Post Honeymoon Report - Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by Bg »

Man it must be sooooo much easier with a cnc. Next house, I'm building one. Talking to a guy a couple of months ago, cost him about $2k to build his own. Big enough for guitars. I reckon I could do cabs, small ones anyway that would take the pain out of jointing plywood. Thats how livesound do it, huge big cnc mind.

3/ You don't get fret sprout on the tangs...

Its win/win
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by MikeC »

Bg wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 4:52 pm Man it must be sooooo much easier with a cnc. Next house, I'm building one. Talking to a guy a couple of months ago, cost him about $2k to build his own. Big enough for guitars. I reckon I could do cabs, small ones anyway that would take the pain out of jointing plywood. Thats how livesound do it, huge big cnc mind.

3/ You don't get fret sprout on the tangs...

Its win/win
Apparently CNC machines (like the one Andries has) have come way down in price.
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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by Bg »

yeah, iirc his cost $5k when he bought it, but kits are plentiful and just need a bit of patience.

In a former life I used to service CNC milling machines and lathes, and did a bit of programming on and for them too. So I'm definitely happy going the kit route (pun intended).

Best part about them is keeping your digits away from the fast spinning things :D
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by MikeC »

Best part about them is keeping your digits away from the fast spinning things :D
Most important part too, unless you want to be introduced to "the stranger" :oops:
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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by MikeC »

Frets all inserted and neck carving about to start. The fret material is "Cryo fret" (or something like that) - I believe they are 80/20 nickel/steel but the nickel is hardened through a cryogenic process(?) Gibson use this fret material - they are much harder wearing than typical Fender frets but don't eat strings like stainless steel. The ebony fretboard will be almost black when finished. The body cavities have been painted with graphite (conductive) paint and ready for belly cut shaping and final sanding before primer/grain filler which will be sanded down almost back to wood. The "Vintage Blonde" lacquer paint is mixed and ready.
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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by Jay »

That is the 'brownest' ebony I have seen.
So the ebony fretboard board is stained black then?
When faced with quality, I recognise it every time.

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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by robthemac »

Jay wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:09 pm That is the 'brownest' ebony I have seen.
So the ebony fretboard board is stained black then?
I think the vast majority of ebony these days is about this colour and stained black. Talking to the guys from Taylor Guitars about it, they're starting to just show the wood in its natural state rather than dye it to look like top-grade old ebony.
Last edited by robthemac on Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by Jay »

Nothing wrong with brown ebony, they used to let them rot when they found the tree wasn't black enough...

But why would you stain it?

I have have some pitch black ebony which is more than 60 years old. Will be used for some special builds. I also have some streaky ebony which I bought a few years ago and that is also very nice.

Imo staining is just yearning back to yesteryear... ymmv
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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by NippleWrestler »

Only around 5% of ebony is actually black, the rest is chocolate coloured with streaks of blonde or grey in there. You can dye it with leather dye if you were so inclined but what's the point, it's beautiful enough as is.

Persimmon trees are a type of ebony too actually. You can see the grain here:

https://www.hearnehardwoods.com/persimm ... rl_lumber/

It's good to see smaller builders looking beyond the same 4 or 5 timbers though. The world is full of outstanding timbers that are well suited for guitars, you just have to look a bit harder. Padauk is a brilliant timber, as is humble ol vitex for fingerboards and necks (it's a relative of Puriri).

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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by Lostininverness »

Jay wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:31 pm Nothing wrong with brown ebony, they used to let them rot when they found the tree wasn't black enough...

But why would you stain it?

I have have some pitch black ebony which is more than 60 years old. Will be used for some special builds. I also have some streaky ebony which I bought a few years ago and that is also very nice.

Imo staining is just yearning back to yesteryear... ymmv
I prefer the look of the unstained ebony - can have some pretty sexy grain streaks in it.

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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by MikeC »

Jay wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:09 pm That is the 'brownest' ebony I have seen.
So the ebony fretboard board is stained black then?
I've never seen it in it's natural state until now. Yep it is stained but if the board as you see it was oiled, it would appear much darker.
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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by MikeC »

Jay wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:31 pm Nothing wrong with brown ebony, they used to let them rot when they found the tree wasn't black enough...

But why would you stain it?

I have have some pitch black ebony which is more than 60 years old. Will be used for some special builds. I also have some streaky ebony which I bought a few years ago and that is also very nice.

Imo staining is just yearning back to yesteryear... ymmv
I just like the look of a nice dark rosewood (or ebony in this case) fretboard. It's my custom build so I can call the shots!
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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by MikeC »

Lostininverness wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:46 pm
Jay wrote: Tue Jul 26, 2022 4:31 pm Nothing wrong with brown ebony, they used to let them rot when they found the tree wasn't black enough...

But why would you stain it?

I have have some pitch black ebony which is more than 60 years old. Will be used for some special builds. I also have some streaky ebony which I bought a few years ago and that is also very nice.

Imo staining is just yearning back to yesteryear... ymmv
I prefer the look of the unstained ebony - can have some pretty sexy grain streaks in it.
Yeah, each to his own. Apparently ebony does not contain as much natural oil as rosewood. So oiling it protects the wood as well as making it look darker. FWIW I use non mineral oil for my fret-boards. NB - lemon oil is mineral oil!
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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by Gitar »

Bg wrote: Sat Jul 23, 2022 4:43 pm
2/ He doesn't need to muck around filling the ends of the frets where the tang is.
Are you referring to the method PRS essentially invented of filling them with essentially what is superglue post pressing? Which means there is no need to worry about atmospheric changes and sprouting. That is on a non baked maple neck that is, which is the way Id go for aesthetics and ease of build.

Build looks good OP, enjoy it.

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Re: Follow the Progress of my "Andronis" Custom Telecaster Build

Post by Bg »

No I meant filing, typo....
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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