# 7 string Telecaster build!!!



## BobbyBaja (May 4, 2012)

So I lucked out pretty hard on this one. I have some friends who are still in high school, and one happens to be in a wood shop class (and he loves building guitars). You see where this is going...

For pretty cheap, I'm getting an axe built! Enough talking, here are the specs!

Telecaster Body
7 string
Bubinga Body
Maple Neck
26.25" scale length
Reverse headstock
24 frets
Routed for Active pickups
Black Hardware

I also gave him the idea for a deeper cut in for higher frets as well. We're only a little over a week into the build, and here's what we got...












I'm going to be going for a white satin on the top of the body, with a black satin on the sides and the back. I'm keeping the fretboard and the headstock all natural (like a Loomis), and am gonna have a black diamond inlay on the 12th fret.

The only thing that's missing that I wanted added was a Birdseye Maple fretboard, but regular maple should work just fine!

More pictures as I receive them!


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## BobbyBaja (May 16, 2012)

There has been some progress made!
The body and neck are set in together now, and we made some changes to the body. 





We're adding some tummy cuts, and cut ins for better access on the neck. Today we decided on a radius for the neck, and picked out a piece of Maple (didn't get to snag a picture) for the fretboard. The particular piece is gonna look sweet!

I also got these in yesterday \m/


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## BobbyBaja (May 23, 2012)

This thread has gotten no love </3
But I'll post this anyhow! We changed up the headstock design a little bit. I grabbed inspiration from the Strictly 7 Solar headstock, and we're modding it a bit to flow better with the Tele body.




More pictures to come, as I plan on heading to the shop later in the afternoon... shes almost done


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## scherzo1928 (May 23, 2012)

I've been dying to try a bubinga body.

Are those actual inlays or decals?


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## BobbyBaja (May 23, 2012)

scherzo1928 said:


> I've been dying to try a bubinga body.
> 
> Are those actual inlays or decals?



They are decals! I'm still debating on using them though, because the particular fretboard blank we chose has a neat grain and texture itself.

The Bubinga is REALLY heavy so far, granted we haven't routed anything out as of yet. I'm curious as to see what sort of tone it will produce.


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## brynotherhino (May 23, 2012)

Looks sharp dude!


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## BobbyBaja (May 23, 2012)

brynotherhino said:


> Looks sharp dude!



Thanks bro! Expect some more pictures here in a matter of hours.
I'm picking up the Matte Black paint for it today, and going to workout how we want the neck radius.


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## brynotherhino (May 23, 2012)

Sweet! What pickups are you gonna use?


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## Kapee (May 23, 2012)

BobbyBaja said:


> Thanks bro! Expect some more pictures here in a matter of hours.
> I'm picking up the Matte Black paint for it today, and going to workout how we want the neck radius.



>Matte Black 



Edit: Phew! Readed the first post and noticed that its not gonna be all black.


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## BobbyBaja (May 23, 2012)

Kapee said:


> >Matte Black
> 
> 
> 
> Edit: Phew! Readed the first post and noticed that its not gonna be all black.



Lol yeah man, sorry I scared ya!
The top is going to be a slightly transparent Satin White, so we have have some of the grain stick out.
The sides and back are going to be the Satin/ Matte Black, and I'm keeping the front of the headstock natural to match the fretboard.




brynotherhino said:


> Sweet! What pickups are you gonna use?



Seymour Duncan Blackouts!


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## highlordmugfug (May 23, 2012)

Eeeenteresting. Can't wait to see the finished guitar.


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## BobbyBaja (May 23, 2012)

So I just got back from the shop, and things are going swell! It won't be done Friday as originally planned, but that's okay because we decided on a few more things.
I'm going to purchase a bone nut, and black frets. It'll really go well with the color scheme we have planned for it. Here's where we're now at...





Edit: Anyone know where I can actually find Black Fret Wire?


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## Djdnxgdj3983jrjd8udb3bcns (May 23, 2012)

Looks tasty dude. I wouldn't have thought you could buy black fret wire easily, as I'd imagine any finishing/anodizing on them would be quickly worn away...


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## BobbyBaja (May 24, 2012)

I wish you could buy black fret wire, but you can't :'(
I did order a Tusq nut for the guitar though, have one in my Agile and it's great!
Routing for the hardware begins Friday also.


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## BlackMastodon (May 24, 2012)

Glad you are goin with a different headstock, I hate the tele ones. This looks reall good though so far! I'd be iffy about inlay decals too though, something about vinyl stickers on the fretboard puts me off.


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## scherzo1928 (May 24, 2012)

I'm still waiting for someone to make boron carbide frets. Would look awesome, and I imagine nobody would ever wear those out.


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## BobbyBaja (May 24, 2012)

BlackMastodon said:


> Glad you are goin with a different headstock, I hate the tele ones. This looks reall good though so far! I'd be iffy about inlay decals too though, something about vinyl stickers on the fretboard puts me off.



