Strat Neck Build for Telecaster - My First Neck Build
click on picture for larger image
I bought a Telecaster kit. The body, pickups, and hardware were all decent enough, but the neck was so crappy, I decided to build one from scratch.
On the left is the original kit neck, and a 1/4″ MDF template I made from it.
From that, I made a beefier 3/4″ template.
From the template, I made the maple neck blank pictured here.
Here is a jig used to cut the center channel for the truss rod. As you can see, the long bolts allow a lot of flexibility to accommodate a variety of widths.
Truss rod in place… Notice the funky cut-away for the head and access hole in photo on right! (It gets better.)
I then glued a pre-slotted, pre-radiused fretboard onto the neck, and clamped overnight.
The next morning, it was ready to be flush-trimmed on the router table.
Perfect edges after trimming.
Time for my first inlay work, the fret markers. I used a 1/4″ forstner bit and black plastic inlays.
In the photo on the right, you can just make out the file marks on the top of the dots.
Starting to carve the back of the neck. I used a vicious rasp and a couple of files for most of this stage.
A little farther along. On the left, the volute is starting to take shape, and on the right, a detail of the headstock about to take form.
I used a rotary-tool sanding drum to smooth the transition from fretboard to headstock, and I was worried the burn couldn’t be removed. No worries. Hard work pays off. Sand, and sand, and sand…
At this point I was also using cabinet scrapers, which are fantastic tools.
Test-fitting the tuners…
First fret job… I was terrified going into this! It ended up being a lot of fun and a lot easier than anticipated, probably because of the long delay- lots of meditation and contemplation about… how.
Unfortunately I didn’t photograph the fret-trimming and leveling. This is the morning after the first four coats of satin nitrocellulose lacquer, with two coats of aged clear lacquer in the middle of the process. I’m quite pleased with the scupting of the headstock, volute, and heel.
I am inside my collapsible spray booth.
These photos show off the finish.
Pretty pleased with the fret crowning. These still need a little more polishing, but I really like the ‘airstream’ fret ends.
So, That’s It! If I were to do one thing different (and I will next time), it would be to fill the fret slot ends with filler, so they’re not so empty, like in these last two pics.
May 1, 2020… The ‘Telecaster’ is done!
Click on the link below to go the Tele Gallery!