#3:TL - 1 Custom

[Rossc0]

After jumping in and ordering the Tl1 Custom order that went wrong last month, finally get a chance to unbox and have a look. Was a birthday present so only got hold of it on Tuesday.

plans for the moment are something like,


Mocking it up, the body is really clean no dings or marks that I can see at the moment,



Only concern is the neck pocket. haven't done a bolt on kit before but it does seem a bit lose, going to be a gap that needs filled. Normal?


This will be a slow one, got the Srat on the go which will be a bit of a test bed for my painting skills before I tackle this one, also plan on a lot of fender hardware which I will be buying piece by piece.

[dave.king1]

I used some copper shielding tape to tighten the neck pocket on the Strat build, worked a treat

[Rossc0]

interesting, you have to build up layers, or did one do it for you? Sounds like some experimenting will be required.

[Simon Barden]

Visually, the pickguard should hide any gap - unless the pickguard and the end of the neck don't have the same shape.

[dave.king1]

interesting, you have to build up layers, or did one do it for you? Sounds like some experimenting will be required.

A couple of layers on each side gave a very firm fit, a case of add as required

[Rossc0]

So any hints about basswood, as its mentioned a few places that its quite soft. Will it take an orbital sander, or am i resigned to do it all by hand?

[wokkaboy]

Hey Rossco, no drama use an orbital but be careful to keep it flat and run with the grain. I usually get machine marks from bottom edge with 120 grit, then go over with 180 and 240 grit, then do the rest by hand to about 320 grit

[Rossc0]

Cheers, sigh of relief...

[Simon Barden]

But basswood is soft and will mark easily, so be very careful not to put your nicely sanded body down on a nut, screw or screwdriver etc. or you'll end up with a dent that you'll either need to steam out or sand out. So make sure that the work area is clear of all extraneous items and have a soft towel or blanket to rest the body on.

[Rossc0]

OK, after a bit of a delay finishing the Strat and moving my daughter to the UK :-( back to the tele. Got it all sanded to 320, about to hit it with the ebony timbermate to try and bring out the little grain there is. But before I do that wondering if anyone has any reasonably fool proof method of creating a constant(ish) radius rolled edge without a router?