First-Ever Build: cheap-o Tele. This will be an experience.

[ComesATime]

Aesthetically, we're looking pretty good. This was about 15-20 coats of wipe-on poly. Many mistakes were made and corrected to the best of my abiity.

You can still see woodgrain and texture, which I actually like in this case.

If anyone's reading this and thinking about doing it themselves, just some notes.

• Get a quality grain filler and really take your time with it.
• I used wipe-on poly because I had limited space and ventilation was not ideal. With it being freezing outside, spraying wasn't an option at the moment.
  • I definitely recommend a spray, but, if you decide to go with a wipe-on, be extremely patient. The coats need to/should be very thin.
    • As the wipe-on dries very quickly, I would wet the old t-shirt with the poly, wipe with the grain, and leave it. Fussing would cause more marks and uneven spots.
  • Anyone who's worked on anything like this will immediately shake their head at me needing to say this, but STIR your poly.
    • Do not shake it. If you shake it, mix isn't ideal, and air bubbles are not your friend. Ask me how I know.
  • There are no short-cuts. They're just going to make more work when you need to sand it back down to fix imperfections.
• At the end, I had some ultimate auto compound and gave it a wipe. It had a lot of shine, even for a matte finish.

So it looks okay, but the set up has issues I need to figure out. The strings are essentially touching the first 3 frets. The high E won't even register a note until the 3rd fret. For the low E, it's the 5th or 6th fret. This is likely the part where I need to refer to my tech--whether it's needing a new, higher nut or something else.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Aesthetically, we're looking pretty good. This was about 15-20 coats of wipe-on poly. Many mistakes were made and corrected to the best of my abiity.

You can still see woodgrain and texture, which I actually like in this case.

If anyone's reading this and thinking about doing it themselves, just some notes.

• Get a quality grain filler and really take your time with it.
• I used wipe-on poly because I had limited space and ventilation was not ideal. With it being freezing outside, spraying wasn't an option at the moment.
  • I definitely recommend a spray, but, if you decide to go with a wipe-on, be extremely patient. The coats need to/should be very thin.
    • As the wipe-on dries very quickly, I would wet the old t-shirt with the poly, wipe with the grain, and leave it. Fussing would cause more marks and uneven spots.
  • Anyone who's worked on anything like this will immediately shake their head at me needing to say this, but STIR your poly.
    • Do not shake it. If you shake it, mix isn't ideal, and air bubbles are not your friend. Ask me how I know.
  • There are no short-cuts. They're just going to make more work when you need to sand it back down to fix imperfections.
• At the end, I had some ultimate auto compound and gave it a wipe. It had a lot of shine, even for a matte finish.

So it looks okay, but the set up has issues I need to figure out. The strings are essentially touching the first 3 frets. The high E won't even register a note until the 3rd fret. For the low E, it's the 5th or 6th fret. This is likely the part where I need to refer to my tech--whether it's needing a new, higher nut or something else.


View attachment 7153780View attachment 7153785

Looks nice. How much, if any, relief do you have? If you capo at the first fret and press down where the neck joins the body, 17th I believe, 0.012” at the 7th is a good starting point. Approximately the thickness of a business card.

 

[ComesATime]

Looks nice. How much, if any, relief do you have? If you capo at the first fret and press down where the neck joins the body, 17th I believe, 0.012” at the 7th is a good starting point. Approximately the thickness of a business card.

Definitely can't fit a business card under there, I put the strings on and tuned it up. I figure I'll let it sit with the tension for a bit before I make any neck adjustments.

As-is, it's E, A, D strings, frets 1, 2, and 3. Dead fret. Everything else sounds okay elsewhere on the neck.

Also, for what it's worth, the pickups don't sound too bad at all. Middle position is very quiet...but the single coil hum is pretty bad in positions 1 and 3. I'll get around to copper taping the control cavity at some point to see if that lessens it. Worst-case, I have some Vintera pickups ready to go in.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Definitely can't fit a business card under there, I put the strings on and tuned it up. I figure I'll let it sit with the tension for a bit before I make any neck adjustments.

As-is, it's E, A, D strings, frets 1, 2, and 3. Dead fret. Everything else sounds okay elsewhere on the neck.

Also, for what it's worth, the pickups don't sound too bad at all. Middle position is very quiet...but the single coil hum is pretty bad in positions 1 and 3. I'll get around to copper taping the control cavity at some point to see if that lessens it. Worst-case, I have some Vintera pickups ready to go in.

Sounds like the neck is back bowed. See if loosening the truss rod has any effect.