B-Bender Tele

[stubhead]

then cut the straight lines with a hacksaw blade.  This took me a couple of hours start to finish.

Just an aside, have you discovers the tungsten carbide hacksaw blades? Not the ones that are completely round, but the ones that look like a wide hacksaw blade that's edge has been dipped in glass shreds. Like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/REMINGTON-HS10C-TUNGSTEN-CARBIDE-HACKSAW-BLADE_W0QQitemZ4391725871QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

I bought two really high grade Sandvik ones ($20?) a few years ago, and it's the best wood, plastic and soft metal saw I've ever used - it just glides through plexiglass, maple etc. It might take like 20 minutes to do the above job, not cutting is harder than cutting with the thing. I still haven't got to the second blade, the first one shows no wear.

 

[mayfly]

then cut the straight lines with a hacksaw blade.  This took me a couple of hours start to finish.

Just an aside, have you discovers the tungsten carbide hacksaw blades? Not the ones that are completely round, but the ones that look like a wide hacksaw blade that's edge has been dipped in glass shreds. Like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/REMINGTON-HS10C-TUNGSTEN-CARBIDE-HACKSAW-BLADE_W0QQitemZ4391725871QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Well, that would have sped the job up a little

BTW, more photos coming of assembly and setup of the guitar.

 

[mayfly]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone.  Making that big ass hole was heart stopping at times!

So, with all the holes cut, there was still one potential issue:  Does the B string really line up the way it should?

I really wanted to know before I proceeded with the build, so I did a quick test build.  First, I bolted the bender to the back of the guitar:

Then I put in the string ferrules, and attached the neck

everyone knows about the soldering iron trick for string ferrules, right?

Finally, I put in the ferrule for the pull tower, added the high E and B strings, tuned them to pitch. 

The Second Moment of Truth:  Does the B string go where it should go?!?

Phew!  it does!

With that out of the way, I progressed with the build as normal.  More pics later...

 

[mayfly]

Alright!  Now let's put the rest together.

I took the neck and bridge off, and mounted the pickups and pickguard.  I had previously wired the control plate, so I just had to solder on the pickup wires and the output jack.  Here's how it looks with everything soldered up and bolted down:

Then I attached the tuning machines, re-attached the neck, and added the last few bits and pieces (end strap button, string tree, etc).

Then I strung it up, did a stupid fast setup (releif, action, nut, and put the intonation in the ballpark), and then attached a strap and gave it a go!
Well, let me tell you - that thing will pull TWO whole tones!  There is a little knurled adjustment knob on the back near the front that you can adjust the pulled pitch with.  Tweaking that made it into a whole tone.  Then I noticed that when you did a pull bend, at times the bridge would shriek like fingernails on a chalk board (!).  A little oil on the bridge fixed that.

So There it is!  I just have to finish the setup ...  and then figure out actually how to play it  

Here's a parting shot showing all of the strings over the bridge.  I'm really happy that everything lines up as it should.

 

[Tonar8352]

Great job!  I almost had a nervous break down looking at the pictures!

 

[SrDeMaFp]

Great job!  I almost had a nervous break down looking at the pictures!

Seriously Great job, man! You have a set of balls on ya for taking that project on.

 

[Nando Vallart]

Great job!  I almost had a nervous break down looking at the pictures!

Seriously Great job, man! You have a set of balls on ya for taking that project on.

Yes, I would NEVER do it before the neck and strings been attached to the body... Not that self confident  :icon_thumright: