Finished my Baja Tele - (Video pg13)

[taylornutt]

Let's hope it does not catch fire except when I play really fast. I built it to be a player and the Baja electronics will give me more switching options, not to mention people rave about the pickups. I love the way Mike's Baja sounded on his demo, so that was a big influence as well. I just want to play the thing and I am amazed I have been patient enough to wait this long but I spent to much time to mess it up.

[taylornutt]

My guitar tech had the missing piece I needed to mount my bridge pickup. I stopped by Guitar Center to pickup some Strap locks. I waited until everyone was asleep and then I put her back together. The guitar tech is going to install the nut, wire the pups and do a setup for me. Despite some finish imperfections, I am very happy with how it is coming together. It feels comfortable with the strap on. I snapped a couple of pics.

► Show Spoiler

[Mo Law-ka]

wow! looks great man.
I think that wiring a guitar is the best part, especially if something goes wrong. That's where you can learn the most.

[Mike]

Looks fantastic, well done!

[taylornutt]

wow! looks great man.
I think that wiring a guitar is the best part, especially if something goes wrong. That's where you can learn the most.

I am taking on a little more with each build. I need to get the guitar setup anyway and my guitar tech said he would do it for $20. I plan to wire my next guitar, but I don't have all the tools and I want to play it now. I plan to take some classes so I can do my own setups in the future.

[matt.dines]

Looks stunning for your first build. I think it needs a mint guard tho!

[Gabriel]

well done, that looks fantastic!

[Dingus]

It feels comfortable with the strap on.

Quoted for posterity.

and obligatory:

ORLY NOW???????

[taylornutt]

The only thing I don't like is the paint or clearcoat has a white hazy look on top of the lower horn. I will buff it out more later and see if that helps. If it's the paint, I am not going to change that anytime soon.

[Boab]

Stunning. Congrats!

[Bacchus]

Looks great, but being realistic:

The guitar tech is going to install the nut, wire the pups and do a setup for me.

c'mon, you built a guitar. You can do this bit too. The nut is a little tricky, but you built a guitar. The set up is easy. The trick is to do everything a quarter turn at a time and have enough patience to sit for as long as it takes to find out where you want everything.

You Built A Guitar.

[taylornutt]

Looks great, but being realistic:

The guitar tech is going to install the nut, wire the pups and do a setup for me.

c'mon, you built a guitar. You can do this bit too. The nut is a little tricky, but you built a guitar. The set up is easy. The trick is to do everything a quarter turn at a time and have enough patience to sit for as long as it takes to find out where you want everything.

You Built A Guitar.

I don't have all the tools right now to finish up the wiring and setup. My soldering iron sucks and I need some buy more tools to do the job right. I plan on learning how to do all of it, but I am ready to get this guitar playing and I don't want to have to wait to buy the tools. Besides, my guitar tech is really nice guy and I like to throw him some business when I can. He offers classes for setups, guitar repair and building I want to take so I can eventually do everything myself. I have learned a lot from the internet, but it's nice when you can get a luthier to actually show you the ropes.

[taylornutt]

I noticed my pickguard was not sitting flat. I removed it and sanded the area that touches the top of the neck. Now it lays down as it should. I have polished my guitar several times, but I am starting to think I need a better polishing rag or buffing wheel to really get the proper shine out of the body I want. Trying to learn more about the process. I have to wait a week or two and then I will have funds to send the guitar to the luthier. I might try wiring her up if I can make a quick trip to Radio Shack for wire and stuff.

[moore65]

I still don't know how to properly solder but I soldered new pickups in my bass. But if you're going with nice pickups then it's understandable to let the luthier do it. The body does look very nice and I love the paint job you did.

[taylornutt]

I have soldered pickups before, but there is a cut cable coming off the S1 switch that has to be replaced and I would rather let the tech do that one. Not to mention I don't have a solder sucker or any wire.

[Berto]

possibly the hottest tele I have seen. well done taylor, well done

[MikeG]

Yeah, it looks fantastic.

[Phil O'Keefe]

That blue looks awesome. How soon will you have it finished and set up / ready to play?

[taylornutt]

That blue looks awesome. How soon will you have it finished and set up / ready to play?

I hope to drop it off in a couple of days, depends on money. I am trying to get my video stuff going so I can do a video demo as soon as I get it.

Any suggestions on string gauge? Initially I was going with .11s since that is what on my other guitars.

[Bacchus]

I don't know how you've managed to at least not have a go at setting it up yet. Maybe that's how I learned, by needing to play a certain guitar at two in the morning, then sitting for most of the night time hours fiddling.