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Telecaster kit review

So I decided to try something different, and get a kit guitar from a seller online. I chose a Telecaster kit from Cotton Eyed Joe. The kit came with a swamp ash body which has a flame maple veneer top, maple neck with maple fretboard, Telecaster style bridge and pickups. The wiring is a snap-connect system that requires no soldering (except for the bridge/string ground), which I soldered to the bridge and copper tape shielding that I added.

A few obstacles to the project: the bridge in the kit I received wasn't the one pictured, so I had to request a replacement. Customer service was great, I got the bridge I needed in about a week. A few of the pre-drilled holes needed to be enlarged (string ferrules holes on back of body and the neck mounting screw holes), but no worries.

The headstock comes in blank form, so you can choose and cut your own style shape. I went with a standard modern Telecaster shape. I looked at a few pictures online and freehand drew and cut the headstock...a little sanding and all good. Neck had no finish, so I opted for a hand rubbed Tung oil finish, which is much better in my opinion for a fast playing neck.

The scale length was supposed to be 25.5", but I measured the 12th fret to verify for when I was going to set up the bridge saddles prior to dialing in the intonation. The 12th fret measurement was not 12.75" as it should have been. It measured out at 12-11/16", or 322.5mm. This made the scale length 25.39 or 25.4". I chose to measure the rest of the frets, and verified they were set up as the discovered 25.4" scale...weird.

I discovered when stringing up, that the small E string nut slot is cut too deep, and the string buzzes on the first fret. So a repair will be needed to remedy. A little bone dust and super glue will do the trick.

The neck pickup did not come with a cover plate, as was described, no worries. I fabricated one from a piece of 1/8" figured maple left from the top of another build in progress.

Finishing the body was an experience. The flame maple veneer top needed patience and care when sanding, as I discovered when flaking off one small area on the upper left horn. I patched with some wood filler paste, and moved on. I painted the back & side with a hammered steel enamel that is sold in DIY stores, marketed for painting floor registers (where heat comes out for your house from furnace). I finished the top with Colonial Maple Minwax stain and wipe on polyurethane.

All in all, for an investment of $150 (including shipping), and a little elbow grease, the result is a nice guitar that sounds as Telecaster should sound.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on January 11, 2015 at 4:00am

Very cool!

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Permalink Reply by Reeds Taylor on January 11, 2015 at 4:35am

Turned out nice...

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Permalink Reply by Diglydog on January 11, 2015 at 5:06am

Nice job !

Perhaps the odd measurement to the 12th fret is for stretch compensation. If I put 25.5 inches as a scale length into the compensated calculator that I use, it comes up with the 12th fret at 322mm = 12.674 inches from the nut. I suppose that compensation factors may vary a bit.

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on January 11, 2015 at 5:18am

Thanks everyone.

Never heard of that (compensating for stretch by setting frets in place other than scale-based spacing). In my experience, frets must be spaced according to actual scale. Compensation is done at the bridge.

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on January 11, 2015 at 6:51am

Much thanks. Strings are GHS Boomers 10-46 plain steel.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on January 11, 2015 at 7:25am

looiks good . great review ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Cause the Blue rat on January 11, 2015 at 5:43pm

Great review Scott. Totally cool looking guitar.

I've seen these kits offered from tool and wood working sites to Ebay. The three parts I've always wondered about are the neck, frets and fretboard. Everything else can either be replaced or painted.

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Permalink Reply by Bluesheart on January 12, 2015 at 8:37am

That turned out very nice, pretty grain!

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Permalink Reply by Gene Jones on January 12, 2015 at 4:56pm

Very nice Ted, I love the Telecasters.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Breen on January 13, 2015 at 11:26am

Scott someone was asking me the other day about wanting to build an electric guitar kit, can you share the website and would you say it would be a good project for a novice

Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on January 13, 2015 at 3:57pm

Hey Mike,

Long time, good to hear from you. I got the kit off Ebay from a seller called cottoneyedjoe. The price, including shipping was about $150. The body is swamp ash, neck is maple with rosewood fretboard. Electronics are "snap-clip" style, so except for the string ground wire, no soldering required. Comes with everything you need except finishing materials to complete a decent working guitar. I will say that the neck pocket could have had a tighter fit for the neck, but not a real issue.

It took some work to finish (i.e. sanding, etc.) and the headstock is left as a blank, so you choose, mark, and cut your own desired shape. But it is very "beginner" friendly, and the price is fair.

Here's on listed by same seller, current bid is at $26.00 USD:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1967-SMUGGLER-TELE-STYLE-STYLE-ELECTRIC-GUIT...

You can click on "see more items" to find other kits by him.

Cheers