What's new on the workbench today?

Fender Telecaster Setup

We have a very special guest in the workshop this weekend, a lovely blonde Fender Baja Telecaster! A friend asked me to take a look as he was getting some issues bending strings on the higher frets so I said I would do a setup for him.

Of course I have to thoroughly test her to see exactly what the problems are! Hope my blue Tele doesn't get jealous!

He asked me to replace the strings so that is first order of the day, there are a lot of retro features on the Baja including classic slotted machine heads so I carefully followed the instructions in my Haynes Telecaster manual to ensure I pre-cut the strings to the correct length.  However before I cut the strings I gave the frets and lacquered finger board a good clean.  There isn't much wear generally, in fact the guitar is quite lovely however a couple of the jumbo frets have little nicks in them and will need redressing at some point.

At this point though that is not a necessity and my friend does not want that done anyway.  I ran a fret rocker over all the frets but the frets all sit happily level with each other with the only exception been the tiniest bit of movement around the 11th fret on the low E side of the neck which should not be problematic as there is no discernible fret buzz.  

After fitting a new set of strings I took a look at the bow in the neck, it is slightly more bowed than fender recommend but I will let the neck settle overnight with the new strings and take another look tomorrow and adjust the truss rod if I feel it is required.  I removed the pickguard to inspect the truss rod adjusting screw which is at the neck pickup end of the neck in true classic style.  I will need to loosen the strings and slacken the neck retaining screws to give me access if I need to adjust the truss rod, this will allow me to tilt the neck back a little for better access.

Router Table

I managed to get some time on my new router table recently and made a couple of Telecaster neck blanks as well as a copy of my template.

Making the template copy out of MDF was far easier than attempting to route the hard wood I had chosen for my neck blanks.  I had to purchase a decent 1/2" bit with a top bearing and a collar to fit the router as it comes with a 1/4" one but I could not find a bit I was happy to use.  On one attempt the bit came lose and ruined the blank I was working on, a lesson learned there!

The router and the table performed great and I look forward to creating a copy of body template and then a couple of Telecaster bodies.  The reason I want to create a template from the template is so if I damage my copy I can easily create another from the original.

I now have 2 blanks ready to turn into necks, I am low on funds though at the moment so the project is on hold for a little while!  I will update here one I get some bits together, maybe after my next pay day!