Warmoth / Fralin Telecaster
- Thread starter Schlieren
- Start date
O.K. so the TremKing and the Fralin bridge pickup didn't match at all. I took the bridge to a Guitar Center and tried to match up a standard Fender bridge pickup, and no dice there either. I called both TremKing and Fralin Pickups and both said "we've never had a problem before"; I asked Rusty if I sent the bridge if he'd take a look at it and he said no problem, I asked Fralin if they could sell me a pickup without holes tapped out in its baseplate and he said they order those pre-tapped by the 10,000.
So I decided that I really didn't want to bother with mailing it to someone and waiting for them to say one thing or another. Probably they are simply on opposite ends of the Fender tolerance spectrum. However, the screws were going in at angles akimbo, and stripping the threads of the weak plastic fiberboard material, and I didn't like that one bit.
Also, #6 screws were tiny in the countersinks of the TremKing bridge plate, so I got #8 machine screws instead to try them out, and tapped out the bridge baseplate, and drilled out the bridge plate countersunk holes 1/32", to see if that would work. It didn't work, but the #8 screws fit in the countersinks really well, so I stuck with those, and after thinking about it, I devised a slight modification of my own.
The tools of the trade.
The LocTite 425 turned out to be too fluid and didn't cure with the wax and the fiberboard and just didn't get the job done.
The LocTite SuperGlue, however, was awesome. Usually the name-brand super-glue is pretty fluid as well, right? Well this stuff is a thick, viscous gel. It worked its way into the nooks and crannies admirably, as well.
I took the tremolo bridge apart, so I had a flat surface with which to work.
I used the Dremel to widen all the holes in the pickup baseplate. I wouldn't need threads in it, as I bought some nylon machine screw nuts to take their place. . . like a j-nut on body trim on a car, basically.
Those babies ain't goin' anywhere.
I drilled out the holes, then affixed the two nuts nearer the bridge. The one farthest from the bridge was the one giving me problems, so I saved it for last, after the other two were on there good and solid and lined up perfectly.
I got the idea to put the surgical tubing on the screws in order to hold them down and perfectly perpendicular to the bridge plate and the pickup baseplate, so I could get that third nut aligned just right. Worked like a charm!
After those two were in place I got to the one in front. You can see I had to remove quite a bit more material from the front hole in order to get the nut to align correctly.
Also, while doing this I noticed that the 42-gauge wire was loose from the baseplate now, loose from the original potting job. Bad news, that stuff is thin and getting jarred at all by anything hard would sever it and require repair and probably ruin the pickup. So I re-potted the area where the wires come out from the spindle with candle wax, spread around nice and thin with the flat of a hot butter knife. It looks kind of messy, but now those wires are well-protected.
The finished look. These are not the machine screws I'll use (think I'll use some brass slotted oval heads, or maybe stainless. . . definitely not phillips drive, and definitely not zinc-plated), but you can see how the #8s aren't dwarfed by the countersinks, and sit nice and flush.
It's funny how little things you never think won't quite match up require delicate modification. Ahh well, now it lines up perfectly, and those nuts are much sturdier than the fiberboard of the pickup baseplate. I might have to remove some edges if they get in the way of the pickup rout, but I seriously doubt they will.
So I decided that I really didn't want to bother with mailing it to someone and waiting for them to say one thing or another. Probably they are simply on opposite ends of the Fender tolerance spectrum. However, the screws were going in at angles akimbo, and stripping the threads of the weak plastic fiberboard material, and I didn't like that one bit.
Also, #6 screws were tiny in the countersinks of the TremKing bridge plate, so I got #8 machine screws instead to try them out, and tapped out the bridge baseplate, and drilled out the bridge plate countersunk holes 1/32", to see if that would work. It didn't work, but the #8 screws fit in the countersinks really well, so I stuck with those, and after thinking about it, I devised a slight modification of my own.
The tools of the trade.
The LocTite 425 turned out to be too fluid and didn't cure with the wax and the fiberboard and just didn't get the job done.
The LocTite SuperGlue, however, was awesome. Usually the name-brand super-glue is pretty fluid as well, right? Well this stuff is a thick, viscous gel. It worked its way into the nooks and crannies admirably, as well.
I took the tremolo bridge apart, so I had a flat surface with which to work.
