Hey Guys, sorry for my overly long absence, I haven't been feeling much like doing anything of late and haven't even kept up with the Forums. Shame on me!
This is a kit that I bought over a year ago for a very good friend and I have only now started the build. Shame on me again!
This one is for Bret (my left handed mate) who has always been there for me during the tough times. I have already built him one guitar, but he has always wanted a red Tele with Pearloid scratch plate, but being a “lefty” his choices were always rather limited and there never seemed to be one available in the shops when he was looking and he always ended up walking out with either nothing or something different.
Seeing he's been such a good friend I thought I'd bling it up a bit with the following:
Grover Tuners (Thanks Adam for the great discount you offer on upgrades)
Gotoh Bridge, Jack plate, String Trees, Control Plate and Knobs
CTS left handed pots and lever.
Sprague Vitimin-Q Paper-in-Oil Cap
Bone Nut
TonerRider Pickups. (My favourite affordable pups)
Since I started making guitars a few years ago I have fallen in love with wood and have never painted any of my guitars, preferring instead the appeal and beauty of natural wood. So this will be my first attempt at painting. Wish me luck.
Step #1 – is always the dummy build.
It is also (for me at least) one of the most stressful jobs. This is where you make sure that everything fits right, and more importantly, making sure that the neck is square and the bridge is located correctly so that the scale length is right. Do all the measuring and drilling now and then forget about it and enjoy the fun parts of the build.
Once you have located the bridge correctly its time to drill the holes for the string-through bridge. As with all my builds I will not be using any power tools, only my trusty old hand tools.
So with the Bridge located exactly I use it as template to mark the string-through holes on the upper body.
The top of the guitar. I start with a fine Brad Point Bit for its accuracy and then drill a hole about half way through the body with a regular bit. The tricky part is to drill the 2 outer holes all the way through the body. Make sure the drill is as vertical as possible. This is where a hand drill is preferable to a power drill as a hand drill does not “get away” from you like a power drill. Ask me how I know??
A bit shabby, but this will be covered by the Bridge.
The back of the guitar. This is the important part. With the 2 outer holes already drilled through to the back, all you have to do now is space out the remaining 4 holes and drill them though until they meet up with the holes you previously drilled through the front. They don't have to line up perfectly with the holes from the front but as long as they are spaced out fairly evenly they should look OK.
Obviously the holes in the back are larger as they have to take the string ferrules, so I find a Brace and Bit is a better way to drill these holes.
Definitely not as accurate and pretty as a drill press, but you have to make do with the tools you’ve got. Seeing as this guitar is being painted the minor tear-outs can be fixed with a bit of putty before painting.
That's the tricky bits done.
The rest is pretty straight forward and before you know it the Dummy Build is complete with everything screwed in place, for now.
Stay tuned
rob
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Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
