The Zero Budget build

[G-Axe]

Templates!



The string holes and screw holes are as per a standard Tele bridge, but then the pickup mounts are something altogether different.

When I first started plotting guitar builds 10 years ago, I always wanted an offset, angled humbucker in a Tele. Back in those days, I don't know that Rio Grande Twangbuckers existed yet, so I had planned to get a custom bridge plate machined, at great cost. Instead, I'm going to use left over aluminium plate and do it myself. I've got 4 strat sized skinny humbuckers I bought many years ago - specifically to test out in the abomination this neck once belonged to, before I discovered the whole fretboard was off. So they're going in, at an angle, to be wired in series for a whopping 19.6k ohm resistance. I'm going to squeeze a single 9.8k ohm in at the neck which should balance nicely.

I still need to cut some templates for the pickup routs, but I'm thinking I'll get the neck pocket done next.

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[Sonic Mountain]

This things going to be wild.

[G-Axe]

More progress. I've jigged up the neck pocket, leaving the routing for another day. Don't think the neighbours would appreciate that sort of noise at 10pm.



I've also started planning out the wiring, and I can't really describe the pain I'm signing myself up for, without a whole lot of colourful language.

For whatever reason, I have 5 500k crossfade pots sitting around. No idea why I bought them, but apparently I wanted them enough to get them shipped from the US back in June 2013.

So here's the plan:

3 of the pots will be wired as crossfaders between each coil in my skinny humbuckers. So pan left for left single coil, pan right for right single coil, or centre detent for humbucker.

Of the two others, one will fade between neck and bridge pickups, and the other will be volume/tone. It will mean I can only make volume *or* tone adjustments, and not both at the same time. But hey, why not?



It's going to be an absolute nightmare trying to wire all that up in a tiny control cavity - but at least I can do it on a control plate, and to make life easier with the pickups I'm going to opt for 4 pin sockets like these:



I'm pretty confident I have a bunch of them in my desktop PC toolkit.

Still. What am I doing? D:

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[Bakersdozen]

More progress. I've jigged up the neck pocket, leaving the routing for another day. Don't think the neighbours would appreciate that sort of noise at 10pm.

Looking great. Understand how you will route the horizontal parts of the pocket, but how will you do the vertical part? ie the back of the pocket . Take the neck out and put something in the simulate the footprint of the back if the neck?

[G-Axe]

Looking great. Understand how you will route the horizontal parts of the pocket, but how will you do the vertical part? ie the back of the pocket . Take the neck out and put something in the simulate the footprint of the back if the neck?

It's hard to see in the original photo, but I've got a little bit of MDF with a 5" radius cut out:



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[Bakersdozen]

It's hard to see in the original photo, but I've got a little bit of MDF with a 5" radius cut out:



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Ah! I see , that all makes perfect sense now! Thanks for that. Did you shape the radius by hand?

[FrankenWashie]

I'd whack a couple of layers of masking tape to the inside edge of your guides. As you take your staged cuts down, you'll leave a slight line between cuts. Once you are half way down, strip the first layer of tape, when you get to your last cut (Assuming you have a bit long enough to run the bearing on the template and cut the full depth of pocket) take the last tape layer off and that should give you a uniform smooth cut all the way down the pocket.

Are you going to hog out first to ease the load on your bit?

[G-Axe]

Are you going to hog out first to ease the load on your bit?

Really good suggestion on the masking tape, will give it a whirl.

And yep, I'll hit it with the Forstners before I start routing.

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[G-Axe]

Ah! I see , that all makes perfect sense now! Thanks for that. Did you shape the radius by hand?

Bandsaw and then drum sander, though I'm tempted to give it another go with a circle cutting jig to see if I can get it a bit more accurate.

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[Sonic Mountain]

I'd whack a couple of layers of masking tape to the inside edge of your guides. As you take your staged cuts down, you'll leave a slight line between cuts. Once you are half way down, strip the first layer of tape, when you get to your last cut (Assuming you have a bit long enough to run the bearing on the template and cut the full depth of pocket) take the last tape layer off and that should give you a uniform smooth cut all the way down the pocket.

Are you going to hog out first to ease the load on your bit?

That is a great tip Frankie.