Junk Telecaster

[crazydoc]

On to the bridge. I hacked an appropriate piece out of a steel plate from the copier.

 

[crazydoc]

Shaped and sanded (yes, that belt sander was a lifesaver for this project. )

 

[crazydoc]

I downloaded a pic from the Stewmac site (along with dimensions) and made a template. I'd cut the bridge too long, so I shortened it.

 

[crazydoc]

Drilled and cut.

 

[crazydoc]

I used a Dremel tool to smooth the inside of the pickup cutout. It jumped out and scored the surface several times. I was too lazy to get all the scratches out. C'est la vie.

 

[crazydoc]

Saddles were cut from more copier shaft. Drilling and tapping the holes for the height adjusting screws was the most tedious part of this whole project. Six 4-40's. And I was thrilled I didn't break the tap! But I did break about 5 bits.

These are the springs. Ball point pen springs were not stiff enough, so I used clothes pins.

 

[crazydoc]

The finished bridge.

 

[crazydoc]

Another view.

 

[stevieb]

Good God, man, such detail to doing it ALL from scratch. Do you grow you own freakin' TREES, too?

 

[ez_willis]

i'm dying to see what you come up with for the strings. hubcaps maybe? silverware? no idea, but i know it'll kick ass!

looking good, dude. totly jealous. i'd still be working on getting a splinter out of my finger from day one.

 

[crazydoc]

i'm dying to see what you come up with for the strings.

Sorry to disappoint, but I used a set of real strings I had around. In Africa, I've seen some musicians use unbraided bicycle brake cables
on their tin can guitars.

 

[crazydoc]

The neck plate is from the same steel as the bridge.

 

[crazydoc]

Screws are from 3" coated deck screws - cut to appropriate length and heads rounded.

 

[crazydoc]

Trial neck fitting.

 

[crazydoc]

On to the pickups. Forms were made from PC board in the copier. I picked the one with the fewest components, desoldered them and ground off the copper pads (belt sander, of course.)

 

[crazydoc]

Drawn, cut, and drilled. The bridge pu pole pieces are more copier shaft.

 

[crazydoc]

Glued. The neck pu uses magnets from the door latches of the copier.

 

[crazydoc]

I used hard drive magnets for the bridge pu. (This pic after it was wound.)

 

[crazydoc]

After the guitar was together, levels from the separate strings of the bridge pickup were quite varied. Some research showed how the poles were arranged. I had to cut the magnets in half and rearrange them.

http://www.reuk.co.uk/Hard-Disk-Drive-Magnets-For-Wind-Turbines.htm for explanation.

 

[crazydoc]

On the pickup. Worked fine after that.