Relicaster build

[itchyfingers]

Sorry to hear about the finishing woes, but the whole thing looks good, man. Is there a pic of the fretboard wear?

Unfortunately, there's not much for fretboard wear, more like gunk near the frets...


Next week, I'll give the fretboard another go.

[itchyfingers]

Bummer about the difficulties but from all the pictures you posted it still looks real nice. And it's all a learning experience so hopefully you can use everything to make it easier on your next go around. Definitely double check the wiring, no tone knob should be a tad brighter in my experience.

Thanks Beef, still pretty stoked on where it is at this point, but more work to come next week. And yeah, you and Mamberg are right about the wiring, I'll give that a look tonight most likely.

[Tortuga]

Looks fantastic. Can't wait to check it out in-person tomorrow

[itchyfingers]

Thanks to Mamberg and that sweet wiring diagram website, I was able to confirm that I had wired everything up correctly. At this point I was pretty sure my problem was that I had a bad switch, because it wouldn't quite snap into place. A guitarist friend of mine told me he had a similar problem with a switch that couldn't make the full travel because it butted up against the control panel. He took a Dremel to the edge of the switch and carved out a notch so it could snap into the third position. I figured it was worth checking out on the Esquire, but even when removed from the control panel, I just couldn't get a crisp 'snap' into place.

So today I went to my local mom n pop, pretty much the last one in San Diego, a place called Mark's Guitar Exchange. Super nice place, mostly catering to the entry level, but a licensed Fender dealer - who literally own 75% of the big brands now! Among the expected Squiers and Standards there were a couple really nice instruments and a few choice amps. Had a nice talk with the owner, who had a branded replacement switch for me that came with a Strat tip and a barrel tip - nice touch! Installed it tonight and - bam, problems solved.

Now getting three distinct tones from the three proper positions "Neck": Volume thru Tone cap (kinda Jazzy), "Mid": Volume and Tone (like a Tele bridge but with more jangle), "Bridge": Volume Only. Super stoked at this point, as the guitar feels "done". I did a basic setup on it at the end of last week - took a turn or two on the truss rod to set the relief on the neck, set the string height and radius on the strings, and tightened up the intonation. Now that the electronics are set, I ran it through my board and into one of the Vibro Champs. I was slightly worried that 12k was going to be too hot, but this thing is super warm and bright but not harsh, even with the tone rolled up in the middle position. Speaking of that, I was kinda surprised by the "Volume Only" setting - really nice, like the middle position, but a tad rolled off the tone, not nearly as much as the first position though. Good variability, and it really took to fuzz and OD well. I have a couple gigs lined up over the next couple weeks and I think I'm gonna bring this along so I get some quality time with it and get some sweat into this wood. If it sounds this good at bedroom levels, its going to slay at stage volume!

[Tortuga]

So sorry didn't get to hear this guitar properly on Saturday, but I really like how it turned out. Excellent work all the way around!

Are you still planning to beat up the fretboard? I really like the way those look, myself, but not sure if be brave enough to try on my own.

[itchyfingers]

So sorry didn't get to hear this guitar properly on Saturday, but I really like how it turned out. Excellent work all the way around!

Are you still planning to beat up the fretboard? I really like the way those look, myself, but not sure if be brave enough to try on my own.

No worries Steve, it wasn't quite complete at the time - only like 2/3rds done, lol. Next ampfest I will bring it with me, walk in the door, and huck it on the ground!

Man, I am kinda wrestling with what to do with that neck. The fretboard is definitely brighter than the rest of the neck, but it feels freaking awesome. Part of me wants to continue to age it, but my conservative side is yelling "don't F this up!" So, I think I'm gonna gig it for the next couple weeks, then when the strings are good and rusty, I'll break it down again. One of my guitarists is having heart surgery at the end of the month, which will put one of my projects on hold for a couple of weeks - allowing me some free time to get back on the neck of the Esquire. In the meantime, I'll be doing some more research and maybe figure out some techniques that will work well for this part of the process. If nothing else, I have learned that shoe polish and nitro do not mix!

[Tortuga]

So sorry didn't get to hear this guitar properly on Saturday, but I really like how it turned out. Excellent work all the way around!

Are you still planning to beat up the fretboard? I really like the way those look, myself, but not sure if be brave enough to try on my own.

No worries Steve, it wasn't quite complete at the time - only like 2/3rds done, lol. Next ampfest I will bring it with me, walk in the door, and huck it on the ground!

Man, I am kinda wrestling with what to do with that neck. The fretboard is definitely brighter than the rest of the neck, but it feels freaking awesome. Part of me wants to continue to age it, but my conservative side is yelling "don't F this up!" So, I think I'm gonna gig it for the next couple weeks, then when the strings are good and rusty, I'll break it down again. One of my guitarists is having heart surgery at the end of the month, which will put one of my projects on hold for a couple of weeks - allowing me some free time to get back on the neck of the Esquire. In the meantime, I'll be doing some more research and maybe figure out some techniques that will work well for this part of the process. If nothing else, I have learned that shoe polish and nitro do not mix!

I'm pretty sure Jer thought I was gonna throw it at him when I tried to hand it over

I'm sure you'll get it squared away. I wonder what a propane torch would do to the finish

[Beef]

Well, hope you enjoy the new axe. Looks like you did a killer job and it's been cool to see it come together.

[itchyfingers]

I'm pretty sure Jer thought I was gonna throw it at him when I tried to hand it over

I'm sure you'll get it squared away. I wonder what a propane torch would do to the finish

Can't really blame Jer for flinching, there was already a precedence of flying Esquires thanks to Mr. Nobody! Blowtorch might look a bit excessive, and I'm trying to be subtle with the aging. Hell, I don't even want to use a Dremel with a polishing head because I think it will look forced. Ideally, I'd like to nitro the neck, then somehow chemically remove sections of it to represent fingerwear, but not real sure how to go about that. I did watch a youtube vid where a guy mixed vinegar and steel wool; the vinegar dissolved the steel wool and made this nasty blackish rusty mixture. He used it to stain the back of the neck, but I am thinking about using it with a Q-tip on the fretboard, similar to how I applied the shoe polish in that pic toward the end of the first page. Still not sure what the nitro would do to that, but maybe I should switch to a poly or acrylic sealer. Clearly, lots to mull over!

Well, hope you enjoy the new axe. Looks like you did a killer job and it's been cool to see it come together.

Thanks Beef, super stoked on it so far! Always wondered how people got by with single pickup axes in the past, but now that the electronics are dialed in and I've put it through its paces, I am wondering why I ever needed a second, let alone third pickup, lol.

[JerEvil]

So sorry didn't get to hear this guitar properly on Saturday, but I really like how it turned out. Excellent work all the way around!

Are you still planning to beat up the fretboard? I really like the way those look, myself, but not sure if be brave enough to try on my own.

No worries Steve, it wasn't quite complete at the time - only like 2/3rds done, lol. Next ampfest I will bring it with me, walk in the door, and huck it on the ground!

Man, I am kinda wrestling with what to do with that neck. The fretboard is definitely brighter than the rest of the neck, but it feels freaking awesome. Part of me wants to continue to age it, but my conservative side is yelling "don't F this up!" So, I think I'm gonna gig it for the next couple weeks, then when the strings are good and rusty, I'll break it down again. One of my guitarists is having heart surgery at the end of the month, which will put one of my projects on hold for a couple of weeks - allowing me some free time to get back on the neck of the Esquire. In the meantime, I'll be doing some more research and maybe figure out some techniques that will work well for this part of the process. If nothing else, I have learned that shoe polish and nitro do not mix!

I'm pretty sure Jer thought I was gonna throw it at him when I tried to hand it over

I'm sure you'll get it squared away. I wonder what a propane torch would do to the finish

LOL! I thought NOBODY was setting a new precedent for Tele's!

Guitar looks tits man!

[Beef]

Well, hope you enjoy the new axe. Looks like you did a killer job and it's been cool to see it come together.

Thanks Beef, super stoked on it so far! Always wondered how people got by with single pickup axes in the past, but now that the electronics are dialed in and I've put it through its paces, I am wondering why I ever needed a second, let alone third pickup, lol.

Hah I used to think this also and then I spent some time in the studio with the band about a year and a half ago. Every time I used the neck pickup I would get lost in the mix. Ended up cutting 95% of my parts on the bridge pickup and besides being able to hear my parts I dug the hell out of the tones. Never looked back and then went and put together my Esquire a few months later and that's been my #1 since.