Shoestring Tele

[swarfrat]

I guess since I have _a_ warmoth neck, the nut arrives tomorrow, and everything else except the body and neck plate/screws are here - I might as well start a build thread. After a wait of what seemed like years, my 24.75" Wenge/Ebony neck finally came out of the closet. (I'll make sure the next neck is straight. Baddabump - sorry if that was over the line. It just worked on too many levels to pass up.)

The actual neck I plan to put on here is currently planned to be a 7.25" radius, SS6230 fret, ebony fingerboard tele neck. At first I really didn't like the chrome tuners on the Wenge and felt like both the wood and the gold frets were at odds with them, but it actually kinda plays into the brass saddle/chrome bridge thing.  Planning on an India Ink finish on the body.  Tuners are wilkinson locking tuners, bridge is also a Wilkinson (had to swap the left handed saddles for right handed ones in order to get a righty bridge with the reverse angle.) Body is a Rosser with about 2 more weeks of waiting.

I guess it's time to break out the Horrible Freight HVLP gun and start spraying cardboard boxes so I don't screw up the body when it gets here. Have one that's been sitting unopened in the shop for about 2 years.

 

[swarfrat]

hmm I hadnt really ever considered maple with anything that would go with tortoise. But this doesnt look bad at all.

 

[BigSteve22]

hmm I hadnt really ever considered maple with anything that would go with tortoise. But this doesnt look bad at all.

Kind of an interesting look, but I think your original idea of an ebony fret board would be better. (Just MHO...) And yes, the chrome tuners with the gold frets would be a nice reflection of the chrome/brass theme of the bridge. Keep us posted!  :icon_thumright:

 

[swarfrat]

Bought a compensated bone nut from Axemasters on ebay. I inquired about thickness and got back a snippy answer "it's 1/8" like it says in the ad". Only the ad didn't say, and when it arrived it's 0.140", not 0.125". And since it's a compensated nut, fitting it will change it. Too bad, the price was attractive, and Earvana's are pricey and plastic.

 

[Rick]

I just noticed, there's no body in that first pic! Brian played a trick on me.
Edit: I meant brain!

 

[swarfrat]

I was so inspired by the steel telecaster body video i decided to make one out of cardboard.  Kidding. I'm still waiting on my body - (a local guy who only does unfinished ash bodies, but since this is the house of Ken, I won't plug him here. Besides, I have yet to see the thing. Lead time was 4 weeks, got 2 left to wait.)

The thought to make a wooden body in much the same fashion as the steel body video i posted (ribs and skin) has crossed my mind before. Especially when I was building my son's,s u-bass a few years ago.

 

[Verne Bunsen]

I was so inspired by the steel telecaster body video i decided to make one out of cardboard.  Kidding.

Well....
[youtube]7Oo2H-W7d6A[/youtube]

 

[swarfrat]

The packaging guys at work are in the basement with my lab. They have a huge CNC exacto knife for that stuff... I'm debating if I should show them that video. They don't work for me, so maybe I will.

 

[swarfrat]

Think I'm gonna be sick. I just looked at my order and .... some idiot managed to order a Strat body with Tele routing.  Begging and pleading right now. I know I was joking about it earlier. It won't be the end of the world, but .... still. It's not what I had in mind. It was staring at me the whole time too.

 

[Sovereign_13]

I love that video.  I especially love bringing that video into play when people start talking about "tonewoods".  If a cardboard Strat still sounds pretty Strat-like, that pretty much settles it for me.

Sorry to hear about the mishap - hope it all turns out good for you!

 

[Verne Bunsen]

Sorry to hear about the ordering SNAFU! I am paranoid of that every single time... I hope it can be worked out!

 

[swarfrat]

Whew! Saved. Now, I probably should've asked for a thinline body with no f-holes since northern ash is so rediculously heavy. But I was able to get the order changed.

 

[rgand]

Glad you were able to pull it out of the fire. Now it'll be fun when you can start on it.

