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Telecaster neck bolted to __ " thick laminated poplar body?

Posted by Kentucky Mojo on August 5, 2013 at 7:29pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

I'm new to the site... I'm sure this is a newbie question that has been asked a million times, but a search pulled up nothing here. I'm building a telecaster cbg with a one piece maple neck and bridge and neck pups. I have all relic'd 50's fender tele repo parts... and a general layout, but I now need to strap it all to something. I have a piece of poplar that is 3/4 thick. I am going to cut them down to the size I need for my box (11 long x 4 13/16 wide) and laminate two of them together for a total of 1 1/2 and maybe 3 of them for 2 1/4. What are the guidelines for thickness vs string tension? They will also be screwed together. I am a guitar player, and a Fender guy, so I'm going for a quality (finger quotes) build. I also have to finish the neck before I can do assembly, but I am just planning right now. Thoughts? 

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Replies

  • Skeesix August 8, 2013 at 6:51pm

    A standard tele body is 1-3/4" thick. I've also done 1-1/2" on a solid guitar body successfully. I think anything thinner than that is starting to get too thin though.

    So two laminations to make 1-1/2" thick ought to be fine.

    • Kentucky Mojo > Skeesix August 9, 2013 at 7:27am
      Great! Thanks Skeesix.
  • Wade August 6, 2013 at 9:28pm

    It might be a good idea to get some measurements off a tele body to get you started as far as route depth, etc;

    • Kentucky Mojo > Wade August 7, 2013 at 12:37pm

      yeah that's kinda what I was looking for

  • Kentucky Mojo August 6, 2013 at 9:22am

    CBT (Cigar Box Tele)

  • Kentucky Mojo August 6, 2013 at 8:01am
    Its hard to see, but it's really deep. I am going to basically build a body that the box fits around. I am changing the poplar to maple and rerouting the layout to allow for control plate to go on top. There's one on YouTube that is the same dimensions as mine (and is a tele) and it works out well. It 's tone I'm going for on this one.
    • Randy S. Bretz > Kentucky Mojo August 6, 2013 at 9:33am

      It looks like it`s a hinged lid, an option is to flip the box over and use the bottom for the top. Then you`ll have easier access then using a control access panel by just opening the lid. Yeah I think your best way to make this build is a solid block inside and use the cigar box as a decoration.

       

  • Randy S. Bretz August 6, 2013 at 7:31am

    Sure is a small box for all that hardware, I`d fill the inside of  box up with blocking. At least then you`ll have a solid attachment for the neck and tailpiece.

  • The Phrygian Kid August 5, 2013 at 9:26pm
    You won't have any problems as long as you can rout a neat neck slot. Because you're using an adjustable bridge there's plenty of leeway to get a nice action and intonation. In the event that the saddles won't crank high enough you can remedy that by shimming the neck angle. Have fun :)

    The body thickness won't affect string tension. Main thing is its thick and strong enough that string tension won't rip the bridge off or rip the neck out
    • Kentucky Mojo > The Phrygian Kid August 6, 2013 at 8:28pm

      Yeah that's what I meant... how thick should the"body" be for 6 string tension?

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