My dad is a master woodworker...he's done a ton of different projects over the years and has kinda been known locally for the things he's created.

He's getting up there in years. In fact, he's started giving me some of his tools and talked about getting rid of others.

I talked with him a while back about doing one last project. Kind of a father-son thing...I wanted him to make me a Telecaster body, with which I would do an all-out build...something one-of-a-kind like nobody else would ever have. Hopefully, when my grandson (his great-grandson) got old enough, he would take an interest in guitars (I already bought him a Squier Mini) and I could pass it down to him.

I told him to go all out. Build something crazy, off-the-wall, different. My dad, being a type A personality, had a little trouble with that at first, but eventually he ran with it. He asked me to go get him a slab of maple and cherry from the local mill, which I did. Fortunately, I found some stuff that had been air-drying for going on a decade, so he was good to start working with it immediately.I told him I didn't want to see it until he was done.

He called me a few times asking about specs and measurements and such, but he didn't violate the terms, lol. He kept it under wraps the entire time until he came to visit today.

Holy cow. I figured it would be good, but this is crazy.





Alternating, staggered rows of maple and cherry, divided with walnut inlay. CRAZY.

Weighs about 20 lbs, lol...But, it's BEAUTIFUL.

I'm going to get a half Thinline pickguard for this thing so as to cover as little of the woodwork as possible. I can't wait to finish it. Need to start ordering parts!

I haven't even finished my other Tele yet...lol...

Beautiful work keep us posted on progress.

That is BEAUTIFUL! Im not a guitarist, but I love looking at them and appreciate well done craftsmanship. Your father know he is a very talented man.

Absolutely stunning..!!!

Very good high quality

Incredible piece of work.  My dad just builds early American small furniture, so I need to tell him to get off his ass!

ask if he can do some weight reduction in the back.

a guitar that heavy will be a burden quickly. Bettwr to have him do the recution now than someone else later when its an heirloom piece.

That is a beautiful piece. The walnut is a great contrasting accent.

Attached File

I'm a big fan of natural finishes on guitars and like seeing the wood grain.  Tell him that looks really good!  And a very unique look.

Wow.

That is cool. That guitar will preserve his legacy. Looking forward to finished pics.

Very nice

What do you have planned for the neck? Neck pocket looks kind of long...

That is so cool.  Something to cherish for sure.

I probably will do a rosewood fretboard to contrast with the lightness of the wood. Stain is going to be very mild whatever I end up choosing, but I figure whatever I pick will darken the walnut strips and make it about the same color as the neck.

He left the neck pocket long on purpose...told me to trim it to whatever length I wanted.  I will also have to do some body routes and drilling for the wiring.

Damn, that looks amazing. Can't wait to see it with the varnish hits it!

Pretty damn cool.

Cool.

super cool

Screw that, get a regulation Tele pickguard, but clear.  Something like Lexan.

She’s a beaut.  Going to varnish, oil it or something?

That's badass.  How are the necks built?  Are they an already assembled piece or can your pops make that too.

Tagged to see build progress

I wouldn't put a pick guard on that piece of art.

First mockup.



I got a Wilkinson compensated bridge for it. Pickups are generic, but Alnico V, wax dipped with cloth wire. Pots are 500k with a giant orange capacitor. All the stuff that's supposed to be good.

Pickguard needs to move north a bit. I will have to cut it slightly to allow for the neck. Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with this.

I actually had it set up and playing (acoustically) the other day, but the neck was way too high and I had to run the saddles all the way up and still didn't get rid of the buzz. So, I'm going to have to do some routing on the neck pocket.

Dad said there were several specs for the neck pocket depth, so he chose the shallowest one, figuring we could always go deeper but if it was too deep it would be hard to put it back.

I've been too busy to work on it this week. I did practice with finishing on the leftover scraps that Dad gave me. Straight polyurethane actually looks pretty good...has a warm yellowish color and darkens the wood quite a bit. I still don't know if I'm doing that or finding some actual stain to use.

Oh, and one more thing...all of the small bits of hardware...neck plate and screws, string trees, bridge screws, etc...are getting fire-blued to a bluish purple color. Will do the same for the pickguard screws as well, and maybe some of the other hardware if possible. Thought about stripping the chrome off the switchplate and doing that as well, but it's likely brass underneath. Might grind a spot on the back to see for sure. Will post pics.

It needs 20 coats of clear lacquer No color. Warmoth pickguard.