# Warmoth Baritone Telecaster Project



## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Feb 24, 2011)

This thread is dedicated to recording the inspiration and process of my Baritone Telecaster project. While inspired by the Thinline Telecaster that first appeared in the 1999 Fender Custom Shop Calendar, this project actually began as the first component (The neck) was supplied as a gift from my former Employer Ken Warmoth, when I worked at Warmoth Guitar Parts from June 2008 to May 2009. 

First, the inspiration/source material for this project: A Fender Custom Shop Thinline Tele covered in Elkskin, adorned with beautiful beadwook, turquoise inlay on the custom made silver plated pickguard and fingerboard, faux F-hole, custom engraving, along with an equally beautiful Elkskin Leather strap and gig-bag.











It's a simple Warmoth Baritone Tele Neck in 25 5/8 scale,Rock Maple shaft, Indian Rosewood Fingerboard, 6100 Fretwire. Currently it has Gotoh SG38 tuners in chrome, such as those available at Warmoth Custom Guitar Parts - Custom bass and guitar bodies, necks, pickups, pickguards and hardware.






















Here's a shot of a test fit after about 6 strokes of sanding in the neck pocket side walls with a fine file. I allow for a fairly tight fit without risking cracking or breaking any of the wood on the body. I only did this far for now until I finish the neck in True-Oil down the line once the bone nut is completely installed and slotted to setup height after additional test fits with bridge, buckskin applique's & such. Although the body pictured here is translucent red, I will be covering this body with Deerskin from bucks that I've harvested and fed from over the years, thus adding more personal significance to this project. I purchased this body as a cosmetic blem with some finish flaws knowing what I was going to do ahead of time, so the finish quality was not much of a concern for me. 

While the inspiration piece is a Thinline Tele, mine will be based on the more traditional Tele/Broadcaster style. I'll be using lower output pickups in both positions, and modifying the bridge position to house a humbucker that has some PAF/Filtertron charm to it. I'm toying with the idea of leaving the pickguard area of the buckskin cover completely untouched cosmetically, or marking the outline of a traditional Telecaster pickguard and doing a beadwork border on it, creating somewhat of a faux pickguard. 





As work progresses, I'll continue to upload pics with notes along the way.


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## heavy7-665 (Feb 25, 2011)

Ill be following this closely.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Mar 26, 2011)

Update: March 26th, 2011.

I received the bridge and control plate w/pots.
I mounted the bridge lining up the string through holes, pilot drilled screws and then mounted the bridge. 
Before laying the bridge down I first layed down some blue painters tape, then traced the interior of the pickup hole, scribed the trace, then I grabbed my Stew Mac humbucker routing template, and taped it down using a generous amount of double stick tape. I routed in several 1/4 " deep passes until I reached the same depth as the factory hole. Once I had the entire humbucker cavity to depth, I plunged the height adjustment screw areas an additionl 1/4".

What you see here is a test fit. The Dimarzio D-Sonic pickup that is in there now is simply for test fit purposes. I'll be using a lower output, more vintage sounding bridge pickup ala GFS Dream 180 or Nashville, both have output levels of about 8.0 to 8.8k.










I also used part of the packaging of the tele control plate to act as a transparent template to make sure that control plate ended up perfectly centered over the control cavity. This way, rather than just laying the control plate over the hole and improvising, I could see everything. Use a center punch with just enough pressure to make sure you don't cause your finish to chip if doing so over a finished body. I only want enough of a "dent" to get the drill bit started.
When I was confident that the control plate was centered up and down, and had enought room for the brass tabs of the CRL3 switch to mount, I made my "dents", followed with the pilot drill, then mounted the pots, and pre-wired up the pots and jack with what I currently have. I still need to order the switch and caps, plus, I want to use the vintage push back wiring anyway.









That's all for now, money is a bit tight so I'm using what I have right now to do all of the preliminary fits & such until I get all of the rest of the components I want.


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## Demiurge (Mar 26, 2011)

Lookin' good so far.


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## Ishan (Mar 27, 2011)

Kick ass, I always loved baritone Teles 
I'd have kept the Tele routing and used a pair of BKP Pile Driver myself  To each his own I guess.


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## Stealthdjentstic (Mar 27, 2011)

Tony, good to see you're still kicking'. The other day I was just about to make a, "Where the Fuck is Tony Thread." 

Grandkids still doing well?

The builds looking good too btw!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Mar 27, 2011)

Thanks Stealthy, yup, G-kid is doing great, just turned 9 months old on the 21st. I saw him & my son & girlfriend earlier in the month.


