How To Make A Telecaster Guitar From Scratch

I've always wanted to make my own guitar so I finally did. This telecaster build video shows a brief overview on how to make a Telecaster from scratch. I made it from rough cut lumber and gold hardware from StewMac.

All my recommended tools from this build are below!

00:00 Intro
00:23 Milling the body of the guitar
01:41 Milling the maple top
02:28 Glueing the body and top in the vacuum press
02:55 Applying the template
03:07 Shaping the guitar to the template
03:24 Routing out the control panel and pickup pockets
03:29 Final shaping and sanding
03:45 Drilling the string holes and pickup wiring channels
03:57 Routing the neck pocket
04:04 Drilling for string ferrules and auxiliary input
04:13 How to finish a guitar with Rubio Monocoat
04:33 How to make a guitar neck and fret board
05:36 Shape a guitar neck with a router bit
05:53 Shaping a guitar neck with hand tools
06:05 Veneering the headstock
06:31 How to fret a guitar
07:04 The easy way to fit a nut on a guitar
07:19 Adding hardware and soldering pickups
07:38 How to make a guitar inlay with epoxy
07:58 How it sounds and tone test

Tools Used:

Sawstop Jobsite Pro
Laguna 14/12 Bandsaw / Resaw King Blad
Jessem Router Table
Makita Router
Various whiteside router bits and some from bits and bits
Metabo cordless drill set
Porter Cable Drill Press
Jet Benchtop Drum Sander
Oliver Machinery Benchtop Planer
Stanley Bailey No. 5 Plane
Rockler vacuum and Roarockit vacuum press bag
Titebond III
Craftsman Miter Saw
Jorgensen Clamps
Grizzly G0855 Jointer
Generation 4 Fender Noiseless Pickups
Templates from StewMac
Ernie Ball Custom Slinky Strings
Gold Hardware and Gold Frets from StewMac including a Gotoh Bridge
Shinto Rasp from Rockler

Wood used:

African Mahogany for the guitar body
Figured Maple for the guitar top
Bocote for the fret board

#telecaster #guitars #guitarbuilding #woodworking #diyguitar #woodworkingprojects #woodworkingideas

[Steve_ATL]

One of the best guitars T style guitars I've seen. I think a lot more people like a natural finish than the large companies think.

[Salamy]

Your channel just popped up on my algorithm and I've gone through several videos so far. You are incredibly talented and make it look so easy. Beautiful work.
I just got my son playing and picked up a telecaster for him so this was a nice coincidence.

[Locreai]

For the first time in life i like a tele. Those waves in the wood and the perfect match of hardware colour. Very sexy work.

[marchebert]

The Rubio finish was the right choice. Turned out beautiful.

[pjmccall]

Love the look of the rubio monocoat and the gold hardware. What a gem!

[โอ๋SD]

I am happy and excited every time I see anyone. Built a guitar and played it himself And I like making guitars too.

[AisDrew]

Fantastic work dude! As a budding luthier myself I too felt the shock of “well dang building guitars takes a lot of skill” but you’d never know it by how you presented everything. The guitar looks gorgeous and I loved your optimism in taking your setbacks and turning them into opportunities. Also the risk it for the brisket at the end with the inlay is a great touch. Often times it’s under those same types of circumstances that the most beautiful work is created. Hope you’ll keep building and documenting into the future!

[ursamajor]

this video deserves a few million more views

[BryanPersaud-pe]

Great vid. I appreciate you telling us your mistakes! Sweet Tele btw!

[japanegao]

O natural da madeira é muito melhor que qualquer tipo de tinta... essa guitarra ficou perfeita.

[mattbluesmain]

without randomness..order cannot manifest itself....bet you never sell it !!! GREAT VIDEO

[scottbell]

Tele looks and sounds amazing. Nice playing too.

[wardengrn]

It looks and sounds awesome, build more! Lots of builders never go through all the measurements of everything. Maybe you can do that.

Looks thin on the entry of video which looks good. Looks thicker latter even near finishing.

[youKnowWho]

That top turned out sweet. Love the oil finished look.

[michal]

beautiful guitar and playing, hope one day i’ll be able to craft a guitar or play that good

[rosascreativeworks]

Wow! Nice! I love to see people building their own instruments. Awesome! 😎

[dk]

Stunning Tele! I love the natural finish. New sub!

[davidmoss]

Fantastic video and even better playing technique, Well done !!!

[fzml]

Nice build! Why would you radius the fretboard first and glue it later?

[RobertMost]

Thanks for the video. I didn't see what finish you used on the list of stuff in the description. Could you please specify what you used? You said Rubio Monocoat, but which one and how was it applied / number coats etc. Thanks.