I have been eagerly awaiting Spring Break for the chance to get started on my guitar projects. My brother-in-law sent me 2 Ash Guitar Stock boards, enough to make 4 Ash guitar bodies. I have been search around for some traces and found 5 traces. I borrowed some extra tools and have been working on my templates. I traced them out on MDF and have been cutting them out with power tools. My next step is to cut the guitar stock down into pieces, run it through the planer, glue them back together and cut the bodies with a router. I hope to get a good part of this done tomorrow. I found a router bit at a local woodworking store that will be perfect for cutting out the bodies by following the templates.
I currently have traces for :
Telecaster (going for a Baja Tele concept)
Jazzmaster
Mustang
Super-Sonic (cheers to DawnofZion)
Jag-stang (Robert(Original) is hooking me up with it)
Here's my problem: I have enough wood for 4 Ash guitar bodies and I will have 5 guitar traces. So vote and tell me which guitar I should NOT build out of Ash.
► Show Spoiler
Last edited by taylornutt on Mon Feb 28, 2011 6:16 am, edited 4 times in total.
portugalwillie wrote:I would just do three Jazzmasters and a tele. Then sell a Jazzmaster body to me!
I already have a CAR Jagmaster with Jazzmaster pups in it. If I can repair it, I won't strip it for parts. The Jazzmaster bodies are cool, but is large and barely fits on the blank. I think one will be enough for now. If I have an extra I will let you know.
I would say wait on the jazzmaster or jagstang. The JM, as I've been finding out, has A LOT of parts that go into it. And as for the jagstang, it's the only one I'm not terrible interested in.
Haze wrote:I would say wait on the jazzmaster or jagstang. The JM, as I've been finding out, has A LOT of parts that go into it. And as for the jagstang, it's the only one I'm not terrible interested in.
Ash teles are great though!
Since these are my first "from scratch" builds, I thought the Tele would be a good basic guitar to start with. I really want to make a Baja Tele if I can find the electronics for it. Have to see how it goes. I may ask for tips on neck staining when I get there. The jag-stang has always fascinated me, but not in the basswood body. If I do a mustang and a Jag-stang, I might put the Jag trem on the Jag-stang like Fran's (unless I just love the Mustang vibrato). The jazzmaster would be tedious because of all the parts, but if I can't fix the Jagmaster I would already have excellent pups to start the jazzmaster. I might sell/trade the jagmaster just to fund some of these other projects.
I agree with Dice. Built ONE as a learning experience first. I think the baja wiring is 4 way series/parallel with phase switching on a push/pull tone pot (that's what i'm doing on my tele-style thing)
AddamInsane wrote:I agree with Dice. Built ONE as a learning experience first. I think the baja wiring is 4 way series/parallel with phase switching on a push/pull tone pot (that's what i'm doing on my tele-style thing)
This. And start with the Telecaster. No contours - simpler.
Build one full guitar and you will have MANY lessons learned in order to make a really good stick of the other ones.
The Telecaster as the first guitar made sense to me too when I was starting all this. It will be the easiest to get off the ground with the least complicated routes and not contours. Very good advice going forward. I hope I could maybe find the pots and switches being parted out separately (I have seen it on eBay before) to save time and effort. I was thinking of making one change to the basic Baja Tele Design. I thought about switching the traditional 3 saddles for a 6 saddle bridge. I saw someone do it once on youtube and it would make intonation easier. Any idea how to soften the edges on the telecaster? (Small roundover bit?) It's obviously very subtle compared to most other Fenders.
I am moving forward with the Telecaster first. I found a Baja Tele Wire harness (pots, plate, 4 way switch) on the Bay and that will save me some time. I just got $200 for my birthday from my in-laws that will probably go towards the neck. I still need pickups and a bridge plate (American standard with the 6 saddles?). I got the custom router bit today to cut out the bodies with. I am also thinking of selling my CAR Jagmaster to fund some of these projects.(though I may keep the pups since they are voiced hotter than standard JM pups)
paul_ wrote:Ash Jag-Stang would handle like a 3-wheel Hummer.
I have an ash jagstang.
It is bastard heavy too! I weighed it at 9 pounds.
BTW taylor, you NEED a 3 saddle bridge, better from as aesthetic POV and you'll appease the cork-sniffing 'tone-seekers' too.
I have one on my CV duo-sonic and it works okay. It would be exactly what is on my schematic, so it would be easy to implement. Just trying to put my own touches. I need to put more thought into it.
