Making a Plywood Telecaster Guitar

[@mcclane12000]

A lot of people want to hear it clean, here it is two years later: instagram.com/p/CN5FWaYAnwx/?igshid=11rx69cybri0b

[@sudiptobose9171]

Can you tell me the exact dimension of the neck black, like height. Length, width. Etc

[@mcclane12000]

@@sudiptobose9171 Actually no point in me giving you my dimensions as I traced around a Tele neck I already had, so most certainly not accurate!

[@JohnSmith-ki2eq]

Hi, can you tell me what's the song you play at 14:30, it reminds me of Be-Bop Deluxe or something from the 70's.

[@mcclane12000]

@@JohnSmith-ki2eq It was just a little solo I put over what is essentially Wichita Lineman...thought I'd made it up but it's exactly the same in hindsight😂

[@JohnSmith-ki2eq]

@@mcclane12000 LoL, now you said it, I can hear it 😆😆

[@pdp977]

Obviously you used toneplywood... Looks and sounds great

[@mcclane12000]

😂😂😂

[@giannapple]

Nonsense. Everybody knows it’s the glue used for the construction that makes “the tone”. The more you use, the more tone! Plywood has more glue than any other species of timber, ergo more tone and without any doubt more sustain too.

[@mcclane12000]

@@giannapple You've just started the Glue Tone wars, congrats😂

[@TheNathanJasper]

@@mcclane12000 No reason to start a war everyone knows Titebond sounds the best. especially vintage Titebond 1.

[@giannapple]

@@TheNathanJasper Exactly!

[@Hemifan4266]

I am impressed, what a cool idea. I have never built a guitar, but really want to give it a try.

[@steev6946]

Thus proving the wood you use for tone is subjective. Awesome job. Sounds great.👍👍

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you!🤘

[@ascension6699]

yeah maybe for acoustic guitars it makes a difference but electric...it's all in the pickups and capacitors.

[@mohamadzulhisyam6221]

@@ascension6699 agree

[@BAGHEAD1995]

@@ascension6699 This!.

[@jguitar23]

Looks & sounds good. I'd have brushed the transparent layer back and sides & glued leather or formica on the top to avoid spraying.

[@DeddycationMusic]

This video deserves more views than KZbin rewind 2019. Nice build & sounds, bro. Big thumbs up

[@mcclane12000]

Very kind, thank you!

[@kentdixon5716]

sorry I missed the clean video, sounds great.

[@Tone.Corner]

I Play 3 Fretless plywood Stratocaster in open tunings and all sounds good. With only one humbucker pickup for Slide! 3 cheap guitars made for me and my taste…they are 2,8 Kilo and I love it when no Fendersticker is on the headstock…greetings from Düsseldorf 🎸🎼😎

[@mcclane12000]

That's awesome! Thanks for watching👍

[@Ted_James]

Excellent work! Sounds great! It's proof that the type of wood makes relatively no difference in tone. It's all about the pickups and, of course, the hands.

[@mcclane12000]

Really appreciate that, thank you!

[@JesseLeeKing]

The 1st video I saw from dude with the neck through was one of the best neck through guitars I've seen homemade or professionally manufactured

[@oldbrownshoe5141]

VERY nice! That is a shredder's Tele too with the complete lack of radius on the fretboard.

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you! It actually does have a radius, I sanded one in so hope so!😂

[@oldbrownshoe5141]

@@mcclane12000 Since I have you responding how does that guitar resonate? The experiences I've had with ply guitars (bodies) is that they resonate like CRAZY

[@mcclane12000]

@@oldbrownshoe5141 errrm, I wouldn't say it was much more or less than any other (proper) guitar i've played. However, I have an ancient Squire Tele which I love but definitely resonates more than most! I don't play much anymore so haven't compared/contrasted for a while

[@oldbrownshoe5141]

@@mcclane12000 Thanks and God bless

[@learnmusic488]

And I guarantee you it probably sounds 10X better than most telecaster copies out today.. The myth of _having to have the fender logo on the headstock_

[@kentdixon5716]

Thats absolutely amazing, I was thinking of buying a kit but doing it from scratch, now thats very cool! thanks for posting.

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you!

[@mattfischer3853]

Watched the clean sound clip as well. Good job and awesome build!

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you Matt!✌️

[@artiefufkin3292]

Brilliant. I've been thinking about doing this myself having made a birch ply 1x12 speaker cab. You've inspired me to have a go.

[@mcclane12000]

Great stuff! No harm in having a go at all!

[@kentdixon5716]

I was hoping you would play some country twang on that tele, but its all good, after all you did build it yourself!

[@MrFlint51]

You can fix voids in plywood by filling with superglue then rubbing with medium grit sandpaper; repeat till filled. Works a treat.

[@mcclane12000]

I did that in a couple of places on the body, worked out great!

[@Robster-Craw]

if you can get your hands on the old 1980s made in Japan Arbor guitars. A lot of them are made of plywood but they are very nice playing and sounding guitars. Very worth the money for a starter guitar that will be much nicer to play than higher-priced squires and such.

[@FrankOlsonTwins]

Fun Build! I have a 90's plywood Peavey, I really dig it!

