My parts have shipped for my first project. I have a showcase body and neck coming.Ordered a book on building just out of curosity what is the general time involed in puting one to geather? Its going to be a tele one piece swap ash in vintage tint. rosewood board with fender custom shop nocaster pick ups. so i'm really jazzed about tring this. i spent 25 year as a journeyman carpenter the thing that makes me a little nevous is the wiring. but looking forward to a lot of fun.
part have shipped for first project
- Thread starter TRG
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jackthehack
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It would take me a couple of hours.
As it's your first build and wiring job; expect it to take a couple of days; SLOW DOWN, take your time.
Assuming you ordered all your parts from Warmoth:
1.) The CTS parts have a chrome finish that solder doesn't like to stick to. You need to use a dremel or metal file to scape the chroming down to bare metal to get the solder to stick.
2.) Use the thin rosin core solder from Radio Shack
3.) Here's a wiring diagram for the Tele NoCaster set:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=standard_tele
Note that the illustration of the switch/volume & tone pots is from the BOTTOM orientation.
4.) Green mylar 2 fer 1.49 caps from Radio Shack work fine if you didn't order already
5.) What type of tuners are you using? Various tips/tricks, but need to know what you ordered.
Again, don't get in a hurry, that often leads to problems you don't need. Welcome to the board and post back when/if you run into assembly issues.
As it's your first build and wiring job; expect it to take a couple of days; SLOW DOWN, take your time.
Assuming you ordered all your parts from Warmoth:
1.) The CTS parts have a chrome finish that solder doesn't like to stick to. You need to use a dremel or metal file to scape the chroming down to bare metal to get the solder to stick.
2.) Use the thin rosin core solder from Radio Shack
3.) Here's a wiring diagram for the Tele NoCaster set:
http://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wiring-diagrams/schematics.php?schematic=standard_tele
Note that the illustration of the switch/volume & tone pots is from the BOTTOM orientation.
4.) Green mylar 2 fer 1.49 caps from Radio Shack work fine if you didn't order already
5.) What type of tuners are you using? Various tips/tricks, but need to know what you ordered.
Again, don't get in a hurry, that often leads to problems you don't need. Welcome to the board and post back when/if you run into assembly issues.
jackthehack
Epic Member
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- 5,630
On Warmoth factory finished necks you may need to get a round/rat file and ream the tuner holes a little bit to get the tuner bushings to fit, but need to leave the fit tight. After you get the bushings seated you need to carefully align the tuners and mark for pilot holes you need to drill for the screws that hold the tuners on. Use a 1/16th bit and MARK it with tape to depth of screw so you don't drill through the front of the peghead.
Assuming that it's a regular Gotoh Tele bridge; only trick is you may need to use the same file to ream the string through ferrule holes to get the ferrules to seat properly on back of body, same deal as tuner bushings.
Assuming that it's a regular Gotoh Tele bridge; only trick is you may need to use the same file to ream the string through ferrule holes to get the ferrules to seat properly on back of body, same deal as tuner bushings.
+1 to all Jack's advice, of course. Go slow.
Also, don't force anything, especially all the small screws. It's far easier to back out a too-tight screw and drill a bit deeper than it is to repair a broken-off one. The headstock, since it's made of (very hard) maple, is the most common place this will happen.
Lightly coat the ends of your Neck plate screws and your strap button screws in wax to help them go in (and out) easier. When screwing the neck to the body, really carefully check the alignment and seating of the neck. The screws should go in firmly but don't torque them a lot.
Also, don't force anything, especially all the small screws. It's far easier to back out a too-tight screw and drill a bit deeper than it is to repair a broken-off one. The headstock, since it's made of (very hard) maple, is the most common place this will happen.
Lightly coat the ends of your Neck plate screws and your strap button screws in wax to help them go in (and out) easier. When screwing the neck to the body, really carefully check the alignment and seating of the neck. The screws should go in firmly but don't torque them a lot.
well the body and neck have arrived and they aare wonderfull. every bit as good as any of the custom shop fender guitars i own. the pictures in the showcase didn't do them justics. rest of the parts should be here tomarrow pickups are in at my local music store. so looking forward to getting started. can't wait to hear what is sounds like.
so you have your parts... where are the pictures!
I just recently finished my first build and it took me about 2 to 3 days - going slow, stepping away so I didn't start rushing. The weiring really isn't all that tricky as long as you take your time and really plan everything out. I continueosly redrew my wiring diagram until I had it imprinted in my head.
I would also recommend investing in a soldering station and not relying on one of the cheep non-adjustable irons. I got one from Frys for about 40 bucks. True, you can do a perfectly acceptable job with the iron, but I had difficulty sticking grounds to the back of pots. The 25W irons are not quite hot enough for that part of the job so you end up getting the pots way hotter over all than I was really comfortable with. With an adjustable station, you can crank the temp up a bit when doing the ground to pot wiring so you can just heat up the area that needs to get hot for the solder to stick.
Also, look around this board and the web for some basic soldering primers - if you haven't really done much of it that is. Its not difficult and its a fairly easy skill to learn (at least to the degree needed for guitar work).
I just recently finished my first build and it took me about 2 to 3 days - going slow, stepping away so I didn't start rushing. The weiring really isn't all that tricky as long as you take your time and really plan everything out. I continueosly redrew my wiring diagram until I had it imprinted in my head.
I would also recommend investing in a soldering station and not relying on one of the cheep non-adjustable irons. I got one from Frys for about 40 bucks. True, you can do a perfectly acceptable job with the iron, but I had difficulty sticking grounds to the back of pots. The 25W irons are not quite hot enough for that part of the job so you end up getting the pots way hotter over all than I was really comfortable with. With an adjustable station, you can crank the temp up a bit when doing the ground to pot wiring so you can just heat up the area that needs to get hot for the solder to stick.
Also, look around this board and the web for some basic soldering primers - if you haven't really done much of it that is. Its not difficult and its a fairly easy skill to learn (at least to the degree needed for guitar work).
spauldingrules
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JACKTHEHACK pretty much hit it all - great advice. However, to be more specific, a particular tidbit I now always follow is to set aside a work session, preferably the first one of the day or evening, to install the bushings and tuners. DO NOT RUSH THEM OR YOU WILL MESS IT UP! Either by breaking a screw or by misaligning them. Trust me on this.
hey thanks guys i will try to get some pictures posted this week end. won't be able to get over to pick up my pickups till saturaday. so will have plenty of time to take it nice and slow. would of had parts yesterday but ups sent the hardware on a tour of the west coast. They went from portland to sacramento to sparks nevada to salt lake city and finley here to twin falls id.
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