<snip> OK, you've got me inspired now. I've always wanted a tele, and
figured just to buy one, but now I'm thinking I ought to make one. Would
I be right in assuming the pickups would be your major cost in this
project? <snip>

Build one! They are really easy and fun to build, which is testament to
Leos outstanding design skills I reckon.

The hardware /pups wasn't so much. I buy parts in bulk when I can
and at discounted/trade prices so a good quality set of tele pickups
and hardware is pretty affordable given enough time to score the
right deals. I make sure I have all the hardware before I start. Its
annoying building a guitar to use a certain wunder-bridge, and then
the manufacturer goes out of business a month before you can get
one. Damhikt.

If you have a sewing machine motor you can make your own pickups.
Amazing, handwound, alnico magnetted, mega tone pickups that cost about
10 bucks and some great times in the workshop making a winding machine.
Pickups are a bit of a cash cow for manufacturers, (100 bucks retail for
maybe 2 or 3 bucks of materials.. Wow.) making your own is easy enough,
and very very cheap. And a good way to make money, doing pickup rewinds.

The most expensive bit of this build was without doubt the time spent
sanding and finishing. And that wasn't that long; about a day. It
actually only takes about 3 or maybe 4 hours max to build a standard
tele from scratch (not including glue drying time) once you know the
process and have built the correct jigs for the tailed devil.
(Obviously, you don't *have* to use a router to build it, but the guitar
was essentially designed around being built by someone with a router and
a set of jigs so I find that method works the best.) And once you've
built one, you can build another, and another, and.....

But back on the Old Tools charter, I do use a Record 050a combi plane to
cut truss-rod channels. It means I can make guitar necks at 1 in the
morning without waking up the cat. And I always feel like a victorian
brain surgeon when im setting it up. Love it..

All the best, Rich.

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