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AEROCASTER - Tele Thinline

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AEROCASTER

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After years of looking I finally pushed the button at Warmoth.  Five months later my baby arrived home.

It's a mahogany Thinline body with a figured Indian rosewood cap.  F-hole.  Tobacco burst back over to clear on the rosewood.  Modified Strat controls - the two lower tone are 'vol' and 'tone', with a 3-way switch.
Other than the pups, all hardware and electronic parts are from Warmoth.  Pups are 'new' 10-year old Harmonic Design '54 Specials, and are awesome. 

The neck is Warmoth Pro, Pau Ferro over Pau Ferro, unfinished.  Standard thin, 11/16" nut with Earvana compensating TUSQ nut.  6105 wire, barrel retainer, and Gotoh vintage tuners.  Side adjuster.  I can't say enough about how nicely this neck plays.  The unfinished Pau Ferro is simply amazing!

Thanks to Jim Mozell in Calgary for the fine assembly and adjustment of this extremely fine instrument.

 
Yum! Lovely.
What are your impressions of the pau ferro neck? I've heard it described as maple-like in sound with a very smooth feel to the hand.
 
kboman said:
Yum! Lovely.
What are your impressions of the pau ferro neck? I've heard it described as maple-like in sound with a very smooth feel to the hand.
Click to expand...

yes, it is possibly brighter than maple...
 
That's just gorgeous! Good choices on... everything! Once again, I'm tempted to build a Tele. Never thought I'd see the day.

So... are you happy? Now that you have it in hand, would you change anything?

Oh, and what are ya gonna build next? <grin>
 
needs a chrome pickup cover on the neck! and maybe an ashtray that it wears just for pictures :icon_biggrin: seriously, thats the only thing i can pick out about this whole guitar that i'm not in complete love with. GREAT guitar! wow, that thing looks great...
 
JaySwear said:
needs a chrome pickup cover on the neck! and maybe an ashtray that it wears just for pictures :icon_biggrin:
Click to expand...

For those who are wondering if Jay's lost his mind...

Back 100 years ago, Telecasters used to come with a bridge/pickup cover that looked like this...

Fender_Telecaster_643019_01.jpg


They sorta "snapped" on - there were no screws or other fasteners involved, so they were also easily removable. They really didn't serve any functional purpose, so nearly everybody pulled them off, set them on their amps, and used them as ashtrays/roach collectors/incense burners. This was back when cigarettes were healthy, pot was illegal, and we were all stupid enough to think incense covered the smell of burnt pot, so it was a nice accessory Fender provided.

Of course, it usually didn't take long to lose the things, so it was commonplace to see Teles with naked bridges. These days, it would be unusual to see a Tele with an ashtray on it.



 
That is a real beauty!!!  :glasses9:
How about some more pics?  I would love to see more of her.
:kewlpics: :rock-on:
 
Sorry, but I have to say this again, that tele is BEAUTIFUL.

Now my next build HAS to be a tele. Damn you!!!!!  :icon_tongue:
 
That HAS to bee the coolest piece of rosewood for a top that I've seen....Very well done.... :icon_thumright:
 
Hi all, and thanks for your comments.

About the neck.  I chose the Pau Ferro for two main reasons.  First, Pau Ferro is a near perfect match for the hardness of hard maple - and I wanted the Tele to sound like a tele.  I made the assumption that a wood that matched the hardness of maple would give me very much the same tonal qualities.  I also wanted a nice match for the rosewood, but not the softer sound of rosewood. 

I'm not sure if I exactly nailed it, but it's very close.  The unfinished Pau Ferro is extremely smooth to the touch.  It's actually feels incredible.  I have a number of guitars - CIJ Fenders, Rickys, etc - and I've never EVER felt a neck as velvety smooth as this unfinished Pau Ferro neck.  It's hard as rock, and extremely tight grained. 

KBOMAN, that's as good an answer as I can give to what it feels like to play.

CHRISG, the bridge is just a plain ol' pressed steel covered in chrome - a 6 saddle job from the Warmoth parts bin.  These Warmoth bridges are a bit nicer than the ones that came stock on my CIJ Fender teles.  I was trying to nail the Tele vibe, and my luthier here (a former senior tech for Fender) tells me that 90% of the sound is the neck and that stamped steel bridge (and the PUPs).  The Gotoh bridge is nice, but it's 1/4" brass, chrome plated, so I gave it a pass.  The Gotoh is real pretty, though.

JaySWEAR, I still have my first Fender, a hard tail 78 Strat.  It had an ashtray too. It looked good, but was hard to keep on the guitar.  I don't know where it got too…

CAGEY, I'm real happy with it.  By the time I pressed the Warmoth button I'd just about driven myself (and Warmoth, and my luthier) crazy with questions, and got the all answers I wanted.  I spent a lot of time getting everything lined up.  The only glitch was the F-hole.  It's a Thinline (and I was building it to more or less replace a Thinline that I'd damaged, a CIJ '69 mahogany Thinline), but because the rosewood was so damned expensive and beautiful I ordered the guitar WITHOUT the F-Hole.  HOWEVER, Warmoth shipped it with the F-Hole and I was pretty surprised to see it.  Really surprised.  Warmoth offered to remake another, but in the end we worked out a deal that was good for both of us.  I'm totally okay with the F-hole, it's just not exactly what i ordered…

Other than that, there's nothing I'd change…  it's exactly what I wanted, especially the Strat control mod.

JAYSWEAR, This started with the purchase of a set of Harmonic Design '54 Specials back around 1999 or 2000.  Black was what they sold back then.  I've re-checked their website and see that they've modified the pickup a bit and changed to a chrome cover, but for me, BLACK is what I had, and I'm liking it…..  it' looks custom.

Would I do another???  I have to admit there's a pair of Seymour Duncan pickups on order as I write:  SM1-N and SM3-B (mini-humbuckers).  I have a Firebird and like that mini-humbucker sound - I'm a big Johnny Winter fan.  It may take me another 10 years, but I suspect the next guitar will be built around these new PUPs…  maybe in another Tele. 

Here are a few pix.  I'll post them in three comments.  Taken indoors under incandescent, but passable. 

Cheers.
Aerocaster
 
Okay, I officially have decided I hate how screws look sitting in the neckplates on contoured Necks.

the guitar is magnificent.

but those screws are wigging me.
 
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