A special Tele build...

LouieAtienza · #1 04-11-2018, 02:27 PM

I mentioned in the Open Mic section about 4 months ago that a very dear friend and guitar-building protege, Mike Phillips, passed away from an extended battle with pancreatic cancer. His cousin and great friend Mike Ryan, commissioned a Tele build for his son Michael. Although I kept them involved with the design process there were a few things he wanted, such as a vintage style trem, humbucker/single coil configuration. He also selected from a few drop-top sets I had. So here it is... Quilt maple over Honduras mahogany, maple/maple neck, hardware from Bill Callaham, Duncan JB and YJM Fury, 3-way switch and push-pull, wired to split both coils, for 6 separate sounds....
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20180411_013702 by Louie Atienza, on Flickr[/IMG]
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20180411_013618 by Louie Atienza, on Flickr[/IMG]
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20180411_013716 by Louie Atienza, on Flickr[/IMG]

Tele1111 · #2 04-11-2018, 03:08 PM

Louie! That is great looking! Will you build one for me?

Are the back covers not recessed? Hard to tell from the pictures.
I bet it sounds just as great.

Mark

LouieAtienza · #3 04-11-2018, 03:22 PM

Thanks Mark... and yes, why not?

The control cavity is recessed, but raised slightly. I made a flush one also, but I thought slightly raised and contoured looked better. The trem cavity wasn't recessed because I wanted to use a standard Strat sustain block, and the body was made, and was too lazy to mill down the block...

Johnny K · #4 04-12-2018, 03:47 PM

Wow! That is beautiful!

Sorry to hear about your friend.

LouieAtienza · #5 04-13-2018, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny K

Wow! That is beautiful!

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Belated thanks! Busy week, up here in Harrisburg for Artisan Guitar Ahow...

Dru Edwards · #6 04-14-2018, 05:54 AM

Fantastic! How long did it take you to build it? Also, is that your signature on the headstock?

Pickcity · #7 04-14-2018, 06:08 AM

That's a beautiful piece of work. Thanks for sharing it.

LouieAtienza · #8 04-15-2018, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Fantastic! How long did it take you to build it? Also, is that your signature on the headstock?

Thanks Dru! We came up with a list of must-haves toward the end of February. I didn't work on it every single day, however. But a good part of a month and a half maybe... And YES.

LouieAtienza · #9 04-15-2018, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pickcity

That's a beautiful piece of work. Thanks for sharing it.

Thank you! I'll post some links to some videos when I get them uploaded. I'm very pleased and excited of how this one sounds!

Song · #10 04-16-2018, 04:01 AM

I love maple and mahogany. It looks fantastic! Good job!

LouieAtienza · #11 04-16-2018, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Song

I love maple and mahogany. It looks fantastic! Good job!

Thanks so much! I've always loved the combination, but the typical form factor, which I do love, was always too heavy for me; and I'm not a short-scale guy despite my shorter fingers....

KevWind · #12 04-18-2018, 11:25 AM

What a gorgeous top very cool

LouieAtienza · #13 04-19-2018, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevWind

What a gorgeous top very cool

Thanks Kev!