GregP

I'm not all that experienced with inlay, so take everything I say as being a totally amateur perspective: - I have used a scroll saw for a lot of stuff, but I can't imagine ever using it for inlay - If it's the "power tool give'er" that you're looking for, my recommendation is to use a dremel tool, actually. I had really good success clamping the MOP into a small vise, and then using the hole cutter bit (it's what I had on-hand, I'm sure you can get much better results with something else) to get'er done. The warnings that I'm aware of-- there may be others from people who are more expert: - Using a power tool on MOP will stink like hell... it's exactly that smell of a dentist drilling into your teeth. Yuk. - there will be even more dust airborne than with a hand tool. I haven't actually researched, but I assume (and I believe correctly) that MOP dust is VERY BAD!!! VERY BAD for your lungs, your eyes, I'm sure your skin, and no doubt it can even somehow damage your soul. Proceed with extreme care. You may not notice it "today" or "tomorrow", but I can't for the life of me imagine that you'd want that crap in your lungs. At all. Greg

Hrm. I don't buy it. And taking a risk to go off-topic, this stood out, too: 2 logical fallacies at play there-- 1. A computer is a great tool for helping design a balanced guitar, with physical modeling. As long as you are able to use the technology (which of course, he is not), it can be a great asset. No need to make it look like <Bobby Bucher's momma> "computers are the devil!" </Bobby Bucher's momma> 2. What feels good and what doesn't, even taking scientifically quantifiable "balance" out of the equation, is completely subjective and dependent on the person for whom the guitar is designed. Heck, maybe there are even people out there who actually like neck-heavy designs. Not saying I'm one of them, but they might exist! Greg

A great deal of it is phsychosematic. You pick up a tele-looking guitar, and chances are you'll already be approaching it the way you'd approach a tele. Teles with a Jackson headstock and Floyd don't really say "Tele" despite the body silhouette, so you still don't approach them as a tele. I think it's a far more important factor than people realize. Greg

Looks like a roller nut to me... You can buy them, wilkinson make them, if thats what it is. Roller nut or otherwise, it's non-radiused and has 8 string slots. I don't think Wilkinson makes or stocks such a thing. Greg

Plastic bridge or plastic nut? Surely the latter!

Brass frets? That's a new one to me, though I'm sure it's been done somewhere at some time... The main hype behind brass in the 80's (and persisting even now) is that it supposedly added more mass = more sustain. Obviously mass and sustain have a relationship (more to do with the stability of string contact, which is a side-effect of parts with more mass in many circumstances), but not strictly in the way it was marketed. The way it was presented has more in common with what we call "tone voodoo" than physics. If anyone knows how to make a nut like the one in this thread: http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum2/HTML/009254.html I'll be well pleased if you could share the secret.

I looooooooove Godin guitars.

Or just Sorbera.

Looks great. If you start populating it with saleable guitars (as opposed to waiting for comissions and THEN taking more gallery shots), there's a decent chance that you'll generate a purchase or two (not everyone wants to wait for their completely personalized guitar) while at the same time providing more examples for potential 'full custom' clients! Really professional-looking site. Congratulations! Greg

I agree that a true "tele" should have single coils. But I ALSO like the look of 'bucker-equipped Teles (esp. with that Fender-style staggered polepiece thing) well enough to make one, whether it's truly 'tele' or not. If a neck 'bucker is good enough for Albert Collins, plus many actual marketed Teles, it's good enough for me. Making a "pure" one, though, you kind of have to have single coils. I'd compromise my noise situation by using either 'noiseless' types or stacked types. And anyone who tells me that the hum is part of the vibe simply hasn't tried playing and recording in my apartment. It's even worse than you imagine. Greg

Good old mother-of-toilet-seat. I'm curious to know what the quality of the Floyd is like at that price. There's much talk about how only 2 or 3 non-original Floyds even work properly. If these are even half-assed, at $60 they're a steal. However, I have my doubts. Greg

With a crazy sharp chisel, it's pretty easy. I believe you can even get chisels that are 90-degree corners so that you can do it all together, as it were. Dunno that I'd bother going THAT far, but I'm sure they exist. Greg

A chisel, as Mattia suggests for the cavities. I believe Myka, Setch, and most other builders use a router except for the very corners and then a chisel to finish the corners off.

