Building a Jazz Tele

[arnie65]

I've decided to build a Jazz Tele, since I can't find anywhere what I want. I've just received the body I purchased from a guy in Italy, which I had planned on staining with a nice amber/yellowish tint. However, the maple top is not bookmatched, and staining will not longer be an option cause one side is darker than the other.
Any ideas on a color that can cover this? Tobacco Sunburst maybe? It's a maple top with a mahogany back.



Cheers,
Arnie...

[jazzloverfat]

I had planned on staining with a nice amber/yellowish tint. However, the maple top is not bookmatched, and staining will not longer be an option cause one side is darker than the other

So what? It looks like a nice piece of wood and from your pics the difference is small. I'd give it a shot - you can always cover it up later if you still don't like the look. Also, would it be possible to darken the lighter side during the staining process?

[lammie200]

I got this body from Skip Ellis who posts on this forum. It is actually well bookmatched and the contrast is a characteristic of the view angle. Good luck! Teles are a great platform for this type of build. Damn, I wish I knew how to rotate the pic. Btw, a sienna burst or tobacco burst would look nice, imho.

[Strat-itis]

I've always thought a black stain would be cool. And that could tie in all the different shades.

[AllanAllen]

These guys are why I even have a tele. Didn’t know about Bickert till later.

Go for flash, make it sparkle.

[Hammertone]

Go for flash, make it sparkle.

And don't forget the back of the neck!

[Herbie]

Ouch, that’s a really nice piece of wood! Was it pricey? What does it weigh? Can You share the maker, publicly or privately?

I have no experience on maple but I guess that the grain of all woods will be highlighted differently when You stain them. The amber might just look good.

Good luck and keep us updated.

[ThatRhythmMan]

Looking at the top closely, it looks to me like it is bookmatched but has some grain runout, meaning that it wasn’t cut exactly parallel to the grain. I could be wrong, but that’s what it looks like to me. If you flip it upside down and the dark and light sides rever, that’s what’s going on. If that’s the case, I have no idea how it will play out in the end. I’ve seen it on some 1970s Gibson archtops with a natural finish and it always remains very obvious in those, but I haven’t really noticed it in other finishes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lammie200]

Ouch, that’s a really nice piece of wood! Was it pricey? What does it weigh? Can You share the maker, publicly or privately?

I have no experience on maple but I guess that the grain of all woods will be highlighted differently when You stain them. The amber might just look good.

Good luck and keep us updated.

I found the builder on EBay. Reasonably priced.

Telecaster Body Thinline Mahogany + Haut Erable Flamme | eBay

[Mark M.]

I modified my MIM Road Worn Tele to convert it to a “CooderCaster” recently by adding a Tiesco-style gold foil to the neck and a Valco-style lap steel pickup to the bridge, both built by Mojo Pickups in the UK. It was a fun project, and this thing wails when you apply a bottleneck to the fretboard:

[arnie65]

I found the builder on EBay. Reasonably priced.

Telecaster Body Thinline Mahogany + Haut Erable Flamme | eBay

Same guy I bought from, JBRWOOD

Home - JBR Wood



Arnie...

[Cunamara]

I too have a jazzcaster made with a body I got from Skip Ellis. It has a maple top and mahogany back, very hollowed out. I finished it with a hand rubbed boiled linseed oil finish and was very pleased with the outcome. I have another Tele that I did a French polish on and turned out... acceptably. If I did it over, it would be much better. The BLO is much more forgiving to a newbie.

I fitted a Warmoth conversion neck and it has Wilde (Bill Lawrence) L-90 pickups. I've never been 100% satisfied with the tone, especially the high strings, but then...

Just this weekend I replaced the strings (John Pearce Jazz 11s) with a set of custom gauge strings (13-17-24w-32-42-50) I ordered years ago from Thomas Vinci Strings for my archtop. I specced those strings to balance better with a Biltoft CC pickup, the pickup height couldn't be adjusted and the bass strings were really loud and fed back. The L-90s are also a bar pickup (humbuckers) and I wondered if they'd work with that string set. And boy do they! Big fat notes on the high E and B, just the sound I wanted.

