Faux binding and pup question

[esmith]

Not sure that this goes here, but I have a Tele body that was given to me and I am hoping to build a sonic blue with rosewood fb guitar with it. Right now it is in Everest green and I really don't like it. I dig the sonic blue with white pg but always think that they look better with a white binding. I did build a blackguard blonde butterscotch Tele a year ago, so this isn't completely new to me, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience with painting on a faux binding and can give any tips?

The other thing I am wondering is if anyone has experience with Seymour Duncan mini hum bucker in the neck and have a suggestion for a bridge pup with that as the neck pup in mind?

BTW, I might be putting a Bigsby on it too.

[phantomman]

How many times will you be planning to touch up that faux binding?

Because you will.

Often.

[esmith]

Didn't think about that. Hmmmmmm........

[Don]

Is the radius on the edge of a Tele too large to paint faux binding on?

[esmith]

Is the radius on the edge of a Tele too large to paint faux binding on?

No. If I'm following your question, you are asking if it is routed over too much. The other one that I built is, but this one has much sharper edges.

[jrgtr42]

I tried sorta-faux binding on my parts-o-bass. This body has a flame maple top over basswood body.
I used 1/8" painters tape, pressed as hard as I could along the join line (on the maple side) I then masked the top to spray the back (think Les Paul style burst, with red stain back.) I did get a couple of bleed-throughs, but generally not too bad. If I was to do it again, I would use a edging tool to press the tape down, and try not to hit the edge straight on at full blast. Many small, light coats versus one heavy one.

[esmith]

Here is what I am wondering, if I use 1/8 painters tape or maybe some pin striping tape after I have it primed and then shoot the color and pull the tape, it should leave the white primer behind. I guess it could pull up the color or make an uneven seam at the color and primer. I was then thinking about hitting it with several coats or clear. I'm thinking, and maybe someone can correct me on this, that after sanding it should be fairly even and look like it is bound.

[jrgtr42]

If you're careful about pulling the tape, and do it at the right time - not too early, not too late - you should be able to get a nice clean line there.
I used stain, not solid color, so I don't know if it behaves differently when taping / peeling.

[melody]

That blue painters tape is not for sharp lines, If you want sharp lines use frog tape.. www.frogtape.com Be sure to wet the edge with a damp cloth so it seals the edge...Good luck!

[esmith]

Nice tips. Thanks.

[Offshore Angler]

I sometimes like to shoot a very thin coat of clear over the taped edges before color. Especially if the next color is red, which loves to seep under tape.

If you're not using lacquer, any of the good automotive masks shoulds be perfectly fine.

[esmith]

It will be lacquer. So offshore you are saying to put the tape on and then spray the tape to make a barrier before shooting the color?

edit: Read it again and yup, that is exactly what you said.

[esmith]

I was thinking about changing this to Olympic white with a mint guard, but hey if others have had success then the blue might be back on.

[tugboat]

If you really wanted binding I can't think it would be much more trouble to install the real stuff. Get some binding and a template following router bit (the kind with a ball bearing smaller in diameter than the cutting edge) and hit it with a router after you strip the old finish. Melt binding with Acetone and use that as glue, place binding on the guitar, and tape the heck out of it to hold the binding while the glue cures. Done.

If you've never used a router before then practice first so you don't rip out chunks. It should be fairly straightforward though considering the small amount you're talking about taking off. Just remember to always move the router in the opposite direction as the bit is turning.

Regarding the pickups, I don't think vintage output mini-humbuckers are very high output so it should match reasonably well with most standard output Tele pickups. Hey, it works for Brent Mason.

[esmith]

I've though about giving it a try.

Last night I was messing around with the body trying to figure out what I was going to do and realized that since it is routed for hum-buckers that it takes a hum-bucker bridge. Nothing else fits the specs to line up with the holes or to cover the route completely. Looks like I will be doing some filling in of some fairly big holes to get the combo that I want. I can handle drilling pilot holes, cutting out shapes and sanding them, and POSSIBLY routing, but to make repairs????? Not sure about this one.

[esmith]

I know that I asked about the mini hum bucker, but I want that in the neck. I want a single coil in the bridge. I already have a Les Paul and really am not looking to make another one shaped like a Telecaster. Just thought I'd add that to clear up any confusion.

[tugboat]

Can you take a picture?

I figure that's the pickup combo you wanted. If you can do all that then you'll be able to do what you want. If you need to fill the humbucker route, cut the route out into a straight sided cube (a router will help clean up the bottom of the route) and fill the hole with a piece of ash/alder/poplar/whatever wood the body is. Cut and sand to shape so it has a minimal gap and is flush with the body, then clamp it until the glue dries (or put a heavy weight on it in place of a clamp).

Then figure out the centerline of the guitar and get a routing template from Stew-Mac, and locate the template. You should be able to mark this with a new bridge. Be sure to hog out most of the material with a drill bit (a forstner bit is best) and then clean it up with a router and your template. USE GOOD DOUBLE SIDED TAPE.

Remember, you're painting the guitar white. It's nothing you can't cover up. I built a DC Les Paul special from scratch with no prior woodworking experience. I was going to do a natural finish but boogered up the neck pocket. I had to cut it out, add a patch, and re-route it so I did a sunburst to cover it up. You can't tell I screwed it up now.

If you need any more help, feel free to PM me. I'm no seasoned Luthier but I do have one successful scratch build under my belt and I may be able to help you with your project.

[esmith]

[esmith]

Here is what I'm wondering, if I do exactly what tugboat said only just enough to cover the outside wings then the rest of the hole would be covered by the bridge plate since the pup mounts to the plate. As long as the pup fits in the hole it should be fine. Maybe?

[tugboat]

Is there no single coil Tele bridge that would cover that?

It would be hard to clamp the "ears" in place. You'd have to get a couple big clamps to clamp in the ears, one clamp each both down and in simultaneously. It will be doable if you get the right clamps though. It sounds more intimidating but I do think it would be easier to square out that whole area and put in a block to plug it. That way you only have to shape one plug and you can just put the plug in and put a bunch of weight on it to clamp it down. You won't need any fancy clamps, just something heavy. Put a bunch of bricks on top of a piece of plywood, done.

[esmith]

No, the hum bucker bridge is 3 1/2" wide while pretty much all of the other ones are 2 3/4"ish.

I know for sure that I will be squaring it up. I'm just contemplating if I want to just square the ears and plug them or to do the whole thing as one big block. I think you might be right as far as being much easier to do with one big one. If I go it as two ear plugs the route is definitely big enough to house a single coil pup although I am not positive about the plastic base of the pup. I'm thinking that the Bigsby might be out.

[Offshore Angler]

Bigsby's suck on a Tele (IMHO), the neck angle needs to be changed to accommodate the bridge, and the strings then ride too high over the body. Plus, the action and tuning stability on a Bigsby isn't that great to begin with, and changing strings is a major PITA (again, IMHO).

There's good reasons that Bigsby's have fallen into the dustheap and only show up on "replica" pieces.

For every Bigsby that's been installed, I'm willing to bet that 5 have been removed.


I think they look cool, but I've not yet met the guitar player who's fallen in love with one.

YMMV.

[phantomman]

For every Bigsby that's been installed, I'm willing to bet that 5 have been removed.

+1