Telecaster Double Trouble

[Cactus Jack]

I've found my builds rarely goes as planned. It will be interesting to see where this custom creation takes me. Off we go!

 

[Cactus Jack]

HA! My daughters already voted against the Wenge neck, they’re split on the Gretsch rings, but do agree the bridge is a keeper.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Here's the general direction I'm going.

One small detail which I'm really excited about. The Gretsch ring perfectly covers the bridge humbucker conversion route. The little bump of the Tele route is fully covered  :hello2: .

 

[PhilHill]

Here's the general direction I'm going.

One small detail which I'm really excited about. The Gretsch ring perfectly covers the bridge humbucker conversion route. The little bump of the Tele route is fully covered  :hello2: .

You indeed lucked out on that Sir, that's been a problem for many for a long time. I think it's looking nice so far.  :icon_thumright:

 

[mayfly]

gonna put a bigsby on that baby?  cause you know - all the old Gretschs came with one 

 

[Cactus Jack]

I decided I can leave the Aqua Marine Tele on the sideline so I'm going to do simultaneous builds.

The Tiger Eye is getting the FilterTron treatment, while the Aqua is going the Nashville. Progress is slow as I'm still feeling things out and assessing/reassessing strategy and direction. I'm going to get the hardware on and everything wired up, but I'm still not sure on the neck.

I wanted to give Wenge a shot so I picked up a 59 Roundback. This particular neck is quartersawn so I don't believe it's as porous a standard cut, but it definitely has a unique texture. I gave it the Cagey burnish treatment and it now feels like glass. Also, out of the box the wood almost had a grey tint, and was much lighter in color than expected. I gave her a light cleaning and she turned dark and rich, which I really like. I thought I'd put it on the Tiger Eye, but I'm starting to lean more toward the Aqua. Who knows?

I'm waiting on a few parts, but over the next few days I'll start on the wiring harnesses. The Tiger Eye is going to receive stock 5 way switching with a bridge on option. The Aqua is going to receive the Mike Richardson series/parallel wiring. Should be fun and provide some unique tones.

Here are a few pics:

Rough mock up:

Wenge:

Wenge before & after burnishing:

A few final observations:

I prefer to use cloth wire, simply because it stays put. The plastic coated wire is better insulated, but my gosh, I do not have the patience to use the stuff. However, the frayed ends of cloth wire drive me absolute nuts, but I finally found a solution. I'm sure the more experienced guys know the lighter trick, but wow, no more frayed ends.

Also, I just recently came across these copper solder iron tip cleaners. No more water, no more sponges, and perfectly clean every time. If you haven't tried one out do yourself a favor and get one. It's a great addition to the soldering kit.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Since I'm not 100% certain on the neck for either body I picked up a couple more today. Both necks are 59 Roundbacks with 6150SS frets. I'm a home player so I've always thought of stainless frets similar to quartersawn necks in that they might be nice to have, but the benefits would be lost on me. Anyway, I'm excited to give them a go.

I'm thinking the flame maple will look good with the Tiger Eye. Honestly, I bought the Vortex because to me it's one of those parts that I'll regret passing. I'm not sure if it will for these projects, but it will certainly work well with something. I haven't seen this combo in the Showcase (I look daily ) so I snagged it up.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Wow, talk about stressful! My first time using a Forstner bit had me sweating bullets!

Moments like these really make me love assembling my out guitars. For good or bad the guitar and I just had a bonding moment, which I'll remember every time I look at her . 

Knobs just sitting on top. Pots and wiring go in this weekend:

 

[bagman67]

I realize the holes are already drilled, but did you by any chance remember to put a sacrificial piece of scrap wood behind the material you were boring through?  Helps avoid tearout when you get all the way through.

 

[Cactus Jack]

I realize the holes are already drilled, but did you by any chance remember to put a sacrificial piece of scrap wood behind the material you were boring through?  Helps avoid tearout when you get all the way through.

Great point, and yes I did. Actually, I spent a bit of time practicing too. Forstner bits take attention to detail as evidenced by the many slopping practice attempts. I see a small drill press in my future!

 

[Cactus Jack]

I have a 10 way Freeway switch in my parts drawer, so I thought I might put it in my Nashville build.

The switch is very tedious to wire. The contacts are very small and close together so you can't just sling solder around like a normal switch. One nice thing though is that each terminal has two small holes which allow you to thread your wire through. For instance, I used the top holes for component connects and left the bottom holes for the pickup wires. A pointed soldering tip is helpful.

Also, you can solder from either side of the chip board. The schemes illustrate from the other side, but I chose the flat surface as it provides more room.

I'm no where a harness building master, but contrary to a year ago, my first attempt usually results in SOME sound...that wasn't always the case .

 

[stratamania]

Just something to check with your wiring and the capacitor. With it hanging over the side of the pickguard have you checked for clearance of where it is going to go?

You also have the switch mounted 180 degrees from where it should be, I think.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Thanks for taking a look. It’s not going in the pick guard. I just used the guard to hold everything place while I wired it up.  Regarding the switch, you’re correct too. I flipped it around to make wiring easier and left enough slack in the wires to turn it around during a final install. Thanks for the additional clarity.

 

[stratamania]

As long as you have a cunning plan...look forward to seeing these progress,

 

[Cactus Jack]

More harness fun.

I'm going to save the Freeway Switch for a pickguard installation. Without a bit of modification in the cavity, it just doesn't fit quite right.

Enter Mike Richardson's cool harness design, which can be found at GuitarNuts.

His harness provides for standard Nashville switching (same as a Strat but with N+B instead of M) and with the flip of a toggle you get all 3 pickups in series, N+M in series, N+B in series, M+B in series, and all 3 in parallel. Pretty cool, and a neat way to fatten up single-coil tones on the fly. There's a similar version which adds a push-pull for OOP tones, but I'm going to stick with this for now.

Continuity is perfect so I plan to drop it into the Aqua Tele tonight.

 

[JPOL007]

Beautiful grain on both bodies :icon_thumright: I'm looking forward to seeing the finished products.

 

[Cactus Jack]

The two necks I ordered arrived yesterday. I'll get pics up soon, but I'll share a quick story.

I was most excited to see the bound neck so I ripped the box open and grabbed it right away. The neck is stunning but upon first touch I new something was wrong. While the neck has a "59" stamped onto the heel, it it not a "59." Compared to a 59 there is a prominent spine and is asymmetrical to the eye. I grabbed my calipers, and come to find out, the neck spec out as an SRV.

My guess is this was a custom order that was returned. Maybe it left the shop a bit early during the pandemic. While the craftsmanship is phenomenal, and the wood is stunning, it's no "59." Funny thing is I've wanted to try an SRV for a long time thinking it might be my Goldilocks profile. However, now I know I'm not an asymmetrical guy. I'm a 59er for life.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Just hopped off the phone with Warmoth regarding the bound neck. As usual, customer service was great and is taking care of everything. They did let me know they have had a few mis-stamped items returned recently. It sounds like it's isolated to a recent batch and most associated with radius vs profile. 

 

[Cactus Jack]

Here are a few pics of the necks. The Tele neck is a keeper and will be going on the Tiger Eye. The Vortex neck is stunning. The flame is deep, chunky, and overall spectacular. Unfortunately, the neck profile was mis-stamped so it's going back. However, if anyone is looking for this style of neck do not hessitate to snatch it up...it's amazing and the pics don't do it justice. Off to burnish the flame Tele, will post pics of the final product soon. Until then, enjoy the out of the box pics below.

 

[Cactus Jack]

2 hours of burnishing and cleaning =  :cool01:

Different light, different location, different angles, but a quick before/after: