# My new telecaster-ish project



## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

*Most recent update:*

http://www.guitarscanada.com/Board/showpost.php?p=236791&postcount=26




This post is a little bit introductory for myself.. so bear with me.

I've been making electric guitars for abut 10 months now, so I am still fairly novice. I _really_ love doing it, so I recently bought myself some tools at home (the ones I don't own) I just got out of highscool (where a built my last guitars) and I want to put together some small workshop somewhere, eventually. All summer, I've been rummaging through the internet looking at various online tutorials, in hopes of correcting some of the mistakes I made on my old guitars. I've never owned or even held an electric guitar before I started making them, and I have only recently been able to play them decently.

At any rate, I've bought all the new parts, tools, and lumber for my new design.


*Vintage Kahler tremolo Circa 1980's*



*Black Ice passive overdrive*



All the parts (truss rod not shown)




The pickups are "Select: By EMG" Sort of budget option, but they are very good pickups from what I hear.

My new thickness planer




After I get a small replacement part for my bandsaw, I'll start work on the body.. Hopefully I can start working this upcoming weekend. I'm open to suggestions and advice, I've seen a lot of really fantastic work here, so some expert advice would be good.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

A few more pictures:

My lumber, for neck and body. (maple and padauk)


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## Big White Tele (Feb 10, 2007)

Excellent!! This should be very interesting watching this come together. Congratulations on your efforts to do it the hard way. Most would just buy the parts and put it together, but your building it all!! Very cool. kksjur


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Thanks  Here's the two guitars I built in highschool carpentry class, if you're interested in seeing them. I want to replace the pickups and neck on the strat, because they are both kinda crappy.

Keep in mind that I did a lot of stuff the way I shouldn't of, I hope to correct my previous mistakes in this new one.





I hope to buy a new camera soon, too to replace this cellphone cam Im currently using xD I'll be raking in a good $1400 on my next bi-weekly paycheck, so I'll blow part of that on a new digital camera and a portable table saw. Hopefully then, the pictures won't look like ass.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Wow...a Tele with EMG and a Khaler trem!?....hehe..where did you get that idea?


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

lol, It's generally how I do it. I just go out and buy the parts that would make a guitar, and modify my idea to accommodate them. Nice thing about the kahler is that the router hole is dead simple to make, as compared to a floyd rose.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

Nice stuff - love to see younger guys using their hands and heads!

Woodworking is a great talent to have. You can use it all through your life... and not just building guitars.

AJC


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## puckhead (Sep 8, 2008)

Hypno Toad said:


> Hopefully then, the pictures won't look like ass.



As long as the guitars don't! :smile:


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Hypno Toad said:


> lol, It's generally how I do it. I just go out and buy the parts that would make a guitar, and modify my idea to accommodate them. Nice thing about the kahler is that the router hole is dead simple to make, as compared to a floyd rose.


oh i know to well that the Khaler are simple to install..before the floyd got out, we all had those on our guitars...man..worst POS invented for guitars when Floyd rose poped on the market..Kahler died of a slow death basicaly..LOL...Hopefully yours will sound better.


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

Nice work/ guitars. I look forward to seeing your progress. :rockon2:


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

al3d said:


> oh i know to well that the Khaler are simple to install..before the floyd got out, we all had those on our guitars...man..worst POS invented for guitars when Floyd rose poped on the market..Kahler died of a slow death basicaly..LOL...Hopefully yours will sound better.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy1eiMZ5nUk

Doesn't sound too bad to me. It's fundamentally the same thing accomplished in different way. I'm kinda gimmicky, though.. I've installed the kahler and floyd rose before, and the kahler is just a much more stable concept in general, could have been made a bit better though, seems a lot of hardware makers don't have much imagination 

With the floyd rose, you have the relatively crude system of the claw/springs underneath, whereas the kahler uses the roller mechanism, that is all installed on the same piece. I think the kahler has potential to be better than the floyd rose, but it needs a few minor improvements. Hopefully kahler gets around to that soon.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

I had a Kahler for over 10 years in one of my home built guitars (an ash body/maple top with a mahogany neck and maple board) and it also had a single EMG 85 pickup. It was a great sounding guitar, cleans and overdriven. The Kahler is now home in another guitar and being played still. Dont know why some think they suck, they are solid brass and well machined. Didnt seem to suck tone or sustain from my guitar 

AJC


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

ajcoholic said:


> I had a Kahler for over 10 years in one of my home built guitars (an ash body/maple top with a mahogany neck and maple board) and it also had a single EMG 85 pickup. It was a great sounding guitar, cleans and overdriven. The Kahler is now home in another guitar and being played still. Dont know why some think they suck, they are solid brass and well machined. Didnt seem to suck tone or sustain from my guitar
> 
> AJC


problem why 90% of builders dropped the khaler is lack of substain due to the lack of a "block" basicaly..very well documented. it was a good concept, but unfortunaly for Khler, the Floyd is superior in almost evert fashon.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

al3d said:


> problem why 90% of builders dropped the khaler is lack of substain due to the lack of a "block" basicaly..very well documented. it was a good concept, but unfortunaly for Khler, the Floyd is superior in almost evert fashon.


I would disagree 100% on the lack of sustain thing. But I guess I wont/cant argue with you, since you seem to know pretty much everything about guitars... I guess my own experiences and opinions are invalidated by your superior knowledge.

Sorry to take your thread off topic, hypno toad - but you carry on making your guitars, with whatever works for you...:rockon2:


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Feel free to argue for a few pages 

I won't be starting this until I have a table saw and some free time. Hopefully this weekend.


Certainly, one thing that's an undeniable upside about the kahler is that its compatible with many electric guitars, and doesnt take as much hacking to install as the floyd rose does. ;D


Also, how about these hipshot tremolos, andbody used them? Looks like a budget alternative of a floyd rose. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bridges,_tailpieces/Electric_guitar_tremolos/Hipshot_Tremolo.html


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

ajcoholic said:


> I would disagree 100% on the lack of sustain thing. But I guess I wont/cant argue with you, since you seem to know pretty much everything about guitars... I guess my own experiences and opinions are invalidated by your superior knowledge.
> 
> Sorry to take your thread off topic, hypno toad - but you carry on making your guitars, with whatever works for you...:rockon2:


seriously dude!... everyone is entitles to his own opinion. If you can't take the fact that not everyone will agree with you all the time, it makes for poor discussions realy.


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## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

For the reKord, all my guitars from 82-91 had Kahlers. I don't play that type of musiK anymore, but I love Kahlers.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

starjag said:


> For the reKord, all my guitars from 82-91 had Kahlers. I don't play that type of musiK anymore, but I love Kahlers.


oh i had a few with them as well...i did'nt say they were bad, but rather they lost the race to the Floyd for the floyd's increase in substain...


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## Blue Apple (Feb 8, 2006)

al3d said:


> i did'nt say they were bad


I don't usual get into these arguments, but come on now... Hypno comes on this forum to share his project with us and you drop this in the middle of his thread:

*"worst POS invented for guitars"*

Everybody is entitled to their own opinion but sometimes, you might want to think twice about posting them.

Hypno, good luck with the project.
:food-smiley-004:


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## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

YJMUJRSRV said:


> I always found Floyds to be tone killers. Want more icepick in your tone? Put a floyd on it. I played thru the 80's. Ruined more than one guitar with a floyd. They certainly do work for tuning stability but I still prefer the Fender Trem - they are not made for dive bombing but a well installed and setup vintage trem works just fine.
> 
> The locking trems are to guitars what big screens TV's are to rooms - totally take over the landscape. I love my big screen but its ugly furniture.


Oh i agree that a well tuned strat trem is the best. 

@Blue Apple...sorry if i offended you..but has you say, we are all entitled to our opinions and how we voice it. I might not use the best way to do it, but at least i just explain my opinions to the best of my abilities in a foreign langage.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

al3d said:


> ..i did'nt say they were bad, ..


