1st Build - Tele (ish)

Jacquesg4j

Okay so if it's on here it is official!

I work at my old man's furniture factory where I have all the equipment I will need to build a very nice body! And also I first discovered a very nice piece of African Mahogany recently that would do the job and then this morning I discovered something interesting on the web...

Poplar (Aspen) bodies! It seems that Fender also used this some time ago to build their Telecasters. AND to make things better... I have a huge pile of 50mm poplar lying around that we are never using that looks like great quality. Will fish out some nice planks to see which would work better.

SO IN THE FIRST PLACE: What would you guys use? The Mahogany or the Poplar?

Here is a nice pic of a Poplar body:

IN THE SECOND: I have an old Ibby SA series that I am never using anymore... So for my first build I will use most of the hardware off of it including the neck (wich I will modify) and the nobs and selector switch. Aubs donated a bridge and tuners from one of his Fenders so I will use that also. AND then I will use part of my Parker's old pickups and the Ibby's HB in the bridge.

SOOOO Basically I will have a Tele with a strat Bridge and HB in the bridge and Tele "Bar" pickup in the neck... AND a custom headstock that I will still design. Something like...

Lets see how it goes... I will probably only start in May but I am doing my final planning now.

What's you all thinks??

AlanRatcliffe

Fender often used poplar for prototyping. Fairly close to alder tonally, with a similar, even frequency response. Just not as resonant or pretty (and often suffers from mineral streaks) - truth be told it's a bit bland in every respect. Easier to work and finish than the mahogany (no grain filler for one!).

Mahogany is mahogany - warm, soft highs, fat lows. AKA not really your traditional Tele wood. Works well in a P90 equipped Tele or a Thinline with Wide Range humbuckers though...

So it's down to what you want. BTW, white pine (not SA pine) is another option. Some of the early broadcasters were made from it and it's making a bit of a comeback. A bit softer and smoother sounding than alder, but not as much as mahogany. Easy to work and finish.

Bob-Dubery

Poplar can have an interesting look. It's also, in this country anyway, an invasive and damaging species so you don't need to lie awake at night wondering about what you've done to the environment.

Mervyn Davis has a range of guitars that he calls "Plantation Workers", made mostly from invasive woods. He often uses poplar and has some example on his web site. So you can look at those and think about possibilities.

See http://www.smoothtalkerguitars.com/content/plantationworkers

chris77

Will you only be doing this for yourself, or....?

singemonkey

I kind of feel that it's a bit weird to make a Tele with a Strat bridge. The bridge is a huge part of the reason Teles sound like Teles.

Now mahogany with a Tele bridge would be a great combo, IMO. Finished in translucent red. That'd be good.

Jacquesg4j

I think I will start off with a Poplar body... Just for the tradition of it... And the fact that I have about 2 cubes of it lying around! Maybe do a Mahogany also and then experiment. I might be writing a CNC program to do all the routing except for the outer shape. So doing different style (EDITED "WOODEN") bodies could also be a prospect.

I actually wanted to build a Tele Deluxe but then I thought... I have the Tele pickups that I can use and I can use the Bridge out of the Ibby. SO for financial aspects I will go the Humbucker Bridge Tele Neck way...

So far I have done some designs on the headstock... To change the Ibanez one a bit... Which one do you guys think? I refer the tele style one actually? Sorry these are just some rough sketches with the Ibanez shape and then what I thought.

Jacquesg4j

ALSO...

The tele bridge is not out of the question... I could have one made by an engineering place...

Jacquesg4j

I've read a quote from Ritchie Fliegler (Fender employee) that says:

Give 10 players of varying styles similar looking black guitars made of ash, alder and poplar. What is the overall favorite? Poplar, for its combination of lightness, balanced tone and sustain.

So although it may be ugly... I can veneer the top in something pretty! But then again we use Poplar for furniture and it is soooo pretty! (Sometimes)

Here is a link to our web page : http://www.woodatheart.com/

singemonkey

Jacquesg4j wrote

A straight Tele headstock will look good and make the best use of the wood you have available from the Ibanez headstock IMO.

flatfourfan

coooooooooooooool. I was wondering when you'd start something. It's a shame to have all that gear and to only make furniture. I think it's gonna be killer.

cutting an ibby headstock.....................oi vey.....lol.

Ever think about making a neck from scratch?

AlanRatcliffe

A Tele bridge pickup with a low power 'bucker in the neck is a proven combo. The Tele neck pickup is underpowered at the best of times. Also the T bridge pickupand bridge are largely responsible for the characteristic tone.

I'm not a fan of the Tele headstock as I hang my guitars, and the h/s is so narrow that if the guitar twists in the hanger, it falls through.

Jacquesg4j

Alan Ratcliffe wrote A Tele bridge pickup with a low power 'bucker in the neck is a proven combo. The Tele neck pickup is underpowered at the best of times. Also the T bridge pickupand bridge are largely responsible for the characteristic tone.

I'm not a fan of the Tele headstock as I hang my guitars, and the h/s is so narrow that if the guitar twists in the hanger, it falls through.

I am very tempted to build a stock standard tele but my idea with the build was to build a guitar with a fat bridge for hard rock songs ( My Parker lacks a little in this aspect but the 250k tone pots and the toneriders made a huge difference).

BUT your idea of the HB in the neck sounds grand also. Maybe I should consider it also... reasons I put it up here before I started anything.

And concerning hanging guitars... I swopped my hanging stands for normal triangle ones after buying the Parker... So I will be fixed on standing stands!

What are low power buckers?

MikeM

Mahogany body, tapped quarter punder in the bridge, 59 in the neck. Would be pretty awesome. Or maybe consider noiseless or humbucking for the bridge if you're planning for something hot?

Jacquesg4j

MikeM wrote Mahogany body, tapped quarter punder in the bridge, 59 in the neck. Would be pretty awesome. Or maybe consider noiseless or humbucking for the bridge if you're planning for something hot?

HAHA Mike for some reason you made me think of a steak on the fire when I read this... It was either you or just the fact that the weekend started!

Do you have experience with the SDQP in the bridge?

MikeM

Personally no, but I almost bought myself one, so did lots of youtubing and chatting to people that have em. At full power that thing is really a monster. I actually have a tele with a P90 in the neck which I looove, but it's not great for heavy tones.

How heavy do you plan to go with these?

AlanRatcliffe

Jacquesg4j wrote What are low power buckers?

Vintage style PAFs have a much lower output than more modern humbuckers, which can be up to 2.5 X the power of an original PAF. The vintage models are better suited to matching up volume-wise with single-coils (which are usually even lower output).

The thing about a Tele with a neck bucker is it has a huge range of tones, from fat neck bucker to bright Tele bridge. In the middle position, the two blend well to give you a fat but still very articulate tone.