Warmoth Tele (my first "build")

**Endorphins** · 05-20-2017, 01:58 PM

love it, looks great!

**Cunamara** · 05-20-2017, 11:30 PM

Originally Posted by 0zoro

Looks great! As I have just ordered tele parts from Warmoth I was wondering if you had any troubles, encountered any dilemmas, etc during the build. Were there any moments of, I wish I had put things together in a different order, or was that quite apparent?

It depends on how much room you have to work with; in my small space it was easier to do the shielding and to install the electronics before putting the neck on, to be able to rotate the body as needed.

The hardest thing IME is to get the bridge centered so that the strings fall on the neck correctly. If Warmoth had drilled the screw holes then that might be moot. The other hardest thing is drilling the holes for the tuner screws without breaking off the drill bit.

**vinlander** · 05-21-2017, 07:32 AM

Very nice project indeed, congratz.
Finished my own Warmoth tele part caster in March and man was that fun.
I went the full mahogany way neck and body and used tru oil in multiple small layers.
I did not pore filled and can still feel the grain after 9 thin layers and 0000 sanding between the coats.
Playability of the instrument was already maybe 80% there as is, but a trip to my Montreal luthier for a pro setup and fret levelling to tame down those higher 6105 brought it to 110%.

**MaxTwang** · 05-22-2017, 03:29 AM

Originally Posted by Cunamara

...
The hardest thing IME is to get the bridge centered so that the strings fall on the neck correctly. If Warmoth had drilled the screw holes then that might be moot. The other hardest thing is drilling the holes for the tuner screws without breaking off the drill bit.

Warmoth drills all the holes - the body has 4 holes for the bridge mounting screws and 6 holes for the strings.

The last thing you want to be doing as an inexperienced builder is drilling neck mounting holes, bridge mounting holes or string-through holes. Bridge/string holes are tough as a Strat/Tele body is a bit too wide to use a 10" drill press (common light duty drill press). Hand drilling often leads to wandering bits and string ferrules that are not in-line.

Some suppliers don't drill all the holes.

Warmoth handles the trickier stuff for us.

**pants** · 05-31-2017, 12:30 PM

Been a bit since I updated. I ended up with a few build-up spots after that last coat that was pictured. I got overzealous and applied too thick... Hitting it back with steel-wool I turned out taking more off than I hoped in order to get everything even and smooth. So I did some more color coats with the product I had left and moved on to the top coat. The top coat is sort of like a tru-oil approach, "layer on until it's where you want it." Having never done this before, I really don't know what "done" looks like... so I did 5 layers of top coat, using steel wool between until the little bottle Wudtone supplies was empty. So I guess I'm done?
I really like the look. A lot. I feel a little wary of protection/durability of the finish... I know the Wudtone is meant to feel more like naked wood... I suppose we'll see how it wears. Consulting the internet has reassured me that the Wudtone finish is compatible with tru oil so if I end up wanting to put more protection on I can always do a few layers of tru oil.
So at this point I let it cure for a few days and maybe a very light steel wool to give it a bit of matte or some buff to shiny it up. Took a couple photos in the sunshine. There is a lot of depth and character to the finish and despite maybe sounding a little hesitant about durability, I REALLY like the look. A pair of photos of the front from slightly different angles shows how the light highlights depth of grain. The color is really alive.

And the back:

This whole finishing process is longer than I anticipated. Patience is hard. I want to play! Alas, days of curing before I should start assembly.

**pants** · 05-31-2017, 09:54 PM

Indoor lighting:

**pants** · 06-03-2017, 05:00 PM

Ok, so minor hiccup. I decided that the 5 days since I applied the last topcoat should be long enough to at least start the process of shielding cavities...
As I was positioning the body in my lap to see how the tape measured up, I noticed a red line on my pants where the corner of an edge had rubbed across my phone in my pocket.
So... as I sort of feared the top coat I currently have must be insufficient to protect the finish underneath, at least along the edges. Unfortunately, I used up all of what was included in the Wudtone kit. Some light googling yielded confirmation that tru oil can safely be applied over the top of a Wudtone finish. So, now back to the finishing step. Should turn out fine. I didn't really buy the whole Wudtone line that their finish lets the wood breathe and creates a more resonant guitar blah blah blah. I just thought the process was easy (can be rubbed on at my kitchen table) and the end result looks nice. So now instead of a whole Wudtone kit, I'll basically end up using their dye coats and some coats of tru oil to seal it and protect it. Not sure how many coats I'll end up with, but at least the turnaround on tru oil layers is quick and I can do a couple in a day.

**pants** · 06-05-2017, 09:39 PM

Maybe this is it for the top coat take 2, tru oil edition. I think I'm liking the tru oil effect better than the original topcoat anyway. This is 5 coats of tru oil, plus some of the original Wudtone topcoat which was knocked back with steel wool but not totally removed as I didn't want to start hitting the color back. Have to check it over thoroughly, make sure it's even and acceptable. A few photos outside. The picture of the back does special justice to just how deep the color effect is in the finish. The contrasting light and dark areas are not uneven coloring. Different light angles shift the grain in any one spot from almost orange to a deep dark cherry.

So despite the setback, I'm very pleased with the end result of the finish. I just want to play it though!

**EGad** · 06-05-2017, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by pants

Maybe this is it for the top coat take 2, tru oil edition. I think I'm liking the tru oil effect better than the original topcoat anyway. This is 5 coats of tru oil, plus some of the original Wudtone topcoat which was knocked back with steel wool but not totally removed as I didn't want to start hitting the color back. Have to check it over thoroughly, make sure it's even and acceptable. A few photos outside. The picture of the back does special justice to just how deep the color effect is in the finish. The contrasting light and dark areas are not uneven coloring. Different light angles shift the grain in any one spot from almost orange to a deep dark cherry.

