Tele scratch built snake guitar

[euroa guitars]

Thought I would show you all some picks of the almost finished Snake Tele.
A while back I asked you guys what coloured hardware I should use so as to not detract from the snake design.
The specs are:
Reclaimed Cypress Pine body (it used to be a potting bench) Air dried 20+yrs
Blackwood neck with Rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets with Corian "Clay look" dots, bone nut
Hand reliced chrome hardware on front with snakewood control knobs
CTS pots, Orange drop cap, 3 way rotary selector
50s repro pickups
Hipshot classic open back tuners
Hand reliced gold back plates to match local custom made brass ferrule tone block
Body and neck finished in Tru-oil with a wax topcoat

Still to do relicing and fitting of neck pickup surround plate
White sticker on front is for local show as its going to be exhibited at the weekend

Thanks everyone for your suggestions really happy how this one turned out

[wokkaboy]

wow that's come up really nice Euroa, love the touches and the look you got. Is the control cover and string through plate not recessed ? I think they would look better recessed flat with the body. Otherwise sensational axe. How does it sound and play ?

[stan]

great job, good luck in the show

[WeirdBits]

That is a special build, love the neck and headstock.

[vh2580]

Stunner. Looks fantastic

[Dedman]

love it, very well conceived and executed

[euroa guitars]

wow that's come up really nice Euroa, love the touches and the look you got. Is the control cover and string through plate not recessed ? I think they would look better recessed flat with the body. Otherwise sensational axe. How does it sound and play ?

HI Wokka
I agree the control cover would be best recessed but time was not a friend lol the string through plate is actually a "tone " block made from 1/2 inch sq brass I had several made by a local engineering company, hate drilling ferrule holes so this is a lot easier. I could have bought one from De lisle in the USA but since I use different bridges with different string spacings I had these made with a slot in the back to allow room for this, I'm happy to say it actually works. So the block is recessed in but protrudes the same amount as the neck and control plates, mainly so itlooks all the same.
As far as sound I'm blown away with the pickups they are GFS 50s 6.3bridge and 6.6neck a local guy who used to tour with different aussie bands in the 70s had a play and its got plenty of Tele twang and spank in the bridge and nice tone in the neck

[wokkaboy]

Hey Euroa, thanks for the explanation, the tone blocks is a great idea and looks like a plate from the outside. So have you just routed a small cavity for the strings to go through the body or drilled holes between the block and bridge?

[euroa guitars]

Hey Euroa, thanks for the explanation, the tone blocks is a great idea and looks like a plate from the outside. So have you just routed a small cavity for the strings to go through the body or drilled holes between the block and bridge?

Holes drilled through from the front to correspond with the bridge string spacing (I did drill these oversize) then a simple 12.7mm 1/2inch slot routed in the back to drop in the block, I drilled the the treble and bass E string holes right through as reference points and then used these to line the block up from the back. THen drilled the rest of the hole to the routed cavity (if that makes sense)

[wokkaboy]

yeah cool good move Euroa