So, have been keeping a bit quiet about this as I build up the various components and stuff, but buying a baritone tele neck to stick on that Univox body effectively made me shout "Fuck, I miss having a telecaster". And my baritone love has been mentioned umpteen times before. So, here we go: I plan to make this thread about fifty pages long, despite the fact that I'm not really doing that much graft myself. And I reserve the right to lunch out taking photos at any stage and just quietly finish the project without telling you...
Anyhow, had the neck for a while, and today the body and bridge arrived.
Had a real stroke of luck with the body; stumbled across it looking for other parts for the Univox, and got it for a song. The seller even marked the price down a touch so I didn't get too stung with comedy tax. It's a brand new 2010 MIM Tele '69 thinline body, with all the electrics and stuff onboard. Tested it when it arrived, and it all works fine (as far as plugging it into an amp and tapping the pickups with a screwdriver can tell me). The neck is snug as a bug in the neck socket. Not fixing it on yet though because...
My first job is to finish the neck: after some words of wisdom from Francis B.C. Rich of this parish, I decided I'd go for tru oil finish: nice and easy to apply like danish/tung oil, but with hardeners as well. So I've just started putting that on; going to do about eight coats. This also leaves time for the nut, neckplate and string tree to arrive.
While I'm residing in manland, I've also swapped out the OG bridge for a Wilkinson bridge with compensated saddles: it's slightly thicker than the standard Fender bridge, and the corners (where I rest my delicate handies) aren't hideous mangled sharp things like on the Fender one. Plus, Trev Wilkinson's name on the guitar will add some much-needed UK guitar shop m@j@ to the guitar. And it gives me the option to topload the strings, which I like, and had on the Benecolcaster.
More news as it breaks, kinder...
