Black Ash Telecaster: Shimming the Neck

After a few weeks of playing my Black Ash Telecaster, despite loving the sound and the action, there were a couple of issues that I wanted to fix to improve the overall playing experience. It was high time that I got this baby back on the workbench!

First of all, the expensive Bourne mini-pots that I bought for this project not only stick out from the control plate too far (they have no second nut to adjust their height) the tone pot has busted completely and now turns of its own volition 360 degrees. What a piece of shit. Never gonna go there again!

Secondly, and more importantly, (i mean who touches the volume and tone anyway? ha!), whilst the action I was able to achieve on the guitar is very satisfying, it came at the expense of very low saddles at the bridge. These very low saddles meant that their height adjustment screws stuck up so far that I kept scratching my hand on them every time I tried to palm mute the strings.

Low Bridge saddles means high adjustment screws. Ouch!

And so, the solution to this little issue, of course, is to shim the neck to bring the default height of the bridge saddles up!

Shimming the neck is really very easy. The first step is to cut a piece of shimming material. Depending on how much you need to raise the heel of the neck, you can use many different materials, from a piece of wood veneer, to a sheet of paper, or anything that isn't going to compress easily. In my case I like to use a piece of milk-bottle plastic. It's about as thick as a business card, it's very stiff and it won't compact under pressure. I cut the material to fit the neck heel and make it small enough so that it can't be seen from the open side of the neck.

Step 1: Plastic shimming material, cut to size.

The second step is to unscrew the neck completely. There is no need to remove the strings, just loosen them right off. You only need the strings loose enough to allow the neck heel to come away from the body.

Step 2: Neck is removed with the strings still connected to the bridge.

Next, with the screws sticking out a little into the neck pocket, press the shim onto the screws so that they push through the material and hold it. When I use plastic like this, I also like to take the shim back off and use a razor blade to trim off the plastic sticking up around the holes I just made. This makes it a lot easier to get your neck sitting flat again in the pocket.

Step 3: Push the screws through the shim to create the holes.

Lastly, screw the neck back on with the shim in place. Be careful to screw each of the neck bolts down evenly (a little at a time) to make sure the neck heel sits flat. When you finally tighten the screws, do the non-shimmed end first to make sure these are on the deck before tightening the shimmed end. If you don't, you might find the neck sitting up further in the pocket than your shim intended.

Problem: The neck is sitting further up at the heel than the shim intended.

With the shimming process complete, I needed only to adjust the height of the saddles to get the action back into sweet, sweet, sweet territory. Now the saddle height is such that the adjustment screws are only just peeking out of the top. 

The adjustment screws are now at a comfortable height.

My killer Ash Telecaster is now even more comfortable to play and I couldn't be happier! Now to give those Bourne pots a good going over. That's a few bucks I'll never see again!

Black Ash Telecaster: She's Done!

Well today I put the finishing touches on the Black Ash Telecaster. I got myself a bone nut blank, shaped it for the Telecaster nut slot and filed the string slots. All in all it took me only about half an hour.

Amazingly, with the nut in and the slot heights adjusted for correct string height at the first fret, the imagined problems with high-action just melted away. I've got the saddles almost right to the bottom of their travel range, but she plays really nicely without any fret buzz. Possibly I could have gone down a little lower with a neck shim, but all in all I'm really happy with how she feels.

The Tru-Oil neck feels nice and fast, and I'm very happy with the Dingotone Guitar Wax on the fretboard. Maybe not as slick as Dr Ducks Axe Wax, but I know that it's keeping the colour locked in. So-too the Tonerider "Hot Classic" pickups sound great. They deliver a real punch when over-driven, and still sound crystal clear in clean mode. With just a touch of reverb this thing sounds just beautiful!

All in all I'm very pleased with this build. I've always wanted a black Tele, and now I have a great sounding, great looking shoe-gazer that I can thrash around the man-cave to my hearts content!

Black Ash Telecaster: Shielding for Slugs

Sitting at home today, willing the postman to deliver unto me some shielding tape so that my raft of current builds could continue, I remembered something that I had read in one of the guitar building forums around the place. It was postulated that copper tape sold as "slug barrier" tape could be used just as efffectively to shield a guitar as "sold for purpose" copper shielding. That couldn't be true could it??

Well, with this in mind, and with no postman in sight, I decided to head to my local Masters (big-chain hardware) and see if there was any truth to it - if slug barrier tape could indeed be the answer to my short-term shielding woes. Luckily I managed to find some - 10 metres for 8 bucks. It seemed like a bargain, but would it serve for shielding?

Well, I got the stuff home and proceeded to run a few quick tests to see how it performed. What I really needed to know was:

1. Do overlapping pieces form a continuous conductive surface?
Well, yes they do! I used three lengths stuck down to a piece of pine with a 0.5cm overlap. The surface did indeed register conductivity on my multimeter with a resistance of 0 Ohms. Great so far!

2. Can I solder directly to the tape and does the solder joint conduct?
Well, yes absolutely! The solder went straight on to the tape without any problems at all. A little flux was all that was needed (I use flux-cored solder) and the solder stuck fast with a nice clean joint.