No, you said "man..worst POS invented for guitars" - what does calling something a piece of sh!t mean? Good?

Sometimes its not what you say but how you say it. We are all entitled to our differing opinions, but they are all valid. If someone tells me a Floyd is a tone robbing bridge, and to me, my Floyd equipped guitars sound great - then they are great, to my ears. 

I see a lot of guitars I dont like, but when someone takes the time and effort to not only learn how to build a guitar from scratch, but share it with the rest of the forum, I like to encourage it - even if its not 100% what I personally like.

ANyhow, I dont want to argue with you or anyone else here. I just felt that it was kind of harsh telling Hypnotoad that his choice of bridge was more or less crap.

Take it easy... I am going on vacation for a few weeks now. Going to see if I can bring back a guitar from Croatia.:smile:

AJC


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## AVWIII (Jun 17, 2009)

Looks like you've got a cool project ahead of you.
...All Glory to the Hypnotoad...


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

no more arguing, guys. For the regulars, we've all seen this before (the arguing, not the guitar!) - move on.

as for mr toad here, i look forward to progress pics! I admire your motivation, i can't make things out of wood except maybe a block hahaha.

enjoy! The luthiers here will be glad to help you out


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

My bandsaw may be out of commission for a while unless I really look hard for a replacement tire, I went to a tool repair place, but other than a cute customer service clerk, there was nothing there, and won't be until she places an order that will arrive in 4 weeks or so D: Maybe I could repair the broken one, who knows.

At any rate, I planed down my lumber to the standard 1- 3/4" thickness. This padauk is beautiful. I'm gonna draw out the body design and do all the alignment/measurements so it's ready to cut when I get my bandsaw fixed.



More to come 9kkhhd


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Been a long while since the update. First news on my bandsaw situation.

I phoned the tool shop back, and the clerk said that the order for the new tires had been placed, she'll phone me back on monday and tell me the progress of the shipment, and a estimated time of arrival.

I tried jigsaw on the hard maple neck, but not surprisingly, it puckered out. I'll have to wait for the bandsaw tire before I can cut it out. I measured out the neck layout, and drilled the pegholes for now. I'll go out during the week to lee valley and pick up a 1/4" router bit so I can route out the groove for the trussrod

Here's some pictures of the neck piece so far. I modified the color curves so you can see the pencil marks better:


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Ah a lesson in patience. That will be a nice neck.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

You CAN buy some decent jig saw blades - they are just expensive and not as common as the soft-steel imported crap everyone sells. I also took some coarser blades and ground off every 2nd tooth to make my own skip tooth blades that wored well in thicker hardwood.

Jigsawing is not as easy or accurate as bandsawing, but it can be done with some fiddling and trial & error in terms of finding the right blade.

AJC


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

I've got a very nice piece of padauk that I would like to refrain from potentially destroying. I'm good on a bandsaw and I am familiar with them and know they can do a nice cut, I find jigsaws to be a bit unpredictable at times. Also, this jisaw I used is fairly underpowered and crappy. If I see a heavier duty one for a reasonable price I may pick it up and give it a shot, Thanks.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Finally, a jigsaw of _epic(!)_ proportions. 




I will cut through the neck tommorow, and will do some work then. May have to make or modify myself a router table so I can cut the truss rod cavity (or I suppose I could make a jig for it). Offtopic but interesting, I went into my shed looking for jigsaw blades, and hauled out an old "Stanley" case buried behind lots of crap, turns out it contained a hand router from _1953_, that belonged to my grandfather. It's still in such perfect condition that I thought it was brand new, and that's without any maintenance. They don't make em like they used to.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Added some new tools to my arsenal today. A portable tablesaw and belt/disk sander.

The jigsaw worked perfectly, about 4x more powerful than the other one I had (or so it seems), it cut through the maple like it was butter. and the larger teeth made quite a clean cut, surprisingly.





