Dad's Birthday-caster

[Verne Bunsen]

Hi all,

Brand new to the forum, thought I'd introduce myself with my first Warmoth build. My dad is a Strat guy, but he has been GASing for a George Harrison style rosewood Tele for as long as I can remember. With his birthday coming up, I decided it was finally time to fill the niche in his collection. Warmoth provided me with some seriously stunning wood, I wound the pickups and did the assembly and setup work, along with a bit of finish work for the headstock decal. She went together beautifully and (eventually) took a really sweet setup, low and silky smooth action with no buzzing. I leveled, dressed, crowned and polished the frets to a gleaming finish and they feel like glass. I'm pretty proud of that part, my best fret job to date! She really plays and sounds great, which was every bit as important to me as making her pretty. Work has me out of town for a couple of weeks, it'll be his birthday when I get home. Can't wait!

The specs:
Warmoth Tele body, Indian rosewood with maple center laminate
Warmoth Tele "Vintage Modern" neck, Indian rosewood shaft and fingerboard, 10-16" radius, 6105 frets
Fender/Schaller locking tuners (staggered height = no string tree)
Custom "Poppy" headstock decal by J Bennett (Poppy is what my son calls my dad)
Vintage bridge and "Broadcaster" saddles by Marc Rutters
Handwound Tele pickups
4-way switching with series
250k Bourns pots, .047uf Orange Drop tone cap
Electro-Socket jack mount with switchcraft output jack

 

[TBurst Std]

What a way to enter the forum.
Absolutely gorgreous! And I was playing with one just today in the builder. Curious, any idea on its weight?
Enter this in the GOTM and you have my vote.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

What a way to enter the forum.
Absolutely gorgreous! And I was playing with one just today in the builder. Curious, any idea on its weight?
Enter this in the GOTM and you have my vote.

Thanks! They're not joking when they say a rosewood Tele is heavy. I haven't weighed the whole guitar, I'll do that when I get home. Warmoth listed the body alone at 7.5 pounds. To put it in perspective, I've got a Les Paul with a B7 Bigsby that is refreshingly light in comparison, haha! I do intend to enter it in the GOTM when the pro finish comes up again. I think that's a very cool thing this forum is doing!

 

[Surf n Music]

What a way to enter the forum.

+1  :icon_thumright:

 

[stratamania]

I think Dads, going to be pleased.


And welcome to the forum...

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks for the welcome!

 

[bbl4ck]

Very beautiful :glasses9: tele you got workin' there!
I am sure Poppy will be over joyed...
Oh yea, welcome to the forum and  :rock-on:

 

[swarfrat]

Dang. My son can't read. And has no job. But cool guitar, and inspiring. WTG

 

[anorakDan]

Lovely! Nicely done and welcome  to the board!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks for the kind words and the welcome!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

For those who were curious about the weight of this guitar, we put her on the scale today. 11.2 pounds!

Delivered it to dad ("Poppy") over the weekend, he likes his new toy, haha!  :guitaristgif:

 

[KrisRichmond]

Wowzers thats nice!

How did you finish it?

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks! The body has a killer clear gloss finish that was applied by Warmoth. The neck is unfinished save for the headstock face, which I finished with a clear shellac as part of the decal application. Judging by the challenges I faced just trying to finish the headstock, I can only imagine that the wizards in the Warmoth paint department utilized pure black magic for this one.

 

[Sp4zRX]

She looks incredible! A very lucky pops you have.

 

[Tony Ounsworth]

What a beautiful guitar. I've got serious GAS for a RW Tele myself.

Tell me, was the body a standard order, or did you have to talk to Warmoth specially about doing the full RW/Maple/RW sandwich?

 

[bbl4ck]

What a beautiful guitar. I've got serious GAS for a RW Tele myself.

Tell me, was the body a standard order, or did you have to talk to Warmoth specially about doing the full RW/Maple/RW sandwich?

Hey Tony,
There are two of them in the showcase right now!  For some reason they do not pull up when I search for rosewood, but do a search for Telecaster; All Exotic Woods.
They will pop right up and they are beauties...
:rock-on:

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Thanks! I contacted them about doing the body to those specs and got a quote, the very next day that body showed up in the Showcase. It was exactly what I was after, so I snatched it up. A happy coincidence!

 

[SlartiBartfast]

That's an insanely nice Tele, and a very generous gift! Very nicely done, sir.  :hello2:

 

[Tony Ounsworth]

What a beautiful guitar. I've got serious GAS for a RW Tele myself.

Tell me, was the body a standard order, or did you have to talk to Warmoth specially about doing the full RW/Maple/RW sandwich?

Hey Tony,
There are two of them in the showcase right now!  For some reason they do not pull up when I search for rosewood, but do a search for Telecaster; All Exotic Woods.
They will pop right up and they are beauties...
:rock-on:

Just realised I never thanked you for this post. So thanks!

 

[bbl4ck]

What a beautiful guitar. I've got serious GAS for a RW Tele myself.

Tell me, was the body a standard order, or did you have to talk to Warmoth specially about doing the full RW/Maple/RW sandwich?

Hey Tony,
There are two of them in the showcase right now!  For some reason they do not pull up when I search for rosewood, but do a search for Telecaster; All Exotic Woods.
They will pop right up and they are beauties...
:rock-on:

Just realised I never thanked you for this post. So thanks!

No thanks needed!  That is really a looker :glasses9:
She got my vote for the Guitar of the Year!  Very close, but no cigar...
And what a bunch of great entries to be up against.
:rock-on: