My first project!! Need advice on well... Everything!

[Mr Wolf]

Hi people,

A couple of questions, I know one should be in the pickup lounge but I opted to put all the questions in the one thread.

I recently acquired an ash body set up for a fender la cabronita setup (see pic). I need to get the other bits then get going on putting it all together. Going to go with a filtertron style pickup, natural finish and hopefully it should go together quite smoothly.

Firstly - for a natural finish I have come across clear nitro lacquer for sale online but I have also heard about the grain needing treating as well. What would you suggest? Any pitfalls to be wary of?

Bridges - looking into bridges I want a flat mounted one, ideally strung through body. What ones would you recommend? I am not to fussy about it being 'vintage correct' necessarily. As long as it sounds good and ergonomic that is it really. if you suspect you know specific bridges that might work with the holes predrilled - even better!

String trees - it will probably be a fender style neck so I may need them. Tempted to go for graph tech. A small component I know but I presume these are alright?

Pickup - I know nothing about filtertron type pickups! Played some briefly that were in a hollowbody once and the overall sound was great. In a tele though? No idea where to start. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, what value pots should I get as well?

Looking forward to getting it going and I hope the results will be good! Many thanks in advance for your assistance with my points.

 

[Chocklit_Thunda]

Re: My first project!! Need advice on well... Everything!

Use an egg white for grain filler. Just rub it on, let it dry in the pores then use a few drops of water and sandpaper to sand it. It will rehydrate and mix with the sanding dust and form a tacky grain filler that's cheaper and just as effective as anything you can buy. You can then spray the clear nitro over this.
You are welcome.

 

[Bludave]

Re: My first project!! Need advice on well... Everything!

Lacquer can be difficult to work with and will require much sanding in between coats. If your not too concerned you could just sand the body & neck to the smoothness you are happy with & then apply tongue oil. But if Lacquer is the way you want to go, investigate RERANCH. They should have it in spray cans and that will make it easier to deal with. http://www.reranch.com/
As far as bridges are concerned look at Callaham. They make excellent products. A good friend of mine just bought a Tele body & neck and all the other parts were Callaham. Great sounding guitar. As far as Filtertrons..... I'm not a fan, but that's just me. I personally think the only guitar that they sound ok in is a Gretch, other then that I think they lack something. The body doesn't appear to routed for a full size humbucker, but it could just be the pic. If it is try a Duncan 59, it should sound great, but if you can route it for a dual pickup guitar and a 3 way switch. That gives you a lot of options. You could go with a standard Tele configuration, or a H-H configuration( I have a set neck Tele that has a pair of Pearly gates in it that sounds pretty hip). or you could go with one of my favorites which is a Firebird minihum in the neck and a Jerry Donahue in the bridge!! As you can see lots of options. Good luck and post some progress shots as you go.

 

[Mr Wolf]

Re: My first project!! Need advice on well... Everything!

Many thanks Chocklit Thunda and Bludave. ATM I don't mind the thought of sanding between coats and so on. I find patience is the main thing to have with that sort of job. Pickups - going to continue to research, the pickup combos suggested are cool. A zillion things to sort before I get that far so I will think about whether to try some routing. At present the route is indeed too small for a humbucker. The dimensions are actually spot on for a filtertron (at least TV Jones) dimensions anyway.