I just finished taking my bowed raw guitar stock and transforming it into straight usable boards. I used my table saw and wood planer to get the boards to the right dimensions. I planned one set to 1.5" for a Mustang body while the rest are 1.75" thick for all the others. Now I need to glue the stock back together and touch up with some wood filler.
I always liked the blue sparkle and white finishes. The silver sparkle is a little tacky. The black is not bad but not my favorite. I am going to do a Super-sonic, just not sure if I will use this Ash or another wood.
It will probably come down to either the Jag-stang or Super-sonic, though I am a little concerned if weight is an issue that an Ash Jazzmaster will be really heavy. I kept hearing some people saying Ash was lite will others say it's very heavy. I know there are different kinds of Ash. My wood is Southern Green Ash. My brother-in-law said this about it: "Actually one of our best products is called guitar stock. It is southern green ash. We select the ash lumber for it's weight. It has to be strong but light." I heard Northern Ash is really heavy. Maybe that Ash Jag-stang you saw was made of a different kind of Ash?
Found this on Warmoth's site: I have the Swamp Ash, so I think a Jag-stang wouldn't be too heavy. I will see what my Mustang and Tele feel like and go from there.
Ash (Fraxinus americana):
We have two very different types of Ash: Northern Hard Ash and Swamp Ash (Southern Soft Ash).
Northern Hard Ash is very hard, heavy and dense. A Strat® body will normally weigh 5 lbs. and up. Its density contributes to a bright tone and a long sustain which makes it very popular. Its color is creamy, but it also tends to have heartwood featuring pink to brown tints. The grain pores are open and it takes a lot of finish to fill them up.
Swamp Ash is a prized wood for many reasons. It is a fairly light weight wood which makes it easily distinguishable from Hard Ash. A Strat® body will normally weigh under 5 lbs. Many of the 50's Fenders were made of Swamp Ash. The grain is open and the color is creamy. This wood is a very nice choice for clear finishes. Swamp Ash is our second most popular wood. It is a very musical wood offering a very nice balance of brightness and warmth with a lot of "pop".
This project seems to be moving at warp speed. My daughter's babysitter was sick so I got to stay home one extra day after spring break. While she napped I was able to get a few more things done.
Today is my birthday and my present to myself arrived. I bought a wire assembly out of a used Baja telecaster complete with plate, 4 way switch, volume pot and tone pot with the S1 switch.
I dropped it on the template along with the Baja Tele pickguard I pickup up earlier. Everything lined up well and I just need to make some tweeks to the assembly route.
I also glued my first two pieces of Ash back together for the Telecaster body. I am letting it sit overnight before I touch anything. I am hoping to start cutting and routing the body sometime this week.
Do you plan on rewiring it to be reversed/switch in the back? As is its wired normally - switch, volume, tone. If you want it reversed you'll have to rewire things a bit to be volume, tone, switch. If you just flip the switch around you'll have tone, volume, switch which is a bit odd if you ask me.
I got one really cool present from my inlaws (cash). So I now have $200 to spend on a Tele neck. I have been doing my homework and think that an allparts neck is the way to go. I looked at Warmoth but the only necks I found were $193 and unfinished. I found several Allparts maple fretboard necks with nitro finish for about $200 (including shipping) on the Bay.
Now comes the part I might need some help on. I original thought I would get a V-neck since the Baja telecasters came with soft V- necks with a 9.5" radius. I have never played a Baja tele in person and so I don't know/remember what a v-neck fells like. Then I started looking all my electric guitars to see what necks I already play:
AVRI Jag: C-neck with 7.25" radius (nitro)
Squier Jagmaster: Modern C-neck with 9.5" radius (poly)
Squier CV Duo-Sonic: Modern C-neck with 9.5" radius (poly)
The necks I am looking at possibly purchasing are:
TMNF: vintage profile neck with 7.25" radius (nitro) with vintage frets
TMNF-C: C-neck with 10" radius (nitro) with modern frets
TMNF-V: V-neck with 7.25" radius (nitro)with vintage frets
I heard that vintage tele necks were really thick. I like the C-necks but 10" radius is the flattest and has modern frets (I guess that means taller). Of course I am not sure about the V-neck since I have never owned one. Any insights or ideas would be helpful. Mike, I would love your thoughts since I know you have a vintage and CP jag as well as you owned a real Baja Tele for quite a while. I might try to get away one evening to Guitar Center and track down some V-neck teles before I order one. I would love to get the neck before I actually route the neck pocket to make sure everything lines up proper.
