New Build:Tele TT Frets Walnut/Bubinga/Rosewood 2-16-17 DONE

KEEP SCROLLING TO THE BOTTOM, TONS OF PICS OF STEP BY STEP PROGRESS BELOW,
I know this is long past your attention span, but if you like seeing how things are built its a lot of fun!

So, I'm building my first guitar body since the mid/late 90's! I have many strats or similar, LP, PRS, Dean ML, Parker, Steinberger etc, so it's time for something different.

My build so far is:

Telecaster style
Walnut Body book matched
Quilt/Flamed Bubinga top(book matched)
Beveled edges similar to what Kiesel is doing on this type of body
Maple neck/rosewood board, veneer the rear with rosewood burl, tobacco or Amber finish on the back, probably keep the top of the headstock maple for contrast
True Temperament frets, for near perfect intonation(finally)
Chrome Locking tuners from Sperzel because they are so light and high quality
Kiesel Lithium humbucker Pickups K12B, & KF12N Frank Gambale spec neck pickup
Chrome Tonepros Wraparound bridge, for tone, duh
Chrome knurled knobs
3 way all chrome toggle switch
500k ohm high quality pots

If I could find someone to do it I would do a multi scale, TT fret neck with scalloped frets! Unfortunately that would likely be a $3k+ neck, way more than I want to spend.

I'm building the body, doing all of the work from wood blanks and finish, and I bought the neck. I don't yet have the equipment or skill to build the neck, especially since I'm using TT frets.

The walnut I'm using, got lucky at a local hardwoods shop:



Bubinga, a good friend of mine had this one sitting around:

Got the walnut book match glued together today, did black/white/black strips of maple right down the middle for added flare

Got the top glued on, then body carved, back edge rounded!

Neck came today! Looks to be very good quality. Has some very nice grain and colors on the fret board, and some nice flowing grain on the back.

Great job with that body!

cardinal":qvdl345p said:

Great job with that body!

Click to expand...

Thank you, funny how much easier and better it is with the right tools

That looks really cool. Those frets look like they'd throw me for loop though. I tend to use too much vibrato, can you get left-hand vibrato on those frets and not have it sound strange/change pitch?

SpiderWars":3az82ae5 said:

That looks really cool. Those frets look like they'd throw me for loop though. I tend to use too much vibrato, can you get left-hand vibrato on those frets and not have it sound strange/change pitch?

Click to expand...

I did some fretting on the neck as it sits and I think it will be a seamless transition, didn't feel weird at all. I've seen many videos of fretting hand bends and they sound great. I too use a lot of left hand vibrato, so we'll know the first hand answer in a few weeks. I mostly like how the guitar will be much closer for intonation, that's always drove me bonkers.

A rough idea of how they will look together:



I'm thinking chrome hardware, what do you guys think?

Pickups came today, thanks to MYLILSS for the good deal on the Kiesel lithiums, been wanting to try these for awhile.

Some progress, neck pocket is done!





Going to route the electronics pocket next

This is a badass thread! Nice build,mang. Beautiful woods,nice execution. Always wanted to try those frets myself.

rottingcorpse":1qovluin said:

This is a badass thread! Nice build,mang. Beautiful woods,nice execution. Always wanted to try those frets myself.

Click to expand...

Thanks, much appreciated, i cant wait to try these frets! Its a lot of fun making your own guitar. Definitely reminds you why quality guitars cost so much money. This one will be done in a few weeks, then Im gonna do another build, maybe in the style of a BC Rich Bich, always wanted a bad ass one, just dont want to spend the $3k or so for it.

Killer. The TT frets feel great and are very easy to play. My 7 with them is off the charts awesome.

nice ...got me thinkn I should do a tele style build..hmmmm

Very cool!!! Nice work!

Black hardware is my vote.

I walnut! Have an all walnut neckthrough Carvin ST300 and a Kiesel Aries 6 on the way with a walnut neck swamp ash body.

glip22":377rx78i said:

Killer. The TT frets feel great and are very easy to play. My 7 with them is off the charts awesome.

Click to expand...

Awesome, I think my next 7 will be a multiscale

MetalHeadMike":377rx78i said:

Very cool!!! Nice work!

Black hardware is my vote.

I walnut! Have an all walnut neckthrough Carvin ST300 and a Kiesel Aries 6 on the way with a walnut neck swamp ash body.

Click to expand...

I love my carvin dc727, was thinking about the Aries, but will likely go with a Vader. This is my first walnut guitar, so it will be interesting to see if there's any difference from the woods I'm used to. I would say probably not, as long as it's well made it will likely be similar. My first build was black hardware, I was thinking chrome on this one, for some contrast.

155":377rx78i said:

nice ...got me thinkn I should do a tele style build..hmmmm

Click to expand...

Ya know, I wasn't excited about a telecaster, until I realized that I don't have to follow any rules, I can build it anyway I want. Any hardware combo, any pickups, modernized shapes, bridges etc, so the only similarity is the shape to the original telecaster. Now I can't wait for it to be done.

^^^
The Chrome will look killer I'm sure

Yeah I have been on the fence about the Aries for a year now but finally decided to pull the trigger. The Vader is cool too! I considered it for a while for something really different. Maybe down the road.

We all know the mess regarding the tonewood debate, and I'm not sure where I even stand in my beliefs there, but I will say the Walnut Carvin I have produces a phenomenal low mids/low end growl that I don't get in my other guitars. Could just be the construction or those specific wood pieces in this guitar, or maybe it is the walnut? I'll see when the Aries arrives what the walnut neck does for the sound.

Regardless its a beautiful, drop dead gorgeous wood! Enjoy it!

You gonna clear coat it, tung oil it, or matte satin finish it? The body that is. I personally would never do another guitar with anything other than tung oil on the back of the neck.

MetalHeadMike":awfl9w1h said:

^^^
The Chrome will look killer I'm sure

Yeah I have been on the fence about the Aries for a year now but finally decided to pull the trigger. The Vader is cool too! I considered it for a while for something really different. Maybe down the road.

We all know the mess regarding the tonewood debate, and I'm not sure where I even stand in my beliefs there, but I will say the Walnut Carvin I have produces a phenomenal low mids/low end growl that I don't get in my other guitars. Could just be the construction or those specific wood pieces in this guitar, or maybe it is the walnut? I'll see when the Aries arrives what the walnut neck does for the sound.

Regardless its a beautiful, drop dead gorgeous wood! Enjoy it!

You gonna clear coat it, tung oil it, or matte satin finish it? The body that is. I personally would never do another guitar with anything other than tung oil on the back of the neck.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure I believe in the to wood hype either, from what I've seen, the construction has just as much to do with the sound than the woods,mand the pickup choice does the rest. My first guitar was made out of plywood and sounds just as good as any other guitar I own.

I have a few Tung oiled neck guitars, definitely like it. I'm gonna do this entire guitar in nitro, including the neck. All you gotta do to get good feel on the neck with finish on it is to bust out your car wax on it. Makes it glide really well, and fingerprints wipe right off.

Nitro sounds killer!