First build - TL-1HA

[lenoir]

Well, the TL-1HA kit arrived on Thursday. I have band rehearsal on Thursday nights so I didn't even get to open it until last night, and the realisation hits home that I've never ever done anything remotely like building a guitar before!

I decided to start with something "simple" - doing a tele build - in order to learn the ropes and discover if I actually can put together a decent playing, decent sounding, nice looking guitar. The idea was that this is the test run, and then I can move on to the "real project" of a PRS-inspired build next. Well that was the plan, but here on Saturday morning I find myself both really committed to making a work of art out of this first build, and entirely overwhelmed by the electrics side of building the guitar (I think seeing a couple of capacitors in a little plastic pocket made me realise that this really is *building* a guitar, not just assembling one!).

I've grabbed a couple of different kits of dingotone, so I'm going for a sunburst finish, and a few little shaping ideas to make it look like mine rather than a standard tele.

Time to put together a plan, then do a dry build and make sure all the bits and pieces are here and fit together.

[lenoir]

OK Time to make a plan, make some decisions, and make an inventory of what I have and what I need, what I know and what I need to.

1. Assemble the guitar dry, ascertain whether everything is there or not
2. Check the neck fit, does it need any extra attention etc
3. Measure the scale, figure out where the bridge goes (*gulp*). If the neck fit is good, drill holes for bridge.
4. Finalise design for shaping headstock and body, measure twice, cut once.
5. Decide if I'm doing any engraving / routing such as headstock inlay. If so, do it now, then add inlay.
6 - 10. Sand. Going for a dingotone finish so confirm where to stop sanding (240 I think, need to confirm)
11. Figure out where I'm going to leave the guitar to dry / cure once the staining starts. I don't have a shed / garage per se.
12. Stain coat. Going for a sunburst, so darker on the outside, the sides, and the headstock. Brighter centre. Decide if I'm going to burst the back as well or keep it solid. Decide what colour I'm doing the back of the neck.
13. Let that dry cure for a few days, probably a week as this will likely be a weekends build.
14. Intensifying coat, nice and thin. Put aside to cure. Repeat as necessary.
15. Light work with steel wool, then top coat, put aside to cure. No idea how many coats I need, 5 is a good number but I guess we see as we go.
16. Polish. That's pretty much all I know about polishing, so guess there's some stuff to learn here!
17. Shielding, wiring, soldering. Install the rest of the hardware.
18. Set it up, adjust the neck / frets / intonation. Put on the good strings, tune it up.
19. Gloat? I think this is the end of the build!

So we have a few tools to either find or build:
* coping saw
* clamps
* Work gloves for sanding
* dremel bits if required for inlay work
* nice soft brush for wiping off dust looks like a good idea
* File / rasp for shaping work
* might get some decent drill bits, possibly upgrade the screwdriver while I'm at it

Definitely need to get my head around the actual staining process, when to sand / when not to, how many coats, polishing etc. That whole "finish" side of the build is entirely new.

Ditto need to figure out the electronics, looks like it's half loaded up on the pickguard on this model, not sure if that makes it easier, harder or indifferent.

Well, lots to do!

[lenoir]

The blank canvas


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[lenoir]

Finger tight tuners - half feel quite loose with a few mm of play. Not sure if that’s normal. I did swap the neck with this kit but I wouldn’t have thought the tuners would be that specific.

The headstock is 2mm thicker at the top than at the nut, which might account for it. Not sure whether it will be an issue or not at this point. Continuing.


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[lenoir]

I feel like I’m doing this the hard way.



Happy with the shape though I’d like the curve to be a bit smoother. More sanding!




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[lenoir]

Main shaping done. Belly cut and elbow cut to come.



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[Fretworn]

My honest opinion is never use the kit tuners. You can buy good Wilkinson tuners for less than $50 and it is absolutely the most essential kit upgrade. The only kit I’ve made that has the kit tuners was the J bass. For guitars I have never received a full set of 6 that didn’t have one to two dodgy ones.

[lenoir]

Finished shaping, sanded, sanded, sanded some more. Then some more. Then a bit more for good measure.

Applied stain: now I can see the scratches on the back!! How can they be there after so much sanding?! Grumble grumble.




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[lenoir]

OK it appears I suck at sanding or I'm doing something very wrong.

The scratches were bothering me, so I went back and sanded the whole body back again. As far as I can tell, the marks are still there, or have been replaced with equivalent ones in the process.

I think I'm going to wind up with a relic look guitar at this rate.

[Sonic Mountain]

The angled ones on the back look quite deep so you probably need to go back a few grits. I would go 120 and a nice flat block until the marks are completely gone then work my way back up through the grades. You've got a cool looking shape there, it would be a shame for it not to see its full potential. Like a lot of things in this game its elbow grease and patience that will get you the best result.