Yeah, I'm still considering even using them. I'm just so used to having fret markers I think not having them would screw with me


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## BlackMastodon (May 24, 2012)

BobbyBaja said:


> Yeah, I'm still considering even using them. I'm just so used to having fret markers I think not having them would screw with me



Yeah, I imagine it would take some getting used to but it wouldn't be too bad since you would have side markers too.



scherzo1928 said:


> I'm still waiting for someone to make boron carbide frets. Would look awesome, and I imagine nobody would ever wear those out.



That would be freaking awesome. Is boron carbide expensive to produce?


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## BobbyBaja (May 25, 2012)

Here's how the heel turned out thus far, it's still being worked on.





He also radiused the neck, which he's like 90% done with, and I have to say, the neck feels perfect. He nailed exactly what I wanted.
No pictures of that, but he also finished radiusing the fretboard.

Here's the guitar I'm salvaging parts and hardware for. It's an Agile Hornet 727. It's past owner is on these forums, his username is Severance if any of you recognize that. The guitar had a fatal accident, death by bad guitar wall hanger. The right wing has a huge crack in it, the fall messed up the neck big time.






(Ps, that's radioactive green duct tape, not actual paint).


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## Levi79 (May 26, 2012)

Looks good dude.


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## BlackMastodon (May 26, 2012)

Very smooth looking heel. Not over the top carved and not bulky at all, I like it.


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## aaron_rose (May 26, 2012)

^ agree


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## BobbyBaja (May 26, 2012)

Trust me, for someone who's only on his 4th guitar, and never has tried anything like this before, he's doing FANTASTIC. I'm beyond impressed with the feel of the neck and heel (which he isn't even done with yet, so I can't imagine how much better it's gonna feel).


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## kerska (May 26, 2012)

Lewisville, TX? Me too!

Maybe I can see this thing in person sometime when it's finished? Looks pretty bad ass.


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## BobbyBaja (May 26, 2012)

kerska said:


> Lewisville, TX? Me too!
> 
> Maybe I can see this thing in person sometime when it's finished? Looks pretty bad ass.



That's a possibility!
If you wanna message me about it I can give you some info on a show in the Denton are I'm gonna debut this beast at


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## JamesM (May 26, 2012)

BlackMastodon said:


> That would be freaking awesome. Is boron carbide expensive to produce?



In a word, yes.


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## Papaoneil (May 28, 2012)

Dat Heel
my god, beauty


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## BobbyBaja (May 28, 2012)

Necropolis said:


> Dat Heel
> my god, beauty



And we think it looks good now.. 
Wood work will be done in a matter of days, but with my work schedule I won't truly be able to see the finished product till a few days from now 

Hopefully I can get him to send me a picture tomorrow 

The paint job for the top of the body is going to be trans white we decided. Kind of like this...






...But flat, not glossy!


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## ImSideways (May 31, 2012)

Dude, this is amazing, I've always loved the way tele's look, are you gonna do a tele pickgaurd and all, and what kinda bridge?


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## teleofseven (May 31, 2012)

7 strings on a telecaster = instafap.


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## BobbyBaja (Jun 1, 2012)

ImSideways said:


> Dude, this is amazing, I've always loved the way tele's look, are you gonna do a tele pickgaurd and all, and what kinda bridge?



Yeah man. We're going to pick up some plastic and work in a pickguard as soon as I get the Control Plate and Tele styled switch!

As for a bridge, we're just doing a regular string thru body sort of set up like you see on Schecters (for example).

Anywho, UPDATE!

After quite the scare today (as in a machine malfunctioning, throwing my Tele across a room, the guitar splitting in half, then being fixed magically), he made quite a bit of progress! These pictures aren't the best by any means, but it's what he sent, and it's all I have until tomorrow, so lets make the best of what I got!
















Edit: 50th post!


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## Danukenator (Jun 1, 2012)

BobbyBaja said:


> After quite the scare today (as in a machine malfunctioning, throwing my Tele across a room, the guitar splitting in half, then being fixed magically)...



Sorry, but what? That begs a longer explanation.


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## BobbyBaja (Jun 1, 2012)

Basically, he was going to route out the hole to place the battery compartment, and the particular machine he used (I think he said something bout CNC?) had problems before, but they had been addressed prior to this build. Well, all of a sudden, as he was routing out that compartment, the guitar had got caught somehow, and then was thrown across the room. The machine just happened to have the same problems it did before, this far into the build. A chunk of the guitar was taken out, but as you see above, he found a fix to make it look as if nothing happened.

Least that's how he explained it to me.


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## BobbyBaja (Jun 1, 2012)

Hey guise, I got a picture for y'all!






As we speak, we're working on wiring up all the electronics. We plan on adding the extra coats of paint, and work out the holes for the rest of the hardware tonight as well.
Minus pickguard and control plate, this will be playable very shortly!


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## BobbyBaja (Jun 2, 2012)

Look, she's almost done!
We decided to try the decal inlays, so far, so good. I'll have to see how they feel with strings. We decided against the transparent white, because we didn't realize how awesomely the contrast is on this particular build. Everything flows so well, and just imagine that it's going to look even better once the black hardware, pickguard, and pickups are in it.


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