It was getting late by the time I was back from home depot and had set up my new tools, only had about 20 minutes of work on the neck today. I'll get up earlier tomorrow to do some real work.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Spent quite a bit of time on it today. could have gotten more done on it if it wasn't raining today.

I've still got to sand the neck smooth, glue on the fretboard, possibly use a bit of silicon to secure the truss rod, thin out the headstock, do the oil finish, and then do the fret work. That stuff should take about another day (that is, when I have time to work on it). Then I'll start on the body.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

More work done. Started on the body (neglecting the neck for today)

Just for fun, I filmed some of the work I did, so I might make a timescale video and put it on youtube.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

as a sawyer i always found a less teeth-faster cut & sometimes smoother cut alot less burn on hardwoods .nice job anyways, keep posting pics .as for the guys arguing WTF, i dont think this is the squire club kkjwpw


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Thanks. I bought two types of jigsaw blades, the fine teeth ones were nothing short of expensive garbage, the large teeth did a way better and faster job.

I'm still cleaning the paduak off my skin and clothes, apparently it's a great tonewood, with qualities similar to rosewood. It makes a huge mess, though. It also burns (not physically, just the feeling) your nose and eyes if you get any in those places. It's one of those guitar "miracle woods" but it sure is difficult to work with


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

A video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyA1D6YqsNM


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Hypno Toad said:


> A video:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyA1D6YqsNM


Very cool Vid man..thanks for taking the time making it..


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

That is way cool! Thanks for the vid.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Pickups have arrived 

I put some more copper shielding around them just to be on the safe side, also I like the way the copper looks.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

lookin' good!


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

News!

I routed the pickup cavities today, and started routing the neck joint. The neck joint should be done tomorrow. Weather is miserable and cold, but whatcha going to do..





I'll have a small video up a bit later.


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

That paduak body is really nice. Call me a sucky, spoiled, Internet baby, but is there any chance of higher resolution pics?


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Yeah, I hate the low res cellphone camera :/

There's a really good camera at my house, but the memory card seems to be fried. When I replace that, I can get some better pictures. That'll be closer to the time the guitar is finished, though. In the mean time, the videos provide a better look.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Speaking of the video, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4sPHr6XuY8


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

No routing jig? You're a brave man! Good work, I would never trust myself to route freehand like that!


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

Wowl..you're rooting your cavities FREEHAND?...hehe, man, i'm impressed...i smoke to much to even try that..LOL. Greath work man


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Thanks, the first pickup cavity wasn't perfect, I was a bit rusty, you can see some lines going down the cavity where there's some discrepancy between the layers I cut out. Fortunately, it will have a pickup cover over it, so you won't see that  Not to mention the copper tape. If I can pat myself on the back for something, it would definitely be the neck joint, which I did by hand with nearly no mistakes:



There's a small area where I chipped out a piece of wood, but not even I noticed it after I sanded that area.

Today I routed all the electronics cavities. I may need to buy a new, longer router bit because the pickup selector switch can't fit in the relatively shallow cavity. I did the final sanding on the body, and then applied the danish oil, and did a wetsanding as I went. Finishing jobs aren't really my forte, but I lucked out on this one because the padauk looks gorgeous, and is incredibly smooth. Despite the speed I went at, the oil seems to be drying well with a nice, somewhat glossy matte finish look. Oil really brings out the rich color of the padauk.



Doing the headstock today was where things got a bit scary. I have no router table, so I made a shitty jig to shave off the top surface of the headstock. Needless to say, I screwed up a few times, so the headstock is thinner than I wanted it to be (because I had to sand it quite a bit). I'll just have to buy some extra washers to put underneath the tuning pegs so that everything fits. I still need practice making necks. This one will be functional and it will look nice, but I can't say I didn't cut corners in the construction.


Video to come soonish.


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

If your headstock is too thin, why not get a veneer of paduak and put it on the headstock too? That way it will match the body.


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

Not a bad idea, but my headstock is contoured for looks, so it wouldn't really work. The extra washers should work fine and look fine. The maple is rock hard and the headstock heel is fairly thick, so it shouldn't break or anything.


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