Wow!! Is that for real? Thatās gorgeous!! Amazing artistic pics
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Really beautiful. But Rob, you are a using a real state of the art camera and you have masterfully edited the pictures a bit at least? Confess 
Decent gear for sure but nothing exceptional or new.
You wouldnāt record an album with a bad guitar right?
Wellā¦if I were into really provocative old school punk and I would have much better guitar skills than I have now, I would make possible point of using a bad guitar 
Seriously though: Fantastic pictures!
Ok going to have to fiddle with the jack socket, it works but not a solid snap in.
Also e string when played open and aggressive is noisy wrong side of the nut so I suspect Iāll need to add a string tree or a wrap
man it sounds good tho
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Beautiful guitar Rob! I think your other guitars might get a bit lonely for a while. I know that my other guitars did once I started building them.
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Its getting a lot of play time for now haha
My Maton will still get played, and if I am doing some more rocky/grungy stuff I think Iāll be using the LP but this plays and sounds so good for everything elseā¦
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Sounds good. So much better to use music tools to capture audio these days. Another strategy is to record sweet audio. Then do the video unplugged (like lip sync) and then overlay. Then you can get creative with where you are playing such as on the beach etc
Nice one Rob, youāve made a great job of it and I like your choice of Demo piece!
Interesting to see youāve gone for 2 covered pāups itās more common to see 2 Strat pāups but it sure looks and sounds good!
2 strat pickups?
Fender put an uncovered in the mid position but Iām not fender 
Also jack socket fixed, Iād trapped a wire interfering with the locking mechanism a bit
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Hey Robā¦
I ran across this:
by Phillip McKnight a while backā¦ he uses a Stewmac Fret Kisser, a Music Nomad S-file & Micro Mesh in this video & makes a pretty good point on whyā¦ Just a little food for thought!!!
Beautiful work on that gorgeous Tele!!!
Tod
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That new file looks great but Iāve heard it wears out quickly on SS frets
My local luthier hates SS frets for that reason + it takes longer to do fret work because theyāre so much harder that nickel alloy frets.
Still, if you do a lot of set-up work or fret levelling at home, it might be worth the investmentā¦
My hat is off to you for a really inspiring build - as weāve discussed before, this is one of my ādreamersā to build my own acoustic/electric & maybe a solid body electric also!
Tod
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@RobDickinson I read your thread about building a tele with interest as I am intending to also put one together from ordered parts. I was thinking of ordering the body and neck from Warmoth too as they offer so many options. Probably wonāt attempt it until October-November when the nights in the northern hemisphere are getting longer. So Iām just in the planning phase. Hopefully have something new to play at Xmas 
Itās a very very nice looking guitar you have made and your whole series of posts is very inspiring. I would ideally like to build a partscaster strat but I am thinking that the tele is a bit simpler so less to go wrong - or for me to screw up! Also, I have 2 Squier teles (one heavily modded by me) that I can refer to during the build. Iād be working blind with a strat as I donāt have one in my collection to refer to - nor would I even know whether it sounds like a strat when I finish it. So probably itās going to be the ātrusty teleā. I just had a few questions that could help me with my build:
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I was wondering about ordering the body and neck from Warmoth. Seems great as they offer so many customisable options. Did the neck just fit when you screwed it on, or did you have to make adjustments/modifications for the alignment? I wondered whether ordering both a body and neck from them at the same time ensures that they will align well. Also, did you have to do a lot of fret levelling or was it good to start with? I understood from your posts that you didnāt have to do too much other than sorting out some rough ends and fret polishing, or did you have to level uneven frets or do a whole fret levelling?
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The neck looks very good. What wood is that for the neck? Is that an ebony fretboard?
I didnāt really understand on the Warmoth site about the finish options for the neck. I saw that you finished the body yourself with TruOil but was the neck already finished by Warmoth or did you also oil it?