Definitely to each their own. I love the various Teles that have come with humbuckers. In particular, I like the humbucker in the neck position (something both Mike Stern and Albert Collins-- who is nothing if not twangtastic-- have done well with), but Tele Deluxes from the 70s are pretty nifty, too, with their dual-bucker configuration. Mainly, I'm insane about hum and I can't handle straight-up single coils any more. Whenever I get around to building a telecaster, it'll have a full-sized chrome/nickel-covered humbucker in the neck position and a stacked pickup in the bridge. Heck, maybe I'll even go full-sized hum in the bridge with one of those aftermarket tele bridges. Greg

Says it all. I actually prefer the look of slightly rounded corners except where necessary. For neck pocket, it's probably easier to do a sharp pocket than to round the neck. Greg

In gold? Only gold covers I've seen are shiny gold plastic. = cheap-looking. Depending on how serious you are about upgrading, I'm very intrigued by (but haven't actually tried for myself yet) the Kinman pickups. They'll ship it to you with a solder-free harness. You just need to take the old electronics out of your old pickguard/output jack and drop the new ones in. Greg

<shudders> It's truly gross-looking.

The one I was thinking of still maintains a straight "look". The staggering is created by having the saddle shaped not just as a cylinder, but having raised sort of 'triangular' surfaces that create the stagger. So you don't have to sacrifice that vintage look. I'll see if I can dig up a link somewhere. [edit: wasn't a forum, it was on eBay--> Click me! ] But now that I actually found a link and am looking at them, the ones Drak mentioned DO maintain more of the classic look after all. I like these GuitarFetish ones, but they're not exactly traditional-looking, are they? Greg

FWIW, there's a company (I'd have to do a search unless someone knows offhand) that makes a semi-intonatable 3-saddle aftermarket replacement. Er, that was convoluted... let's try again: There's a company that makes these saddles that fit "traditional" 3-saddle Tele bridges, but are actually somewhat staggerred where the strings 'break' over the saddles, meaning that they are semi-intonatable. A picture would say a thousand words here, but I don't have the link handy. Greg

I love telecasters. The Yamaha Pacifica tele-style (302 and I'm sure other models as well) updates the shape just a touch and adds a belly contour for comfort. I generally prefer it to the typical tele shape, but there is definitely something to be said for an honest-to-goodness Tele with no updates to it. I like the transparent yellow (not butterscotch, which is opaque) with a black pickguard, like Mike Campbell's on the cover of this month's Guitar Player. Greg

I had to do a Fender-style drop down for my lap steel, and I used a router to do it. (from the top, not the side, in case you were thinking otherwise) Worked out pefectly. Greg

A wee little black (or gold!) pinstripe accenting the shape (ie. just near the edges) might not count as a full-on "graphic" but that's what I had in mind.

I would think that the bridge itself is a just a solid mounting spot. It's still suspended by springs and a trio of screws. It's the windings and the polepieces that make it sound like a tele pickup. I believe it's more the pickup itself than the bridge. Particularly since many bridges (including the originals) are made of brass, which is non-magnetic. You can have a tele with a brass bridge, and it'll still sound like a tele. Greg

I'm just sick to death of quilted and flame maple, period. I'd LOOooove to see this with a different graphic approach. (ironically, though, I'm thinking of a project with a subtle flamed maple... so it's not right out the window for me, but it's just kind of overdone)

My personal uneducated opinion is that if you're going to paint it a solid colour, there's no point trying to take off their sealer. Sand it properly, but don't remove it. Removing it is only for if you plan on dying it, from what I understand. Again, though, uneducated opinion. Someone can whack me if I'm wrong. Greg