Mini-Telecaster Guitar

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
See more from Bob in SF

Bob in SF

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
1,762
Location
San Francisco
I like little things.
I don't like working too hard to get notes and chords out of a guitar.
I couldn't resist making a mini-Telecaster - especially with a nice price drop at www.stewmac.com - here:

I did some body contouring with an oscillating belt sander, and did some additional routing to make room for EMG pickups; airbrushed the stain, sealed with 8 coats of nitrocellulose lacquer applied 24 hours apart, cured for 2 weeks, then re-sanded up to 2500 grit and buffed with compound. Next, I inlaid my logo, (which I drew in Adobe Illustrator, then laser cut into a stamp by Joel Socwell at www.4clay.com; logo impressed into porcelain clay, which I bisque fired, then glazed, then high-fired at cone 10 in a gas kiln) with epoxy putty. It's has a short scale length, so I tuned its flat wound strings up 5 frets (musical 4th interval) to A, i.e. tuned low-to-high: A-D-G-C-E-A. Great fun - plays like the wind, easy to finger otherwise difficult to reach chords, and easy to zip through single notes. It gets along well with its big brother (Ibanez AS73FMGVG semi-hollow body guitar) - show here for scale.
MiniTeleSteps,markison,2020,1000px.jpg


MiniTeleMarkisonMay2020,1000px.jpg

MiniTelecasterMarkson,HandSpan,1000px.jpg

MiniTeleWithIbanezSemiHollowBody,markison,2020,1000px.jpg


Not exactly a pen - but it makes its mark.

Stay safe everyone, and stay creative - Bob
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad

Bob in SF

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
1,762
Location
San Francisco
Heartfelt and humble thanks Mal, Charlie, John, Tom, Mike, Angus, and Dustin!

Mike - You might enjoy building a mini-Tele to keep your full size Tele company.

Angus - It sounds great with the (upgrade to) EMG pickups with flat wound strings - no extra noise. The active EMG pickups are a bit larger than standard Tele pickups, so I did some additional routing to fit the pickups in properly, and carefully routed some additional control cavity depth to fit in the 9 volt (1500 hour) battery without need to make a battery cavity on the back of the instrument body. I spent some extra time dressing the fret ends with files and sanding sticks to make it very finger friendly for rapid play. I also spent some time setting up the action (16" fretboard radius string height adjustment, pickup height adjustment, and intonation at the bridge saddles). I've played it through a rather large Peavy Nashville 112 that I use for lap and pedal steel guitar, an old Polytone Minibrute that I use for jazz guitar, and a Roland Cube that I use for practice and small room gigs - sounds great with all of these. I thought of switching from the top loader classic tele-style bridge to string-through-body, but there's plenty of sustain as is. I've tuned it to A, equivalent to a capo on the 5th fret of a standard scale length guitar, i.e. up five frets = up a musical 4th interval; and the pitches from lo-to-hi strings are: A-D-G-C-E-A; same inter-string intervals as usual: 4th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, and 4th. Hope this helps. Fun little build, with room for customization.

Warm regards to all.

Gratefully - Bob
 

MiteyF

Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2018
Messages
187
Location
Bay area
I've been searching for projects to play with my airbrushes more lately... I think I need one of these. It's been ages since I've had an electric.
 

Bob in SF

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
1,762
Location
San Francisco
YES!, MiteyF - Go for it!
Electric guitars make fine airbrush canvases!
I sanded to 1000 grit, did not use sanding sealer, airbrushed ColorTone stains, but could have used any stain or paint; then did multiple daily sprays of nitrocellulose lacquer from a spray can; waited about 2 weeks for full curing; then sanded up to 12000 grit (many ways to do it).
Have fun, and best regards - Bob
MiniTelecaster,AirbrushStaining,markison,2020.jpg
 

MiteyF

Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2018
Messages
187
Location
Bay area
Damnit Bob, ya got me. My tiny tele is supposed to be here Friday, as if I needed another project. Have you experimented much with airbrushing stains and finishes outside of this project?
 

Bob in SF

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
1,762
Location
San Francisco
Nice MiteyF!

I've thinned the StewMac ColorTone stains with isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) - with plenty of ventilation, respirator mask, etc.

I've also airbrushed a lot of Dye-Na-Flow colors right out of the bottle - great color assortment.
Here:

I've generally sealed the guitar colors with StewMac Nitrocellulose lacquers - sprayed out of the can, outdoors.

I'm intrigued by the StewMac ColorTone Wipe-on Poly Finish - may try it on the next little project.

I've had luck with UV cured epoxy resin, and may try that again on various projects - here's a UV-cured epoxy coated goose egg that I posted on this forum a while ago:

Have fun with your Mini-Tele. Go small or go home (or do both).

- Bob
 

greenacres2

Member
Joined
May 2, 2017
Messages
1,686
Location
Northwest IN
Awesome job Bob!! I'm not ready to try a build, but back in February i took my grandson to a shop for his 7th birthday to pick up a mini-Strat. Since he was first able to walk every time he came to visit he'd go straight to the Baby Taylor on the rack. That little Strat has great action and a nice sized fretboard for his sized hands, but it's a real decent guitar!! They moved to North Carolina a month ago, and have a line on a teacher so they'll start lessons soon. In the meantime, he's been going through a Hal Leonard book with his headphones--the kid's got some rhythm. Sure didn't come from me!!
earl
 

Bob in SF

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2016
Messages
1,762
Location
San Francisco
George - I'll post a little video of my Mini Tele here this weekend.

Earl - sounds like like you are a great Grandfather! Yes - the mini-Strat is a real instrument - as is the Baby Taylor. Hal Leonard has great books/play-alongs - and the Jamey Aebersold books/play-alongs are also superb, and good for a lifetime:
You/he should also check out www.truefire.com - incredible online guitar educational resource:
https://www.truefire.com/online-guitar-lessons
The Ibanez Mikro electric guitar would be a fine next step for him as he grows.

Best regards - Bob
 
Top Bottom