In summary, the barrier tape performed identically to the tape I've been buying from ebay and other suppliers as "double sided conductive" shielding tape. Amazing!

With my 10 metres of tape in hand I dove straight into shielding the pickup and control cavities of the Black Ash Telecaster. The tape went on without any problems at all. Ground wires were easily soldered to the cavity walls to join all the cavities electrically, and then the bridge cavity was joined to the bridge using an underside bare wire.

To wire this beasty I'm using 250K Bournes mini-pots, an Orange Drop capacitor and a 4-way Oak-Grigsby switch. First time I've tried a 4-way switch on a Telecaster, but that's not surprising given it's only the second one I've ever built ;). I'm hoping it will extend the range of tones she will be able to produce - especially the new "series" setting. The circuit for the 4-way wiring scheme can be found on DIYGuitarMods and is shown below.

As it stands, the wiring of the control plate is all but completed (you can see it in the photo above) following the schema in the diagram. All that remains is for me to attach the pickups to the switch and to connect the output jack to its wires. This will be tomorrow's job, in addition to looking at the neck angle. With the bridge now in place it looks suspiciously like a shim is going to be needed - bummer.

Black Ash Telecaster: Moving the Bridge

Well, today I had every intention of getting the remainder of the hardware installed on the Black Ash Telecaster. But, unfortunately, it was not to be. When I did my mock build of the Telecaster prior to starting the finish, I did so with a humbucker in the neck position. As such, the bridge was positioned such that the strings travelled correctly over the poles of the humbucker and up the neck.

Now that I've decided to use a traditional Telecaster pickguard, it turns out the bridge was not perfectly placed to run parallel to the bottom edge of the guard (and wasn't centred either). It looked bloody horrible to tell you the truth. The only thing to do was to move the bridge, and that meant drilling out the original bridge screw holes and plugging them with 6mm oak dowel. Not the best thing to have to do once the finish is completed, but at least the bridge is large enough to cover the damage!

The job was, at least, completed with a minimum of fuss. I sanded the dowel a little with 180 grit paper to make it slide more easily into the 6mm hole, and used Titebond to glue each plug in place. Each plug required a tap with the hammer to get it all the way in, but in the end each sat nice and flush with the top of the guitar.

With the plugs in place, I was able to line up and install both the scratchplate and the control cover. All in all I reckon she's looking pretty bloody good - although in the photo below the bridge is just sitting on top of the plugs.

Once the Titebond has dried overnight, I'll get the bridge lined up again (using both the neck and pickguard as reference this time) and get it screwed down. Then I'll just have the wiring to go. Unfortunately I'm still waiting for shielding tape, so this may still be a while away.

Black Ash Telecaster: Tonerider Hot Classics

I have decided to upgrade the pickups on the Black Ask Telecaster build to Tonerider "Hot Classics". I've heard great things about these relatively inexpensive beasties, and so I ordered a set from my friends at Pitbull Guitars. The mailman dropped them on my doorstep this morning!

With a couple of holes drilled in the pickguard to mount the neck pickup (I never liked to idea of having to screw into the guitar body) one half of the upgrade was completed in no time. The bridge pickup, however, was another story!

Unfortunately, the bridge route on the kit was a little smaller than standard. It was perfect for the pickup supplied with the kit, but the Tonerider was just a smidge too big for it. I've had the same issue before - the bridge route on the Surf Telecaster build had to be enlarged to fit the 63 Tele Vintage Wound Professional Series pickup as well. It seems to be a common issue with Chinese made kits!

Anyway, I set about widening the bridge pickup route using my trusty router and the template from Stewmac.

It certainly wasn't the best time to start routing the body - what with the finish just being completed and all - but hey, needs must! I stuck the template down with double sided tape and away I went. It all went pretty smoothly to be honest and the route was complete in no time.

The results are nice and clean (my nice Tru-Oil finish survived!). Now the assembly can continue - as soon as my shielding tape arrives that is!!

Black Ash Telecaster: Red Tortoiseshell or Red Pearloid?

Well, it's been a few days without progress on any and all guitars. Bloody work is getting in the way of my building obsession. If I didn't need it to pay for guitar kits, maybe I'd chuck the whole IT thing in. Oh well - suck it up dude!

On the plus side, my alternate pickguard arrived from Pitbull today and I now have a choice to make. Tortoiseshell or Pearloid? They both look very similar, although the pearloid is a little darker in real life than it looks in the photo.

Well, what do you guys think? Ok, so there isn't much difference, but for my money it's the tortoiseshell (on the left).

Now if only I could find some time to finish off this body with a cut and polish, I could get the cavities shielded and this baby assembled. Soon. Hopefully.

Postscript 17/10/2014: Well it looks like overwhelming support for the tortoiseshell! I have gone ahead and ordered soume bourne 250K pots, an orange-drop cap and some Tonerider Hot Classics (pickups) for this baby. I can't wait to get her all wired up and to hear that rock twang!

