# First scratch-build: Taylorcaster



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

Going to begin work on my first ever scratch-built guitar (Cigar boxes notwithstanding) in a month or so, and was hoping for some input or advice. Keeping the budget really low on this one, just to help me get my bearings on guitar-building. 

Here's a quick and dirty digital mockup:









The plan is: 25.5" scale, 22-fret Stratocaster-style maple neck and board, probably just basswood Telecaster-style semi-hollow body with anigre top and back (since I have a bunch of it on hand.) Total thickness will be 1.6"-1.65". 8.8k overwound single coil at the neck, 9.2k mini-humbucker at the bridge. Top-loaded fixed bridge, roller string guides (and maybe roller saddles, I'll see where my budget takes me), and locking machine heads. I'm already working on designing/building an on-board Tube Overdrive effect on a push-pull pot (Tube Overdrive effect will be active when the tone pot is in its normal state, and the knob will adjust the amount of drive, pulling the push-pull up ought to allow it to function as a Master Tone, probably with a .022 cap.) Anyway, what do y'all think? Do you dig it? Am I biting off more than I can chew?


----------



## LydianGuitars (Apr 18, 2013)

I assume that you'll be getting an aftermarket neck. That will simplify and speed up your project.

For the body, going with a hardtail also simplifies the work as there are no string through holes to worry about. Forget about roller saddles. They're a crutch for a poorly setup instrument. 
For the machine heads, go with standard machine heads. There is not point in having locking machine heads on a hardtail guitar in terms of tuning stability. You'll have less weight at the headstock and potentially overall better balance between the light body and neck. For the string guides, tusq guides work well, as do roller guides but you can avoid those with staggered height tuners. 
For the nut, my 1st choice is Tusq XL. 

The tele body is one of the simplest bodies you can make so you shouldn't get into too much trouble. The big difficulty will be with the f-hole and routing out the hollow body. Before you glue the top to the rest of the body, make sure that you seal the wood inside the hollowed out part. Doing this will prevent the body from warping down the line. A thin coat of schellac will do the trick but make sure it doesn't go where the glue lines will be. 

I like the look of the guitar. Vey nice but I'd do the f-hole a little larger.

What will you be using for the finish?


----------



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

that looks tasty with the Strat neck. I like the black on white, but not crazy about the maple neck. Dark rosewood or Ebony would look better (in my mind).


----------



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

LydianGuitars said:


> I assume that you'll be getting an aftermarket neck. That will simplify and speed up your project.
> Forget about roller saddles. They're a crutch for a poorly setup instrument.
> Go with standard machine heads.
> For the nut, my 1st choice is Tusq XL.
> ...


Neck's homemade, too: I have one that I finished with a 2-way truss a few months ago, it just needs a board glued onto it, and a coat of finish. The only reason I was considering roller saddles was because I bend pretty far while playing, and I've had quite a few strings break on me RIGHT at the saddle even with plastic sleeves over the end of the strings, so I thought I'd give rollers a shot. After a little thought , you're 100% right about the machine heads: I'm leaning toward Kluson-style, maybe Wilkinson EZLocks, and if I need string guides, I'm definitely going roller guides, if just because I bulk-ordered 20 of them to upgrade my current guitars. I've got a hunk of Muskox horn I found on my trip to Nunavut last year (I didn't kill it or anything, I literally found an 8-10" length from the tip of a horn in the snow) so I might endeavor make my own nut, but failing that, I usually fall back on Tusqs. I made a second concept with a larger F-hole, the only limit I have is that I definitely want a normal Tele pickguard on it. (I'm not fond of the thinline Teles because of the IMHO-goofy pickguard shape.) Finish will probably be urethane on the body, but I'm leaning towards Gun Stock Oil for the neck, but I've still got more research to do. The advantage of doing the top _and_ back as glue-ons is that I can use a scrollsaw to cut the hollows of the body, so I SHOULD only need to route the pickup cavities and neck pocket, right?



Scotty said:


> that looks tasty with the Strat neck. I like the black on white, but not crazy about the maple neck. Dark rosewood or Ebony would look better (in my mind).


Ebony is a distinct possibility, so I did that in my second concept, but I have too damn many rosewood board guitars to make another. I dig the tone of maple, and I dig the tone of Ebony, though, so it's a toss up, for now. (I'll probably go for whichever's cheaper once I get to the lumber-shopping phase, since I'm pretty cool with the look of either)








Sloppy Concept #2


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I agree with the pickguard shape you've chosen. This one looks much better than the goofy one on the Thinline guitars.


----------



## ronmac (Sep 22, 2006)

I'd play that!


----------



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

I like it!

so, seeing that, would it look better with a black or white headstock? I do like maple, but not on white, or whitewashed...like maple on dark bodies.


