fretboard as I think that will be better in the long run and easier to maintain. Going for a natural finish on the neck, once again a change from my original thoughts of aged yellow.

[Andyport]

Bit of a bugger about the fault in the body timber, but I'm sure the black will look good.
Especially if its like the level of finish you got on your LP.
Like you said, you can always do something with the pick guard or a bit of artwork to tissey her up.
Working all that out is the fun part!

[AJ]

The mods are going to be the pick ups. self wound and a 4 way switch.
I have done a reasonable amount of reading re winding pick ups, all seems as clear as mud atm , so wont know till I have done it and it worked or not. The plan is to wind them to ~9000 turns in 42 gauge and maybe get resistance values to ~ 8k. From the research I have done so far, most early teli's were wound in 42 gauge then there was a change to 43 gauge for the neck pups. All's I have is 42 gauge (.063mm or ~ 30 thou)
Any guidance/tips/suggestions for amount of winds will be appreciated.

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Andyport on November 11, 2013, 20:31
Bit of a bugger about the fault in the body timber, but I'm sure the black will look good.
Especially if its like the level of finish you got on your LP.
Like you said, you can always do something with the pick guard or a bit of artwork to tissey her up.
Working all that out is the fun part!

Hi Andy
The possibilities are endless there with the arty work..pin striping. oriental, mexican, 60's flower power.. etc.

I came across some swatch samples in that green store the other day.(flooring products isle), $1 per sample sheet and it is phenolic laminate good sizes just big enough to make good solid pick guards from. It can be machined or hand sawn if careful. Also if you don't like the shiny wood grain finishes, they can be painted to what every you like

[Andyport]

My 21 yr old daughter gave me a Dremel for fathers day this year.
Reckon that would be really handy for shaping a pick guard.
I think Dan has made custom pick guards the current word on every ones lips at the moment.

[AJ]

They are extremely handy little creatures, and if you get the router attachment, the saw attachment etc (too many to name then all) you will marvel at what those little critters can do!

[SIMpleONe89]

Does the router attachment for the dremel actually work in routing deep holes like pickup cavities?

[wokkaboy]

I have a dremel trio with routing bit and tried to route out a pickup cavity of a strat shape scratch build and the motor got too hot and burnt out. Thankfully the big green building replaced the dremel. I wouldn't recommend big routing jobs for a dremel, they are designed for smaller jobs.
It would be fine for small jobs like making a pup route bigger to accommodate a larger pickup. Depth would be about 25 or 30mm from the plate but I'd have to check that.

[Gavin1393]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from SIMpleONe89 on November 13, 2013, 13:21
Does the router attachment for the dremel actually work in routing deep holes like pickup cavities?

No! shaft is way to thin!

[lawry]

/<\\/p>[/<\\/p>[/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/]<\\/p>/]<\\/p>/Quote from AJ on November 11, 2013, 20:31
Any guidance/tips/suggestions for amount of winds will be appreciated.

Hey AJ,
Several years ago I (over)wound a couple of pickups for a mate who wanted some super hot ones. In the end they sounded like crap (to me) but he loved them. So my advice is... Go for it! It's not difficult and you can get a sound that is yours alone.
So, to the winds. For an average pickup (if there is such a beastie) try 5000 turns with reasonable tension. If you want it hotter, add more. If you are winding a humbucker, make sure you wind in opposite directions on each bobbin and you do the same number of turns on each.