From Wood… To Sound.

Okay, so here we are.

She said she wants to be called “Loretta”. I answered back with, “why the hell not?”

That helped me to finally, after twenty-four years, name my Strat. She’s now “Maureen”.

So it’s now “Lo” and “Mo”.

Here’s Lo (please click on images for full-blown loveliness):

And here she is again:

And here are “Mo and Lo” together. Just because I’m a guy who loves my guitars:

And, of course, here is what Lo sounds like. We’re obviously still learning about each other, lol. DISCLAIMER: I only ever said I played guitar. I never said I played guitar well! Anyway…

Been a great journey. Thanks for sharing it with me!

Best,

ALG

Well, F Me… IT WORKS!!

lolol… I really wasn’t sure it was going to actually make noise, but it does!

Took me THREE hours of soldering and fixing and running to my computer, where I had Garage Band opened, and I would plug it in just to see if the pups worked, if the tone and volume knobs were active, etc.

But, um… I forgot the string trees! Lol… of all things to forget to buy. I’ll get them on Wednesday.

However, I did string it up and work on the intonation and neck. And god damn, it plays pretty darn good. I don’t have an amp here, but coming through the speakers I use for my stereo, it sounds like a Tele. The string trees will help with the tone.

So, some tweaking of the set-up, and the next post will be the last: photos and a recording of it in action.

Okay, so give me this little moment: IT FUCKING LOOKS AWESOME!!! WOOT!WOOT!!!!WOOOOTTT!!!

Okay, I’m over it. Nothing to see here.

Back with you in a few days, and then the journey will be complete.

 

ALG.

Final Lap.

It’s raining here in the city by the bay. Perfect “lets wire the CRAP outta this guitar!” weather.

Which is what’s going to go down. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I should be done today, and might even be able to test it out on Garage Band.

Here’s to hoping, anyway, lol.

Back with you later.

 

ALG

Disaster Update.

Took the neck to where I work, and there’s a sculpture/printmaking instructor who is TOTALLY pulling my stones out of the fire. Seriously, I owe this guy a bottle of Chivas.

We should have the tuners on tomorrow, after getting better screws (the crap ones that came with the tuners are totally useless) and putting epoxy in all the holes so we can start over with the drilling.

Almost there!

ALG

And of Course…

… the shit hits the fan. There I am, drilling the holes for the tuners and the damn drill bit SNAPS OFF! Now I have to figure out a way to get that thing out of there, as it snapped off right below the surface. Also, one of the cheap screws that came with the tuners ALSO snapped off.

 

*sigh*, oh well… Murphy’s Law, yeah?

 

Minor hitch, I hope.

 

Be back soon.

 

ALG

Okay… Um…

Well, I’ve had a couple minor issues come up, and I haven’t even begun to piece the thing all together. Loretta is her name, btw.

Wrong sized string ferrules. Tuners, but no grommets for the tuner posts, etc.

Just a bunch of little crap, just enough to irritate. However, the parts have been acquired, as is the complete first season to The Streets of San Francisco. No, nothing to do with guitboxs… but hey, I gotta have SOME fun, yeah? I envision one entire day of Karl Malden. Yes!

Anyway, let’s just add $100 more to the cost and call it even. So it’s $1186.83

See ya soon! With pics! With audio!

ALG

Oh, and Lest I Forget…

This is what I could buy with the money I’ve spent putting together my own, custom Telecaster copy.

The Fender American Standard Telecaster. Price: $999.99 to $1,149.99:

Personally, I like mine better, as it has what I hope will be a better, more vintage “ashtray” bridge, but with updated saddles set to help with the classic Tele intonation issues. The one above has a satin finish on the back of the neck, and a high gloss finish on the fretboard. The neck coming in the mail (arriving on election day! Woot!), is ALL satin finish, which is also more in line with the older, classic Telecasters.

Updates to come! I had forgotten one god-damned piece of the puzzle, the jack pocket for the cable, lol! But other than that, I’m ready to go.

 

See ya.

ALG

Okay, So… Done Ordering Parts!

heh… I should’ve waited, but here I was, on my first rainy day back in the city, so I figured… why not? Let’s do it! I get paid in a week, and can pay off the parts when I get some dough.

So, I bought the tuners. Gotoh vintage. Come highly rec’d. Also some screws for the pick guard. Hope I ordered right!

And… AND… bought.the.neck. The most important part except for the body. Went with medium jumbo frets, regular satan finish, and a corian nut.  Here it is:

A lovely hunk of birds eye maple! Can’t wait for it to arrive!

So, here we are. The final cost in materials:

Running total: $767.72

Tuners and final screws: $46.61

Neck: $272.50

GRAND TOTAL IN PARTS for my first child: $1086.83

Next up: the assembling!

See ya. Lovin’ the city, btw.

ALG

I’m Moved!

And thank fuck for that, I can tell ya.

So, we’re settling in, re-doing the kitchen (thank you, Ikea!), and I’m starting a new draft of my current novel. However, this also means that I will soon be starting the assembling of the body. That should only take a day, unless my soldering skills are worse than I think they are. Got everything I need for it, so now we’re back on the road, heading towards that early December finish date.

I’ll leave you for now with this VERY beautiful Tele, the Merle Haggard model. LOVE that paint job, and goes for a whopping $5900.00.

See ya soon.

ALG

Update!

Um, I’m moving, hence the lack of updating, heh. Once I get settled in, then I’ll do the wiring and such, and get the neck, etc.

So, hang in there! I’ll be back very soon!