Got Most of My Parts For My First Build! *FINISHED*

[rambleon]

I've got most of the parts, big and small. Only a few major parts left- the Warmoth neck will be arriving tomorrow, and the wiring harness with the control plate will be arriving on Friday. Also, someone I know from another forum is laser cutting a template that will make aligning and installing the tuners a breeze. But that won't need to happen for a while.
The body is a poplar custom routed Warmoth job with white binding. I chose poplar to economize because I plan on a solid paint finish. I do admit though, the grain looks quite pretty, and the body has been sanded smooth as a baby's bottom.
On with the pretty pics.

From Warmoth:
Poplar body with front binding, chrome ferules, neck plate and screws, Schaller strap locks, custom parchment pickguard. The pickguard edges may look a ragged in some spots but that's just the clear protective plastic which I haven't removed.
Other places:
TV Jones Power'tron and Power'tron plus (both used), Bigsby B-50, fender Schaller locking tuners, Callaham bridge, brushed aluminum knobs and switch tip off ebay, brushed chrome electrosocket jack mount.

 

[Glimmer]

Looking good!

That's a might pretty body – why paint it? :icon_scratch: (And I'm presuming you mean just the top, right?)

 

[bagman67]

Looks pretty sweet!


I would recommend, however, taht you either resize your photos before posting, or consult with your image hosting website of choice for how to get reduced-size images to post to other places, such as our little corner of the world.


Meanwhile, rock on - you're off on a great adventure.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

How did you get in my head?! Seriously though, that's right out of my own daydreams. Very nice. I'll look forward to seeing more!

 

[bagman67]

What's the color scheme gonna be?

 

[rambleon]

Sorry about the oversized pics guys! They seemed sized ok when I posted a similar thread on another forum. I'll try to figure out the sizing issue.
So I did some reading and experimentation on scrap pieces of poplar, and I think I might just use a stain on the back and sides...the grain seems to be really too good to paint over, specially on the rear side.
Initially I was thinking of going ultra flat olive green on the top and flat black on the back and sides. Now it'll be olive on the top and the back and sides stained with Minwax mahogany gel stain. Hopefully I'll get some time to work on it this weekend. Stay tuned!
Also, in another thread I had a brief discussion about what neck to get and I'm really glad I sprung for a Warmoth neck. I got it yesterday and that thing is a work of art. Perfectly done fretwork and really smooth!
The neck came pre-finished with clear satin-nitro and a rosewood board.

 

[dmraco]

Need bigger pics.... :glasses9: :glasses9: :glasses9: :laughing3: :laughing3: :laughing3:

 

[GilgaFrank]

That's a beautiful looking guitar (or it will be ...)

As for the pics, I upload mine to imgur.com as there's an automatic resizer. 800 by 600 works well here and most forums, and the site generates the BBCode for you to embed the images.

 

[Glimmer]

I use imgur, too, but alway resize my pics before uploading them. (I shoot for 850ish x 640ish.)

 

[rambleon]

OK, managed to resize the images in the OP. Lots more updates to come... once I resize all those pictures, that is  :glasses9:

 

[rambleon]

Got the harness and neck. Knobs and switch tip fit well. The neck is unbelievably smooth. And the fretwork is great. Really glad i spent a little more and went with Warmoth n the neck too.

Masked the binding and most of the top...getting ready to stain the back and sides.

 

[rambleon]

Time to start staining! So, chocolate telecaster anyone?

I let it seep in for a bit and then wiped off the excess, which there was plenty of!
Here are a few pics of after I took the masking take off, with the polish dried and a couple of light coats of matte clear coat sprayed on.

 

[Glimmer]

Neat work!

Gotta say I was worried when I saw that chocolate pic, but I can see now where you're going with this.

Can you give us one where we see the top and a bit of the sides together?

 

[stratamania]

Glad you resized the pics as I was able to view them now.

Looks good so far. The chocolate stain, is it actually polish ?

The reason I ask is that a while back someone tried a shoe polish on a guitar with less than expected results. Although I have seen leather dyes used to good effect.

 

[rambleon]

Glad you resized the pics as I was able to view them now.