I used the Dremel to widen all the holes in the pickup baseplate. I wouldn't need threads in it, as I bought some nylon machine screw nuts to take their place. . . like a j-nut on body trim on a car, basically.
Those babies ain't goin' anywhere.
I drilled out the holes, then affixed the two nuts nearer the bridge. The one farthest from the bridge was the one giving me problems, so I saved it for last, after the other two were on there good and solid and lined up perfectly.
I got the idea to put the surgical tubing on the screws in order to hold them down and perfectly perpendicular to the bridge plate and the pickup baseplate, so I could get that third nut aligned just right. Worked like a charm!
After those two were in place I got to the one in front. You can see I had to remove quite a bit more material from the front hole in order to get the nut to align correctly.
Also, while doing this I noticed that the 42-gauge wire was loose from the baseplate now, loose from the original potting job. Bad news, that stuff is thin and getting jarred at all by anything hard would sever it and require repair and probably ruin the pickup. So I re-potted the area where the wires come out from the spindle with candle wax, spread around nice and thin with the flat of a hot butter knife. It looks kind of messy, but now those wires are well-protected.
The finished look. These are not the machine screws I'll use (think I'll use some brass slotted oval heads, or maybe stainless. . . definitely not phillips drive, and definitely not zinc-plated), but you can see how the #8s aren't dwarfed by the countersinks, and sit nice and flush.
It's funny how little things you never think won't quite match up require delicate modification. Ahh well, now it lines up perfectly, and those nuts are much sturdier than the fiberboard of the pickup baseplate. I might have to remove some edges if they get in the way of the pickup rout, but I seriously doubt they will.
The body arrived today 
It's a single slab of alder.
Sorry for the photos, but it was night by the time I cracked the box open.
what it looks like with the neck in it so you get an idea for the overall feel:
What I'm happy about is that the reverse headstock doesn't really stick out like I feared it would; it looks pretty natural on the thing if you ask me.
A bit better representation of the Alder's color; take the very warm color above and mix it with this harsher (flash) photo and something in-between is what it looks like:
I forgot to photo the contrast of the mahogany neck with the Alder, but they are surprisingly similar in color; I was expecting the Alder to be a bit more anemic and not so warm, and kind of wanted the mahogany to stand out as the darker of the two, but this much more subtle difference is possibly even more pleasing to the eye, and emphasizes the deep tone of the rosewood:
Also not photoed mostly is the 720 mod, but the gap between them is less than .035 inches now. Also the contoured heel photographed below, this body slopes gracefully to the heel, allowing greater access to the upper frets (also say hello to Lefty Orville Frizzel (+my last name)):
The reddish endgrain. Those aren't marks from the finish - which as you can see is buttery-smooth and almost looks nonexistent, like it's an unfinished piece of wood - it's where the dark striations come from on the grain on the front of the piece. A nice, generous, thick tree was used to hew this hunk of tonewood:
It's a single slab of alder.
Sorry for the photos, but it was night by the time I cracked the box open.
what it looks like with the neck in it so you get an idea for the overall feel:
What I'm happy about is that the reverse headstock doesn't really stick out like I feared it would; it looks pretty natural on the thing if you ask me.
A bit better representation of the Alder's color; take the very warm color above and mix it with this harsher (flash) photo and something in-between is what it looks like:
I forgot to photo the contrast of the mahogany neck with the Alder, but they are surprisingly similar in color; I was expecting the Alder to be a bit more anemic and not so warm, and kind of wanted the mahogany to stand out as the darker of the two, but this much more subtle difference is possibly even more pleasing to the eye, and emphasizes the deep tone of the rosewood:
Also not photoed mostly is the 720 mod, but the gap between them is less than .035 inches now. Also the contoured heel photographed below, this body slopes gracefully to the heel, allowing greater access to the upper frets (also say hello to Lefty Orville Frizzel (+my last name)):
The reddish endgrain. Those aren't marks from the finish - which as you can see is buttery-smooth and almost looks nonexistent, like it's an unfinished piece of wood - it's where the dark striations come from on the grain on the front of the piece. A nice, generous, thick tree was used to hew this hunk of tonewood:
Also, updates: I have an email in to alter the strap so it'll fit how very, very high I prefer to have a guitar around my neck; this knob from Armadillo Guitar is on its way as of this morning, and after looking at the pieces of Tortis I have now, I've decided to try out a sheet of 50s vintage to see how it looks. I've managed to break off a corner of a sheet of pickguard material, and have an email in to Greven guitars to ask which adhesive they'd recommend to fuse two sheets together, as the material is plenty thick for the front of the guitar, but the control cavity (and the tremolo cavity to come) both will require something a bit thicker.
