Enter the Splintercaster...

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

I got the majority of my holes drilled and most of the assembly done last night and today and I think it's safe to say it's officially a guitar  :toothy11: :


I wound up needing to ream out the tuner holes a bit, I've yet to successfully fish the lead from the P90 through to the control cavity, apparently they skipped a bridge ground hole, and I'm probably gonna do some work to square the up the bridge plate a bit before I move on to finishing it but other than that everything went together smoothly and it plays great w/ no neck pocket shim.  I'll probably give a couple of the very thin mahogany shims I've got handy a try and add a string tree for the 1st and 2nd strings tomorrow.  I'm still waiting on the blend knob and electrosocket for the wiring but it's sounding really nice unplugged.

So far so good 

 

[stratamania]

Looks great, anyhow Teles tend not to have a separate hole for a ground wire. You go via the bridge pickup hole and then under the bridge the bared wire is splayed out. Or you can do a variation of it.

http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=23725.msg347879#msg347879

 

[Timmsie95]

Unless you have graphtech String Saver saddles... If the guitar is a strong through guitar, like most teles are, you have to find a way to ground each string, because the sale isolates the string from the bridge. I've seen guys run copper wire through the string hole, and anchor it to the back with the ferrule, and then up to touch the bridge plate to ground it. That can be a pain to do..

 

[Fat Pete]

Unless you have graphtech String Saver saddles... If the guitar is a strong through guitar, like most teles are, you have to find a way to ground each string, because the sale isolates the string from the bridge. I've seen guys run copper wire through the string hole, and anchor it to the back with the ferrule, and then up to touch the bridge plate to ground it. That can be a pain to do..

How does the string get through the hole in the bridge plate without (solidly) touching the edge? I've had no problems with string grounding using Graph Tech saddles.

 

[Timmsie95]

I don't really know, never done it myself. But graph tech says it themselves that there mate be grounding issues. They also sell"electrically conductive " string saver saddles, but only in start/tele shape.

 

[stratamania]

I suppose if you are using Graphtech and it's too much of a pain to ground you could use EMGs and they don't need grounding and should not be.

 

[bagman67]

Well, grounding issues aside, that's a handsome pile of kindling you've assembled there!  Nice to see a new take on the ol' clear-finish-on-pretty-lumber approach, and yours is a winning combo.

 

[Cagey]

I can't imagine getting the strings through a Tele bridge without them touching the base plate.

 

[Timmsie95]

I can't imagine getting the strings through a Tele bridge without them touching the base plate.

That was my thought, but apparently some people found a way? haha  :dontknow: maybe they had rubber grommets around the string hole..  :laughing7:

 

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Thanks a lot!

Got the string tree and strap buttons installled, threw in a couple of shims in the neck pocket and tweaked the relief and bridge height, and got it intonated after practice this afternoon and worked on the decal and wiring diagram tonight.

Tried out a different Fender-y font, kind of a toss up for me between this and the other one


The wiring:

 

[stratamania]

Downgraded Splintery Wooden Assembly,  :icon_thumright:

 

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Got the majority of the wiring done and the electrosocket installed last night.

Hopefully I'll get the pickups hooked up and tested and start tearing it down for finishing tonight after my lesson.

 

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

I got the first few coats of tru oil on the back of the neck, fretboard, and body over the past couple days.

Lightly sanded w/ a 220 grit foam pad, cleaned w/ naptha and applied the first coat:




This morning I sanded w/ a 320 grit foam pad, cleaned it w/ naptha and applied the second coat:



Tonight I sanded w/ a 400 grit pad, cleaned it, and put on the third:

 

[Logrinn]

Looks great!
Good work  :icon_thumright:

 

[Glimmer]

Coming along nicely! Can't wait to see it done.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Lookin' good!

 

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Thanks guys!  Just finished up the 5th coat, think I might stop at 6 for both and move on to the headstock.

 

[Sid Nitzerglobin]

Got the 6th coat on yesterday, wound up doing a 7th on the top and sides of the body and back of the neck today as the sanding sludge wound up doing some bad  looking grain filling when I wet sanded the top w/ 1200 grit and the neck wound up w/ some fuzz in it from somewhere in the drying.

Here's the back of the body and neck and after 1000 grit and the 5th coat:


The back of the body after 1200 grit wet sanding and the 6th coat:



The back of the neck and top of the body after 1000 grit and the 7th coat:




Waiting on the last coat to sufficiently set up on the neck and the lacquer on the decal sheet to dry and I'll move along to reversing the masking on the headstock and getting it ready for the decal.

 

[Glimmer]

Just gorgeous. Very nice work!!!

 

[Logrinn]

What a shiny pretty thing ...