Roasted Alder Koa Top Tele build....

[KOABUILD]

Wow! its like Christmas over at my house today, just received notice that my Custom Tele body from Warmoth is arriving tomorrow...and just got 2 hardware packages in the mail...pics to follow.
Been awhile since my last build, I do one killer Warmoth guitar every few years this one is my fourth and every single one has been nothing short of spectacular, no news to you guys who buy and build all the time I know, but I get pretty excited when I get into Beast mode about a new build.

Also wanted to note: thats a Kluson Stainless Steel Retro fit bridge for American standard flat mount, maybe Warmoth would be interested in seeing about stocking it, as its a nice upgrade to the Fender version..ie: Steel-Tone. of course I wont know until tomorrow whether or not it actually drops right in, but thats what the sell point says.

All the rest is Callaham- Stainless Steel Tele screw kit, SS Broadcaster Round Top Dome knobs, SS Control Plate, SS Neck Plate Satin, SS Ferrules, SS Strap Buttons, SS String Tree, 22uf 400v cap, CRL 3 way Switch- Im putting in Dual Humbuckers, my apologies to the purist...

I posted the pics so I could see what my hardware looked like before I hit it with Muratic acid fumes and if nothing happens to the Stainless Steel, sand paper or steel wool and oil, to take the shine off...

Gotoh Antique Chrome 18:1 locking tuners will be going on the neck, cant get myself to go with Kluson even though they make great Supremes these days, once I had sprung for high end Gotoh locking tuners Ive been jaded ever since.

 

[aarontunes]

Awesome...always love Koa!


Welcome, BTW. Looking forward to seeing your build!

 

[BigSteve22]

Koa on roasted alder, be sure to post some pix!  :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

Incidentally, Photobucket doesn't let you link to content anymore unless you have a paid account, so you may want to look into Imgur or some other photo hosting site like that.

 

[KOABUILD]

thank you Cagey, I figured it out, seems like the site has some new features now, its been awhile....still cant believe Warmoth recieved my order and built my body in only 10 days....so cool.

I will be putting in Stainless Steel Threaded Neck Inserts on the neck, and I just recieved notice from EBAY that Walla Walla Guitar Company just sent me the Custom Wood "Day of the Dead" Control Plate I ordered....great guys over there, if I was going to buy an actual guitar out right they would be the guys I would go to.

Going for my own version of this Scala T Rod Guitar...

 

[rgand]

It's going to be a very cool guitar. congrats. Looking forward to your progress pics.

 

[Logrinn]

That’s going to be one great guitar. Congratulations.

About the bridge - I thought that Fender’s bridge also were made out of steel. No? The Kluson looks nicer though with the chrome finish.

 

[KOABUILD]

Stained it lightly first with Minwax Driftwood, then with Minwax Special Walnut, then used a cloth rag and wiped on Tru Oil about 10 light coats 2 coats a day. the Pics dont really show the nice golden brown color, which is strange because I have this $350 smart camera thats suppose to take the guess work out of it, and I have more problems getting a good pic with it than I do a cell phone....

 

[DangerousR6]

That is one beautiful tele... :kewlpics:

 

[Cagey]

That's a really sharp top! Gonna be a great looking guitar!

The Pics dont really show the nice golden brown color, which is strange because I have this $350 smart camera thats suppose to take the guess work out of it, and I have more problems getting a good pic with it than I do a cell phone....

Funny how that works. I've had the same problem. Usually, it's the lighting (type, not intensity). Incandescent vs. florescent vs. flash vs. sunlight, etc. all have dramatic effects on color rendering that humans compensate for in the brain. Better cameras will let you do all sorts of compensatory things to adjust for that, or it can be done in post-processing with a photo editor, but in any case you have to know it's happening to make the corrections or you have to make excuses later.

 

[KOABUILD]

So heres some parts Im working on to make them smooth of rough edges and make them old and worn looking, not to perfection or anything, I just like to make my guitars feel super comfy and take away the oh my god I scratched my guitar worries...  I figure if I scratch it up now I dont have to worry about scratching it up later.....I especially like taking a $450 neck and rolling the edges and fret ends with sanding sponges after taping them off it makes a beautiful roll that is so nice on the hands, it makes the neck feel perfect in your hand, I know some guys may think thats crazy but its the feel that cant be beat.

Though I wish I would have investigated bridge routes more, as I would like to have put a hipshot vintage style, humbucker spaced version Stainless Steel bridge on here as everything else is SS. I guess I will check into Callham's American Standard SS option, its nice but I wanted a little more heft, I know its irrelevant but we all have our obsessions and needs...

  I dont know that this bridge is going to stay but heres the progress rounding the corners it dosnt look as bad as the magnified pics show it, you can see the progress as this is the second Ammonia bath I have used to take off the finish and get the copper coating thats underneath the nickel sanded off...maybe one more time.

I bought an awesome combo Seymour Duncan Custom TB-5 Trembucker for the bridge and a Whole lotta love humbucker for the neck, and Im putting in two CTS DPDT push pulls so I can split both humbuckers individually, 1 volume, 1 tone and 1 .022 Orange drop cap for the controls, the Whole lotta love neck humbucker split sounds like a premium Jimi Hendrix era single coil, when I learned that thru various demos, I knew I was gonna wire these up to split.

This guitar will cover my Metal and  Blues needs, Im very excited.

The Callaham Tele plate is nice because they move the volume knob over to space out the controls evenly and make the selector switch easier to work.

 

[Cagey]

Interesting treatment. I did a Tele about a year or so ago where the customer wanted it to look old, but not worn. Kinda like a new guitar that had been sitting in storage for 30+ years. That was a first for me, as was the ammonia fuming business. That took a lot longer than I thought it would, but in the end it had the desired effect.