I'm going to order a piece of "light"-finished Tortis for this purpose; its small dots here and there will add interest and depth to whichever material is on top of it, sort of like cloisonne?
Also from comparing my options, I really think that white speed knobs are going to be the best choice. Nickel or brass knobs are just an unsightly mixture of plainness, a feeling of weight and heft, and don't have numbers (which I tend actually to use from time to time). I could get some custom turned from Kustom Cutting in Texas complete with engraved labels, with a lower, wider profile, but while they'd be flashy, at the same time I don't see them standing out as much. The whole guitar has turned out very well, but even when I put in the brightware (pickups, tuners, nut, bridge), the thing is just so very... beige. I think the white knobs will serve as an anchor for the other elements.
I have some brown speed knobs which almost look like red wine on the thing and look great (and also sort of go along with the strap), but that point is moot, since the only two colors of speed knobs which come with set screws available are black, and white.
I originally planned and basically had made up my mind that black would be the ones, but was surprised when white looked way better.
I'm going to order a piece of "light"-finished Tortis for this purpose; its small dots here and there will add interest and depth to whichever material is on top of it, sort of like cloisonne?
Also from comparing my options, I really think that white speed knobs are going to be the best choice. Nickel or brass knobs are just an unsightly mixture of plainness, a feeling of weight and heft, and don't have numbers (which I tend actually to use from time to time). I could get some custom turned from Kustom Cutting in Texas complete with engraved labels, with a lower, wider profile, but while they'd be flashy, at the same time I don't see them standing out as much. The whole guitar has turned out very well, but even when I put in the brightware (pickups, tuners, nut, bridge), the thing is just so very... beige. I think the white knobs will serve as an anchor for the other elements.
I have some brown speed knobs which almost look like red wine on the thing and look great (and also sort of go along with the strap), but that point is moot, since the only two colors of speed knobs which come with set screws available are black, and white.
I originally planned and basically had made up my mind that black would be the ones, but was surprised when white looked way better.
DangerousR6
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Sweet, nice color and grain.... :icon_thumright:
tfarny -- will do!
Everybody else, thanks for the compliments. I continue to be pleasantly surprised as well .
Here's me with a rough, quick-and-dirty pickguard idea, obviously I'm using Tortis, not cardboard for this baby:
The edges around the neck pickup will be rounded (I didn't have tracing paper for this'n but I will before I get going on the assembly)
I'm calling Colette, who owns Turtleworks and makes the Tortis, to see what sort of wait I'd have for a thicker couple pieces of Tortis, since that edge near the neck pickup really doesn't have much material, which makes me a little bit leery. On the one hand, thinner is less brittle, but on the other hand thicker has a security all its own and is much easier to bevel. Will report back here!
Everybody else, thanks for the compliments. I continue to be pleasantly surprised as well
.Here's me with a rough, quick-and-dirty pickguard idea, obviously I'm using Tortis, not cardboard for this baby:
The edges around the neck pickup will be rounded (I didn't have tracing paper for this'n but I will before I get going on the assembly)
I'm calling Colette, who owns Turtleworks and makes the Tortis, to see what sort of wait I'd have for a thicker couple pieces of Tortis, since that edge near the neck pickup really doesn't have much material, which makes me a little bit leery. On the one hand, thinner is less brittle, but on the other hand thicker has a security all its own and is much easier to bevel. Will report back here!
DangerousR6
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Honestly, I quite like it without the pick guard, but that's just me.... :dontknow:
DangerousR6
Mythical Status
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While you are corect in most respects, some pickguards make the guitar visually. However, unless truly necessary, I hate pickguards...The only tele pg's I do like are the Delux and the custom.... :icon_thumright:Schlieren said:
DangerousR6 said:
Yeah I'm on the opposite end of this, in that I'm so used to pickguards from "stock" Fender guitars that those without look a bit too much like... furniture. Like those guitars with no pickguard and the knobs also are made out of wood. It's a Fender, it's not a Craftsman-style home! Of course for Gibsons, it's the opposite for me, now that I think about it... :help:
Sort of cart before the horse, but here are some photos of the case I had built to go with the guitar; I asked Tony at Adrenaline not to use a Fender Tele template but the actual guitar, so he's waiting for assembly to be complete before cutting the foam inside the case
I conceived this project two years or so ago when I lived in central Texas and started making inquiries of various vendors and sources. I didnt have a trusted guitar tech but I happened upon a website for Steven Robinson, of Manchester Guitar Tech. His website was impressive and I figured the shipping costs would be worth the added Sentimental Value and perhaps add to the romantic provenance of the build.