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## Wes Mantooth (Mar 29, 2011)

Looks sweet!

I'm thinking of undertaking a similar project this summer, I have a mahogany body blank and I'm just trying to figure out what other parts I should use and the pickup config.


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## yingmin (Mar 29, 2011)

An extra 1/8" qualifies as "baritone" now?


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Mar 29, 2011)

Typo: The neck is 28 5/8" scale.
For some reason the thread will not allow me to go back into it to edit/correct the typo.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (May 1, 2011)

Did some updated work on my Baritone Warmoth Telecaster project.
Did a test fit of the electronics, installed the input jackplate, and some basic wiring. 

This is a picture of the buckskin that will be used for the front of the body as it is an older (thicker) buckskin.






This is both the back and front from left to right.





This is a pic of the neck prepped for finishing, which will be in true oil. Of course, the neck will be removed from the body and the tuners will be rmoved from the headstock.










I'm using a 4 position pickup selector switch on this project. I normally only use 3 position switches. This switch will allow the options as follows from neck to bridge positions:
1: Neck and Bridge (in series) this is the added feature not normally available
2: Neck pickup by itself, (normal 3 position configuration)
3: Neck and Bridge (Parallel, normal 3 position configuration)
4: Bridge by itself. (normal 3 position configuration)








Since I will be using lower output pickups, I wanted the additional option of using this guitar (on occassion) for my normal high gain applications, so I'm going to install a Neal Moser Custom Shop guitar booster. It will be activated via the Push/Pull switch in the tone pot. In is off, out is on, and the beauty is that the curcuit and the 9v battery will fit in the standard tele control cavity under the pots, not battery box routing necessary. Also, unlike many preamp systems, when the battery is dead, the guitar can still be used passively. A dead battery will only keep the booster from working, not the whole guitar.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 6, 2011)

Here's a quick video update.

Just fresh from filing the nut slots, got more work to do, but gotta do it as $$ affords.

&#x202a;Tony Flying Squirrel: Baritone Telecaster Info.&#x202c;&rlm; - YouTube


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Sep 7, 2011)

Just got the custom handwound pickup back John Carlsen. (Carlsen Guitar and Audio)

He'll have some pickups for sale at the upcoming guitar show in Kent, Wa. (www.seatackguitarshow.com) on September 11th.

Here's the requested specs per John:
"_Hey Tony. That's awesome about the pickup cover. I'm excited to see it all finished! I'm all done with your pickup and was able to keep it low as per your original hope. It clocks in at almost exactly 7.0k so it should be awesome with the neck pup you have. Hope you like it! Wiring is the same as Dimarzio, tape off black and white, red to switch, green and bare wire to ground. If you get out of phase with the neck pup in the middle position, just swap red and green_."

I'm now just waiting to pick up the pickup cover as we took a PAF cover and had it slotted like a Gretch. I'll post more pics and perhaps some video of me soldering the cover to the base plate.


Behold, the Bari-Twang-Bucker


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## Mysticlamp (Sep 7, 2011)

buck skin, can't wait to see how it looks on there


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## JamesM (Sep 7, 2011)

Sick.


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## amonb (Sep 10, 2011)

More!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Sep 11, 2011)

Got the pickup installed. Vid clips later, Flipshare is acting up when uploading to Youtube, will post the link when it's done processing.

I just love the way this looks.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Sep 12, 2011)

That looks fuckin' hot, man.


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## ThePhilosopher (Sep 15, 2011)

I love it - I'm building a half-Warmoth baritone myself.


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## drmosh (Sep 16, 2011)

That does indeed look fucking awesome, nice guitar!


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## AcousticMinja (Sep 16, 2011)

So much win is inside this thread!

I love your idea! That tele is going to be a tone machine!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Dec 10, 2011)

I took some downloaded images of a Stew Mac-Tele Hybrid pickguard and a traditional Tele pickguard, and came up with a morphed design. I don't intend to use an actual pickguard on this project, but I do plan to borrow the design and apply it to a beaded perimeter as seen here. The beadwork will likely be a Peyote stich application or a partial concept thereof, beaded directly to the buckskin cover of the body. The neck pickup hole will be for direct mount application, so the height adjustment holes will not go through the buckskin. The buckskin will be cutout at the edges of the body route. Thoughts?


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## -42- (Dec 10, 2011)

^Frankly, I would buy that as is.


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## Grand Moff Tim (Dec 10, 2011)

I think the "pickguard" shape might jive with the body a little more if you round off that little bit down by the control plate, like so:







In my opinion, at any rate. Everything looks awesome so far, so I'm sure it'll be great no matter what you end up doing .


