Finished my Baja Tele - (Video pg13)

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 8:16 pm

What's a new guitar without some accessories:

The knob didn't fit at first but after a little persuasion it looks and fits nice.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:01 pm

pics of the front of the guitar?

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:09 pm

hotrodperlmutter wrote:pics of the front of the guitar?

Not together yet. I am about to shield the cavities and get everything back together. Then I can take it to the guitar tech.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:20 pm

looks great from the back.

► Show Spoiler

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:00 pm

I decided to start shielding today. I am grounding to screw holes with copper tape and shielding the cavities with shielding tape. I have to wait 24 hours between coats. 1 down 2 more to go. A little messy, but I cleaned up everything where it won't show when assembled. The cavities look cooler with the black shielding paint.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:37 pm

really nice for your first guitar.

bob the r0bot · Post by **bob the r0bot** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 7:42 pm

That is turning out spectacularly

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 8:30 pm

I appreciate the comments. The finish isn't perfect, but I have learned so much from this guitar that I don't mind so much. Every mistake leads to more knowledge and skills for the next one.

porterhaus · Post by **porterhaus** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:32 am

Very nice work!!

The learning process makes it all worthwhile.

And I am also learning by watching this thread.

Thanks for sharing!!!

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 12:51 am

Buying a baja would probably have saved a lot of hassle. They arent that hard to come by. The blue looks ok, but i think i would have forsaken the grain and gone for a solid finish.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 4:14 am

stewart wrote:Buying a baja would probably have saved a lot of hassle. They arent that hard to come by. The blue looks ok, but i think i would have forsaken the grain and gone for a solid finish.

I love the color, though I am definitely going solid on my next project to simplify things.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 4:28 am

stewart wrote:Buying a baja would probably have saved a lot of hassle. They arent that hard to come by. The blue looks ok, but i think i would have forsaken the grain and gone for a solid finish.

Yeah but I really wanted to make a guitar from scratch and I figured the tele was the easiest guitar body to start with. The Baja Tele had the options I wanted. I paid nothing for the wood so I think it will be cheaper than buying one.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 4:39 am

I just applied the last coat of shielding paint and it will need to dry 24 hours. Next step is reassembly. I need to get either another rubber tube or springs for mounting the bridge pickup. One of the rubber spacing tubes was split when I received it.

Has anyone ever mounted a tele neck pickup under the pickguard? I am not sure how to know where to install the neck pup so that the pickup and pickguard are aligned properly.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 3:00 pm

Get a piece of foam to mount it on (like jags use), place the pickguard, place the pickup (press firmly and the foam should hold it) make some screw holes and drill away

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 3:05 pm

Haze wrote:Get a piece of foam to mount it on (like jags use), place the pickguard, place the pickup (press firmly and the foam should hold it) make some screw holes and drill away

I still have some foam from my Jagmaster so that will work. The foam is only for lining it up? I would take the foam out once I correctly mark the holes?

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 3:26 pm

My cv custom has foam underneath the pickup, probably due to the humbucker route though... I'd imagine the rubber tubing will have the same effect however

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 3:30 pm

Haze wrote:My cv custom has foam underneath the pickup, probably due to the humbucker route though... I'd imagine the rubber tubing will have the same effect however

That's what I thought. The rubber tubing holds up the pickup. I plan to go to Home Depot today to replace the split tubing for the Bridge pickup or get springs the will do the same thing. I might be able to to start putting her back together very soon.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 5:14 pm

stewart wrote:Buying a baja would probably have saved a lot of hassle. They arent that hard to come by. The blue looks ok, but i think i would have forsaken the grain and gone for a solid finish.

I see your point, but disagree (or at least choose to look at it a different way). The Telecaster is such a fantastically simple and no-nonsense instrument that I think that it's probably the guitar to make. This guitar will work and play well, I'd bet. The fact that it's a different colour is a bonus, and not an important one given how the tele is such a workhorse of a guitar.

I really, really hate when people describe teles as either no-nonsense, workmanly, workorse or any other such term, but I could evade those terms.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 5:26 pm

yeah, i suppose i didn't really look at it as a learning exercise, to be honest. it is a good choice for a first project.

Bacchus · Post by **Bacchus** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 5:30 pm

And it will work as well as a normal baja works. Or catch fire.

Finished my Baja Tele - (Video pg13)

Which guitar should I NOT build out of Ash?