First Build—Space Cowboy (Musiclander with Tele pups)

[kat]

Howdy!

First build and first post! Figured I would document things here. Motivation is (1) being a southpaw I have limited options, and more importantly, (2) I enjoy: putting things together, fine tuning, and tinkering, and (3) learning experience!

I ordered the neck and body a couple weeks ago (so looking at end of May) I am having Warmoth do the routing, most of the neck work, and the finishing of both, to keep things relatively simple for my first go. Here is a summary so far:

Body: Musiclander, alder. Neck and bridge tele pup routes. controls for volume, tone, and blade. Turquoise flake, because sparkly.

Neck: Maple/maple, vintage-modern construction. Moon glow nightswan markers. Stainless steel 6105 frets. 9.5 radius, modern-medium nut width. Gloss finish.

Pickups: Lollar, ‘52 neck, alnico 3 bridge

Bridge: hipshot telecaster with compensated saddle

Tuners: Most likely going with locking hipshot (staggered)

Wiring: push-pull volume with off/on for treble bleed, push-pull tone to switch cap values (.015 µF and .047 µF). 5-way super switch with out-of-phase and series.

As for the name, “Space Cowboy”, feels right, at least for now!

 

[ragamuffin]

Look forward to seeing it!

 

[Professor Bill]

Nice! I really like the Musiclander body. Very lightweight and comfortable. I've built two. You might experiment with where to place the rear strap button. I've got mine on the horn, but I kind of wish I'd put it dead center to pull the body closer to me when I'm standing.

 

[kat]

Professor Bill, it looks comfortable and lightweight, glad to hear that it is! And thanks for the tip about the strap button! I will have to come up with a way to test out different locations.

 

[mayfly]

Hey! Do you have that body yet? I'd like to see some photos of that flake!

 

[kat]

mayfly, not yet! Still have a few months, but I will definitely share photos soon as I do!

 

[kat]

Got the knobs!
They are from THG knobs. Dyed maple burl with luminlay dots. I think they will be a good fit aesthetically.

My thinking was they touch on other elements…black hardware, turquoise body (more or less), maple neck, and moon glow inlay. Also, they are just really pretty.

 

[ragamuffin]

Those are gorgeous! I love using wooden knobs, they can really add something.

 

[Spud]

Holy Schnikies! Those are huge are you sure they will go on a guitar? I mean they are bigger than a human hand!!

 

[Spud]

They are cool knobs btw.

 

[kat]

@Spud, I am thinking I will have to take a photo from a different perspective!

 

[Spud]

@Spud, I am thinking I will have to take a photo from a different perspective!

Naw it is a great closeup, I get that they are guitar size!

 

[kat]

Finished all the wiring I wish to do beforehand, and it all seems to be working as intended! All components obtained now as well! (need to resize photos to share). For the bridge and saddles I ended up going with Glendale.

Also, after having fun with the multimeter:

Volume pot: ~246k
Tone pot: ~248k

lollar ‘52 tele neck: 7.06
lollar alnico 3 tele bridge: 7.66

Theres some additional tools I may get, but I should have everything to get it assembled!

 

[kat]

HOWEVER…I don’t know if I am going to stick with the puretone output jack…It takes a fair amount of force to pull a cable out of the thing, and still unsure how I feel about that! Both reassuring and annoying.

 

[Spud]

Finished all the wiring I wish to do beforehand, and it all seems to be working as intended! All components obtained now as well! (need to resize photos to share). For the bridge and saddles I ended up going with Glendale.

Also, after having fun with the multimeter:

Volume pot: ~246k
Tone pot: ~248k

lollar ‘52 tele neck: 7.06
lollar alnico 3 tele bridge: 7.66

Theres some additional tools I may get, but I should have everything to get it assembled!

what size cap?

 

[Spud]

HOWEVER…I don’t know if I am going to stick with the puretone output jack…It takes a fair amount of force to pull a cable out of the thing, and still unsure how I feel about that! Both reassuring and annoying.

I have one, but can't really hear any difference. YMMV

 

[kat]

@Spud .015 µF and .047 µF caps on a push-pull. (0.47 when down)

 

[Spud]

Have you tried the HUGE knobs on the pots yet?

 

[kat]

They’re meant to cover the entire pot, yeah?

But yes, I have, and they’re perfect.

 

[MoreSpaceEcho]

Big fan of the Musiclander, I've built two. I bet the tele pickups/bridge will look great on that body shape.

Can't go wrong with those locking hipshot tuners, and I agree, those knobs look great. Look forward to seeing this thing!