By the time I had all the parts together I now lived in Seattle, and had a wide range of craftsman available to assemble all the pieces, but I decided to stick with my original plan. I shipped the whole lot to England and sufferred the delay between messages, as now communications took place on a timescale more similar to if I were living on Jupiter than on the same planet.
Here are the photos Mr. Robinson took of the build, I believe I'll let his workmanship speak for itself. Some of the comments are his words, some are mine:
The kidney tuner buttons (which I scavenged off of the second set of tuners I bought expressly for this purpose)(nobody sells just the buttons in nickel plating) juuust barely fit; if it turns out to be a pain I'll use the normal trapezoidal buttons. Nickel-plated Schaller locking tuners purchased from GuitarSupplies, a website based in the Netherlands.
Brass slotted wood screws. Of course, Steve pre-drilled the holes, as wood screws, while they give better purchase than sheet metal screws, also as a result are a bit more fragile.
Neck inserts fitted, showing screws cut to length to accommodate chamfered heel.
Neckplate fixed in place with slot-headed machine screws
The first plunge routing for the Trem-King TK1, polished nickel finish. These acrylic templates are available at Trem-King's website.
routing through the body
routing the tremolo spring cavity
Tremolo routs complete, need sanding
Tremolo routs sanded and given two coats of sealer
Trying the pickguard template for size; I worked hard on this custom idea for a pickguard, but my version was rough at best. I depended on Steve to polish its rough edges...
Bridge fitted with the E-strings to ensure everything lines up (very important, this!)
Control cavity shielded with copper foil to minimise interference
Tremolo cavity cover made from Tor-Tis, together with its template. Edges not yet rounded. These pieces of Tor-Tis I had Colette Hanson, owner of Turtleworks in Indiana, make herself. Calling her business phone is calling her home phone. In any event, I needed thicker pieces (not only for strength, but to match the thickness of the control cavity's inset) than were available from LMII, and I had some quasi-custom "looks" I wanted from the various designs she made available. She did fantastic work, mating the epoxy to an acrylic backing while fashioning them, in order to thicken it up. Turned out fantastically!
Tremolo cavity cover - trying it for size and appearance
Shaping the pickguard template
Trying the pickguard template for size
Pickguard routed, just the pickup rout and the roundover to do
Sanding the roundover on the tremolo cover plate
Pickguard in place - and it fits!
Electrics all wired with Varitone, phase and kill switches. The guitar has phase and parallel / series options, a varitone, and a killswitch on the final push / pull. It was an extra push / pull we ended up, and this was the best option to add some small extra utility. I imagine it will come in handy in the future. Pots by MEC, ordered from Banzai Guitars in Germany.
Had to modify the brass knob to get positions 1 and 4 on the switch, provided by Callaham Guitars. Knob made to my order by Armadillo Guitar Works.
Control cavity cover in place
Tremolo cavity cover in place
Everything assembled, just need to set up
We're finished - and relax!
I'm going to swap out anything phillips-drive with slotted-drive; as I have a fastener source, it will not be a problem nor delay for me to obtain them and I've asked Steve not to be picky about it. Also I will try out brass fasteners instead of stainless, to see if I can keep the motif going, or if it will be too much brass.
The MEC pots are solid-shafted, and as such require speed knobs fitted with socket set screws. The two colors available are black and white. I chose white initially (may try to relic them a bit with coffee) as I thought the guitar needed something bright to offset all the browns and beiges, but now I'm not entirely sure. I may swap them out with the black ones if the look isn't desireable when I see the finished product first-hand.
Next step is to cut the foam inside the case (I asked Tony Rimmer of Adrenaline Flight Cases not to use the Tele template but to cut specifically from this particular guitar and he generously agreed to do so), and then get the whole lot back to the States.
