The Mod Squad
Ever fancied building your own guitar but feel daunted by the options? Dave Burrluck, or rather Trev Wilkinson, has the answer with a new range of all-in-one kits. How hard can it be?
Around a couple of years back, partly as a response to the criticism that Guitarist only writes about gear that costs an arm and a leg, I put together a cheap-as-chips guitar from a Chinese kit that cost roughly £100, including strings. To say it stretched my lapsed guitar-making skills is an understatement, but after a fair bit of swearing and fettling I did create a perfectly giggable instrument, even though the original pickups are now in service as fridge magnets. It was a vivid illustration of you get what you pay for.
Mind you, it did rekindle my passion for DIY guitar building, despite the fact the only ‘workshop’ I have is my well-used kitchen table and a large box of hand tools inherited from my father and grandfather. But as we’ve said countless times, to build a bolt-on (assuming the neck and body are made for you), you need little more than a couple of screwdrivers, a soldering iron and some setup tools. Yes, ‘luxuries’ such as a bench drill press, or even a flippin’ bench, would be handy, but for many of us those are things we dream about.
Earlier this year, Mod Squad mentor Trev Wilkinson announced a range of midpriced guitar kits that are a whole different level to those Chinese kits I’d wrestled with earlier. Priced around £500 apiece, they include everything you need to “create
a true ‘legend’”, and are of impressive quality, made in India by Harmony Musical Instruments. Indeed, the overall kit quality was high enough to impress StewMac’s Dan Erlewine – a respected figure in the world of guitar repair and building – who immediately placed a large order. If it’s good enough for Dan…
What’s In The Box?
Us guitar nuts are odd, aren’t we? A simple spec sheet can get our pulses racing, and that’s the first thing I checked when I received a TE 52 kit. No prizes for guessing what we’re going to be building, but we’re looking at a list that includes a one-piece maple neck with single-action truss rod, and vintage-style frets on the original-style 184mm (7.25-inch) radius’d neck face. The body is alder, not ash (there is a worldwide shortage of lightweight ash), but it’s two-piece centre-jointed with
a good weight of 2.14kg (4.7lb), which, added to the 0.53kg (1.17lb) of the neck, is pointing towards a good light weight for the finished guitar. These unfinished parts are nicely machined and impressively sanded with plenty of vintage reference. It’s a good start [pics 1 & 2].
The hardware, obviously, is by Wilkinson, so it’s not exactly 100 per cent vintage ‘1952’ in appearance. The Tele-style WTB bridge, for example, has its ‘Wilkinson by Sung-il’ logo but comes with both compensated brass saddles and holes for top-loading. You’ll have recently seen this on Fret-King’s Country Squire. The WJ55 tuners, however, look the part with slot-head posts and Kluson-like rear covers. Trev draws further into his parts empire with a pair of Tele-specific, Wilkinson-logo’d single coils: a WVOB at the bridge and covered WVTN at the neck [pic 3, opposite].
A quick glance over the control plate and you see some tidy wiring with a CRL three-way pickup selector and CTS 250kohms pots, which reflect the kit’s ‘professional’ aim. There’s even a cap/ resistor treble bleed circuit on the volume: plenty to investigate when we get there. It’s worth mentioning to those who have a fear of soldering that all you’ll need to do is attach just two wires to hook up the output jack.
“To build a bolton, you need little more than a couple of screwdrivers, a soldering iron and some setup tools”
“Ultimately, I’m looking for a ‘Tele’ to record with, vintage inspired in terms of sound but without any intonation issues”
Where To Start?
Like any good kit, this one comes with well-written assembly instructions that are printed on old-fashioned paper – such a relief from having to sit through a rambling YouTube video. All good. The only problem I’m facing is that Trev sent me a ‘paddle’ headstock neck (as I had with that previous Chinese kit build) that needs transforming into something that resembles a headstock before I can get to the fun part. And, yes, Wilkinson is offering more classic-style headstock shapes, but obviously the paddle type allows you to be a bit creative if that’s what you fancy.
Now, cutting a headstock shape [pics 4, 5 & 6] with just a coping saw, the neck held to my ‘bench’ with a G-clamp, isn’t something I’d be suggesting anyone does unless they have some pretty sound woodworking experience. You’ll then need some files and rasps to smooth the outline and create the back curve if, like me, you were going for a stylised Tele-ish headstock. So, while certainly not impossible at the kitchen table, I’d definitely suggest being a bit less ‘creative’ and getting a kit with a more familiar headstock already cut for you.
Anyway, where to start? I need a plan. As ever, a list of questions always helps. Clearly, part of the aim of these kits – and I’d guess the intention of many builders
– is to create that professional ‘Custom Shop’ Tele- or Strat-alike, probably with a vintage reference or three. You might even be thinking of upgrading the pickups or parts to create your ‘ultimate’ partscaster with a pristine finish or a beat-to-hell relic job. The reason you need to give this some thought is that if you’re planning to apply a production-style finish, it’s best to do it before you start assembling the guitar. Once you’ve pushed the tuner grommets into the headstock, for example, you don’t want to be removing them before you apply a finish, even if it is possible.
