Spruce Telecaster And Other Stuff
Hopefully 2017 will be a productive year, trying to get non-guitar related things out of the way. To get me started again I want to finish a nylon string parlor I am making and build a cheap Telecaster to keep in my workshop for working on amp projects. The Tele will be built out of a piece of 2"X8" I came across that had enough of a clear section in it and was not all flat sawn. The neck I cut out of poplar years ago, should be good enough for this project.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psgiv3grxv.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps3omxubr2.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psghdqtazm.jpg Oh, it is pretty dry in my house. The reason I am working on these and putting off the others till the relative humidity in the place gets closer to normal. Did a two layer laminate top. Found out why they are normally made in odd number of layers. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps4azhbxyd.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psyhpx7oqr.jpg |
Not used to seeing a chunk of spruce like you've got there.
Good luck! |
Wow, that's umm definetly "not flat" anymore.
Steve |
I am guessing it is spruce, pine smells/feels different when I send it through my drum sander. They cut 2"x10" and 2"x12" boards from larger trees (duh) and it is sometimes easier to find clear sections in them. I also look to find the grain in the area I want to be 45 degrees to 90 degrees. Does not matter much on an electric but I am too used to looking for quartered wood for guitar tops. This is not bad for construction wood, I have some wood actually cut for a guitar that is 1" thick meant for carving into an archtop. Those will sit a while as I have too many other guitars to build first.
|
I have a spruce tele I put together that is my main guitar. Arm cut looks wrong on a tele to me. It would still fit you pretty well if you just did the gut cut. I finished mine with fresh-mixed shellac sprayed through a Preval and it came out looking pretty butterscotch blonde.
|
I know what you mean about the arm bevel. I think part of the charm of the Tele is in it's simplicity. But I have a health issue and the normal edge of a guitar can cause me pain and then I just let the guitar sit in the corner. That is part of the reason for making this one out of spruce and poplar, it should be a fairly light guitar.
I have been waffling back and forth on the color. I do like a butterscotch blond but also have a thing for sunbursts. I picked up some paint last night and will experiment with it while building this one. I really like a simple yellow and red one I saw. |
Looks like Fir to me .
I have 6 or 7 bookmatched 1/4 sawn Norway Spruce blanks sitting here waiting to be rough cut to shape . I have one completed build here with a 1/4 sawn walnut neck and 1/4 sawn mulberry fretboard . I harvested all of this wood . Sadly , photobucket is misbehaving for me right now or you would be seeing pics . Oh well . Photobucket can't beat an idiot like me . http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/i...1/P6270001.jpg http://i549.photobucket.com/albums/i...P6300002_1.jpg |
Cool to be able to harvest your own wood.
|
Not used to working with such a soft wood for a neck. For better or worse, truss rod slot and headstock milled. Will be using a piece of maple for the fretboard.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...pswtvqka8j.jpg |
Double posts, may as well change the pictures.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps3omxubr2.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...pswtvqka8j.jpg |
Too lazy to make up some templates, just winged it by using a construction square as my guide.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psijv9yqtw.jpg I guess I was too involved with the routing and not wanting to screw up I never took any pictures while making little wood chips. Just drew out a rough guide where to cur and went at her. Still have to drill between areas and do a hole for the output jack. Otherwise coming along well enough. I did not sand the body edge smooth as that only invites dents. I'll do that once I am done with the rough shaping. http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psiqppfem4.jpg |
That's looking very nice.
|
i dint even know what to say- great job!
|
I put a number of coats of shellac on the body but for some reason the shellac was not doing it for me. I sanded it down and was going to soak the wood with tea to get some tannins into the wood and use a iron-vinegar solution to give a weathered effect. I liked what the tea was doing and I gave it a few more coats. Then I put some wipe on poly on it. Almost a butterscotch blond effect.
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psjecrfjf2.jpg http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...psns8fohth.jpg Need to work on the neck now. |
Fred, the tele looks great! Nice work.
Sam |
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:25 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum