My first build. Dial to 11. TL-1

[juddernaut]

Off to a good start. I ordered my rig on Friday arvo and it arrived on Tuesday with emails from Pitbull and Australia Post telling me where things were up to. Compliments to Pitbull and Australia Post, 10 out of 10 for ordering and delivery experience.

Box was robustly packed and sealed. George Harrison knows if everything is in there...


I know nothing about guitar construction but the tuner holes look like they were drilled by Freddy Kruger.


Excited but as nervous as a very small nun at a penguin shoot. If I don't screw this up I will be amazed.

[tonyw]

Take your time. ask alot of questions, you will be fine..

[wokkaboy]

Juddernaut ask any questions you have in this build diary, the forum will guide you and you will end up with a cool looking and sounding axe

[Dedman]

I'm on the final stages of a Tele kit, my first kit. Read loads of build diaries on here , when you do hit a snag you will have already read about how to move forward. If not , just ask, the blokes here know how to remedy anything short of someone running off with your kit.

[Andy40]

Welcome Judders. TL-1 is a great first kit. Of course Tele's rule enjoy

[DrNomis_44]

I'm in the finishing stages of my STA-1M Strat build, the guys have been awesome at helping me out with my build, don't ever be afraid to ask for advice if you hit a snag during your build process, we are all here to help.


My next build is going to be a TL-51 Ash Body 51 Telecaster kit, looking forward to doing the order.

[Fretworn]

Yes the tuner hole for the D string looks out of place. You will need to see what it looks like with the tuners in to decide if you want to plug and re-drill.

[juddernaut]

Thanks Fretworn. Is it simply a cosmetic thing or will it affect playability?

[juddernaut]

Another dumb question. I think I have a maple neck with maple fretboard. The fretboard and neck have black dots painted on. If I sand the neck I assume the black dots will come off. Am I supposed to sand the neck and fretboard?

[Andy40]

Hi Judders,

Headstock Tuners
In my humble opinion, my wonky tuner hole on the headstock of my ST-1 does not, in any way affect the playability of my guitar. But I am far from a professional guitarist or musician. Just a guy who was in a band once that now enjoys playing with the headphones on.

It doesn't really ruin the aesthetics of you use the PBG tuners. If you go for vintage style tuners (with square backs) they wont align.

The intonation of the TL-1 that may be put out by the wonky tuner hole could easily be rectified by the saddle.

That being said, there are some guys on the forum that do not like wonky holes, have used a maple off cut from the headstock shaping process, filled the current tuner holes, put a veneer over the headstock (or painted it solid) and re-drilled straight.

Fretboard question

No dumb questions mate, we've all had our first builds and we're all learning one way or another.

You shouldn't need to sand the fret board unless there's some damage there.

Its not likely that you will sand the plastic fret markers off. They go down a fair way. If you sanded them off you'd have not much fretboard left.

Have a look at some of the piccys on Brendan's tutorial about replacing the plastic inlays and you'll see how thick they are.

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=2584