# Tale of Two Tele's



## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

I'm a hobbist builder.....not a pro 
All this talk about multi piece bodies got me thinking. I scored a nice hunk of swamp ash awhile back, carefully book matched the body to the left of the picture and glued it up. Then I took all the left over's (3 pieces) and glued up the right body thinking "this one's going to be a solid colour for sure".










I hate it when I'm wrong.
I liked the 3 piece body best.

















Can you pick out the 3 pieces? Easier on the back.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

that looks real good-i can only see 2 pieces lol. nice work!


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## starjag (Jan 30, 2008)

I can see the three pieces in the pic of the back. It looks fantastic!


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Ain't them ferrulle holes a pain.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

shoretyus said:


> Ain't them ferrulle holes a pain.


Sure are. I use a brad-point drill bit (Lee Valley) and I go super slow, and they still walk all over the place


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

This is what stage it's at right now. Almost ready for a sand & buff. 








That's 6 coats of clear lacqer, no tint. I'm going for twin buckers, no pick gaurd and a hardtail strat bridge. Everything black maybe? Rosewood finger board on a maple neck.

His twin brother will be a "traditional" Tele layout.


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## ajcoholic (Feb 5, 2006)

Lincoln said:


> Sure are. I use a brad-point drill bit (Lee Valley) and I go super slow, and they still walk all over the place


Can I offer a suggestion?

First, I assume you are using a drill press. Chuck the bit as far as you can in the chuck, so just enough is sticking out to drill through the body. That will eliminate some flex out of the bit. Next, make sure you are running fast - like 2000+ rpm, and feed down an 1/8" and back off letting the drill bit clear the chips rather than packing up. Ash (and other grainy woods) are harder to drill without bit wander, but it can be done.

AJC

PS the wood/grain looks great!


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

That grain looks real nice.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

ajcoholic said:


> Can I offer a suggestion?
> 
> First, I assume you are using a drill press. Chuck the bit as far as you can in the chuck, so just enough is sticking out to drill through the body. That will eliminate some flex out of the bit. Next, make sure you are running fast - like 2000+ rpm, and feed down an 1/8" and back off letting the drill bit clear the chips rather than packing up. Ash (and other grainy woods) are harder to drill without bit wander, but it can be done.
> 
> ...



All suggestions Welcome 

That was using a drill press, and my first ash "string through" body build. I was very surprized when I finished drilling and flipped the body over to have a look. Thanks for the tip, My drill press is at 800 rpm and I only cleaned the holes 2 or 3 times while drilling. hwopv

You're bang on.

And thanks to everybody who commented


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Those both look great!


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Lincoln said:


> I was very surprized when I finished drilling and flipped the body over to have a look. Thanks for the tip, My drill press is at 800 rpm and I only cleaned the holes 2 or 3 times while drilling. hwopv


At what came out your mouth " *&%$^^$%^$^^^"


It's pretty hard with such a small drill bit. I went for toploading on my last two Tele's. I can't hear the difference. But I don't own a drillpress and the only one big enough around me is covered in grease and buried with car parts.


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## al3d (Oct 3, 2007)

VERY nice lincoln. Where did you get your template for the body?


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

al3d said:


> VERY nice lincoln. Where did you get your template for the body?


I got my tele templates off of Fleebay years back. Lazer cut, really nice.
They came in a set of 2, one for the outside & bridge, one for the neck pocket and the inside cavities.

I can copy them for you


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

WELL, believe it or not.........this poor Tele never did get finished. Never made it up to the top of my "things to do list". I started working on it again today. Check the date on the previous post. Crazy huh? 

I went with a maple neck, and an odd combination of black and chrome hardware. In my head it was much cooler, not sure what happened to that. Pickups are Vineham P90 Humdogs with open nickel covers. 









Tomorrow I'll take it apart and do some routing on the neck pocket. I'm a little too high for a guitar without a pickguard.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Thats a pro luthier with backlog wait time!


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## SaucyJack (Mar 8, 2017)

Cool unit! Tidy work.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Finished product, and it only took 9 years. I ended up switching the open cover P90 humdogs for a set of Vineham Sweet V59 humbuckers. I already had a tele with P90's, but I didn't have one with two HB's, so it was the way to go.
I was even silly enough to put black strings on it.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Lincoln said:


> Finished product, and it only took 9 years.


It was worth the wait! Looks great!

Are you pleased with how it sounds and how it feels to play?

ENJOY!


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## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

Looks great Dave. I must've seen it hanging in your "shed" a time or 2. Have to pay you a visit sometime soon. Is the SG done?


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Given the dates, I might recognize the wood, are they really heavy?


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

greco said:


> It was worth the wait! Looks great!
> 
> Are you pleased with how it sounds and how it feels to play?
> 
> ENJOY!


I'm still tweeking it, but it feels great. I had it plugged into a tweed bassman clone, and the bridge pickup wanted to break loose at anything over 2. It's a beast


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Dorian2 said:


> Looks great Dave. I must've seen it hanging in your "shed" a time or 2. Have to pay you a visit sometime soon. Is the SG done?


It was hanging in the music room all this time, unfinished, so yeah you must have seen it on the wall. 
SG is on the bench in the work shop, but there's a Firebird ahead of it in the house, so it will be a while.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

keto said:


> Given the dates, I might recognize the wood, are they really heavy?


This one is not heavy. It's very light. All that ash you gave me ended up as tele's, but hollowed out with maple or cedar tops. Sort of like a thinline, but without the F-hole. It was the only way I could keep the weight down. I still have one of your Ash blanks left. If you ever want to build up your arms and shoulder muscles, I'd be more that happy to build you a tele bass using that wood.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

LOL for sure sir. Still haven’t got to the other one yet.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

keto said:


> LOL for sure sir. Still haven’t got to the other one yet.


This one of the blanks you gave me, hollowed out with a Cedar spalt top.








Here's two more of them. You laid a shit-ton of wood on me that day. None of it went to waste though  









These are all coated, waiting for wet sanding and assembly. Should be ready in about 7 to 9 years


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Lincoln said:


> Should be ready in about 7 to 9 years


Don't rush!

Sincerely now...beautiful work and amazing woodgrains.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Here's the last northern ash body blank @keto donated to me a long time ago. I dug it out, hollowed it out, and it became the "Self Portrait Tele".








The top is Rosewood, nothing on it yet. If you don't see a face in there, please let me know so I can get my medication changed asap. 
Thanks


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## Guest (Dec 21, 2018)

Lincoln said:


> I'd be more that happy to build you a tele bass using that wood.


That's a bucket list bass for me.
Actual Tele style.


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## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

laristotle said:


> That's a bucket list bass for me.
> Actual Tele style.
> 
> View attachment 235756


is that a short scale or full scale? Those are cool, I've never seen one.


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## Guest (Dec 22, 2018)

Full scale.
Hutchins from England.
Belongs to a friend.


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