All in all I'm terribly pleased with the results so far. I put a ton of work into it and it looks like those I've paid in my stead have put in even more. Here's to serious craftspersons!ccasion14:
By the time I had all the parts together I now lived in Seattle, and had a wide range of craftsman available to assemble all the pieces, but I decided to stick with my original plan. I shipped the whole lot to England and sufferred the delay between messages, as now communications took place on a timescale more similar to if I were living on Jupiter than on the same planet.
Here are the photos Mr. Robinson took of the build, I believe I'll let his workmanship speak for itself. Some of the comments are his words, some are mine:
The kidney tuner buttons (which I scavenged off of the second set of tuners I bought expressly for this purpose)(nobody sells just the buttons in nickel plating) juuust barely fit; if it turns out to be a pain I'll use the normal trapezoidal buttons. Nickel-plated Schaller locking tuners purchased from GuitarSupplies, a website based in the Netherlands.
Brass slotted wood screws. Of course, Steve pre-drilled the holes, as wood screws, while they give better purchase than sheet metal screws, also as a result are a bit more fragile.
Neck inserts fitted, showing screws cut to length to accommodate chamfered heel.
Neckplate fixed in place with slot-headed machine screws
The first plunge routing for the Trem-King TK1, polished nickel finish. These acrylic templates are available at Trem-King's website.
routing through the body
routing the tremolo spring cavity
Tremolo routs complete, need sanding
Tremolo routs sanded and given two coats of sealer
Trying the pickguard template for size; I worked hard on this custom idea for a pickguard, but my version was rough at best. I depended on Steve to polish its rough edges...
Bridge fitted with the E-strings to ensure everything lines up (very important, this!)
Control cavity shielded with copper foil to minimise interference
Tremolo cavity cover made from Tor-Tis, together with its template. Edges not yet rounded. These pieces of Tor-Tis I had Colette Hanson, owner of Turtleworks in Indiana, make herself. Calling her business phone is calling her home phone. In any event, I needed thicker pieces (not only for strength, but to match the thickness of the control cavity's inset) than were available from LMII, and I had some quasi-custom "looks" I wanted from the various designs she made available. She did fantastic work, mating the epoxy to an acrylic backing while fashioning them, in order to thicken it up. Turned out fantastically!
Tremolo cavity cover - trying it for size and appearance
Shaping the pickguard template
Trying the pickguard template for size
Pickguard routed, just the pickup rout and the roundover to do
Sanding the roundover on the tremolo cover plate
Pickguard in place - and it fits!
Electrics all wired with Varitone, phase and kill switches. The guitar has phase and parallel / series options, a varitone, and a killswitch on the final push / pull. It was an extra push / pull we ended up, and this was the best option to add some small extra utility. I imagine it will come in handy in the future. Pots by MEC, ordered from Banzai Guitars in Germany.
Had to modify the brass knob to get positions 1 and 4 on the switch, provided by Callaham Guitars. Knob made to my order by Armadillo Guitar Works.
Control cavity cover in place
Tremolo cavity cover in place
Everything assembled, just need to set up
We're finished - and relax!
I'm going to swap out anything phillips-drive with slotted-drive; as I have a fastener source, it will not be a problem nor delay for me to obtain them and I've asked Steve not to be picky about it. Also I will try out brass fasteners instead of stainless, to see if I can keep the motif going, or if it will be too much brass.
The MEC pots are solid-shafted, and as such require speed knobs fitted with socket set screws. The two colors available are black and white. I chose white initially (may try to relic them a bit with coffee) as I thought the guitar needed something bright to offset all the browns and beiges, but now I'm not entirely sure. I may swap them out with the black ones if the look isn't desireable when I see the finished product first-hand.
Next step is to cut the foam inside the case (I asked Tony Rimmer of Adrenaline Flight Cases not to use the Tele template but to cut specifically from this particular guitar and he generously agreed to do so), and then get the whole lot back to the States.
All in all I'm terribly pleased with the results so far. I put a ton of work into it and it looks like those I've paid in my stead have put in even more. Here's to serious craftspersons!
ccasion14:
Cagey
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I love it! Yet another example of how a Tele should be built. I think if it was me, though, I'd lose those knobs. They stick out like a sore thumb. Too big, wrong color. I'd put the traditional knurled barrel knobs on there, in chrome or nickel, whatever matches your bridge.
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