I've wanted
to build one
of these since I first ran across the Sollophonic Guitars
website awhile ago. I did
not have a Telecaster or copy to use. When I saw that Guitar
Fetish was now selling guitar kits and they had
a tele style for $89.95,
I had to bite. This was a quick and painless build that resulted in one
of my favorite guitars. The sound ranges from the twangy grit of the
straight acoustic biscuit and cone reso to the beautiful Telecaster
style neck pickup electric tones. I particularly like about a 50/50 mix of
the two.
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Modifying the Telecaster style body
3) Now make the rim route using a circle cutting jig and a plunge router. Do not try to do it in one cut. Increase the cut depth in 5mm increments till the final depth is reached. I shortened the radius about 4mm and repeated the rim cut procedure. I wanted to make sure I had enough room.
4) Drill the rear back pressure relief holes before cutting out the bulk of wood in the sound well. These should go no more than half way through the body.Now remove the rest of the wood with the Forstner bit. Make sure the center spike does not go through the back.
Modifying the Telecaster style body
1) Determine the scale length and
the center of the sound well. Bolt the neck to the body.
Measure the distance from the nut to the 12th fret center. Use metric
to make this easier. Double this distance and add 3mm. This will be your
working scale length. Measure down the centerline of the fretboard/neck
the working scale distance and mark this spot. This should be centered
in the body area. I drilled a 1/8th inch hole completely through the
body. Use a drill press if possible. This will be the pivot point for
routing the sound well cavity and locates the center of the rear sound
hole pattern.
2) Determine
the depth of cut for the cone rim. This can be a little
tricky. Assemble the cone, biscuit, and saddle. Place on a flat surface
and using 2 straight edges, measure the height of the assembly. Do the
same with the cover plate and subtract 4mm from that amount. This
measure subtracted from the cone assembly measure will give you the
depth of the rim cut. I only routed the outer 10mm of the soundwell.
This is where the cone's rim will make contact. The bulk of the wood I
removed with a 1.5 inch Forstner bit in a drill press.
By the way I bought my reso hardware from Republic Guitars. Nice folks.
By the way I bought my reso hardware from Republic Guitars. Nice folks.
3) Now make the rim route using a circle cutting jig and a plunge router. Do not try to do it in one cut. Increase the cut depth in 5mm increments till the final depth is reached. I shortened the radius about 4mm and repeated the rim cut procedure. I wanted to make sure I had enough room.
4) Drill the rear back pressure relief holes before cutting out the bulk of wood in the sound well. These should go no more than half way through the body.Now remove the rest of the wood with the Forstner bit. Make sure the center spike does not go through the back.
5) Now is the time to decide on
volume/tone controls and their placement. I opted for just
a volume control. There are a number of possible arrangements. Check out the Sollophonic
Guitars photo gallery for ideas.
6) Body
routes and wire run holes are just like any solid body guitar. Shims
may be necessary for the proper parts fit, but this is also not
uncommon.
7) The standard Telecaster pick guard can be used if cut to fit using the cover plate as a template.
8) I used an anchor tail piece from Guitar Parts Resource. The normal resophonic tail piece is far to large for this application. I grounded the cover plate and clamped the tail piece over the rear edge of the plate. This formed a system ground for all the metal parts and electronics.
9) I opted for a low maintenance textured finish. The body wood in this kit is too soft to put a high gloss shine on without a huge expenditure of time, effort, and money.
Good luck
7) The standard Telecaster pick guard can be used if cut to fit using the cover plate as a template.
8) I used an anchor tail piece from Guitar Parts Resource. The normal resophonic tail piece is far to large for this application. I grounded the cover plate and clamped the tail piece over the rear edge of the plate. This formed a system ground for all the metal parts and electronics.
9) I opted for a low maintenance textured finish. The body wood in this kit is too soft to put a high gloss shine on without a huge expenditure of time, effort, and money.
Good luck