Of course, building ‘in the white’ without any finish means you can actually see, feel and hear what you have before you start thinking about finish, a pickup swap, ageing the hardware and so on. If you’re more adventurous, you might think about reshaping the neck a little and there’s nothing stopping you adding rib-cage and forearm contours to your slab body.
Personally, I’m not going to bother too much about the finish at this stage, because I need to evaluate just how good this actual kit is. Ultimately, I decide, I’m looking for a ‘Tele’ to record with, certainly vintage inspired in terms of sound but without any intonation issues. I’m less worried about what it looks like, because the reality is nobody but me will see it. The secondary plan – probably for future a Mod Squad column – is to experiment with the early Esquire/Tele circuits.
Keep Calm & Carry On
But to backtrack a little, before you start spending time on the neck, not least cutting that headstock, you need to evaluate it. All we know about the truss rod is that it’s single action with the adjustment at the base of the neck, period-style. Simply unscrew that cross head nut [pic 7] so there’s no tension on the neck and doublecheck the neck for straightness. Hold the neck on its side and sight down the edge of the fingerboard bass side then treble side. You’re looking for a pretty straight line. What you don’t want to see is a forward hump; the only thing that will straighten that is the string tension, because a singleaction truss rod can only add tension and increase that hump. Much less of a worry – so long as the neck isn’t twisted – is a slightly concave dish. A little tension on the truss rod should easily correct that. This neck seems very straight with no tension on the truss rod. Checked with an 18-inch straight edge laid down the centre of the fingerboard, it’s not rocking (which would indicate that convex hump we don’t want). Using a shorter straight edge or something like StewMac’s Fret Rocker [pic 8], the frets are pretty level, although they might need dressing when we get to the setup, especially if you want a low string-height on this small radius fingerboard.
Having spent a couple of hours cutting, shaping and sanding the headstock, I was now ready to prep the neck and body. I started with the neck. Again, I’ll say it, this is a really good neck. Technically rift-sawn with slightly diagonal grain that sits between slab- and quarter-sawn, the machining, shaping and sanding of the
neck is excellent. The fingerboard edge is left very clean and sharp, unlike a real ’52’s whose fingerboard edges will be rounded with wear. If this were a rosewood fingerboard, I’d leave any thought of rounding or ‘rolling’ the edges until we’re at the setup stage, that way you can get a more realistic feel. Obviously, those edges don’t wear round on the bass side, for example, where the neck sits in the body. Invariably, too, there would be more rounding in the centre of the neck. Here, though, we need to round the edges before we apply any sealing finish. I used a flatbacked razor running up and down the edge at approximately 45 degrees [pic 9], slowly flattening and increasing that angle to round the edge and simulate that wear. Don’t go mad, less is always more – and as I’m planning to use an oil finish, I can always increase the rolling at a later stage and just apply a little more oil.
It’s already ‘fine-sanded’, but I lightly sanded again and moved through the grades from 400-, 600- to 800-grit then finished off with fine wire wool, creating an almost burnished feel.
Measuring the neck after this very light sanding, we have a depth of 22.5mm at the 1st fret and 25mm at the 12th [pic 10] with a really well-graduated deep C profile. Nut width is 41.63mm [pic 11], 51.8mm at the 12th and 55.72mm at the 21st fret. How does that actually compare with an early 50s Tele? Compared with the specs from that gorgeous Seven Decades ’52 Tele we looked at a while back, the kit neck is very close, a little deeper but only by a hair or two. The frets are very well installed with a quoted gauge of 1.98mm (0.078
inches) wide by 1.1mm (0.043 inches) high. ‘Vintage small’, in other words – and with the original fingerboard radius, we’re in for a pretty vintage-specific drive.
When I was satisfied with the prep, I applied a few coats of Danish oil – actually three, leaving some time for the oil to dry between coats [pic 12]. When fully dry you can lightly smooth it with 0000 wire wool, or a similarly fine abrasive pad, and apply some wax. Oil finishes do need maintenance, but I love them. You can clean, even resand if necessary, and over time and some playing they’ll burnish up to a silky smooth sheen.
The body? Again, it really is a nice piece: very cleanly machined and very well sanded. However, there’s a bit of a question mark on my planning list as I’m honestly not sure whether I should do a ‘proper’ finish or keep it au naturel and mirror the neck finish. Personally, I’m less of an oil-finish fan when it comes to the body, although there is plenty of potential to stain then apply a brushed varnish (very 70s) or a pseudo French polish. First off, though, put some time aside and sand through the grades again – use a cork or similar sanding block and spend time on the sides to maximise any of the grain and figure.
Before your final rub, a wipe with a damp cloth will not only let you see the how the colour will look after it’s had a clear finish but also raise the grain so that when dry, and after your final sand, it becomes ultrasmooth. You might have an orbital sander or similar, but, hey, there’s little wrong with our hand method and some good ol’ elbow grease. After all, there’s no production manager looking over your shoulder.
I then wiped it over a couple of times with a pine stain and when fully dry applied a few coats of French polish. I left it for a full 24 hours, before very lightly cutting it back with 800-grit on a feltbacked sanding pad, then hand-buffed with a very light polishing compound [pic 13] and lastly a light polish.
Next comes the fun part: the assembly. See you next issue!
That should give you something to think about till our next issue.
In the meantime, if you have any modding questions, or suggestions, drop us a line – The Mod Squad.