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7/8th Esquire

Today finally brought some progress, starting with an executive decision: this Esquire shall be my very first "slab tele'. Old school, no contours!

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It's out in the garage now, soaking up its first coat of Osmo Polyx-oil...
 
:) I realized that I have never had a tele without a contour - even my very first tele (Japanese copy!) back in 1974(-ish) had the tummy cut. I was eyeing it for contouring and noticed this one is a one-piece body - and just kinda got all retro all of a sudden.
"Esquire" is kinda old-school anyway... I don't recall ever seeing one in the wild, come to think of it!
It's a friggin DENSE chunk of wood, it's marked 4.3 pounds but it feels TWICE as heavy as the Swamp Ash Z4 I had hanging next to it...
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Excellent, you’re gonna have a two-fer special ! Can’t wait to see it complete. The Osmo looks great, I love those finishes, similar to Rubio Monocoat.
 
Yeah, my lazy-and-in-a-hurry-to-just-play-the-thing side really enjoyed the speed and ease of the Osmo product. I wish I had heard of Rubio sooner, very cool to be able to save a step with their ready-dyed product...
 
Man, it never rains but it pours!! Today, completing the Warmoth Esquire and getting ready to fit the Babicz bridge. In order to install it, i first had to remove all the saddles to access the mounting screw holes. The two Es came off smoothly, but when I went to unscrew the B saddle it wouldn't budge!
Tried turning it in slightly, no go! Like it was crazy glued in. I applied some penetrating oil and waited, still no go.

All the other saddles disassembled smoothly but that B saddle was not unscrewing for anything!! The phillips head was getting stripped, so I changed gears and used Vicegrips on the head to laboriously unthread it, a quarter turn at a time. It was that stuck!

I cant see where the screw is crossthreaded but it only goes back in about three threads and gets stuck. I tried a couple of the other screws - they work fine in their own saddles but on this B saddle they stop dead about three threads in (if even).

I don't have a micro tap-and-die set to try to repair, so I just emailed requesting that Babcicz send me another saddle and screw. Talk about holding up production!!

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Man, it never rains but it pours!! Today, completing the Warmoth Esquire and getting ready to fit the Babicz bridge. In order to install it, i first had to remove all the saddles to access the mounting screw holes. The two Es came off smoothly, but when I went to unscrew the B saddle it wouldn't budge!
Tried turning it in slightly, no go! Like it was crazy glued in. I applied some penetrating oil and waited, still no go.

All the other saddles disassembled smoothly but that B saddle was not unscrewing for anything!! The phillips head was getting stripped, so I changed gears and used Vicegrips on the head to laboriously unthread it, a quarter turn at a time. It was that stuck!

I cant see where the screw is crossthreaded but it only goes back in about three threads and gets stuck. I tried a couple of the other screws - they work fine in their own saddles but on this B saddle they stop dead about three threads in (if even).

I don't have a micro tap-and-die set to try to repair, so I just emailed requesting that Babcicz send me another saddle and screw. Talk about holding up production!!

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Whew that is a lotta contact!
 
Maybe too much contact in this case!

But at least their website has 'full contact contact' as they replied my email within the hour - and hopefully I'll be getting a replacement in the mail pretty soon...
 
Another (couple??) weeks of delay as Babicz advised they are shipping my warranty replacement saddle up to Solo "in their next regular shipment". I've advised Solo to be on the lookout for it but haven't heard back from them yet. It's gonna be at least a week after Solo gets the part for it to get out to me in the mail (if the post office doesn't go on strike first...)

On the bright side I am totally loving this chunk of Alder, it's a real solid citizen and just inspires confidence!!
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Well, solomusic delivered my Babicz saddle, and this guitar is built today.
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7 and a half pounds just lands in my comfort zone.😃

Something magical about this one piece Alder slab. Still have to cut the nut slots and give it a proper setup, but it's already giving me that "best guitar ever" vibe! The Kinman 60b sounds exactly as I was hoping; super bright, fat and punchy.

Still on the fence about the control panel, I like the volume knob closer than the switch, but pondering flipping it around for the more traditional look...
 
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