Tobacco burst chambered Tele project.

[TConnelly]

Greetings all!

I've been wanting to do a complete build since I got a Rosewood over roasted maple neck for my Stratocaster last year.

Well the opportunity presented itself so I picked a chambered standard Tele in Tobacco sunburst out of the showcase and ordered a rosewood over roasted maple neck with stainless 6105 frets and mop face and side dots in standard thin and 10"/16" radius. The whole works arrived in under 4 weeks.

For pick ups I got a vintage broadcaster set from Seymour Duncan and a four way switch.

Made pretty good progress this weekend. Rounded the fret ends and polished the frets a bit. Mounted the tuners nd mounted the neck. First I sanded the little ridge of finish out of the neck pocket and sanded the neck plate flat on the back side on a chunk of plate glass. Sanded the bridge and control plate as well. At first I mounted the neck with a 0.25 degree shim from StewMac. As it turns out it wasn't needed. After the neck was installed I installed the bridge and strung up the D and G strings with a length of 20lb test fishing line just to check neck alignment and action height. Perfect! Right on the money! In fact the fit & finish on these parts is perfect. Couldn't be happier! The only snag I've run into is that I bought the pots from StewMac but I bought the knobs from Warmoth. Didn't think to check the specs so the holes in the knobs are way too small. Oops! If that's the only issue I run into I'll be thrilled !

I included a few pics of the process of mounting the pickguard and control plate and one of the progress so far.

Cheers...................Todd

 

[Verne Bunsen]

That's shaping up into a fine looking Tele!

 

[Logrinn]

Sweet! And the switch placed at the back. Cool :icon_thumright:

 

[TConnelly]

Thanks guys! I'm quite enjoying this.

Sweet! And the switch placed at the back. Cool :icon_thumright:

Yeah, Hehe it just seems natural that way. Plus it drives the purists crazy ! This whole thing seems to be an odd mix of the vintage and the modern so I think it fits.

Well got the cavities shielded, It looks like crap compared to the artwork I see on this site but it'll get the job done. It was every bit the pain in the @$$ I envisioned it to be. I think I'll go the paint route next time. just need to shield the pickup wires and that part will be done.

Cheers.....................Todd

 

[Logrinn]

... It was every bit the pain in the @$$ I envisioned it to be...

:toothy12:

I have to say, though, that it looks great.

 

[rgand]

... It was every bit the pain in the @$$ I envisioned it to be...

:toothy12:

I have to say, though, that it looks great.

That's every bit as good as any I've seen. Nice Tele in the works.

 

[BigSteve22]

Well got the cavities shielded, It looks like crap compared to the artwork I see on this site but it'll get the job done......

What you talk'n 'bout Willis?? That looks fine to me! Nice job.....
:icon_thumright:

 

[TConnelly]

Thanks guys, you make me feel better.

Ok got the pickups mounted and started the wiring last night, finished it this morning. Tried to keep it neat and tidy...... failed utterly! Oh well, after a few fits & starts it works! Wired the four way switch; #1 bridge, #2 bridge/neck parallel, #3 bridge/neck series and #4 neck only. may yet have a problem with the 4 way switch running out of travel in the control plate slot. This morning it would only work consistently if I slammed it back to the bridge position fairly briskly. This afternoon it's working fine  :dontknow: . I may wind up having to extend the slot or notch the switch arm. Not sure which would look worse. I'm thinking I have a better shot at extending the slot in a sanitary fashion. A notch in the arm is always going to show. Thoughts?

Next is mounting the strap buttons. Stressing out a bit over this one. A question for the cognoscenti. Is there a general rule of thumb for the upper strap button placement? I see some builds in the gallery with the strap button on the very top of the upper bout. To me that looks odd. I think it looks better if it's inboard a bit. But how much?

Then its remount the neck, string it up and start the setup process. So excited!

Thanks again guys!

Cheers......................Todd

 

[TConnelly]

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!  :guitarplayer2:

Well on the strap button in the end I decided to just wing it. I may have wound up just a tad too far inside, but I like it. It hangs just right on the strap.

I'm definitely going to need to install a string tree. When I pluck the B string, after a few seconds the low E string starts howling like a banshee (in B). If I hold down on the B string behind the nut where the string tree would go it doesn't do it. At least I hope a string tree will help!

