Thinline f-hole length

[tubenit]

I looked over the internet and could not find out how long the f-hole is on the Tele thinline.

Anyone have one that could measure it for me?  OR …………. have a template or the information?

Thanks, Jeff

[jjasilli]

Here's some ideas:  https://www.amazon.com/Fender-Telecaster-Thinline-Electric-Guitar/dp/B001R1EMKA


or


https://www.amazon.co.uk/GPC-F-Hole-Routing-Template-Thinline/dp/B00K7FJTK0
This one's free.  Maybe you can resize it on your printer 'till it looks right.

[pullshocks]

Here you go

[tubenit]

Thanks gentleman, I appreciate your efforts to help.  I had already seen both of those.

Jjasilli,  I had downloaded that a few days ago and indeed stretched it until it's about 6.25".  It sorta looks right, but I was hoping someone with a real thinline could confirm.

pullshocks,  that pattern was somewhat helpful because I can do the math in ratios to guesstimate the f-hole which is sort of the approach I was taking.  Doing ratios of the printed out page per the known length of a Tele body 16"  (15.96"),  it appears the f-hole is 6.29" so 6&1/4" should work OK.

Thanks guys, Jeff

[pullshocks]

I printed the pdf and used it for my thinline project (not completed yet).  The F hole measures 6 7/64"  EDIT-- 6 7/32"

[tubenit]

What kind of wood is that?  Paulownia (1st guess) ,  basswood or alder? 

That's gonna be a VERY nice guitar!   

I've got some super figured maple for my Tele top and am still debating whether to do Sapele, alder or prima vera for the body/back.  I've used all those and swamp ash and basswood and red cedar for bodies in the past .

Jeff

[pullshocks]

Thanks for the comments.


The wood is poplar, with a nicer grain pattern than most planks I get.  The plank happened to be 7/8" thick, hence the "clamshell" construction


It is a dry run for a future build with a figured maple (or koa) top and Honduras mahogany back and (set) neck.  I wanted to work out my methods for belly bevel, arm bevel, and cavity covers cut from the  actual back wood for a perfect grain match.


I'm glad you posted your question, it inspires me to get back to this project, which has been stalled for quite a while.

[tubenit]

That is very nice poplar.  I usually see afar more green hue to the wood then what you have.  It's a nice tone wood.  Paints well but doesn't take analine dye too well.

I have a 130 ft tall one in my back yard near my house.

You're doing a great job with it.  I think it'll be a very nice guitar for you.  Creative using the clamshell approach but certainly is still a solid woodworking standard. 

I like that you are having a belly cut out which is what I plan to do also. 

How did you do your f-hole?   Drills and carving or a router and template.  I can do fairly decent f-holes with drill bits, a jig saw and sandpaper.  Haven't tried a router yet.

When I am done, it should look somewhat similar to the Tele on top in this photo attached but with an f-hole and far more of a sunburst finish like the one in the middle.  The upper and middle Tele's were from the same wood and are cousins.

Jeff

[pullshocks]

Well the first ones (template) had to be done by hand, but for the actual guitar it is mostly done by router with a few spots needing some hand work.  The secret there is to get one of the tiny Amana ball bearing flush trim bits.  Normal flush trim and patten bits are too big for the narrow f hole but the Amana will do the whole thing. It is a minor drawback that you have to rout the f hole before gluing the top on.  There would be no way to hold the template once the top is glued on.



I guess you could make an oversize template and use a template bushing to rout it from the front with the top glued on.  Or use CNC if you're so equipped.


One question for you, how do you do your burst finishes?

.

[tubenit]

reply#26  on this thread  http://el34world.com/Forum/index.php?topic=18370.0

is how I do bursts

[pullshocks]

Thanks Jeff.
I wholeheartedly agree the gradual fade from center to edge looks better than the sprayed burst.


Mark

[tubenit]

I hope you will post some photos of your finished guitar!  I'd sure like to see it.  I plan to do a mild arm rest contour with mine and a mild belly cut out also still with the f-hole. 