[arnie65]

I too have a jazzcaster made with a body I got from Skip Ellis. It has a maple top and mahogany back, very hollowed out. I finished it with a hand rubbed boiled linseed oil finish and was very pleased with the outcome. I have another Tele that I did a French polish on and turned out... acceptably. If I did it over, it would be much better. The BLO is much more forgiving to a newbie.

I fitted a Warmoth conversion neck and it has Wilde (Bill Lawrence) L-90 pickups. I've never been 100% satisfied with the tone, especially the high strings, but then...

Just this weekend I replaced the strings (John Pearce Jazz 11s) with a set of custom gauge strings (13-17-24w-32-42-50) I ordered years ago from Thomas Vinci Strings for my archtop. I specced those strings to balance better with a Biltoft CC pickup, the pickup height couldn't be adjusted and the bass strings were really loud and fed back. The L-90s are also a bar pickup (humbuckers) and I wondered if they'd work with that string set. And boy do they! Big fat notes on the high E and B, just the sound I wanted.

Where in the world did you find Thomas Vinci strings? I've been looking for them for years.. I won't be doing lacquer on mine either, just a few coats of "True Oil".




Arnie...

[arnie65]

Looking at the top closely, it looks to me like it is bookmatched but has some grain runout, meaning that it wasn’t cut exactly parallel to the grain. I could be wrong, but that’s what it looks like to me. If you flip it upside down and the dark and light sides rever, that’s what’s going on. If that’s the case, I have no idea how it will play out in the end. I’ve seen it on some 1970s Gibson archtops with a natural finish and it always remains very obvious in those, but I haven’t really noticed it in other finishes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah, a stain won't work for me at this point, so I'm thinking probably a Tobacco Sunburst with a darker shade of yellow in the middle or so?



Arnie...

[Cunamara]

Where in the world did you find Thomas Vinci strings? I've been looking for them for years.. I won't be doing lacquer on mine either, just a few coats of "True Oil".

They were still in business then, I ordered through their website. $7 a set for custom string gauges with a minimum order of 6 sets, IIRC. It was a great service. I also discovered that- at least if you are a devotee of the tone knob- that brighter wound strings are easier to balance tonally against the plain strings.

[Herbie]

Tell me about the oil finish. I have heard that the oil treatment should be repeated every few years. Is it so?

[arnie65]

They were still in business then, I ordered through their website. $7 a set for custom string gauges with a minimum order of 6 sets, IIRC. It was a great service. I also discovered that- at least if you are a devotee of the tone knob- that brighter wound strings are easier to balance tonally against the plain strings.

Bummer, I thought they were still available. All the Guild archtops used to come with Vinci strings from the factory for decades, they were the best strings I've ever used till the Thomastik came around later on, but their prices kept going higher and higher....



Thanks,
Arnie...

[arnie65]

Tell me about the oil finish. I have heard that the oil treatment should be repeated every few years. Is it so?

That is correct, I'm planning on doing 2 or 3 coats of "True Oil"...




Arnie...

[lammie200]

Tell me about the oil finish. I have heard that the oil treatment should be repeated every few years. Is it so?

I have finished many solid bodies with TruOil. I usually do 7-8 extremely light coats with Scotch Brite pad rub downs between coats. First a gray pad then a white pad. I do one coat a day, but you could probably double that if you want. It takes about a week to truly cure. I have never gone for a high gloss, but I think you can get there with compounds and buffing after it cures. It's a durable finish. Note that it is intended for gun stocks which can be exposed to weathering. I have never had to reapply, but the upside is that you can reapply at any time as long as you have a clean surface.

[arnie65]

I think I may have my answer, I just looked at a few jazz Tele's that were not really bookmatched, but are finished in a stain, and they really don't look too bad. One of them is a pricey Scottmueller Tele that belonged to the late John Abercrombie.



