Marze take 2 - TLA-1 Rosewood/maple neck

[Marze]

Replacement kit has just arrived from PitBull (from the previous build that was not so successful) - a nice TLA-1 kit with a maple neck with Rosewood fret board.



The kit has chrome hardware and the plan is to use the Bondi Blue dingo tone for the body with a black burst using Black Stump dingo tone. Hopefully I will have enough left to do a second build. Actually I will have to drop dingobass a line to see if DT2 is compatible with DT 1.

There are a few corrections needed on close inspection. The bridge pickup route needs to be expanded to fit the Tonerider pick up and clear the cut out in the bridge.



The neck is also bigger than the pocket so I will need to chisel/file out a fraction on either side after finding the centre line of the guitar.


The neck is in good shape though, compared to the last one which ended the previous build. Frets are well seated, fretboard is even and nicely arched.

So here we go, onto the sanding of the body, I've got a couple of days off work so I might get all the way to the first coat of stain.

[wokkaboy]

Hi Marze, replacement kit looks good. You ok with the mods you need to do ?

Neck and body look sweet.

I'd be pretty certain to say DT mark 1 and 2 will be compatible.

Don't think I've seen bondi blue on ash, will be interesting to see how it looks, ash being a much darker yellowish grain

[Marze]

Hi Marze, replacement kit looks good. You ok with the mods you need to do ?

Neck and body look sweet.

I'd be pretty certain to say DT mark 1 and 2 will be compatible.

Don;t think I've seen bondi blue on ash, will be interesting to see how it looks, ash being a much darker yellowish grain

Hi Wokkaboy,

I am OK with the mods. I have access to a dremel and router, if needed, and I am pretty good with a chisel to do the neck pocket. I have found a few threads about finding the centre line of the guitar to widen the pocket, so I have "instructions".

I am hoping the Bondi Blue kinda comes out looking more of a smokey blue rather than electric blue that you normally see.

[dingobass]

Nice looking kit.

May I suggest that it is better to remove a touch off both sides of the neck heel rather than attacking the pocket..
Not only is it easier to do this you have less chance of taking too much off.

And no worries with MI and MII compatability.

[Marze]

Nice looking kit.

May I suggest that it is better to remove a touch off both sides of the neck heel rather than attacking the pocket..
Not only is it easier to do this you have less chance of taking too much off.

And no worries with MI and MII compatability.

Thank for the suggestion DB, I was thinking of doing this as well. So I will look at this first.The neck looks to be about 1.25 mm too wide. I was a little concerned about buggering up the frets, but it will be OK with sanding I guess.

And, good news about the M-I and M-II compatibility.

[wokkaboy]

good stuff Marze, how much wider is the neck than the pocket ? maybe you can sand if its 1mm of less. Be careful not to take too much off with a chisel or split the timber.
Be worth doing a mock build once you got the neck in the pocket and bridge pup and bridge in place. Majority of the tele kits the bridge pup cavity is about 5mm too far south

[Marze]

good stuff Marze, how much wider is the neck than the pocket ? maybe you can sand if its 1mm of less. Be careful not to take too much off with a chisel or split the timber.
Be worth doing a mock build once you got the neck in the pocket and bridge pup and bridge in place. Majority of the tele kits the bridge pup cavity is about 5mm too far south

As DB said - SNAP.
I will check the position of the bridge pup cavity as well once the neck is in place. Off to start the sanding ...

[dingobass]

Wokka, SNAP!

[wokkaboy]

good stuff Marze, won't take long to take off about 0.6mm of each side of the neck heel. 80 grit paper will rip it off pretty quick.
Good tip is to test the fit in the pocket regularly so you don't take too much off - I good tight neck heel will give you good sustain.

If you are using the PBG bridge the intonation may work out ok. They have pretty long saddle screws.

Anyway good luck with the sanding - think the ash grain should come up really nice on this kit !

Are you going to grain fill it with Timbermate ? for the maximum popping factor we recommend ebony timbermate !

[Marze]

OK, marked up the heal of the neck with .5 mm lines to sand to:
&

Then after some 100 grit and then 220 grit sanding and shaping we have a nice tight fit. With the final sanding with 320 and 400 and coats of DingoTone it should stay about the tightness (hoping)!



Now onto a mock build as suggested by Wokka ...

Any recommendations for through body stringing vs bridge stringing? The bridge will allow for both, not sure on the benfits or not of either. Forum posts seem divided on religious grounds more than science.