While I have carved guitar necks before, at this stage ..... I just buy the necks. I found there isn't a big difference in cost.  In fact, one of the better necks I've bought was on $39 on ebay and it's a sweetheart.

Jeff

[tubenit]

This is where I am heading with mine.  The f-hole will only be 5.5 inches long and it's width will be normal.  And instead of lining it up with the side of the guitar,  I will parallel it with the center line of the front.

I am doing this so I can have both an arm rest/contour & a belly contour.  I like comfort in handling the guitars as much as I like the visual beauty of them. 

This is a compromise, but I'm thinking it will fit what I'm wanting.

The picture is my #1 Tele and the contour dimensions I will use on the new one are off my #1.

Jeff

[jjasilli]

This is very subjective, but I think it might work to commensurately narrow the shorter F-hole, and tilt it as much as possible (if possible).  A CAD program is called-for; but I don't know how do do that. 

[pullshocks]

Nice use of photoshop to work out the design compromises.


What top thickness are you going to use?  Thicker top and carve the arm bevel, or thinner top and form the arm bevel by bending?

[tubenit]

It's about a 5/16" top (maybe 9/32"?).  I will sand off 1/8 off the body and bend the top wood  (this is what I've done in the past)  AND then sand off 1/8" off the top giving me the 1/4" drop/contour I desire.  Again, a compromise.

I anticipate the shorter length f-hole will have a slightly narrower width when done.  As far as angling it,  I'm gonna need it to parallel the centerline of the guitar to do the internal carving and contours to have the belly and arm contours. 

Thanks, Jeff

[pullshocks]

If you're going to bend the arm bevel contour, I think you are right to keep the end of the f-hole well away from the transition, to avoid any issues with splitting


In this one I brought the arm bevel transition point right up to the end of the f-hole.  I don't think it presents any issues.


Now that you've got me thinking about it, I think the original fender f-holes are visually out of proportion to the body and would look better reduced in size.  But I prefer the angled orientation.

[pullshocks]

Thanks for your interest.


Here's what it has looked like for the last year and a half.  Too much shop cleaning to do, too many other projects.


You can see how the f-hole comes right up to the arm bevel transition.  After some more sanding I think it will look OK.


Not that much left to do really, but I want to do some scrap wood testing of some stain colors.  Also make a decision on the peghead outline.  This was an eBay neck, from an AXL s-style guitar.  It plays just fine, but if you remember those guitars, the peghead was butt-ugly and I'm just trying to get the nicest shape I can with the material remaining.

[tubenit]

Hey, that looks great!  I'd be happy with a guitar like that.  Good show!   I see you did the arm rest and belly contour also.

Thanks for sharing!  Jeff

[tubenit]

Something I've done with all my guitar neck headstocks is laminate them with either figured maple or waterfall bubinga.  Super easy to do and it fancys-up a guitar's appearance.   I buy the inexpensive laminate veneers off ebay.   I simply sand the headstock with 120grit, glue a 1/42" or so laminate on and then finish it out.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Waterfall-Bubinga-Figured-wood-veneer-4-x-10-with-wood-backing-AAA-grade/122835304936?hash=item1c998e01e8:g:G4oAAOSwnDZT8RL-

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Quilted-Burl-Maple-Raw-Wood-Veneer-Sheets-5-x-22-75-inches-1-42nd-Lot-124/264689765830?hash=item3da0bd4dc6:g:PRMAAOSwjMteiOZe

Look at the "ice tea" colored semi-hollow body headstock in reply #9 for an example.

Jeff

[bmccowan]

If nobody else measured the length on an actual Tele Thinline - I have one right next to my chair here. It's 6.25"
I had to have one in sunburst after seeing Tab Benoit play a few times.

[pullshocks]

Tubenit, thanks for sharing your sunburst technique.  I finally got ahold of some Windex (due to pandemic, at my age I do not go out shopping very often).