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Dec 10, 2011)

Great observation, I'll have to make some mockups for some comparison/perspective shots, see how they flow with the whole concept.
Thanks for the input.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Dec 15, 2011)

I think this outline will look nice, keeps the curves uniform, no sharp angles.
Thoughts?


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## ThePhilosopher (Dec 16, 2011)

That last outline is the best IMO.


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## slowro (Dec 23, 2011)

I was thinking about making a thinline esquire baritone in 3 tone burst but I want the esquire pickguard and I wanted to get a mex tele on ebay and change the neck.

That last pickguard is cool. I love this project


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## mlp187 (Dec 23, 2011)

Hi TFS, out of the pickguard outlines shown so far, GMT's is my favorite. However, they all look good. Can't wait to see this thing finished!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Dec 24, 2011)

I laid a strat pickguard I have laying around over it, and the lower part nearly matches up perfectly. I'm leaning more towards the latest.
Again, this will only be the outline. Outside and inside the lines will still be buckskin.


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## mlp187 (Dec 25, 2011)

I can't wait to see how it turns out. I have to admit I did forget about the buckskin even though it's clearly mentioned in the first post.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jan 1, 2012)

Just installed a GFS NEOVIN7 Tele Neck pickup the other day. That combined with my locally handwound JCA (Carlsen Guitar and Audio) Bari-Twang humbucker, with a push pull split, and a 4 way switch, is completely amazing. I've never considered myself a chicken picker or a blues player, but I'm oozing blues & twang 'cause that's what this guitar asks for. I recorded a song with it yesterday using only one amp/effects setting and only changed pickup settings for the different rythym tones & lead tones. The only exception is, that I added an Optical Tremolo effect on a 2 second overdubbed part. That's it. As soon as my bass player lays down his track, I'll post it.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Mar 29, 2012)

Ya know, I have a spair strat pickguard laying around.

I'll have to do a mockup/cutout with the right side of the pickguard doing the hybrid tele and the left side with the strat pickguard, morphed together & then do a mockup with just the outline, see how that would look on there. Good project for the weekend.


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## brynotherhino (Mar 31, 2012)

I cant wait to see this thing done!!


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## TemjinStrife (Mar 31, 2012)

Looks like one of the new Teles Fender's doing. Like that pickguard shape.


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## ViolaceousVerdance (Apr 1, 2012)

Sweet project, dude! I've been considering getting a baritone scale neck made for my frankenstrat!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 7, 2012)

Ok, been a while since last update. Some $$ came and I was able to purchase some adhesive, borrow a cutting matte & rotary cutter, and I've done the rough cutting of the buckskin to the perimeter shape, allowing 1/2" for fold/over on the edge for reinforcement so I'll have 2 holes on the front and 2 holes on the back at each lace event. Sort of like a pair of shoes with the tongue underneath. 



I did some research and found an adhesive that was not too agressive, so I can cut, check fit, cut again, etc... It's an "Easy Tack" adhesive in a rattle can from Michael's.



I've cut around the bridge, neck pickup route, and control cavity route. The ferrels will mount as seen, so will the neck mounting plate.



I'll have quite a bit of hand work left such as sewing and such near the routes, doing "whip-stitches" around those to reinforce the edges, and I'll be doing an inseam at the neck heel where the leather goes around the corner. 



More in the next week or so, waiting on some ordered parts to come in, ala leather hole punch pliers and a bunch of leather lace "thongs" made of smoked elkskin, which will be used to tie the front piece to the back.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 9, 2012)

Sharkjerky said:


> this deserves a lot of bad words, i don't think wow, or cool will suffice.
> 
> Incredible



Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment!


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## skalla (Jul 9, 2012)

I have a feeling that this will turn out amazing.


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## Vostre Roy (Jul 9, 2012)

This is one of the Warmoth build that made me want to build one. Glad to see you're still working on it, I'm rocking the shit out of mine, those neck are really awesome.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 9, 2012)

Vostre Roy said:


> This is one of the Warmoth build that made me want to build one. Glad to see you're still working on it, I'm rocking the shit out of mine, those neck are really awesome.



That just made my day, I always like to see someone take on building their own!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 10, 2012)

Did a lil more work today as I'm waiting for materials to arrive.

This is progress from stitching the edges of the neck pickup cavity. 2/5 hours later, it's done.
Still have to do the hole where the bridge goes, and the hole where the control plate covers the control cavity.

