It's done - new build your own guitar is finished

This one has had a bit of a troubled build ... it started as a simple, standard Tele-ish guitar with plain bi-coloured Ash body and a pre-made Warmoth birds-eye maple neck.

I didn't like it (I've gone off Teles I think) so I re-made it.

Carved the back, and the front of the body. Re-profiled the neck, taking about 3.5mm off the thickness. Stained the body, and then rubbed it all off, but left a "dirty grain" effect. Changed the neck pickup for an Iron Gear Jailhouse Rails, swapped the pick-up selector switch with a blend pot and added a coil split mini-toggle for the Jailhouse Rails.

This guitar now sounds amazing ... real powerful "oomph" from the Jailhouse Rails through to traditional Tele twang from the BKP "The Boss" pickup in the bridge position.

I shouldn't really say this (as I built it!), but I really like this guitar a lot ...

Completion

This one didn't take long ...

... but still a bit longer than I'd hoped. I'd aimed to get this done over a long weekend, but good weather and a barbecue (=beer) intervened and caused a bit of a delay. I need to get some better natural light photos because the wood (bi-colour Ash) is nowhere near as brown/orange as these photos show it. It's much lighter.

I made the body to house some BareKnuckle "The Boss" pickups and a Warmoth birds-eye neck - I wanted a Tele as I've dismantled both of my previous home-build Teles (1 permanently, and 1 temporarily for a neck re-shape). The pickups are as good as you'd expect from near-£200 BKPs. The neck is quite chunky. I think I might leave this in open G tuning and use it as a chunky rhythm guitar for all those Stones tracks. Which I'd have to learn properly.

I also need to track down a chrome switch tip, 'cos the big black one is horrible!

It's done!

It feels like this one has taken ages, but it's actually only a couple of months. Probably feels like longer because I've been desperate to play it!

It's finally all together, all wired, and all set-up. Thanks for assistance with the set-up go to Dr Robert (he of Guitarist magazine fame as well as many other roles!)

Based, not very loosely, on the Yamaha SG2000, with a couple of SD HotRails. It's a weighty guitar, and quite a chunky one too, but that all goes to add to the power of the sound.

The neck join is quite chunky too, but it doesn't stop access to the dusty end and it ensure a really good solid join between the neck and body.

We probably spent most set-up time cutting the nut - which surprised me, as I thought I'd already done that bit of work. Well, I had done it, but not quite as well as it should be done. I also now know how to repair a cut-too-deep with a little dab of super glue.

This one is going on the "play often" pile ...

and finally ...

This one has been more delayed than a National Express East Anglia train out of Liverpool Street on a Friday evening.

Or - thinking about it - just about any other evening too.

Finally, 'tis done ... I thinline-Tele-alikey thingy. Cherry body, with a (bookmatched no less!) Cherry top. Mahogany neck and a Wenge fingerboard. I got a bit adventurous with this one - see the mahogany inlay around the soundholes on the body, and the cherry inlay on the headstock. I think it works ...

Pickups are "AXL by EMG", just because they were cheap on eBay. Other bits and pieces from Keith at Axetec.

There's a bit of finishing off still to do. When I put it all together, I had to take 2mm off the heel of the neck to get the action right. I've not re-oiled that area yet, which is the light area that you can see in the pic above.

Apart from that, I'm fairly happy with it. Quite a few firsts in this one for me ... the first time that I've used a cap, the first time that I've chambered a body, the first neck that I've made from scratch ... it's a lot different when you're doing it all on your own rather than on a course somewhere - it takes a lot longer, and you have to work out for yourself how to fix all the little "features" that appear.

Now, what's next ...

Put it to the vote ...

... here:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?showtopic=36048

Someone suggested that build #2 should be submitted to the "Guitar of the Month" challenge on the Project Guitar forum ... so I have done!

But, being something of a numpty, I managed to waste my vote (by opting just to look at the vote scores and submit a "null vote", d'oh), so I'll not be voting for my own build, but in case anyone else wants to ... the link is above ;-)

Final Photos

Some better photos of the final guitar ...

It's All Over ..

The 5 days are at an end. Which is lucky, because I'm about as tired as I can get ...

With apologies for the poor photo, this is what it's all been about:




The photo really doesn't do justice to the quality of the guitar or the beauty of the wood.
And it's finished, and it all works, and it's all just about perfect. Which makes me just a little happy.
An exhausting 5 days, with lots of highs, I don't remember any lows, and a great guitar at the end of it. In fact, 4 great (and very different) guitars produced by the 4 of us, with Mark's patient guidance throughout. I'm not quite sure how he does it, stays sane, and good-humoured throughout.
We're all just out of the workshop, and I should really be cuddling my new baby, rather than typing on a laptop. 7-8 hours of tomorrow will be spent driving home, so the next update (with a series of better photos) will be on Thursday.
Thanks all for reading - hope its been fun.