Thinline TL-1TB

[Shambrick]

Hi Folks,

New here, first kit, excited, full of questions. Looking forward to some useful info and chat.

I'm using a TL-1TB as the basis for my build, but plan to make some changes along the way.

After unboxing and inspection, I've got a few questions that I can't seem to resolve from available info:

1. Simple questions:

Scale length and fretboard radius - can't find these in delivery documentation. Anyone know what they are?

2. More complex question:

The neck sits quite high in the neck pocket - I'm guessing 5-7 mm of neck maple is showing below the rosewood fretboard. I gather this is common and many people route the next pocket, but with a bigsby kit I gather the neck pocket has a breakover angle, so not quite sure how to proceed. How much neck should show and if I need to, how would I route on an angle? Is it just as easy to route square then shim?

Hopefully you smart folks can point me in the right direction...

[Sonic Mountain]

Standard Fender 648mm/25.5" Scale length, 12" fretboard radius.

You shouldn't need to put the neck on an angle. People fit bigsbys to Teles quite often, what bridge are you going to use?

They do sit a bit high in the pocket, but not by much, they can be assembled as is and still work fine.

[Shambrick]

OK Folks,

Scratch the simple questions. I found neck specs:

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...kits-22-frets/

25.5 inch scale, 12 inch radius

[Shambrick]

Thanks Sonic,

I was thinking the same as you.

I'll be happier if it sits a little further down, so I'll route square then shim to taste (if required to get an angle) I'll know more after I complete the pre-build bit of care in setup / prebuild

The kit came with a tune-o-matic bridge. I think these probably sit a bit higher than a traditional tele bridge, so one option is to convert over to a hard tail and grind away the back edge. Plenty of in online about that. Of course, i'll need to fill the holes where the Tune--matic posts go.

Choices, choices, choices..

[Shambrick]

OK, time for an update gents. I have made a lot of progress over the past few weeks, although still a long way to go!

Design decisions:

1. Switch from tune-o-matic bridge to tele style 3-saddle bridge (ground out to allow for bigsby string clearance). Requires adjusted neck height and break angle to suit this change, and a new cavity for ground wire to bridge...
2. Jettison pickup surrounds and hard-mount the pickups. Requires adjusted depth of pickup cavity route to allow for this mounting method.
3. Ditch chrome strip control panel / original pickguard and go for a more 'thinline' approach to pickguard and switch positioning. Requires a new design pickguard and larger control cavity on the lower bout.
4. Go for a switchcraft pickup selector rather than traditional tele style. Allows me to avoid slotting the pickguard - bound to be a disaster!
5. Route a 6mm rounded edge to the rear of the body. Requires a different jack mount - recessed into the body side.
6. Upgrade to quality Bourne pots and Switchcraft jack.
7. Colour scheme - inspired by this La Grange Sultan (in black):

http://lagrange.guitars/guitars/modelsultan/



So far, I've been able to achieve the following, and I'm pretty pleased with results:

- Cut the headstock (strat style)
- Refined the carve on the neck at the headstock and heel ends, for more comfort
- Adjusted the fit of the neck pocket and the heel, to reduce height of the fingerboard and adjust the break angle
- Plugged the body with dowels where I won't be using the TOM bridge
- Routed the pickup cavity
- Routed the control cavity
- Routed the rear edge of the body
- Design for the pickguard
- Sourced the components I need
- Several trial builds at various times, to check on fit, alignment, etc.

I've come across a couple of issues, but the main one at present is the 22nd fret - it was fitted poorly at the factory and so the tang was bent and it sat very high - too high to dress:



I've managed to remove it, clean out the fret slot and straighten the fret (a bit). But the fret is a bit loose in the slot.

Question: What is the best way to refit the fret? I've got superglue and a couple of clamps, but no fret seating tool.

I'll post some photos later of progress...

[Sonic Mountain]

Tap it in with a mallet or bit of wood and a hammer. If it's loose its probably not going to need much persuasion. Superglue will work fine.

[Shambrick]

Thanks Sonic! I will give that a go.

[Shambrick]

Hi Guys,

Some images to show progress:

Headstock Carve:


Neck height adjustment:


Switch cavity route:


Deeper pickup route, dowelled holes from TOM bridge:


New hole for ground wire to bridge (drilled via the jack cavity):

[Sonic Mountain]

Doing a really tidy job there Shambrick, looking good!

[Shambrick]

Thanks Sonic.

Gents, I have another technical question. AS you can see from teh images in my previous post, I have removed the plastic nut to replace with a new bone nut, supplied with the kit.

I have discovered that the new bone nut is considerably thinner than the original, and so it is very loose in the nut slot.

Should I source a replacement nut from Pitbull or can I shim it on the headstock side?