Arnie...

[Prof Silverhair]

Wow, I love this! I've been toying with the idea of doing the exact same thing. I love my Teles but have little use for the bridge pup (I know, that's sacreligious) and thought this could be a really cool guitar.

How's the quality of the body? I've seen some cheaper models that seem to have pretty shoddy workmanship. Also, is this completely hollow or is there a center block in there? Might be interesting to hang a tailpiece (if there's room).

Thanks much! I may be joining you shortly on a similar Tele build journey

I've decided to build a Jazz Tele, since I can't find anywhere what I want. I've just received the body I purchased from a guy in Italy, which I had planned on staining with a nice amber/yellowish tint. However, the maple top is not bookmatched, and staining will not longer be an option cause one side is darker than the other.
Any ideas on a color that can cover this? Tobacco Sunburst maybe? It's a maple top with a mahogany back.



Cheers,
Arnie...

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I have finished many solid bodies with TruOil.

This is a great finish. The beauty for the OP is that color depth increases with each application, and there’s apparently a concern about a slight mismatch between sides of the top. A few extra coats on the lighter side will make it appear a little bit darker to better match the darker side. It can be reapplied at any time after about a week, IIRC. So I’d do the entire top one application at a time until the darker side is almost at its desired amberness. After it dries, mask the darker side and go one application at a time until the lighter side isn’t. Then do a final application over the entire top.

[lammie200]

... I love my Teles but have little use for the bridge pup (I know, that's sacreligious) and thought this could be a really cool guitar...

You might be able to detect a theme with my Tele partscasters. I went full sacrilege with uncut ashtray bridges.

This is a great finish. The beauty for the OP is that color depth increases with each application, and there’s apparently a concern about a slight mismatch between sides of the top. A few extra coats on the lighter side will make it appear a little bit darker to better match the darker side. It can be reapplied at any time after about a week, IIRC. So I’d do the entire top one application at a time until the darker side is almost at its desired amberness. After it dries, mask the darker side and go one application at a time until the lighter side isn’t. Then do a final application over the entire top.

You really don't have to wait a week to apply multiple coats. It dries for recoating in about 24 hours, but if you go really light coats maybe more like 12 hours. If you are going to put tape on it you might have to wait a week until it cures though. You can test that though. After the rub down with the white Scotch Brite pad it can be very dry. A light version of painter's tape might work, but TBH you can probably do the blend coats without taping. So, in theory, the darker side may get 6 coats and the lighter side might get 9 coats. Really the key to a good outcome is to use a felt pad when applying and wipe off as you coat. That will leave a very thin layer. The first couple of layers will soak in a lot.

[arnie65]

How's the quality of the body? I've seen some cheaper models that seem to have pretty shoddy workmanship. Also, is this completely hollow or is there a center block in there? Might be interesting to hang a tailpiece (if there's room).

Thanks much! I may be joining you shortly on a similar Tele build journey

The craftsmanship on the body quite good, and they did a superb job on the removable back cavity, I will sand it some more and will install magnets on it. The guitar is not hollow, it is a semihollow guitar with 2 chambers and a mahogany piece on the center like a 335.



Arnie...

[arnie65]

Here's an update on my jazz Tele build; I ended up taking the guitar to a friend of mine who owns "Starr Guitars", about 15 mins from my house. He builds amazing guitars, but he's best known for his painting and finishing. He does a lot of specialty work and finishes for Luthiers across the U.S. After prepping, he applied a brownish tint to the top, then sanded, and finished with a yellowish-amber tint. This brought the flame top to life, and gave it almost a 3D look. I also ended up asking for a very light Nitro finish on the body and neck. The neck is a solid maple with an ebony fretboard, and he applied a light vintage tint to it, with a very light Nitro finish. I'm ready to start putting it together!
I will update this page as I get to the finishing line...