🪵 Manny Tele #002 — Oregon Pine, Nashville Wiring & Some Lekker Local Know-How
So this one's been sitting in the GT archives for a while now... and honestly
it deserves way more attention than it's got.
Check out the full thread here — it's worth the read →
Manfred Klose built this Tele for a friend — second build, mind you —
using an Oregon Pine body he sourced as offcuts from Rarewoods in Cape Town.
Not your usual tonewood choice, and that's exactly why it's worth talking about.
Oregon Pine (Douglas Fir) is soft — it dents, it marks up over time — but
as Manny himself put it: "it comes with a story." Old reclaimed beams
especially. Light body, decent resonance, and that natural grain just works
on a Tele. The community went a bit nuts for it, with one member threatening
to raid his grandfather's garage for old beams. Can't blame him. 😄
The full spec — and there's some good stuff in here:
- Body: 3-piece Oregon Pine
- Neck: 5-piece laminated Maple & African Paduak
- Fretboard: Birdseye Maple
- Tuners & Bridge: Wilkinson vintage
- Nut: Graphtech
- Pickups: Tonerider Vintage Plus (bridge & neck) + Pure Vintage Strat (middle)
- Wiring: Nashville 5-way — full Strat switching on a Tele body
- Scratchplate: handmade thin ply with Sapele veneer — "lots of filing" 😅
- Finish: Nitrocellulose — Plascon WL-6 from Mica, +/-R400 for 5L 📝
That Nashville wiring is something a lot of players haven't tried — three
pickups through a 5-way gives you positions a standard 2-pickup Tele simply
can't touch. That glassy quack in positions 2 and 4 is inspiring for
clean playing. Manny baked it straight into the build from day one rather
than retrofitting later. Smart.
Logos done by Neon Gecko — another GT name worth knowing if you're
building or repairing. The sapele veneer scratchplate is completely handmade,
which just adds another layer of delicious to the whole thing.
💡 Finish note from Manny: Plascon WL-6 works, but he actually rates
Danish oil or 2K higher. If you want lacquer mixed to spec,
try Techipaint in Cape Town.
Digging stuff like this out of the GT archives is exactly what this forum
is for — local solutions, local suppliers, real builds.
Check out the full thread here — it's worth the read →