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I am also intending to mount the pickups without having a scratch plate as it looks better IMO if you have a really nice looking wood like the one you built. Iām thinking of a roasted ash or alder body with a quilted maple top. In my case, it will just be the 2 pickup configuration (and may possibly be a tele bridge pup and a P90 neck rather than 2 tele pups). Anyway, where did you get the black (plastic?) parts that surround the pickups - also Warmoth, Stewmac or another supplier? They look very neat.
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Did you source vintage used hardware or are the bridge, saddles, control plate and tone controls new but made to look old? If so, where did you find them? I am looking for something that looks a bit more āsteampunkā - sort of slightly rusty used tarnish metal type of look - and saw some possibilities on Reverb, but if I donāt find what Iām looking for then something like the ones you got would be nice.
Sorry for so many questions.
Best, Ian
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Not a problem, there are a fair few though!
Strat vs tele I dont see a lot of difference tbh (perhaps outside the bridge?), the strat all the electronics goes on the pick guard so that is actually easier. Just depends what you want at the end of the day.
- I was wondering about ordering the body and neck from Warmoth. Seems great as they offer so many customisable options. Did the neck just fit when you screwed it on, or did you have to make adjustments/modifications for the alignment? I wondered whether ordering both a body and neck from them at the same time ensures that they will align well. Also, did you have to do a lot of fret levelling or was it good to start with? I understood from your posts that you didnāt have to do too much other than sorting out some rough ends and fret polishing, or did you have to level uneven frets or do a whole fret levelling?
Warmoth stuff is made very well, I didnt have to make any adjustments to the neck or body. The Neck fitted perfectly (there is always some wiggle room with a bolt on neck).
The downside of Warmoth is its spendy in terms of buying and shipping.
I would think it doesnt matter when you order the body or neck so long as they are designed to work with each other ( strat neck for a strat body, tele for tele etc there are some small differences).
I didnt touch the frets themselves outside a polish. They are pretty level already and this is typical, warmoth dont do a level and crown but it seems they mostly dont need too. There are a couple of spots I might touch up one day but its very very minor.
Yes I did round the edge of the fret a bit and sort out the fret ends a bit, none of that was particularly hard.
- The neck looks very good. What wood is that for the neck? Is that an ebony fretboard?
The neck is walnut and the fretboard is indeed ebony, I much prefer ebony over other woods I think!
I didnāt really understand on the Warmoth site about the finish options for the neck. I saw that you finished the body yourself with TruOil but was the neck already finished by Warmoth or did you also oil it?
They will finish the neck for you for $100 I think in a clear coat, I opted not to go with that and put 2 light coats of tru oil on the neck with a couple more on the headstock.
Anyway, where did you get the black (plastic?) parts that surround the pickups - also Warmoth, Stewmac or another supplier? They look very neat.
The pickup rings were ordered from https://www.allparts.com/ who have a good range of stuff.
The electronics from stewmack, pickups, neck plate, screws etc from warmoth.
In my case, it will just be the 2 pickup configuration (and may possibly be a tele bridge pup and a P90 neck rather than 2 tele pups).
Warmoth will route a body for whatever pickups you want. You dont even need pickup rings I could have built without those.
Did you source vintage used hardware or are the bridge, saddles, control plate and tone controls new but made to look old?
Yep those came from https://www.customworldguitarparts.com/
There are a heap of tele and strat parts around so have a good look around for things that work together and you like. Check reverb, check etsy etc.
Dont know about a strat but there are a few types of tele, old, new, thinline like this, all can need subtle different pick guards etc but mostly ok.
I am glad I opted for the neck access cut (be careful with the screw size!) and comfort cuts on this body, I would opt to not have the middle pickup next time.
I was impressed with the accuracy and quality of the warmoth parts.
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Thanks so much for a detailed reply to all my questions. Really helpful.
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let me know if you have more questions, idk if I will have the answersā¦
I probably need to go back and do another setup now after 6 months etc, also prob need to add a string tree, the high e lacks a bit of sustain and I spsect its due to the lack of pressure at the nut, plus it rings on the headstock side!
I have the string trees I just need to add itā¦
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