100+ year old barn wood telecaster

[RogerC]

I know this isn't an acoustic, but I thought you guys might enjoy watching this one come together.

My younger son's teacher has a barn on her place that's been there over 100 years, and she's given me free reign to go and pick out any wood I'd like to build guitars.

I'm using the framing timbers as the body and then overlaying a top made from the outside clapboards, which have a great weathered red paint. They are pretty rough though, so it will be a challenge to mount hardware.

I plan to make 2 of these guitars - 1 for me , and 1 to donate to my church for a raffle to raise money for missions trips. I'm mostly done with the donation guitar, so pics are forthcoming...

[RogerC]

Here's barn from which I harvested the wood.










And here are the boards that I brought home.

[dchristo]

standing by for progress pics

[RogerC]

Sorry for the lag. I head out to the garage to work on the guitar as soon as i got home.

Here are some more progress shots of what's happened so far...

Gluing up the framing timbers that I used for the body




Ripping down one of the clapboards to use as the top. It was too wide, which is good since the edges were curled up. I cut the edges off, leaving me with a 7" wide center section. I then crosscut that piece to give me the top.






Once that was glued up, I cut out the shape.








once that was done, I glued it to the body which had been cut out earlier




I didn't really want to use a router on the weather top, so I used my spindle sander to get the perimeter finished off. Then I created the roundover the old fashioned way.

[RogerC]

I did want to soften the ridges on the top, so I pulled out the ancient sheet sander. I distinctly remember my grandfather using this one when i was but a wee lad



I already had a neck made. It was for another project, but i ended up going a different route, so this one had just been sitting around. It's going to go great with this build.



So now it was time to make a neck pocket template and cut the pocket. First I traced the neck heel onto a piece of mdf and then cut it out on the bandsaw.



Then I finished it off with files and sandpaper until I had a nice fit with the neck.



finally it was time to line it up on the body and make the cut.




Success!




Next on the agenda was to cut out the pickup and control cavities.

[RogerC]

More shaping...

I needed to put a roundover on the back, but the only bit I had was used for the roundover on a jazzmaster I built... Ok, sounds good



Definitely won't win over any purists, but I like it

A friend on the telecaster forum uses an aging solution on his reclaimed wood builds. It's made by dissolving bits of steel wool in vinegar. I made up a batch a few weeks ago in preparation, so I applied it to the back, and it really brought out the character of the wood nicely.




Then I got some fretting done





The top is fairly uneven, so I had to chisel out an area so that the bridge would sit flush.





you're almost caught up now...

[RogerC]

So here's where I started last night.

First up was drilling the jack hole. I'm using a vintage telecaster-style cup, so I flipped my drill press table to be parallel to my bit.



I clamped the body to the table and drilled down about 1/8" with a 1" bit, followed by a 7/8" bit, then finally finished the hole with a 5/8" bit. this will allow me to countersink the cup to sit flush with the body edge.





Once all that was done, I started spraying my body finish. I'm using Deft satin lacquer. I've used it before and really like it because it dries VERY quickly and is easy to work with. here's the body after about 6 coats last night.






One other detail, I want to age the hardware so that it's not so shiny against the old wood. I put it all in a plastic container, put that container inside another container with about 1" of muriatic acid in the bottom. then I put the lid on the whole thing and let it set.



It was only supposed to take about 20 minutes, but I've had it in for a total of over 6 hours now and it still isn't where I want it. I'll leave it overnight and see how it looks in the morning.

I wasn't able to get any pics tonight because my camera batteries are dead, but I finished up the last few body coats, drilled my tuner holes, thinned the headstock, and put a coat of tung oil on the neck. I'm hoping to have everything wrapped up by the end of the weekend.

[RogerC]

So there you go. You're all up to date, and I'll hopefully have more pics for you tomorrow night.

[steveyam]

Amazing, I've just gone through all of those photos totally enthralled, you made my day (morning here)! When I first saw the barn, I thought "what the.." The vintage vibe using that old wood kinda makes me think of a wooden version of the James Trussart guitars. I can't wait to see the finished guitar! and I love all those power tools and well equipped large workshops you guys appear to have in the US. Hobbyist guitar makers in the UK tend to use a 'Workmate' fold up bench in a corner of a tiny garage in the UK. As a tech, I have a fully equipped facility but for years it was 'kitchen table' work. Great stuff well done!

[clinchriver]

Cool stuff, I was really thinking the top was nice until I saw the back with some finish, I think a thinline with no pick guard would be just about perfect.

[ZekeM]

Very cool

The "aging" you did on the back turned out really well. Its going to be a beautiful instrument. One of my buddies made a cigar box guitar with the neck carved from a piece of wood reclaimed from a 200 year old house he was remodeling. I find using old woods like that give a guitar so much more character.

[dchristo]

Roger, shes looking good, cant wait to see the finished guitar

[RogerC]

Originally Posted by steveyam

Amazing, I've just gone through all of those photos totally enthralled, you made my day (morning here)! When I first saw the barn, I thought "what the.." The vintage vibe using that old wood kinda makes me think of a wooden version of the James Trussart guitars. I can't wait to see the finished guitar! and I love all those power tools and well equipped large workshops you guys appear to have in the US. Hobbyist guitar makers in the UK tend to use a 'Workmate' fold up bench in a corner of a tiny garage in the UK. As a tech, I have a fully equipped facility but for years it was 'kitchen table' work. Great stuff well done!

Thanks, Steve. The large workshop is an illusion . I'm working out of a 1 car garage that is way too full. I do understand, though, that we are a bit spoiled here in the US, so my small garage would probably be considered large by standards in other parts of the world.

And all of my tools I purchased off Craigslist. Over the past couple of years I've picked up a radial arm saw, drill press, band saw, table saw, spindle sander, and 13" planer for a grand total of $405. Not bad considering the band saw would've sold for that brand new.

Originally Posted by clinchriver

Cool stuff, I was really thinking the top was nice until I saw the back with some finish, I think a thinline with no pick guard would be just about perfect.

Too late to do a thinline on this one, but I am going "Esquire" on it-- bridge pup only with the Eldred wiring.

Originally Posted by ZekeM

Very cool

The "aging" you did on the back turned out really well. Its going to be a beautiful instrument. One of my buddies made a cigar box guitar with the neck carved from a piece of wood reclaimed from a 200 year old house he was remodeling. I find using old woods like that give a guitar so much more character.

thanks, Zeke. This is the 2nd guitar I've built out of reclaimed wood. My first guitar (the mili-tele) was built with pine from a really old church. I just really dig the aesthetic of old and rustic.

[RogerC]

Originally Posted by dchristo

Roger, shes looking good, cant wait to see the finished guitar

Thank ya, Dave. I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the weekend.

[RogerC]

I figured out why the muriatic acid wasn't aging my hardware. I apparently purchased "safe" acid (which is all Lowes had). One of the main things that makes it "safe" is that the fumes are less corrosive... D'OH!

I'll need to stop somewhere and get the regular un-safe stuff, I guess.