BariTele gone Jazzcaster

[ragamuffin]

My choice of knobs would be black but you don't have to please me. Choose what you like the best and that's the proper choice.

Lol! Yeah I know, I think I’ve just come to the point in the build where I’m excited/anxious about the final result but don’t have the body in my hands to figure out details like knobs yet.  :-\

I’m thinking probably black too though, and if it doesn’t look quite right I can try out something more exotic like wood or brass.

 

[ragamuffin]

So I did my grain fill test and decided I'd rather leave it open. I found that with a more thorough sanding and grain raising I could get a neater open grain. Also, I decided to give Tru-Oil a shot!

The pics below are both 4 coats of tea stain; one with 2 coats of the flat Endurvar poly that I used before(top in 1st pic, bottom in 2nd), and one with 4 light coats of Tru-Oil with the shine knocked down with steel wool and a touch of paste wax applied (bottom in first pic, top in 2nd).

While the flat poly is flatter (duh) and has a nice silky feel to it, the Tru-Oil is the clear winner in terms of looks! It really brings out the beauty of grain in a way that the poly does not. It's shinier, on the shinier side of satin, but I think that will work out just as well with my build.

I think my body will be getting tru oil! Perhaps one more coat of tea and one more light coat of tru oil, but I'm quite happy with the result of the last test.

 

[rgand]

That looks like it will be a beautiful finish. Nice choice.

 

[stratamania]

That is looking good...

 

[ragamuffin]

Got a three knob plate and Hipshot black "knurled" knobs in the mail today!

I love the way the knobs look, nice satin/matte finish and fluted/knurled sides. They're slightly smaller than standard dome knobs, which is actually kind of perfect since they'll be closer together

 

[ragamuffin]

Body arrived, stain and finish time!

In other news, I decided to sell off the baritone neck and buy a roasted maple "regular" neck from the showcase for this build. I just wasn't enjoying the baritone enough. If you're interested in the baritone neck please message me.

 

[rgand]

That's a beautiful body. It'll be fun to follow your progress.

 

[ragamuffin]

That's a beautiful body. It'll be fun to follow your progress.

Thanks! My progress should at least provide some entertainment

 

[ragamuffin]

So... I got way too excited last night. I was going to try countersunk neck ferrules, then decided not to and put a coat of stain on it, then this morning I decided try the countersinking after all, and... it went badly.

I tried to do a drill press job with a router by hand and... yeah.  :sad1:

Fixable I think though, and it forces me to do a heel contour, which I really wanted to do anyway. And I learned a lesson. Anyways, I'm currently grain filling and when it dries I'll work on a contour.

 

[rgand]

I drilled the heel to inset ferules on my Bobber project and didn't like how close the holes were to the edge because I wanted to eliminate the squareness in that area. I then did a heel contour, which I like a lot. I only did the two front holes before I quit but on yours, you may want to fill the other two if you can't work it down enough.

Besides, it was a good excuse to get Doug to make a cool plate for it (not shown because it hasn't arrived yet). :icon_biggrin:

 

[JPOL007]

That neck is gorgeous...awesome grain pattern :icon_thumright:

 

[ragamuffin]

Body finish is finished! Several coats of tea stain (I decided to go darker than my test piece) followed by several coats of tru oil and a rub down with stock sheen. I'm really happy with the result, it should look great with the roasted maple neck I have on order. All wired up and ready to go, I'm tempted to slap a neck on it right now!

 

[rgand]

That tea stain is really nice. I like the shade you got with it.

 

[ragamuffin]

That tea stain is really nice. I like the shade you got with it.

Thanks Rgand! I was surprised by how amber-y it turned out, I'd done tea stain on pine before and it turned out more of a violin brown. I'm very happy with it though, it looks good and gives it some classic tele vibes

 

[stratamania]

Nice result. Welcome to the Mad hatters Tele club.

 

[ragamuffin]

Roasted maple neck came in the mail yesterday; polished the frets and burnished the shaft, and she's completed!

 

[bagman67]

Nice work!

 

[rgand]

Looks good! Very tastefully done.

 

[easymeow]

Body finish is finished! Several coats of tea stain (I decided to go darker than my test piece) followed by several coats of tru oil and a rub down with stock sheen. I'm really happy with the result, it should look great with the roasted maple neck I have on order. All wired up and ready to go, I'm tempted to slap a neck on it right now!

Can you share the "stock sheen" you finished with?

 

[stratamania]

Body finish is finished! Several coats of tea stain (I decided to go darker than my test piece) followed by several coats of tru oil and a rub down with stock sheen. I'm really happy with the result, it should look great with the roasted maple neck I have on order. All wired up and ready to go, I'm tempted to slap a neck on it right now!

Can you share the "stock sheen" you finished with?

Its probably Birchwood Casey Stock Sheen and Conditioner.