Blackguard Telecaster

[panther]

Thanks guys, I want to once again thank Danny, without his advice and encouragement, I'm sure I would never have finished the build. I've attempted quality finishes on items before, from furniture to vintage radios, also Guitars. All turned into complete disasters, because I didn't have patience to wait, between stages.
Thanks to Danny's advice, the finish is EXACTLY what I pictured in my mind. The guitar itself, sounds better than anything else in my arsenal. Even though it is 7-1/4" radius.

Just a word of advice from anyone about to attempt a build.

1) Don't skimp on materials, Buy the proper products for the job. If you buy inferior finishing products, EXPECT an inferior finish.
2) Don't skimp on the quality, of the parts you build the Guitar out of. If you buy cheap pickups, you will get Cheap sounding output.
3) TAKE YOUR TIME.

I wanted to make a 53 Telecaster as close to the original as I possibly could. It took me 6 months to find all of the Vintage N.O.S. parts, I purchased re-issue Fender Pups, Bakelite pickguard, Allparts Neck, 53 style Kluson Machine heads, Original 1953 manufactured Pots, 1953 CRL 1467 selector switch. The hole 9 yards, and it pays off. I have to say though, the one item that made the entire project work properly, and account for the super sound, is the hand made Deer Antler Nut. ( It could happen )The guitar sounds better than any factory guitar I own. I'm beginning the believe that Leo Fender, Got the Electric Guitar right, The first time.



I did find one thing about using the Deft clear lacquer spray. If you decide to use that, you MUST apply thin coats, and they must be allowed to dry between applications. It appears that if you Spray a light coat over a heavier coat, the light coat can actually seal the undercoats, and they will take for ever to completely dry. Believe me I found that out that hard way.

Dan

[panther]

Danny;
I have one question about the tuners used. I purchased a set of vintage Kluson reproduction tuners, supposed to be 1953-1956.
When they arrived they were not the same as the originals. The butterbean knobs are plastic, at least I see a mold mark around them, are yours the same, if not where did you get yours ?
Dan

[dubtrub]

They are Kluson plain back tuners. I got them off eBay for around forty bucks. The are all metal with no mold seams.
You can get them as single row, double row or plain back, depending on what year you are replicating.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Genuine-KLU ... 4619b662c1

[panther]

Those are the exact same tuners I purchased off eBay, same model number. The guy switched them on me. He took His cheap Chinese copies, and put them in the Kluson box. Then put his Real Kluson's on his cheap Guitar. Unfortunately I didn't take them out when I bought them, because they looked good through the plastic window in the box, and I had no reason to expect anything was wrong. My definitely have mold marks around the butterbeans. I've been Duped.
Dan

[panther]

Danny;
Do your tuners have the same mold, or cast lines as mine do ?
The KLUSON tuners I was suppose to have gotten, are very light weight, and the Butterbeans seem plastic.
Dan

[dubtrub]

No! Genuine Kluson tuners will not have the mold line like that. I'm guessing someone place some import tuners in a Kluson box and sold them on eBay hoping the buyer would never know the difference. If they work fine and the guitar stays in tune it shouldn't be a problem unless it bugs you too much.

[panther]

The mold line drives me nuts, and I looked at knockoff tuners and they were only $6.95. That bugs me also.
I'm eventually going to replace them, however they do work fine.
Thanks for confirming what I thought.

Dan

[panther]

The last couple of guitars I painted I used Watco clear in the quart size and it worked great. I see they also have it in aerosol cans but I don't know how they dry. Just to be fair, I've also used Deft clear in the quart through my spray equipment and it dried fine. It must have something to do with an additive in the aerosol can that aids in the flow out.

http://www.woodcraft.com/search2/search ... %20lacquer

I do have a question about how to handle the Hollowbody Tele. It has the binding already on the body. I've watched videos where after the color is added, they take a blade and trim off the color over the binding. That has disaster written all over it. What is the alternative, masking, I've never had any luck getting clean lines ? Any suggestions. Short of removing the binding.
Dan

Back in the 70s I painted motorcycle helmets, fenders and gas tanks. I was shown a method for using the 1/4" and 1/8" striping tape with great success to do flames and other artwork. The surface had to be sanded perfectly smooth with no orange peel. Then apply the tape. Afterwards use a tack cloth and rub it over the tape and all along it's edges to make sure it was down tight and flat. The tack cloth removed the microscopic bits of glue protruding from the edge of the tape that would cause fuzzy edges. Spray on the color then remove the tape after about ten minutes of drying time. The idea is to remove the tape while the paint is still pliable as it will chip when removing the tape after the paint dries hard. Also you don't want to spray the color coats too thick over the tape. The thinner the color coat the better. I've used this technique on the double neck I build and it worked great.

BTW, get industrial quality striping tape at an auto paint store that supplies paint and body shops.

Danny;
I went to my local auto paint supply house to get the tape. Are you talking about pin Striping tape, or is there a striping masking tape, or are they the same ?
Dan