I hope I get better blending with the windex.  So far my scrap wood bursts look OK from 10 feet away but not that good close up.  These tests have 3 or 4 coats of Target EM6000 water based finish on them.


If I can get a better looking burst with the windex, great.  If not, I am pretty happy with the cherry red I am getting by applying a fairly dark reddish brown stain to the poplar, and adding trans tint red dye to the sealer and first few coats of finish. 

[tubenit]

Poplar is a tough wood to dye evenly (like basswood is) & even tougher to do a sunburst on.

Windex does help with the process significantly.  You put on base dye and then the outside edge and with a cloth like a t-shirt rag wipe from the middle of the guitar body to the outside edge gently feathering/fading the area where the two colors meet.  This is not hard to do once you've figured it out.

The red looks good IMO.  With poplar, I'd probably slightly dampen the wood with water, wipe it with a dry rag (except on end grain where you want it left wet) and then apply the dye.  OR  simply mix the dye into the lacquer and spray the color on.

Jeff

[tubenit]

Well, here is the progression of building the guitar.  The back/body of it is Prima Vera wood which is a white mahogany. Prima Vera is a good tone wood similar to swamp ash & it's also reasonably light weight compared to typical mahogany.

There are other ways of building guitars but this has been successful for me for many years. I'm just hobbyist luthier and every guitar typically has a mistake or two when finished that doesn't really impact tone or intonation.

Jeff

[tubenit]

Regarding the perimeter of the Tele body.  I typically will use a bandsaw (but in this case used a jigsaw) to cut within about 1/4" outside a drawn line around the body.  Then I put a Tele jig on top and use router bits with ball bearings to rout the sides perfectly straight/perpendicular.  Easy to do and helps minimize a lot of sanding.

The f-hole is traced on the front.  Then I use a drill press with a Forstner drill bit and a brad point drill bit to begin shaping the oval part of the f-hole. I follow that with a small drum sander on a Dremel tool to finish shaping the oval areas.  Then I use a jigsaw to cut to the center.  I use finger nail emory boards over a flat piece of metal to hand sand the inside of the f-hole.  Pretty easy to do.

By intent, the body is 1&7/8" thick instead of 1&3/4".  It already has an arm rest with about a 1/4" drop/slope and it will have a belly contour also.
Jeff

[tubenit]

Starting to look a little like a guitar!   

Ready for sanding and then an analine dyed sunburst probably similar to the one attached but without pickguard and a natural wood color headstock.

Jeff

[jjasilli]

Looking good!  Seems you did tilt the f-hole a bit.  I like it!

[tubenit]

A step closer.  Ready for lacquer.  I typically will apply 7 coats then sand then 7 more etc. up to about 21 coats.

Just used analine dye and a rag like I've described in other threads to do the "sunburst".  Not a great photo but you
get the idea.  It always looks "faded" until you hit it with a few coats of lacquer which enriches the finish and makes it
darker.

Jeff

[pullshocks]

Looking great.  What size did you end up with for the f-hole?

[tubenit]

Got her done!  Sounds great and VERY unique to my ears.  Super woody sounding with the strings being very balanced in volume/tone.  Difficult to describe but it has sort of a very musical compressed "percussive" woody sound. I'm not sure how to actually describe it?

Maple over primavera (white mahogany) body.  Rosewood fretboard.   

DiMarzio Area 61 (alnico 2) humbucker/neck,   Calig alnico 2 single coil mid,   low output PAF type bridge wired in parallel instead of series.

I think this is probably gonna prove to be a guitar, cord, and amp type thing without pedals or much overdrive. While it's not an acoustic guitar it sounds sort of "natural" like an acoustic guitar.  Not much experience with Tele Thinlines really so I'm not quite sure how a Fender thinline sounds in person?

The guitar top is actually very glossy and trying to get a picture without the light shining on the body was a challenge.

Jeff

[shooter]

Beautiful piece of functional art
the grain in the top is amazing

 

[pullshocks]

That really looks great.  Hats off.