At this point I'm not loving the CTS pots I got from StewMac. They feel a bit stiff & sticky. Plus they are a bit scratchy up near the top of their range. I've shot them with DeOxit and put a drop of light oil on the shaft. But it didn't help. I'll give them a little time & review my wiring before I make a move one those. The Bourns I got in a loaded pickguard for my Strat Are nothing like that. Super smooth & easy with the lightest touch of a pinky finger.

Cheers....................Todd

 

[Logrinn]

... The Bourns I got in a loaded pickguard for my Strat Are nothing like that. Super smooth & easy with the lightest tough of a pinky finger...

That's my experience as well. :icon_thumright:

 

[rgand]

Looks great, there. I kind of like the strap button location. The Bourns pots are quite good. They'll be in everything I do from now on. Unless I need a pot fast and there isn't one readily available. Can't be too patient, you know. :icon_biggrin:

 

[Cagey]

Nice job! Looks Great!

CTS pots are actually pretty cheap. Almost anything will beat them, and about the only things worse are Alpha's or some of the noname bent can rack stuff from China. But, because they're cheap a lotta OEMs use them, so people think they're the thing to use. And, to be fair, they work fine for normal duty. But, I'm not sure you can call guitars "normal duty".

 

[ByteFrenzy]

Cagey, what would you recommend as a general go-to pot?

 

[Cagey]

I prefer Clarostats and Bourns parts, but I'm as guilty as anyone of using CTS parts. They're inexpensive and easy to get.

 

[BigSteve22]

Cool Tele, congrats on your new baby!  :icon_thumright:

 

[TConnelly]

Thanks guys!

I'm loving this so far!

Haven't had a single issue with the switch and its slot since that first morning. It's working perfectly.

Actually The pots seem to be smoothing up a little bit. Either that or I'm developing the right touch.

I installed the string tree. I had picked out a round vintage style. And installed it between the D and G tuners. I need to find one with a taller post. The string angles up to the post a little bit too much. Didn't really think about it before but I realize now that the round one mounted in that location is more commonly found on a fifties style Tele. And this being a Tobacco sunburst and parchment pg with rosewood is more 60s style. Oh well I'm strongly in the form follows function camp anyway. If it works good it looks good. It seems to have helped with the sympathetic resonance issue a little bit too.

I'm going to have to make a change to the Warmoth bridge and/or saddles though. The string spacing is wrong. The overall spacing is fine but the spacing across each individual saddle is narrower than the space between the saddles. So the high E and B strings are close together and the B and G strings are farther apart & so on. You can actually see it with the naked eye in the pictures.

Cheers..........................Todd

 

[TConnelly]

Some final thoughts on the project.

I wound up getting the Gotoh In-Tune compensated saddles from StewMac in brass for the Warmoth bridge. They worked perfect. String spacing looks just right. Still kind of baffled by the Warmoth parts though. They would have been perfectly fine if the string spacing had been right.  :icon_scratch:

Got a pair of Seymour Duncan branded Bourns pots to replace the CTS. To be honest by the time the Bourns ones arrived the CTS ones actually felt pretty ok. They did still have a bit of scratchiness at the extremes of their travel though. If I hadn't experienced the smoothness of the Bourns I would have been fine with them. But in the end the Bourns are just so nice. And the funny thing is the Bourns pots take the smaller shaft knobs that I had gotten from Warmoth originally. It was meant to be!

Ok, so full disclosure. If I had it to do over again I'd do a couple of things differently. First I'd get a solid body instead of chambered. With the chambered body and roasted maple neck this thing weighs in right at seven pounds. When playing seated with the guitar sitting on my right thigh the neck wants to dip just a bit. Not objectionable but it is noticeable. Not noticeable at all standing however, which is a good thing. Could use just a bit more heft in the lower bout is all.

The other thing is I should have gotten a 21 fret neck instead of 22 (I've got no business up there anyway). I opted for a no-holes pick-guard and body mounting the neck pick-up. My thought was I could swap pick-guards easily and remove it to adjust the neck pickup just as easily but with the overhang on the 22 fret neck that's not possible. :doh: Didn't think that one through very well! Oh well, no biggie I'll just drill the pick-guard and mount the neck pickup that way if I ever feel the need.

Cheers......................Todd

 

[Axkoa]

Glad you enjoyed your build! At least you have an excuse now to put together another build...

 

[rgand]

Looks good. That's a fine guitar. I also like the convenience of 21 fret necks. I like to get into them now and then and don't like removing the neck for that.

 

[fdesalvo]

Love it. Great guitar at the end of your journey.