So despite the setback, I'm very pleased with the end result of the finish. I just want to play it though!

Excellent workmanship and attention to detail!. Based on my experience, Warmoth quality is high. I bought a quarter sawn maple Strat neck with a Warmoth radius and Dunlop 6105 frets. Refinished it myself, attached it to the body sans electronics and sent it out to be plek'd. I could not be more pleased with the result.

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**Jehu** · 06-05-2017, 10:45 PM

Gotta agree with Mr. B -- that would look rad with a black guard.

**pants** · 06-06-2017, 03:16 PM

Originally Posted by Jehu

Gotta agree with Mr. B -- that would look rad with a black guard.

Heh. We shall see. I'm going with the white pearl at least initially. Really easy to switch out at any time though... just 5 screws and the pickup will be body mounted. So maybe I'll try it down the road.

**pants** · 06-14-2017, 04:33 PM

I was so happy to be getting it playable in the final steps that I didn't take many pictures of the process of assembly. There are a couple though.
First I pushed the ferrules in (Harder than it would seem!). Did this with the body face down on a towel on the table and used a rubber mallet to push (no hitting involved) them into place.

Then I flipped it over and went to work with the shielding tape. I also added tabs to screw holes to get a good connection to covers.

Then I taped the bridge ground wire into the shielding and installed the bridge pickup and bridge. Bolted the neck on. Marked off holes for pickguard and drilled pilots. Was going to body mount the Lollar but turns out the 2 sets of hardware the seller sent were for pickguard mount or for mounting a completely different pickup cause the screws didn't even fit the holes on the Lollar pup. So rather than be patient and get new screws, I drilled a few holes to pickguard mount it. Installed the pickguard. Took the wiring harness off its cardboard and installed it on the control plate. Screwed the input jack into the electrosocket and went to install it. I'm guessing it's meant for a body with the little flattened bit at the input jack because it sits funny on the curve.

I'll look into replacing this, but for now it works.
Then I found out the soldering iron that I hadn't used for like a decade was non functional and it was 1 am so I had to pause.

**pants** · 06-14-2017, 04:41 PM

So, after a trip to the tool store...

And finally got it all together and played for a while before taking a few better photos.

Gotta make a few setup tweaks but everything is pretty close. The Lollar CC pup is AMAZING. So much sparkle and bell-like clarity. It's exactly what I wanted when I set out to build this guitar. The Porter 9T in the bridge is really nice as well. Gets some nice p90 fatness. After I get things tweaked I'll try to post some playing samples.

**citizenk74** · 06-14-2017, 09:37 PM

Nice job - that's a guitar you can be proud of! I really like the look of the deep red and MOTS pick guard. And with the CC and the traditional Tele bridge pup, you'll have a nice range of tones to work with. Congratulations, and play it in good health!

**pants** · 06-14-2017, 11:42 PM

So, some setup and more playing later... I was a little worried that the 3 saddle bridge wouldn't get me as exact in intonation as I like, but I wanted to be traditional and I'd heard such good things about brass saddles. The Joe Barden bridge with compensated brass saddles got me spot on though. Octaves perfect on every string. One quirky thing that bugs me a tiny bit is how the low E sits basically in the height adjustment screw slot.

The high E was slipping over there too but I managed to scoot things around a little. Plays and sounds fine but I'm a little neurotic.
The Warmoth boatneck takes a little getting used to. It's sort of like a new pair of shoes that you can tell are really comfortable, but they just feel a little weird at first.
I'm not usually much of a bridge pickup guy, but I'm really warming up to the Porter 9T. After I got the heights set (individually adjustable poles!) to balance it out and compete with the Lollar for output, it gives a real nice punchy blues tone. I'll have to dust off the overdrive pedal and go to town soon.

**MaxTwang** · 06-15-2017, 03:00 PM

Originally Posted by pants

...
One quirky thing that bugs me a tiny bit is how the low E sits basically in the height adjustment screw slot. ...

Have you tried loosening the E & A strings and nudging the saddle over a bit? As the saddles aren't notched or grooved there shouldn't be any tension pulling the saddle back to it's current position.

**pants** · 06-16-2017, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by MaxTwang

Have you tried loosening the E & A strings and nudging the saddle over a bit? As the saddles aren't notched or grooved there shouldn't be any tension pulling the saddle back to it's current position.

Yeah, I did this to some extent. I guess mostly it's weird to me how there aren't grooves of some sort. I know that's how vintage tele bridges are and that it obviously works. Like I say, I'm a little neurotic.

**EGad** · 06-16-2017, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by pants

Yeah, I did this to some extent. I guess mostly it's weird to me how there aren't grooves of some sort. I know that's how vintage tele bridges are and that it obviously works. Like I say, I'm a little neurotic.

I am impressed by your excellent work! As for the position of the low E on the bridge, if not for the larger diameter of the string, the B and D are similarly positioned so there isn't anything inconsistent or odd about it. You do have the consistency and symmetry. I understand the neurosis which is a result of flyspecking ever detail of the project for so long. I totally get it. This, too, shall pass. Sit back, relax, have a beer and pat yourself on the back.

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**pants** · 07-01-2017, 02:02 PM

Belonging to several different groups online, I lose track of what's been posted where time to time. It occurred to me that I hadn't dropped a sound sample on this thread. So, here's a quick little take on the There Will Never Be Another You head with comping recorded on a looper, playing on the Lollar CC.