G'day from a Seppo in Newcastle

[12thharmonic]

Greetings from the rock capital of Australia (ducks chair thrown from Melbourne). A tele kit is in my near future. I am very keen on a thinline. The question I have. For a first build would I be better off building a slab first?
And on the thinline tele. Would routing out for a P90 in the neck position be any issue?

Thanks heaps in advance.

[FrankenWashie]

G’day mate! Judging by your opening line you’ll fit right in! Welcome to the fun house!
The Thinline kits are nice, and if that’s what you want to build, then go for it. We’ve had folks do jazz boxes as their first builds and had them turn out beautifully. I don’t see a Thinline should be any different.
I will need to leave it up to those that have built that kit to advise you on the P90, I’ve never fitted one so I can’t comment.

[12thharmonic]

Cheers for the welcome. Been here 20 years. Audio engineer, known as a drummer here. Time to get back to guitar for a pet project. I've been surfing around these forums. This is an impressive community here. Some amazing creations. Tons of inspiration! Too many ideas!

[king casey]

For a first build would I be better off building a slab first?

By this I am assuming that there won't be any stopping at just the one.
Often when I've gained a new skill-set, it's a case of 'If I could have another go and do it better?'.

Here then is the ideal opportunity to do a 'dry run' on a slightly cheaper project to dial in some skills.


cheers, Mark.

[edit]

P.S. I'm not in any way affiliated with Pitbull or the sales dept. wink, wink.

[12thharmonic]

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...ic-guitar-kit/
So I'm leaning on this one. Black hardware.
I am curious to any issues routing out for a p90 in the neck position. A DBT telly.
Also interested in colour burst on spalted top. Will the partialy rotted top handle the sanding.

[Bakersdozen]

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...ic-guitar-kit/
So I'm leaning on this one. Black hardware.
I am curious to any issues routing out for a p90 in the neck position. A DBT telly.
Also interested in colour burst on spalted top. Will the partialy rotted top handle the sanding.

Nice choice!!

The veneers are generally around 0.5mm thick - think paper thin. The general consensus is to not sand these veneers as you run the risk of sanding straight through them.

[Andy40]

Welcome to the forum 12thharmonic

[12thharmonic]

Alright. After a little delay I am ordering my kit in the next week. Can’t wait.
Now there are new kits I see.
The Zebra is kind of interesting.
Too many options. I’ll probably go with the thin line.
Ponder the Zebra for guitar two.

[Dedman]

welcome 12th, I've just finished a thinline tele, and I love it. I opened up the neck routing to take a humbucker, if you are goingto still use a pick guard, you can be less than accurate with the routing as the pickguard will cover it. Cutting the pick guard however, needs to be spot on.
Do not sand the veneer tops! Do your stainings then let your clear coats do the filling before sanding.
Editied to say I REALLY LOVE the thinline !

[TZK321]

Hello! I'll be receiving my thinline Tele kit in the next couple of weeks. Like you this is my first build. As others have mentioned the veneer should not be sanded but should be checked for glue.

I'd suggest discussing the idea of a humbucker in the neck position with Adam. They might be able to do this modification in the factory. Be aware that any modifications will cause your kit to be delayed. I've been waiting about 10 weeks but feel it's entirely worth it to get exactly what I want.

FYI my mods include veneer on the headstock, an ebony fretboard and routed for the hybrid pickguard.