My Other Passion - Telecaster-Style Build #4

[mark-00255]

I have actually been somewhat reluctant to post my electric builds on the AGF - my work is strictly at the hobbyist level so far, and I cannot compare to the stunning work of the real luthiers who frequent this forum. But, like most of us here, I can't help but show off a little as well.

This is my fourth Telecaster-style build. It's patterned after a Fender Custom Shop guitar called a Cabronita. This guitar is Esquire style - one pickup with three way switching. And in this case, the pickup is a Gretsch Hi-Sens Filterton. The hardware is an Allparts Strat hardtail bridge, electrosocket jack cup, and Fender MIM Esquire control plate setup. The neck was purchased and is temporary - it's a maple neck I've had a while that serves to help me prototype a guitar. I will be shopping for just the right flame maple 22-fret Tele-style neck shortly.

The body is a two-piece Ash (Northern) that I built from scratch with mostly just power hand tools. I do not have any fancy wood shop yet - just a small router, an old electric drill and a small orbital sander. I borrowed a friends bandsaw to rough cut the body before routing. The pieces, by the way, are not joined on the centerline. It is really more of a one-piece, with the primary piece forming most of the body down to the control plate area, where a wing is joined - the main piece is about 10 inches wide, and a Tele is just under 13.

The finish was inspired by the Trussart steelcasters. I wanted an organic, yet metallic look and feel, did not grain-fill the Ash, and featured a set of concentric grain rings in the upper bout. I used Duplicolor Metalcast Smoke and Red in a free-form pattern, then sprayed almost two cans of Deft gloss lacquer for clear. I wetsanded with 1500, then hand rubbed with Maguiars Swirl-X. Painting is very difficult for me - I will admit to a profound lack of talent in that area, but I am pleased with the organic look I achieved on this one. And am pretty happy with the almost liquid finish, especially in the upper bout area.

I am extremely happy with the tone, sustain, and playability - please take a few minutes to watch the video linked below! Go easy on me, but I hope you like it. Here it is with my old Bartell amp:


Another view:


And:


The finish reflecting a tree outside my window:


And a little demo video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwpFEBs6z0w

[JeremyG]

Hi Mark,

Man, all I can say, being a woodworker of sorts, is that I'd be really proud of being able to create an instrument like this w/o having a full shop and the tools. Even with all the tools etc. you did a fine job! I'd be quite proud.

No need to compare yourself with a prof. luthier although I understand, given all the folks on this forum. My compliments indeed!

I'd be willing to bet this lust has gotten into you pretty deeply. Good luck with any future builds. Maybe down the road some you'll be able to sell one or two...it'll help fund tools for even more fun. That's what I did with the woodworking tools.

Jeremy.

[mark-00255]

Thank you, Jeremy! I am indeed proud - this guitar has got tone and sustain like none other, as my son would say! The tried and true Tele combination of Ash body, Maple neck, and vintage wound pickups is fantastic!

[kramster]

Very cool job... you done good... You should be very proud.

[eatswodo]

Congratulations! That is the essence of electric guitar, in a fine looking package...

[djphelan01]

That looks great and sounds pretty good too!! Do you ever go to:
http://www.tdpri.com
They have a ton of tele info and I'm sure they would apreciate seeing yours.

[tbondo]

Cool stuff...great sounds you get there....your signal chain for the demo was?????

[mark-00255]

Originally Posted by djphelan01

That looks great and sounds pretty good too!! Do you ever go to:
http://www.tdpri.com
They have a ton of tele info and I'm sure they would apreciate seeing yours.

Thanks for the kind words - thanks for watching the video, too! I think it got kind of buried in the OP under the pics. I think the finish shows up much better on the vid ....

Yes, I've been hanging out on the TDPRI a couple years now. I posted this build a couple weeks ago on the main forum. I participated in the $100 challenge in Feb-March 09 as well - that was a gas!

I see from your sig you've got a Kirn Barnbuster! Fantastic!

[mark-00255]

Originally Posted by tbondo

Cool stuff...great sounds you get there....your signal chain for the demo was?????

Pretty simple and low-cost! I go from the guitar into:

• Digitech Bad Monkey for overdrive/boost;
• Modded Boss DS-1 - Vintage mods from the Premier Guitar website;
• Zoom G1X just for modulation effects and reverb
• My old Bartell Amp - dual 6V6, dual Amperex 1025

I don't use the amp models or any overdrive effects on the Zoom pedal - those are not so great. But the modulation effects are decent, and the expression pedal can be set to bland the delay depth.

Also, I've found that the Bad Monkey works best for my ear with a carbon, dollar-store battery, and the Bass and Treble nearly pegged.

[690MBCOMMANDO]

Nice man!

I hear that grain filling is a HUGE time sink.....thank goodness I'm a consumer and not a builder

[donh]

pretty cool-looking fella!

so what does the 3-way switch do with the one pickup?

[mark-00255]

Originally Posted by 690MBCOMMANDO

Nice man!

I hear that grain filling is a HUGE time sink.....thank goodness I'm a consumer and not a builder

Thanks commando! I've grain-filled one body and it wasn't too bad. Added a couple days to the process and was messy. But what I didn't like about it for a natural finish was that the grain fill crystals or whatever they are (in the Behlens brand stuff I used) shows up in the dark, soft grain. Doesn't work for natural finishes. And since I wanted the grain to show and accentuate the concentric circles in the wood on this one, I skipped it. For a solid color finish, grain filling is definitely the way to go.

[mark-00255]

Originally Posted by donh

pretty cool-looking fella!

so what does the 3-way switch do with the one pickup?

Thank you! I tried to demonstrate the switching in the video - sorry if I didn't do a good job of that! Traditional Esquire wiring works like this:

• Back position - volume only, tone pot bypass. You get a little crisper tone that way
• Middle position - "Normal" tone and volume control circuit
• Front position - Cap and resistor combination darkening circuit, volume only

The usual values for the dark circuit are .05uf cap and 330K resistor. Here's a pic of the circuit:

[donh]

Interesting!

If I did that, I'd go for standard, parallel, coil-tap

or at least standard, coil-tap, no-tone_cap (or standard, parallel, no-tone_cap)

[mark-00255]

Originally Posted by donh

Interesting!

If I did that, I'd go for standard, parallel, coil-tap

or at least standard, coil-tap, no-tone_cap (or standard, parallel, no-tone_cap)

I hear ya! I've got five Tele-style guitars now, and two other electrics. My first build has Bill Lawrence Keystones and a four-way switch, with the middle two positions being series and parallel. The series is sweet and slightly quacky (in a good, Stratty way), and the parallel posiiton is super fat like a HB in the neck position.

And I've got one with an HB in the bridge and no tone/coil tap. And two others with traditional Tele single coils - one hot, and the other vintage wound.

So this one I decided the old-school Esquire wiring with the vintage wound (4.8 K Ohms) Filtertron would be cool. I really like the dark circuit with lots of gain! And the back position with tone bypass is super sweet!

Next I think I want a build a P-90 Esquire! I've got some 20-year old lightly figured bookmatched maple that's about 3/4 inch thick. Just need some Alder or Hawg to back it!