01: Clear Nylon Thread, strong, and transparent once used.






02: First couple of stiches. Ain't supposed to be pretty & looking like it was done by a machine in China.





03: Using a curved needle. Also using Needle Nose Pliers for better handling as I force the needle through the buckskin.





04: Using a curved needle, part 2.





05: Using a curved needle, part 3.





06: A little bit more.





07: Yet, even more.





08: Some progress so far.





09: Just finishing up.





10: The final stitch.


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## skalla (Jul 11, 2012)

more more more!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 11, 2012)

skalla said:


> more more more!



Tonite, I hope to work on the bridge area. I anticipate that it will take 3-4 hours to do. I don't expect that I will complete it in one sitting.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 14, 2012)

Another 4 hours of stitching done around the bridge area.

Without Flash






With Flash.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 14, 2012)

I spent another couple of hours stitching up the area where the control cavity is.

Without Flash.






With Flash.





What I thought might look cool was to have the perimeter of the stitched area butt up agains the sides of the control plate, as test fitted, however roughly here.





I think though, it looks cleanest, and overall complements the whole project by having the plate on top, and then understand that the stitching is there simply to keep the edges of the bucksin from fraying & getting frizzy. Since I may once in a great while need to replace a switch or potentiometer from wear and tear, it would keep the structural integrity of the buckskin intact by not having to stretch it periodically to remove the control plate.


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## axxessdenied (Jul 14, 2012)

Damn, that is looking good. I definitely agree with putting the plate over top the skin.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 14, 2012)

Bottom Side, Shielding used for visual effect.
This will cover the red body and only be seen between lacing the front hide to the back hide.





Bottom 





Facial shielding.
To aid in the small gap that will likely reveal itself between stitched edges of bucksin and body cavitiy routes.
This helps protect from electronic interferance, although the pickups I'm using are lower output and the electronics are well made.





Upper Horn Shielding
This is a little more than the other parts, but the possibility exists that more of the body may be exposed around the neck joint area, so better to be prepared.





End shot.
Another view looking towards where the neck will be.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 18, 2012)

Well, did some more work on the project. I stitched around the neck pocket, but it will likely not be seen as the overhang of the fingerboard will cover it, so I didn't bother photographing it just yet. I'll add that when I get to lacing up the front to back.

This is more of a traditional part culturally than guitar related, but is part of the project so I thought I'd share.

This is a rosette, beaded onto a wool backing, leather "thong" strung through and looped in the center, 4 brass beads, 2 beans (coffee, I think) and 4 dentalium shells. I just glued them up, so I placed it on a zip lock bag that my leather hole punch pliers came in just so I can take the pic & show you where it'll be sewn onto the face buckskin. I may get to start that process this weekend, depending on how long it takes me to stitch the rosette onto the face buckskin. That's going to be very tedious as I'm going to do my best to hide as much of the stitching as possible by stitching a whip stitch as much on the line as possible. Probably poke my thumb repeatedly doing so.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 21, 2012)

And so the "lace up" begins...


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 22, 2012)

Well, did some more work, and while it may appear that it's pretty well complete, still got some touch up do-dads to take care of.

The neck heel area is still incomplete, but I'm gonna let the project sit for a few days & let the leather do any potential stretching that may occur, in case I need to go back through and re-pull the laces to increase a little more tension if any slack occurs.


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## Stealthdjentstic (Jul 22, 2012)

Looks awesome, very unique idea. I think it will look great once worn in a bit, the skin still looks too clean.


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## Devyn Eclipse Nav (Jul 22, 2012)

That is one cool, unique idea, sir. I can't wait to see the finished product. And I bet the thing will be very comfortable to play, seeing as it's covered in skin.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 23, 2012)

Thanks guys. When I started this project, I had no idea to what extent anyone would find interest in it.

Now to prep the neck for a True Oil finish.


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## tommychains (Jul 23, 2012)

nice build! saw an old charvel wrapped with snake skin. As awesome as it looked, i would never attempt it. You're on the right path though. Keep on keepin' on!


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## simonXsludge (Jul 23, 2012)

Not my style, but thumbs up for the effort and unique approach.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 23, 2012)

Although not wired up yet, but the test fit with all hardware looks like it came out ok.

Vertical Without flash:





Vertical With flash:





Horizontal without flash:





Horizontal with flash.





I'm glad I elected to dismiss the idea of doing a faux beaded outline of a pickguard. For one, I think in time it would just get demolished with playing, without any real way of repairing it. The beaded rosette with the fetish hanging from it does plenty to catch the eye, and the concept of a buckskin finish is already fairly uncommon. 