Black Ash Telecaster: Headstock Decal and Pickguard

A little more progress this week on the Black Ash Tele. The neck is now finished - I've applied 8 thin coats of Tru-Oil on there, with a little wet-sanding (800 and 1500 grits) between the last couple of coats. Man, it's feeling nice and smooth and fast! I've also applied my headstock decal and it's looking pretty cool. I really like the black text on the amber finish.

I received a red tortoiseshell pickguard in the mail yesterday and did a quick mockup to see what it looks like. It needs some work around the neck to fit it properly, but that's no sweat. I'm waiting on a red pearloid pickgurd as an alternate to the tortoiseshell, and once that arrives I'll have to choose between the two of them. Once the choice is made I'll get out the file and improve the fit around the neck.

As it is, I think the red tortoiseshell is looking pretty damn nice! It's going to be tough to beat. I love the colour balance between the black, the red and the amber neck.

I'm getting pretty excited now - I can't wait to get this baby finished and to plug her in! It's shaping up to be either a Mental Wilko Johnston model or an Introverted Shoegazer - whatever floats your boat baby!

Black Ash Telecaster: Headstock Shaping & Neck Dye

Today I put the body to one side for a while, and started finishing the neck of the Black Ash Telecaster. I decided to go for a traditional Fender "yellow neck" look to contrast with the black body. Using my usual 'modern Telecaster' headstock pattern from the headstock templates pdf, I quickly got the headstock shaped and the whole neck sanded with 180, 240, 360 and 400 grit paper. At 400 grit, I raised the grain a couple of times and knocked it back down again with a gentle wipe of 400.

For the colour coats I used a weak solution of Colortone Vintage Amber, and applied it to the headstock, neck and fretboard. This is the first time I have dyed a fretboard, so it's kind of an experiment. I love the look, but have never been able to work out how to seal it effectively and still provide a good playing surface.

For clear coats I used two products. On the headstock and neck I applied my tried and trusted standby - Tru-Oil from Birchwood-Casey. On the fretboard I didn't want to use Tru-Oil (I've read some horror stories of fretboard wear and tear with Tru-Oil applied). Instead, I used some Dingotone Guitar Wax - hopefully this will be effective in sealing in the dye and providing a nice playing surface.

I have always loved the way Tru-Oil necks feel to play. The Dingotone Wax already feels really nice on the fretboard, so the combination of the two should result in a beautifully smooth playing axe. Expectation is now very high! A few more coats of Tru-Oil on the neck and this baby will be ready to assemble...

Black Ash Telecaster: Tru-Oil Coats

After a relaxing 3 week holiday in Middle Earth, I have finally got back to the man cave! Feeling the pangs of withdrawal from my building addiction, I was immediately rushed to the man cave for a little guitar building therapy. Whew..!

Before I went away, I managed to sand the body of the black Ash Telecaster back with 180, 240 and 320 grit to remove the remainder of the glue spots mentioned in my previous post. Another coat of black Colortone dye was then applied and the glue spots all but disappeared. However, no matter how much I sanded, I just couldn't remove those small "grain" marks on the front of the body!

Leaving these marks for the moment, I applied a soak coat of Tru-Oil to the body followed by 5 more thin coats. I then applied two more thin coats of Tru-Oil with black Colortone dye (concentrate) mixed in. It turns out, at least in the case of black dye, that this works unbelievably well! In fact, the resulting mixture smelled remarkably like Wudtone. Hmm, I might be on to something there ;). The marks on the front of the body have been substantially reduced using the coloured oil and I'm pretty bloody happy with the result.

Anyway, back in the man cave today I lightly wet sanded the oil with 800 grit sand paper and applied two more thin coats of un-dyed Tru-Oil. The resulting finish is really starting to look good.

To be honest, I don't think the body is going to need much more. I really like the way the ash grain texture can still be seen and felt, and the semi-gloss finish really enhances this effect. Time to get started on the neck!

Black Ash Telecaster: Mock Build & Test Fit

Well I started a brand new project today - taking possession of a beautiful Ash Telecaster kit from Pitbull Guitars. This kit is their TLA-1 and the 4 piece body (thanks Tim!) that I've received sports some really lovely Ash grain. Just beautiful man.

The plan for this bad boy is a simple jet black finish, with the Ash grain still visible; both in a slight colour difference, and in the texture of the surface. I don't intend to pore fill at all, just colour and seal with Tru-Oil, so the natural Ash texture should come to the fore.

The mock-build went ahead smoothly. The neck was drilled and screwed in place without incident, and the strings are travelling well from the bridge up the neck to the nut. I'm not sure If I'm going to use a humbucker in the neck position or the traditional single coil and pickguard, so for the moment I'm assembling with a humbucker just to make sure the strings travel across the pole pieces correctly.

All in all I'm very happy with the quality of the kit and I can't wait to get started. The finish is going to be a very simple Colortone dye job with Tru-Oil as the sealing coat. It's been a while since I did such a simple Tru-Oil finish so I'm really excited about getting it done. From the other black Ash guitars I've seen, it should look killer when completed!

The next step is sanding, sanding, sanding and then a trace dye coat to make sure there are no glue marks or anything other blemishes. Onwards!!