Question for Tele/Strat players

[dave g]

Finishing and getting the nut cut.

Follow the instructions on ReRanch to a T and you should be fine. It does take some patience, but the end result is worth it!

Unless you've cut guitar nuts before, I think it's best to have a professional do that.

[John_P_WI]

I built a strat using a Warmoth body and neck and a Callaham bridge and H/SRV Fralin pickups with pick guard shield plate. I have to agree fully with the positive comments towards Callaham. The toughest part for me was cutting the nut. Stew-Mac has any tool you would ever need for nut / neck work.

John

[Structo]

Yes finishing is probably the biggest learning curve of building a guitar.
But if you are handy at all, like most amp builders, I think you probably have the chops to paint one.
I really enjoy it and have built around 8 guitars.

It is really satisfying to make a guitar that is every bit as good and often times better than what the Custom Shop turns out.

Like I said I am a senior member over at the ReRanch forum and we make every effort to welcome newcomers and help them with their first project.

Nitro paints are probably the most forgiving of finishes to do.
If you just follow the steps and have a lot of patience, you can do it.
There are first timers that have done great jobs on sunbursts which I think is one of the harder finishes to do.
Just make sure to wear a NIOSH approved respirator when applying it as it can do bad things to your body.

Here is the ReRanch 101 tutorial on finishing.
We as a forum make a couple adjustments to the forum that differ slightly.
We recommend a 30 day cure period once the clear coat is completed.
It allows the lacquer to harden sufficiently for wet sanding and polishing.
And we don't feel there is a need for sanding between coats unless you have a big flaw to take out. Nitro melts into the previous coat so the adhesion is very good. It basically becomes one monolithic coat when done.
http://www.reranch.com/basics.htm

A nut that works well with a trem equipped guitar is the graphtech one.

Really the only bad thing is that they are black.
But you can get them pre-slotted which helps a lot but you still need to deepen the slots a little.

But what you can do is to adjust the string clearance is to take material off the bottom.
If your neck has a flat slot vs a curved slot it makes it that much easier.

I think they also make a Tusq type (white) nut that comes pre-slotted as well.

I broke down last year and bought nut files from Warmoth, I think they have the best deal on files around.

Then I bough a dozen bone nut blanks from a guy on eBay.
They are roughly 1/8" thick and take just a little sanding to fit the slot snugly.
Bone is probably the best material to make a nut from tone wise.

But a dremel tool with a sanding drum really helps in roughing out the over all shape of the nut then final sanding and polishing by hand.

[CaseyJones]

So the DIY thing has got me really intrigued. What are the hardest parts for someone who has never done this before?

For me the neck is the worst of it. I'm fully capable of starting with a rough board and ending up with a neck, I also understand that life is too short to do a zillion "once in a lifetime" projects. So... it's a nitro Allparts neck for me preferably with a bootleg decal already applied. The rest is easy by comparison IMHO.

Speaking of easy... give me a Germ Ledford replica Peavey Nitro! They're U.S. made, they're dirt cheap and they play like buttah. Spend $200 on the guitar and another $100 on a second hand pickup or two. They cost less than anything but the lowliest Squier. Cheap enough to swat ugly groupies with!

[butwhatif]

I've been making bone nuts for any and all guitars for 35 years from beef soup bones from the grocery store. If you have a bandsaw, a table belt sander, and a caliper you can easily make bone nuts and saddles for next to nothing from these. Just boil the bones a day or two til all the stuff falls off, and you've got the best material. I used to put the dry boiled bones in my porch window to bleach in the sun for a summer, and they turn white. The heavy leg bone middle section stuff will polish to an ivory shine that looks like jewelry.

[butwhatif]

2x post

[Rob S]

Hey Ron...... That sort of made me think?

Should I be asking a certain Surgeon for any useful looking "leftovers"?

[stelligan]

Should I be asking a certain Surgeon for any useful looking "leftovers"?

Call up Hannibal Schecter..........

[stelligan]

Here is the Tele I built before the Strat.

[IMG:640:480]http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b392/ ... G_0033.jpg[/img]

Damn, that is a beautiful Tele. I remember seeing that on the BrownNote forum. Extremely well done - as is the blue Strat!

[butwhatif]

This is my next one off the press--

[Structo]

Gorgeous!

Did you make the body or buy it?

[butwhatif]

made entirely from scratch, and finished in nitro, just finished the curly neck,
also made from scratch

[stelligan]

made entirely from scratch, and finished in nitro, just finished the curly neck,
also made from scratch

Quilty & Comfy! Is that a tummy cut I see down there? Very nice work. Solid or hollow?

[butwhatif]

Thanks for the kind words, It's a solid body, but not too heavy, western alder body w/ soft maple top. Cutaway on the back. Here's another I built a few years back, with the same maple plank on top. This one has a solid rosewood neck, and g&l pu's.

[billyz]

Sweet looking Asat /Tele burst. I love those G&L pickups.