Spalted Tele anyone.......

[riverbluff]

Got my Spalted Tele today, and all I can say is wow!  It looks incredable!  Apparently, I am the only one in the house with any taste though.  The wife and both my boys seem to think it is something that belongs in the 80s.  So here it is....

Body is Spalted Maple on Alder body with black binding.  Finished byWarmoth in Clear Gloss.

Neck was a Showcase neck.  Warmoth Pro 25.5 scale.  Pau Ferro/Pau Ferro with Corian Nut, 6105 SS Frets and MOP dots.  Neck feels super. I like the feel better then my Bubinga neck that is on my LP.  Only potential problem with the frets is several of the fret have a paper thin gap between the bottom of the fret wire and the top of the fret board.  After talking with the Warmoth staff, it was desided to assemble the guitar first as the gap may be the result of the fret levelling process during the fret install.  The fret are solid and tight so I am sure it will work out right.

And here it is with the neck and body together.  Neck fit is nice and snug.  Of course there is a DangerousR6 neck plate for this beauty!

Still thinking about hardware.  Neck is drilled for Planet Wave tuners.  Thinking all black hardware.  For pickups I am planning on Rio Grande or Bare Knuckle.  Not sure which ones to get so suggestions here would be great.  I am looking for some of that tele sound but I also want to get as much crunch as I can.

This will be my first attempt at doing the entire assembly, in the past I have always out sourced the electronics installation.

Can't wait to get this thing together and see how it plays and sounds.

V/R
Bill

 

[DocNrock]

That is perhaps the most spalted spalted maple I've yet seen.  Glad you like it.  I almost went with one like that for my Soloist, but ultimately chose one with a bit less spalt and a bit more flame figuring.  I think the neck goes great with it.  I know nothing (yet) about BK pups, and the only experience I have with RGs is with their single coils.   From what I have heard on the board here, you can't go wrong with either of your choices.  Congrats.

Yours looks more bluesy than other spalt builds I've seen.

 

[jackthehack]

:icon_thumright: to all black hardware.

As to pickups, the Tele Vintage Tallboy neck/Muy Grande bridge is a nice set. Note that if you want a metal cover on the neck pickup you have to order direct from Rio Grande as Warmoth doesn;t stock those; they only come in nickel, chrome or gold, but you can always paint a chrome one black; see last pic in this thread, painted a chrome RG BBQ as I needed black for the build:
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=4278.15

Soloshchenko and some others have raved about the Dirty Harry set:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=3671.0

I haven't tried the Dirty Harry set, but got a Tele Dirty Harry neck pickup to put in the neck position of the '64 Gibson Melody Maker I'm doing over; rigged it up in a mahogany Strat body to test out and it definitely kicks ass, but the Vintage Tallboy/Muy Grande combo is going to give you a more traditional sound.

 

[DangerousR6]

That is perhaps the most spalted spalted maple I've yet seen.  Glad you like it.  I almost went with one like that for my Soloist, but ultimately chose one with a bit less spalt and a bit more flame figuring.  I think the neck goes great with it.  I know nothing (yet) about BK pups, and the only experience I have with RGs is with their single coils.   From what I have heard on the board here, you can't go wrong with either of your choices.  Congrats.

Yours looks more bluesy than other spalt builds I've seen.

Agreed, that's pretty spalty....And very bad ass i might add......Must be the year of the spalted tele's......

 

[DangerousR6]

Got my Spalted Tele today, and all I can say is wow!  It looks incredable!  Apparently, I am the only one in the house with any taste though.  The wife and both my boys seem to think it is something that belongs in the 80s.  So here it is....

Body is Spalted Maple on Alder body with black binding.  Finished byWarmoth in Clear Gloss.

Neck was a Showcase neck.  Warmoth Pro 25.5 scale.  Pau Ferro/Pau Ferro with Corian Nut, 6105 SS Frets and MOP dots.  Neck feels super. I like the feel better then my Bubinga neck that is on my LP.  Only potential problem with the frets is several of the fret have a paper thin gap between the bottom of the fret wire and the top of the fret board.  After talking with the Warmoth staff, it was desided to assemble the guitar first as the gap may be the result of the fret levelling process during the fret install.  The fret are solid and tight so I am sure it will work out right.

And here it is with the neck and body together.  Neck fit is nice and snug.  Of course there is a DangerousR6 neck plate for this beauty!

Still thinking about hardware.  Neck is drilled for Planet Wave tuners.  Thinking all black hardware.  For pickups I am planning on Rio Grande or Bare Knuckle.  Not sure which ones to get so suggestions here would be great.  I am looking for some of that tele sound but I also want to get as much crunch as I can.

This will be my first attempt at doing the entire assembly, in the past I have always out sourced the electronics installation.

Can't wait to get this thing together and see how it plays and sounds.

V/R
Bill

Wait till mins done with the pointy headstock and all...They won't think yours is so 80's anymore....

 

[Nando Vallart]

Man, that COULDN'T come in a better time, seriously!!!!!!!! Helped me a lot about mine, but still have problems that can't be solved easy...


Awesome, really dig it! But I think black hardware will look overdark... perhaps gold or nickel would be the best bet, this spalted is somehow dark and it's an almost "rosewood" pau ferro... But it's your guitar (very close to mine)

 

[riverbluff]

:laughing3:

So true!

Of course, I just picked up a warmoth tele body from ebay that is one piece swamp ash routed for a single humbucker and an OFR.  I am planning on using it to try my hand a finishing.  Thinking about a wenge neck.  Very 80s when I am done I think.

But it won't compare to a Spalted tele with a pointy peg head!

 

[guitlouie]

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!!!  That is beeeeeeeyouuuuuutifulllllll!  All black hardware gets my vote, and Jack's spalted strat can attest to how cool that would look! 

 

[riverbluff]

Jack's Strat is what convinced me to go with black binding and hardware. 

 

[DocNrock]

Jack's Strat is what convinced me to go with black binding and hardware. 

+1 on the black hardware.

 

[SlingBass]

I'm not even a skinny-stringer and that has me drooling - excellent choice of woods! I trust your pups will be the crowning achievement  :guitaristgif:

 

[m4rk0]

fanfeckingtastic! so much nice wood on one page!

oh yeah, black would be the way to go!

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

That is Awesome, apart from the fact of a lack of Floyd, it's awesome!!!

What is wrong with your family, it belongs in the 80's? , i'm practically a 'child' and i love it!

 

[vanhagar]

That is buitifull man  :headbang: If it were an eighties guitar, wouldn't it be lime green with pink pickups?  :laughing8: Oh and the black hardware will be the perfect touch!!

 

[RobR]

Incredible top..... envy.... 

 

[Nando Vallart]

Incredible top..... envy.... 

Absolutely killer  :icon_thumright:

 

[TRG]

NICE

 

[GearBoxTy]

Yea, I agree with all black hardware and Rio Grande Muy Grande pickups (set).

That Tele looks awesome!!!

 

[ivar]

That is a beuty!!!
And I know you will like the pau ferro neck.
I have one.
Nothing like it.

 

[riverbluff]

All the parts to finish this baby are on the way.  Going with all black hardware.  For pickups I decided on the Bare Knuckle Piledriver set.  Those should give me all the grunt I need and by all accounts they still maintain a nice tele tone with the volume rolled back.

Bill