Looks good so far. The chocolate stain, is it actually polish ?

The reason I ask is that a while back someone tried a shoe polish on a guitar with less than expected results. Although I have seen leather dyes used to good effect.

It's definitely meant for wood, not shoe polish
It's min wax gel stain. It's really good to work with, especially if you're a newbie like me since it doesn't run and has a good thick consistency. You just spread on your surface liberally and then wipe it off after 10 minutes or so. After that you let it sit for 8 or 9 hours and apply a new coat of you want a darker stain. I did just one coat since I'm happy with the coloration I got. It's available in a number of different finishes, I used mahogany.

 

[rambleon]

Neat work!

Gotta say I was worried when I saw that chocolate pic, but I can see now where you're going with this.

Can you give us one where we see the top and a bit of the sides together?

The sides and back are currently taped over with masking tape. Here are a couple of pics of what the top currently looks like. I'm in the middle of spray painting it with matte green camo paint. Maybe one more coat of paint and then a few coats of matt clear before the tape comes off.

 

[stratamania]

Glad you resized the pics as I was able to view them now.

Looks good so far. The chocolate stain, is it actually polish ?

The reason I ask is that a while back someone tried a shoe polish on a guitar with less than expected results. Although I have seen leather dyes used to good effect.

It's definitely meant for wood, not shoe polish
It's min wax gel stain. It's really good to work with, especially if you're a newbie like me since it doesn't run and has a good thick consistency. You just spread on your surface liberally and then wipe it off after 10 minutes or so. After that you let it sit for 8 or 9 hours and apply a new coat of you want a darker stain. I did just one coat since I'm happy with the coloration I got. It's available in a number of different finishes, I used mahogany.

Thanks for the clarification, I've heard of Minwax but we don't have it in the UK. It sounds like they make quite a good range of products.

 

[rambleon]

Glad you resized the pics as I was able to view them now.

Looks good so far. The chocolate stain, is it actually polish ?

The reason I ask is that a while back someone tried a shoe polish on a guitar with less than expected results. Although I have seen leather dyes used to good effect.

Perhaps there's a local company that also makes gel based stains?
It's definitely meant for wood, not shoe polish
It's min wax gel stain. It's really good to work with, especially if you're a newbie like me since it doesn't run and has a good thick consistency. You just spread on your surface liberally and then wipe it off after 10 minutes or so. After that you let it sit for 8 or 9 hours and apply a new coat of you want a darker stain. I did just one coat since I'm happy with the coloration I got. It's available in a number of different finishes, I used mahogany.

Thanks for the clarification, I've heard of Minwax but we don't have it in the UK. It sounds like they make quite a good range of products.

 

[rambleon]

here you go. These guys seem to offer more tints than Minwax does.
http://www.generalfinishes.co.uk/index.cfm?page=store&CID=17

Also, something I learnt is if you're staining a soft wood like Poplar, it's a good idea to treat it with a pre-stain conditioner first. That will help prevent blotchiness.

Glad you resized the pics as I was able to view them now.

Looks good so far. The chocolate stain, is it actually polish ?

The reason I ask is that a while back someone tried a shoe polish on a guitar with less than expected results. Although I have seen leather dyes used to good effect.

It's definitely meant for wood, not shoe polish
It's min wax gel stain. It's really good to work with, especially if you're a newbie like me since it doesn't run and has a good thick consistency. You just spread on your surface liberally and then wipe it off after 10 minutes or so. After that you let it sit for 8 or 9 hours and apply a new coat of you want a darker stain. I did just one coat since I'm happy with the coloration I got. It's available in a number of different finishes, I used mahogany.

Thanks for the clarification, I've heard of Minwax but we don't have it in the UK. It sounds like they make quite a good range of products.

 

[stratamania]

here you go. These guys seem to offer more tints than Minwax does.
http://www.generalfinishes.co.uk/index.cfm?page=store&CID=17

Also, something I learnt is if you're staining a soft wood like Poplar, it's a good idea to treat it with a pre-stain conditioner first. That will help prevent blotchiness.

Thanks for the info. That site appears to be run by the same folks as http://www.behlen.co.uk/ who I have used before.