----------



## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

I definitely like the black/white/maple combo better but the f cutout looks better in the second drawing.
Tru oil on the neck is awesome, you can't go wrong with that. (pretty damn hard to screw up)
Good luck with the Muskox horn, maybe buy a preslotted tusq nut to use as a template (assuming you've never cut one before).
Doing the top seperately sounds like it would work just fine, I would do it the same way.

Nathan


----------



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

nnieman said:


> I definitely like the black/white/maple combo better but the f cutout looks better in the second drawing.


Yeah, I'm torn between maple and ebony, so I'll have it come down to price on the day I load up on materials. Definitely going for the bigger F-hole, though. I've cut a few nuts (I worked briefly at a butcher shop, so I had access to plenty of cattle bones) but as far as I can tell (by look and feel), Muskox horn is a LOT denser than beef bone, so it might be a bigger challenge. I'm considering having the neck accept Les Paul style nuts instead of the Strat/Tele style, but I'm not 100% yet.


----------



## Rudder Bug (Nov 21, 2011)

That is a very cool project my friend! Will you document the building sequences in here?

Gilles


----------



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

Rudder Bug said:


> That is a very cool project my friend! Will you document the building sequences in here?
> 
> Gilles


Thanks, brother. I will be! I'm hoping to start once I recoup my losses from Christmas shopping. I'm working on-set for 3 indie movies in the next 2 months, so progress will be slow.


----------



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

Possible change of plans: I'm considering popping a gold foil in the bridge instead of the mini-bucker I had considered originally. Thoughts/opinions? I'll be using this guitar mostly for Chicago Blues and Louisiana/Swamp Blues, if that helps.


----------



## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

I'd think that the goldfoil in the bridge might be really bright, it might work better in the neck position.
A goldfoil neck/firebird pickup bridge sounds like a pretty killer pickup combo

Nathan


----------



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

Went for a different headstock shape (trying not to get sued) and settled for a Pau Ferro fretboard, but the neck's ALMOST done. (Still need to fret it and give the lacquer a sand and polish once it's cured), and body is rough-cut from hickory with a cedar top (interesting wood choice, just wanted to satisfy my curiosity). Going to be routed to take both a Goldfoil neck/Firebird bridge pickups AND tradition Tele single coils with a bridge, scratchplate and control plate swap.








Here's a crappy ipod pic of the headstock. Maple neck, curly anigre veneer with pearwood dyed black as trim.


----------



## nnieman (Jun 19, 2013)

Wow off to a great start!

Nathan


----------



## ed2000 (Feb 16, 2007)

Very nice. How did you imprint the headstock logo?


----------



## Rudder Bug (Nov 21, 2011)

ed2000 said:


> Very nice. How did you imprint the headstock logo?


Exactly the question I was going to ask! 

Cheers


----------



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

ed2000 said:


> Very nice. How did you imprint the headstock logo?





Rudder Bug said:


> Exactly the question I was going to ask!


It's a heat-transfer of a laser printout. Basically, you just reverse your image, use a laser printer (inkjet won't work) to print it out onto parchment paper (NOT wax paper), and then you iron it onto smoothed/sanded wood or veneer at medium heat until the toner transfers. The logo is only the thickness of the toner (Between 20 and 100 microns, depending on your printer settings) so you can clear-coat it seamlessly a LOT easier than with waterslides, and it's a lot cheaper. The only downside is that you can't use shaker cans to clear coat, since most propellants make the toner run. (Learned that the hard way a week-and-a-half ago.) My printer is black and white, so that was the limitation of my logo, but you can use colour laser printers OR a print shop if you want coloured logos (though yellow doesn't transfer very well). If anyone's got any other questions, I'm here to answer them!


----------



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

Quick neck update: Finish is satinized, hardware is added, frets are pressed, dressed, and polished, now all that's left is to cut and insert a nut, then I'm onto the body.

12" radius, C-shaped neck at the nut gradually shifting towards a 16" radius and D-shaped neck from the 12th fret.


----------



## Taylor (Oct 31, 2014)

Just finished winding a tele neck and a humbucker bridge pickup, and started mixing paint for the body. Neck pup is ceramic, 42 awg enamel, overwound to 7.93K, and the bridge is a 4-wire A5, 44awg enamel, scatterwound to 10.45K. Both have nickel covers, the humbucker is open-top. Tested in my scrap guitar-- they pair well, and the neck is less "mumbly" than most teles I've played. Sounds a bit like a Les Paul, but we'll see how much that sticks once it's hooked up to the wiring harness I've rigged up. Pickguard is cut to shape, electronics are mostly-soldered, just waiting on my bridge and control plate to arrive. I got knurled steel knobs and amp-style black tophats, I'll pop them both on and see which I like best.


----------

