Well... everyone has to have a hobby right? So in this corona lockdown-restriction-stayhome-keepyourdistance thingy I thought: Hang on! I know what I'm going to do.... I'll build a few guitars! Like I haven't got enough of them already (according to my dear wife...).....
This one has recently been completed:
A bog standard Telecaster.... Bog standard? Not quite.... A beautiful piece of flamed ash for the body! For the rest: Wilkinson hardware and pickups, maple neck with rosewood board.
Measure once, cut straight away and maybe you're lucky......
A tribute to my all-time guitar hero and all together cool dude: Steve Lukather!
I have been lusting after a Music Man Luke for years, but prices have gone to a point where I thougt: Bugger that, I'll build it myself.....
For the body I got a beautiful piece of walnut. After the woodwork I put on a few coats of wipe-on poly to seal the wood. Wipe-on poly is a mixture of 1 part oil-based polyurethane and 1 part mineral spirits. You just wipe it on with a rag or paper towel. After that I filled the grain with Aqua Coat and sanded it smooth. I am now applying multiple coats of wipe-on poly. How many? We'll see, until it looks nice..... This type of finish really shows the natural beauty of the wood, and can result in a pretty high gloss!
The neck is a fine piece of flamed maple I got from my to be son-in-law, who is a furniture maker. It has the typical 4x2 headstock and is being sprayed with 1k polyurethane. This gives a great high gloss finish which is not at all sticky like a nitro cellulose finished neck can be. Ebony fingerboard and a wheel-type truss rod.
Further specs: Sperzel locking tuners, Wilkinson trem, no neck plate, but ferrules, and EMG pickups. The Steve Lukather signature ones off course!
Measure once, cut straight away and maybe you're lucky......
This is a real nice one, one slight issue with the open high e sounding a bit muffled. A bit of work on the nut, nothing big...
The finish has turned out great. The flame in the neck really came out well with the high gloss pu laquer. The walnut body has a nice satin sheen. Tuning is very stable, even with whammy abuse and the sound is, well........ clear, thight and direct. Just as I like it.....
This post was modified 4 years ago 2 times by Edwin
Measure once, cut straight away and maybe you're lucky......
This is a real nice one, one slight issue with the open high e sounding a bit muffled. A bit of work on the nut, nothing big...
The finish has turned out great. The flame in the neck really came out great with the high gloss pu laquer. The walnut body has a nice satin sheen. Tuning is very stable, even wit whammy abuse end the sound is, well........ clear, thight and direct. Just as I like it.....
Excellente Edwin.Very nice finish. I like the 4&2 machine heads idea.
As for wipe-on poly: Get a good quality polyurethane laquer, just make sure it isn't water based. Mix it one on one with mineral spirits (or a bit thinner to get a really smooth suface, it just takes more layers and patience...). Wipe on with a rag or paper towel in straight lines and give it 24 hours before the next layer. Give it a rub down with steel wool every four layers or so to remove dust, specs, spiders and what have you and continue until you are satisfied.
CAUTION: LEAVE YOUR USED RAGS OR PAPER TOWELS TO DRY OUTSIDE BEFORE DISPOSING OF THEM. They can be prone to self combustion, a burnt down shop is a bit of a drag, right...?
Measure once, cut straight away and maybe you're lucky......
