New to the forum, first build --> Thinline Telecaster

JensLongneck

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6
Hi everybody,

I'm the new guy ;) My name is Jens, i'm from Germany.
After thinking a lot about my new guitar I decided to go the warmoth-path. After long weeks of waiting a big brown truck came yesterday. It felt like christmas ;) And man, it was worth the wait. The parts are stunning  :hello2:. I got a showcase swampash thinline body with a butterscotch blonde finish and a big chunky birdseye maple neck with boatneck backcontour and abalone dots.
I allready drilled all the holes, coppershielded he cavities, wired the potis and mounted the tuning machines. Right now I'm waiting for the pickups, which should arrive today. I ordered a Fender SCN Noiseless Telecaster Pickup Set.

The only thing I'm not sure is what should I do with the neck? It is unfinished. I wanted to leave it like this because it feels great like it is. But the more I read, I'm thinking it might be safer to apply a finish. I don't think that I can do a satisfactioning laquer finish myself. My guitarteacher advised me to wax the neck. So I ordered Warwick Beeswax, but I'm still unsure about it. Anybody has expirience with unfinished maple necks? Any advise would be appreciated.
I know that the warranty is void if I don't apply a hard finish. But I'm not concernd about that, because shipping back to warmoth and then back to germany would be nearly as expensive as a new neck would be.

I've tried to make some pictures with the crappy cellphonecamera. I'll have to make better pics. Nothing is screwed together yet. It's just how it will look like.
I'm sorry for my rusty english  :sad1:
Greetings,
Jens

 
Welcome! Great to see another European member.
Definitely apply a finish to a maple neck to avoid warping over time. I have no experience doing that but I guarantee you: Before the end of the day several people who do know will have shared their thoughts. :)
 
Welcome and nice tele.

concerning the neck...you should finish for the reason stated above.  I am not sure about  the wax finish. 

On my last build I used some satin poly.  About 6 light coats.  This both protected the neck and left a more natural finish.  After it cured I simply ran over it with some 0000 steel wool than naptha to clean.  the poly has stayed non-shiny as desired.

Satin nitro and tung oil will work too but playing will act a a natural polish and shiny spots will apprear.  I have a buddy with a satin strat and the body countour where he rests his arm has become as shiny as a mirror.
 
Try a Truoil finish before you wax.  It's easy to apply (no specialist tools required) and looks good
 
chrisg said:
Try a Truoil finish before you wax.  It's easy to apply (no specialist tools required) and looks good

yes...tru oil...that is what I meant when I said tung oil...sorry...my bad. 

there are many brands to choose from...I am not sure what works best as I have never worked with it.
 
Hi Jens,

I used an oil+wax mixture from Rockinger for my JB project, a german shop for guitar parts.
Perhaps you'll give it a try. I was very pleased with the results.
 
Hi everybody,

thanks for all the advise. I guess I'll have to think about it. I will also speak with local techs. Let's see how much a nice satin nitrofinish would cost.
For now I recived the pickups and got the wiring done. I couldn't resist and put on the neck of my MIM tele. I just did a basic setup and stroke a few chords. Wow!!!! This thing rocks!!!  :headbang1:
Time to crank up the amp!!!  :party07:
 
JensLongneck said:
Hi everybody,

Let's see how much a nice satin nitrofinish would cost.


cost you about 9 bucks for a decent can of nitro...spraying nitro even in a rattle can is fairly easy is you take your time and spray thin, even coats and allow time to dry inbetween.
 
Like said earlier : satin finish.

I got that on a F..., and it's so sweet to my hands, it slides very well.

See you neighbor, I'm from Belgium... :eek:ccasion14:
 
Welcome to the forum.  Nice build.

Since you are new to the forum, I'll let you in on an Unofficial Warmoth tradtion.  It is customary for the builder of a new Thinline to give it to the one who does the 11th post after the original post.

I don't much care for this tradition, but it is tradition.
 
:laughing7: i was going to tell you i loved the look, but really didn't approve of the red pickups you chose. until i clicked on the last picture and realized it was just the shielding and it's not assembled yet. it's late here...

anyway, i like it a lot! thats going to be one awesome looking guitar.
 
Hey guys,

thank you all for the nice comments.
Super Turbo Deluxe Custom said:
Since you are new to the forum, I'll let you in on an Unofficial Warmoth tradtion.  It is customary for the builder of a new Thinline to give it to the one who does the 11th post after the original post.
I don't much care for this tradition, but it is tradition.

Well, I think it's important to keep old traditions alive.  :laughing7: But in this case I've to make an exeption... and keep the guitar myself.  :icon_tongue:

In the meantime I spoke to a tech. By the way, this guy builds awesome Strats. He will do the finish for me. He will also do some little modifications to the neck. For example he is going to fill up the hole in the heel with a nice pice of dark wood to match the skunkstripe. Sadly I've to wait a few more weeks till all the work is done, but it's gonna be a killer guitar. I'll will take it to my dad who is into photografy as soon as it is finished, so there will be much better pics.

Greetings from Germany!
Jens
 
bendeg said:
How many € did you pay for the customs ?

Oh, I'm not sure. I paid around 180€ for taxes and customs. It was printed on the boxes which I don't have anymore. I think customs were ~ 4%.
Greetings,
Jens
 
JensLongneck said:
bendeg said:
How many € did you pay for the customs ?

Oh, I'm not sure. I paid around 180€ for taxes and customs. It was printed on the boxes which I don't have anymore. I think customs were ~ 4%.
Greetings,
Jens

For me (Belgium) :  customs + taxes  => 289€ !!! (that's insane...for finished neck and a body...)
 
Meanwhile I got a bill from UPS.
Total order was 750€
I paid 2,5% to UPS for handeling the customs
~20€ for customs and 19% german taxes

My neck will be finished soon. I hope to post some pics of the finished guitar next week.
 
bendeg said:
For me (Belgium) :  customs + taxes  => 289€ !!! (that's insane...for finished neck and a body...)

Ouch! That's gotta hurt! I think we're in the last days of getting away with buying things for what they're worth here. As things stand now, anything I order from Warmoth I don't even pay sales tax on, let alone anything else. If Warmoth wants $500, that's all I pay, plus shipping charges. But, the current regime is spending money like a drunken sailor and there's already talk of having to institute a "value added tax" like many in Europe have to pay so they can finance their boondoggles. Canada is looking more attractive all the time.
 
So today was the day that I finallly could pick up my finished guitar. Last week I gave the body to the guy who finished the neck. He needed to to some work on the neckpocket, because the finished neck wouldn't fit in. Anyway now it's finally assembled and setup. It plays like a dream and with the fat neck it sounds even better. I'll try to get some nice pictures online tomorrow. For today I'll just play it  :party07: :party07:
 
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