Now, off to finish the neck.


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## avenger (Jul 24, 2012)

Can't wait to see this in a year or two after being covered in sweat and grime, it's going to age well I would guess.


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## jarnozz (Jul 24, 2012)

holy shit that guitar looks absolutely amazing! cant wait to see it finished


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Jul 24, 2012)

Thank you kind sir!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 9, 2012)

All assembled, wired & strung up, ready to go. The tweed bass case from GFS is due to arrive on Monday, so ill do a full on really nice photo shoot then. Been playing it some, I'm down with some neck issues right now, possible herniated discs in multiple locations brought on by mild degeneration. Going back in for a follow up visit with thedoc and possibly scheduling an MRI.


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## TomParenteau (Aug 9, 2012)

Ouch! I hope you have a good recovery.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 9, 2012)

Here's a couple of teasers in the meantime, full on nice pictorial coming sometime after monday.


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## Danukenator (Aug 10, 2012)

Just saw this. Very cool idea, I'd like to see more of it.


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## iRaiseTheDead (Aug 10, 2012)

First Warmoth build I've seen in a long time! Very nice man!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 13, 2012)

As promised, Completed Pics.

The tweed Bass Case I ordered from GFS came in today. It's quality is decent for a simple "no bells & whistles" type of plywood case. It was either GFS or Rondo. Rondo was $20 cheaper, but then I saw the fine print, Printed Vinyl Tweed, meaning that the case is just one big bumper sticker. The GFS is actual cloth tweed, which was my preference, so I went with it.


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## 7stringDemon (Aug 14, 2012)

Fucking badass!


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## SDMFVan (Aug 14, 2012)

Man, that is absolutely amazing. I've always wanted a leather wrapped Tele. Fantastic job! One question: Is there any chance of the red dye from the case lining staining the leather?


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## Mister-Tux (Aug 14, 2012)

So much win in this thread. You sir, have really good tastes. Happy New Accomplished Build Day


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 14, 2012)

SDMFVan said:


> Man, that is absolutely amazing. I've always wanted a leather wrapped Tele. Fantastic job! One question: Is there any chance of the red dye from the case lining staining the leather?



No risk that I'm aware of. The leather has been tanned, and unless the inside of the case ever gets wet, I don't see a potential issu.

Thank you all for the kind comments.


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## 7stringDemon (Aug 14, 2012)

. . . . . . . . Sound clips?


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 14, 2012)

7stringDemon said:


> . . . . . . . . Sound clips?



Perhaps some video this weekend, playing it at an event Friday eve.


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## peagull (Aug 17, 2012)

Wow, that is awesome.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 17, 2012)

My wife and I celebrated our 9th Wedding Anniversary yesterday, and the good sport that she is, says, "let's go to the Jimi Hendrix memorial and get some pics with your new baritone guitar". Well, who am I do refuse, so...


Myself, with said Wifey





Getting some Mojo.


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## UnderTheSign (Aug 17, 2012)

Cool stuff Tony. I bet it's gonna look even cooler when the leather starts aging.


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## littlemurph7976 (Aug 19, 2012)

This looks really cool, and is such a unique idea for a guitar.

Did you find you needed to get a bass case because it wouldn't fit in a regular guitar case?


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 19, 2012)

littlemurph7976 said:


> This looks really cool, and is such a unique idea for a guitar.
> 
> Did you find you needed to get a bass case because it wouldn't fit in a regular guitar case?



Yes, the 28 5/8" scale length puts it at about 3 1/4" longer than what will fit in a standard case.


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## littlemurph7976 (Aug 20, 2012)

Thanks for the reply Tony, stopped me making a fatal mistake!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Aug 20, 2012)

littlemurph7976 said:


> Thanks for the reply Tony, stopped me making a fatal mistake!



Glad to be of help, that's why I post stuff like this.

Incidentally, I got the above tweed case through GFS (Guitar Fetish).
It was about $74.00 USD, + $19.00 S&H in the USA.


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## RevelGTR (Aug 27, 2012)

That's insanely cool, love the gretsch pickup look.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Sep 1, 2012)

EGEDE said:


> That's insanely cool, love the gretsch pickup look.



Thanks, I had to have the cover machined because the original cover I wanted would not ship from the uk due to customs fees, but I've since sourced then through some else who buys from them.

You're in Duvall?

I was rolling through there a while back, was sitting in the Starbucks parking lot and Susan Tate comes jamming out of the drive thru like crazy.


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