the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

[J Moose]

After many many hours of labor I dropped this off with my tech just a few hours ago to have a nut fit. Get it back in a week or so and I'll do the final setup. I think it's gonna be a screamer... it's got the vibe. The neck to body fit was so tight the neck stayed without screws! Being a Thinline it weighs nothing & with the Tru-Oil finish there's nothing to restrict the natural energy & vibrations. Not like some ultra-thick poly soak!

This almost feels like a forum guitar & I owe some thanks to people...

I got the neck, body, tuners & control plate from Poorman. Bridge pickup came from BBent many moons ago... Aytron provided many answers on working with the Tru-Oil as did Scottish. Also special thanks goes to TGWIF for putting up with a million dumb questions along the way & invaluable advice.

I documented the whole build process step-by-step which started back in May or June. At some point I'll go through the pictures & complete this thread... in the meantime I gotta pack for this weekends gig. But before I go...

The Breakdown!

Neck - Warmoth quartersawn, side adjust truss rod. Gotoh (?) Kulson style locking tuners.
Body - USACG thinline swamp ash. Yes, chambered with no f-hole.
Electronics - Texas Special & Jazz on a 4-way switch with Acme/CTS pots and an orange drop.
Bridge; guard & misc bits are Allparts.

See 'ya in a few days!

 

[PoorMan]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

Oh man!!! I'm at work and they blocked the pics!!! :banghead:

Can't wait to see it when I get home, J. I had that neck and body for a while and never got around to working on it. Glad it went to a good home! :beerchug:

 

[Guest]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

Sexy

 

[Curly]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

nice job

 

[Joelski]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

Great work! That's a sharp lookin' tele!

 

[pzaxtl]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

Looks fabulous -- good job!

 

[J Moose]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

Since your looking for picture(S) heres another one...

The color is much lighter in the daylight. In dark light both the neck & body are a dark brown... almost black. The finish is super thin, you can still feel wood grain. I left the plastic on the pickguard for now... pull it off once the strings are on just in case a tool slips or something.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

Man, that body looks absolutely incredible. Was it just Tru-Oil? No stain?

I bet that P/U combo sounds great, I love the Texas Special in my Tele, how is the 4-way wired? Split the neck or series?

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

I don't get it, how can it get THAT darker with just a thin coat of tru-oil?

Well, it's a beauty regardless, can't wait to hear the breakdown and the review once you had the chance

 

[PoorMan]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

Looks awesome, J. Love the color. Nice work.

Light as a feather, eh?

 

[scottish]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

Looks awesome man. I promise with the next project you undertake ill actually have some time to help, lol.

 

[cream123]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

uhhhh....whoa

 

[MikeS]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

I like it. Whatever you used to dye/stain the body came out perfect in the photographs. You say it's a bit darker that the pics, though. Interesting. Very clean and classy telecaster. Enjoy.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

NICE!!! I dig it, the colour looks killer...if that puppy sounds as good as it looks you have a keeper! Im for sure glad I could help with that!

 

[Hoss]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

WOW...that thang is AWESOME!!!

NEW STUFF ROCKS!!! :headbang: :headbang:

 

[Butch Snyder]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

nice job

+1.... That thing is very nice.

 

[Gr8Scott]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

That is just gorgeous. I'll bet it feels sexy and slippery in your hands with that finish. I'd love to see and play that one in person.

 

[J Moose]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

That is just gorgeous. I'll bet it feels sexy and slippery in your hands with that finish. I'd love to see and play that one in person.

Yeah... me too!!! Seriously though, I haven't played a single note on it and have NO idea what it sounds like. I hope it'll be great... it should be as all the proper elements are in place. 4-way switch is wired as series/parallel. Straight up, no push/pulls.

Both the body & neck were hit with water based stain before getting several coats of Tru-Oil. I did between 4-7 each, all varying degrees of heaviness as I used both the bottle/wipe application and a rattle can. The rattle can coats were pretty light... In person the color is more of black cherry or deep wine red. This is a shot I've posted a few times... quick test fit on the kitchen table after 2-3 coats of oil.

I'll start going through the rest of the pictures soon... need to find some time!

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

nice. i've been considering tru-oil for my Warmoth Strat since it's quick and easy, but this shows that it can look really sweet too.

i bet it's killin you leavin the strings off of there :smokin:

 

[J Moose]

Re: the Thinline Tele Tru-Oil build is complete!

nice. i've been considering tru-oil for my Warmoth Strat since it's quick and easy, but this shows that it can look really sweet too.

i bet it's killin you leavin the strings off of there :smokin:

Awww dude... you have no idea!

When I got the box of parts from Poorman I wanted to mount the bridge immediately & string it up to see what it sounded & felt like. Once I got everything on the bench and really assessed the amount of work that had to be done I realized that would be impossible and I'd have to do the finish work first.

Some may call a Warmoth guitar "assembling" but lemme tell you, this required more then a screwdriver...

Which strat are you gonna Tru-Oil? The white one that 'yer sister hit with the crayons or whatever it was? Finger paints or something? lol

Reading up before I got started & commited to the Tru-Oil 'they' say you can't screw it up. Though I did find a couple of ways... lol

It's not a flawless finish but it's more or less what I was after. I didn't want this one to look like a shiny factory/high end guitar nor did I want the "relic" homemade look. I think it rides that middle ground pretty well...