 

[KOABUILD]

Hey Cagey, yeah the Ammonia business is hardcore, eye protection, a mask and gloves are a must, I touched that stuff with my finger after doing some metal sanding and my sh*t was on fire and melting...lol  I had no idea Ammonia could be so dangerous youch! ...Yep Warmoth did me right again, gotta love em, never had a bad piece yet, I wont even chance another builder they have always made me happy so I keep coming back.  :icon_thumright:

I also realized something during this build that shouldnt have taken so long to learn, and thats the fact that Seymour Duncan makes a hell of a selection of great pickups, I always bought boutique on my past builds, but after investigating I thought, why am I trying to have the wheel reinvented when heres the guy who did it all first......duh, not to mention I saved myself $200, so a new revelation and I feel a maturing of my build thinking.

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, I tried the vinegar thing, wasn't impressed. The ammonia is wicked, but while it's slow, it's not as dangerous as the fast method, which uses muriatic acid. Didn't want to risk waking up dead or something  :icon_biggrin:

Seymour Duncan does make some very nice pickups. Plus, their business is large enough to take advantage of some economies of scale that some of the smaller "boutique" winders can't. They can afford automated gang winders and such, while the little guys are doing them one at a time and taking a lotta time to do it, which makes 'em expensive.

 

[rgand]

It looks like it'll come together nicely. I like the choices you've made. This should be a great sounding guitar. With that body, it'll look great, too.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

That is really stunning!

 

[KOABUILD]

So I got my Reverse Tele harness wired up ready for install, took me a bit to figure out as it turns out the CRL 3 way switch I was sold unawares is a reverse stagger design that is different than the Seymour Duncan diagram and what appears to be 99 % of the current wiring diagrams out there, talk about a head scratching pain in the ***.

However about 20 hours into countless searches and several naps to recharge my brain I got it figured and am happy to have that done.

Turns out although the CTS push/pull is super nice, its really tight and takes some focus to wire it up, though with a 60watt soldering iron with a PC board needle tip it wasn't as bad as it might seem, once I was able to wrap my head around the conversion of the standard push/pull diagram to come up with:

1.Volume control=CTS Push/Pull coil split for the Neck Humbucker, 2.Tone control=CTS Push/Pull coil split for the Bridge Humbucker,3.CRL 3 way selector switch (which turned out to be a "reverse stagger") that did not match 99% of the diagrams I could find online....what a pain....I almost feel like writing the company who sold it to me and saying "What the F***" Hey!

I started with the Tone control=at the CTS Push/pull pots: ( C1) =I soldered a lead wire that will connect to the (Red and White Seymour Duncan humbucker wires connected together) that I will run to the Bridge Humbucker pickup cavity later for hook up.

I then slid the leg of a .015uf Orange Drop Capacitor thru the front of the: ( No. 1 hole ) =of the Tone pot and wrapped the extra length of leg wire from the cap around the side of the pot and soldered it there and then soldered in a ground wire leading to the Output jack sleeve, and another ground wire leading to the Seymour Duncan bridge humbucker pickup cavity for the Green and Bare wire to connect to when I run it later for hook up, all connected at the side of the pot.

I then soldered the other leg of the Orange Drop cap to the center tab of the Tone pot just like in the Seymour Duncan Diagram down below.

For the Volume control=at the CTS Push/pull pots: ( C2 ) =I soldered a lead wire that will connect to the (Red and White Seymour Duncan humbucker wires connected together) that I will run to the Neck Humbucker pickup cavity later for hook up.

I then slid a ground wire from behind into the Volume control CTS Push/Pull pots: ( No. 3 hole ) and soldered it there and then soldered the other end to the side of the pot and then soldered in 3 more ground wires at that same point to run as a lead wire for the:
1. Neck Humbucker pickups Green and bare wire to be run to the pickup cavity for later hook up, and
2. a Bridge Ground wire to run from the Volume pot to the bridge to connect to the bottom of the bridge plate, and
3. a Ground Wire to solder to a lug screwed into the side of the Copper foil covered control cavity to complete the grounding.

I then ran a ground wire from the outside tab of the Volume pot (which is usually bent over and soldered to the pot but which is unable to do with the CTS push/pull pots) which is why I soldered in this small jumper and soldered it also to the same point at the side of the pot with the others.

I then Soldered a Hot Wire from the Center tab of the Volume Pot to the output Jack Tip.

I then Soldered in a Hot wire lead from the 3 way Selector switch tabs, for both the Neck and Bridge Humbuckers to be run to the pickup cavities for later hook up.

I finished it all off by Running a Hot wire from the Tone Pots inside tab straight across to the Volume Post inside tab and ran that to the 3 way selector switch, which in this case got connected at the back of the switch as its a Reverse Tele Wiring. The connections I used are shown in the Reverse Stagger diagram below.

* "As I could NOT use the Seymour Duncan diagram due to the Reverse Stagger of the CRL switch" when did this CRL switch model go into affect ? anyone...
  They should at least post the Switch details in the sales description, I would have bought the other version had I known. Oh well, more knowledge gained, but what a pain.
**Heres an interesting article covering this issue: http://talk.philmusic.com/index.php?topic=252800.0

I can split either Neck or Bridge Humbucker individually, Neck Humbucker is split by pulling out the Volume knob, which is closest to it, and the Bridge Humbucker splits by pulling out the Tone knob. So Humbucker or Single coil tones.

Heres some helpful info on 3 way switch types and the mechanics behind them: https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/19842-mod-garage-how-to-wire-alternative-tele-3-way-switches

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Looks great! Clean wiring is just so... satisfying!

 

[Rick]

When you hit the soldering your almost at the end of the tunnel .  That's going to be a great looking guitar.

 

[rgand]

Good progress, this will be a fine guitar. Looking forward to the next photos.