 

[swarfrat]

Got some black and white india ink today for experimenting. (Also got a nib calligraphy pen you dip into an ink well. I have a 5yo who is very anti-craft/scissors/writing and hated his last year of preschool because of it. I gave him my best engineer-dad scientific explanation of how a fountain pen works, and showed him how the ink keeps flowing. It worked, he grabbed the pen out of my hand and started drawing. The dip pen is just a gimmick, but if it works anything like the fountain pen, I'll be thrilled. And just FTR, this has nothing to do with calligraphy, this is how ancient explorers made maps and ancient engineers drew things. Have to couch it correctly with this kid.)

 

[fdesalvo]

Whew! Saved. Now, I probably should've asked for a thinline body with no f-holes since northern ash is so rediculously heavy. But I was able to get the order changed.

LOL Rob Rounds had me in a "do not process order for a week" state some time ago bc i kept modifying one of my orders. ccasion14:

 

[swarfrat]

Neck plate came in today (unadorned $5 neck plate. If i think of something I'll give you a call Doug). Unless I'm short on pg screws, thats everything but the body.  Waaaaaiting. 

I need to practice on the HVLP before it gets here but the humidity is hovering around 136%, and I took a break on the boy's tree house to masculinize a dilapidated 12v barbie jeep (now a fire truck) his grandad dropped off. If he hadnt seen it when it arrived, I'd have dumped it and bought him a working  one. But the poor kid wants a jeep so bad he was pushing a dead jeep around the yard at every opportunity.

 

[fdesalvo]

Neck plate came in today (unadorned $5 neck plate. If i think of something I'll give you a call Doug). Unless I'm short on pg screws, thats everything but the body.  Waaaaaiting. 

I need to practice on the HVLP before it gets here but the humidity is hovering around 136%, and I took a break on the boy's tree house to masculinize a dilapidated 12v barbie jeep (now a fire truck) his grandad dropped off. If he hadnt seen it when it arrived, I'd have dumped it and bought him a working  one. But the poor kid wants a jeep so bad he was pushing a dead jeep around the yard at every opportunity.

Haha, how old's your son?  Pics!

 

[swarfrat]

He's 5.
Jeep Before:

Jeep After:

Treehouse project - hoping to complete level 2 soon - level 2 - (8ft agl) fire pole, climbing wall exit, and sleeping area. Level 3 (late summer) - another 72 sf of deck space (no exits at the 3rd floor - it's about 13 ft off the ground). This will probably be walled to be a club house kind of thing. The 2x10 beams will be cut down to about 12ft, or a 3ft cantilever each side, and knee braced. Don't want anyone thinking I'm cantilevered 5ft out. I bugged my neighbor for weeks to use his trailer to get the 16ft'ers then changed the plan. It was easier to build them in place than to block up a built up beam on the ground and raise something that big by myself.

 

[fdesalvo]

He's 5.
Jeep Before:

Jeep After:

Treehouse project - hoping to complete level 2 soon - level 2 - (8ft agl) fire pole, climbing wall exit, and sleeping area. Level 3 (late summer) - another 72 sf of deck space (no exits at the 3rd floor - it's about 13 ft off the ground). This will probably be walled to be a club house kind of thing. The 2x10 beams will be cut down to about 12ft, or a 3ft cantilever each side, and knee braced. Don't want anyone thinking I'm cantilevered 5ft out. I bugged my neighbor for weeks to use his trailer to get the 16ft'ers then changed the plan. It was easier to build them in place than to block up a built up beam on the ground and raise something that big by myself.

haha, love the pic of him with the floor jack!  This is dad of the year stuff right here.

 

[swarfrat]

Thanks. If I can find my old vollie lights, he's getting a flashy red light on the dash. I need to figure that one out though - it's primarily for his benefit - and my old dash light is visible to people in front, but doesn't blind the driver on purpose.  The jeep doesn't leave a lot of room for decals - I need to think about just what I can put on it decoration wise.  Hmmm I wonder if there's something analogous to a mechanical siren (Ie a Federal "Q") that doesn't weigh 40 lbs, deafen people at 300 yards, and cost $500. It'd be so much cooler than a battery operated whiny noise.

I still have about 2 weeks left on the "6 weeks" from the body order. I did get some lacquer thinner and clear gloss lacquer. Home Depot didn't have any tinted lacquer - I'm still on the fence about White vs Black. Black will be easier but I'm ever so slightly leaning towards white.