From Bare Wood To Badass - Telecaster Bass Build

Keith builds a Bass! Follow along as Keith makes mistakes, has successes, and learns a ton. And... creates a badass Bass.
Keith Leedham is an independent recording artists/studio owner/tinkerer.
He owns "The Tape Farm" a recording studio that specializes in transferring "pro-sumer" analog tape formats from manufactures like Tascam and Fostex.
Website: www.thetapefarm.com
Facebook: / thetapefarm
As an independent recording artists Keith has released singles, EPs and full length albums. With styles ranging from Progressive Rock to Country to Singer/Songwriter to Hard Rock to what ever the song dictates.
Website: www.keithleedham.com
He also tinkers with various audio equipment such as tape machines, guitars and guitar amps. When he comes across something interesting he posts the progress/results on KZbin.
TIME STAMPS -
Disclaimer/Intro - 0:00
Parts and Pieces - 0:40
The Walmart Finish - 4:15
Testing/Getting Ideas - 5:30
Starting Finishing - 8:49
Waterslide Decal/Tuners - 13:04
Making the pickgaurd(s) - 18:08
String Tree Mishap and Fix - 18:41
Neck Issues - 20:32
Re-shaping Headstock/New Waterslide Decal/More Tru-Oil - 22:21
Fret Work/Output Jack/Control Cavity - 25:25
Final Assembly - 26:15
Demo Tune/Stand Alone Tone - 29:10
What Have You Learned Dorothy - 31:10
PARTS USED -
Pickup - www.sweetwater.com/store/deta...
Bridge - www.amazon.com/dp/B0833483X8?...
Tuners - www.amazon.com/dp/B08N1JKCY5?...
Body - www.ebay.com/itm/304691102689
Neck - (Sellers Reverb Store) - reverb.com/shop/heavycatguitars
Knobs - www.amazon.com/dp/B08B4FWM62?...
Output Jack - www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG4T8TTC?...
Pickgaurd Material - www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZOVTNV2?...
String Tree - www.amazon.com/dp/B07NWC73L3?...
Rit Dye - Choose Colors - www.walmart.com/ip/Rit-All-Pu...
Tru-Oil - www.walmart.com/ip/Birchwood-...
Easy Lemon 30 Second by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Inner Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/

[@scottmartin356]

Awesome build, trials and tribulations are part of the gig! Happy playing

[@RobKMusic]

Another really quick and easy cosmetic thing you might try (and like or not like), is to put one of the steel elongated oval guards under the pots like a tele has. Because your bridge is brass on steel, it might look cool that your pots are "brass" on steel. You'd probably have to custom make it, but might look nice. Maybe make it thin so it doesn't consume too much body real-estate.

[@breevwhyman2985]

Sir, Sounds great. Thanks for your video.

[@jamesonpace726]

Nice job. Especially the tear out - ya can't control what happens, only how ya react....

[@TheTapeFarm]

Thanks. I don’t always succeed at that, but I’m getting better. When doing the edit I noticed something I said a few times… I going to try this, if it doesn’t work, I’ll try something else. Failure is often the only evidence of somebody actually trying. I think as a society we try way too hard to cover up our failures. That’s probably why we keep making them.

[@2dazetake]

Heck of a nice job, looks great & sounds good too.

[@Asmuk]

Sorry, but I laughed so hard at 22:52. I've learned so much with this whole video, and you showing everything added so much value. Thank you so much.

[@TheTapeFarm]

I had to laugh too… Luckily I was able to recover. Thanks watching the whole thing.

[@paullatta]

Another good'un from Keith!

[@TheTapeFarm]

Thanks brother.

[@vanshankguitars]

That's the problem with using fabric dyes. They are formulated to go on a white fabric so your mileage may vary on the various shades of wood.

[@TheTapeFarm]

That makes total sense. I’m really happy with the way it turned out. Doesn’t really bother me that the black isn’t the blackest of blacks. You look at it and say how much more black could this be and the answer is none… None more black.

[@zuperdee]

Changes to the channel? Good ones, I hope? PERSONAL OPINION: The finish on the front of your “Telecision” turned out fairly well, I’d say! That sunburst-type finish you did was far more ambitious and far more successful than the green automotive spray paint finish I did on my own Strat-style guitar build! The neck issues you describe here are issues people OFTEN seem to have with bolt-on designs, unfortunately. In short: Always check EVERY dimension of the scale length, neck pocket, and the neck heel shape very carefully to be sure they will fit properly! Even among clones of the SAME design, the necks/bodies are not always compatible-I was very surprised when I saw a review of two Monoprice Indio Retro T-style guitars, where this person tried to swap the necks and it turned out the necks on these two specimens of supposedly the SAME model were NOT interchangeable, for example!

[@TheTapeFarm]

wow... two of the same guitar weren't swappable. Thanks, lesson learned for sure.

[@skinnygumbo9555]

Are the woodworking tools available at Wal-Mart, too? 😁 Wish I had your skills with wood. The bass is beautiful!

[@TheTapeFarm]

Not Walmart… but Harbor Freight 😜. Thanks for the kind words… but I bet you have just as much skill as I do.

[@vanshankguitars]

If you just chisel out the neck pocket to fit the neck...

[@TheTapeFarm]

Maybe after I get better with a chisel. But ultimately I had just finished the body and didn’t want to risk messing it up. So I went with what I thought was the safest option for me.

[@dalewoodring5887]

I had a similar issue. Cutting out the pocket and adding a shim can also work. So, if you ever want to go back to that first neck... Thanks for sharing your build!@@TheTapeFarm