[@redstrat1234]

Sound as good as any USA tele I've played. First solo - very melodic playing - nice

[@toastedphantom3007]

Recently discovered my knock-off Strat is made out of plywood and oh boy did they fuck up the routing.. They appearantly tried to do the classic three single coil routs but visibly messed up and turned it into a swimming pool one. The tear-outs are visible and the neck pocket looks like it's been hewn out with a rock. Ironically it resonates better than most guitars I've tried, almost like a semi-hollow! But the sawdust.. Sawdust everywhere..

[@mcclane12000]

Ha! I bet there's more shockers out there than we realise. Definitely worth taking extra time getting the templates right for things like that👍

[@toastedphantom3007]

@@mcclane12000 yeah, I'll probably strip the paint off it and clean up the routing this summer. Also broke the output jack when I tried to adjust it's tension and kind of fixed it with some glue and tin foil lmao. Will be fixing that too.

[@mcclane12000]

@@toastedphantom3007 I think the only real reason I learnt how things work was by accidentally breaking them in the first place!😂 Sure you'll get it spot on👍

[@joegabbard5281]

I have a slightly smaller than stock sized strat copy made from plywood that I've been playing for hella years. sounds pretty damn good. like 7/8 size, fits in a Ibanez chainsaw case.

[@9fingersgeorge]

If you had fun building it and you can play it then you didn't do anything wrong. I found this video inspirational. I built a Tele and Strat and often wondered about doing a plywood guitar. Thanks.

[@mcclane12000]

Love that, thank you👍

[@MrGeoffreySmith]

What a great result! Badmotorfinger is one of my favourite albums too 😀😀

[@mcclane12000]

Top man! Thank you!

[@siriusq4029]

Love the video and the outcome of the telecaster! Sounds and plays amazing! BTW, you had me at 2:53 😀 I was hooked on watching soon as I saw the carving!

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you! I was scared of the carving but it turned out okay!

[@damiencrowe714]

And you haven’t called it the Plycaster?

[@mcclane12000]

Heh heh, missed a trick there didn't I😁

[@atrumluminarium]

The first sound demo at the end gave me a lot of Brian May/Queen vibes

[@mcclane12000]

Awesome, I'll take that!

[@skullheadwater9839]

So you are making a 70's to early 80's Asian Tele copy. I have seen many plywood bodies but even some plywood necks with a real wood fretboard only.

[@mrz80]

I've made a couple of guitar bodies out of birch plywood and they've turned out really well. Never considered a sidewise plywood neck like that, though. Intriguing.

[@metalmalaya9991]

great sound

[@sanjaybelkhode1103]

Wow. What a great idea for a video! It's very impressive of you to test and make (from scratch no less) a guitar from plywood. Also, that background music just absolutely rocked. Well done!

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you Sanjay!

[@JesseLeeKing]

Back of the neck looks really cool

[@salmonti9707]

The laminated layers of the plywood give the sides a cool look, all the different lines and such. It looks great and sounds great. Good build, and cheers !

[@mcclane12000]

Appreciate that mate👍 I stripped back an 80s squier Tele once and it was exactly the same construction!

[@salmonti9707]

@@mcclane12000 I did the same to an old cheap level Yamaha "strat" and the body was plywood. Great neck though.

[@mcclane12000]

@@salmonti9707 nothing wrong with that at all mate!

[@thorstenengel5912]

Great to see a guitar builder that finally knows, how to play the guitar :-)

[@mcclane12000]

Ah thank you mate!

[@evanlee93]

I really wanna build a plywood body telecaster now

[@lordovwitchcraft1665]

I started work on a plywood guitar body except it's a jazz bass body, still trying to get the dimensions right then will do the neck once I have enough money because money is tight atm.

[@mcclane12000]

Give it a go mate, only reason I made a few from plywood is that I had a fair bit hanging around, it's good stuff for learning the skills on!

[@rjerje416]

Fantastic job!!! You have inspirated me for doing a telecaster guitar!!! Does Your 🎸 sound great?? Absolutely yes!!!!

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you!🙌🙌

[@NOTAFULLUN]

STOP IT STOP IT YOUR GIVING ME IDEAS. I'VE JUST BEEN GIVEN A LOAD OF 3/4 PLY. I WAS GOING TO MAKE A ROUTER TABLE NOW I KNOW WHAT TO MAKE WITH IT. FIRST I'VE GOT TO FIX THE CAPS LOCK ON MY LAPTOP. CAN YOU MAKE BUTTONS FROM PLY? CHEERS

[@mcclane12000]

😂😂😂

[@Tsudkyk]

From what I can gather (this build is an exception due to the bridge pickup used) plywood reduces the “spanky” quality of a traditional tele sound. I’m not a huge fan of spank, but I do love a twangy tele with a low output pickup and I think plywood might be a great alternative if your looking for less pick attack from a tele.

[@mcclane12000]

You could be right there, I installed a coil split switch which does give a twangy tone but I really don't know too much about the physical factors that influence how things sound. I'm just happy it made any noise full stop!

[@p_mouse8676]

Really nice looking guitar! I would have used only the plywood in a different direction for the neck. This current way doesn't give any benefits in strength en stability. In fact a solid wood neck would be stronger

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you! I completely agree re the neck and indeed the way you described is how I attempted the first on the lower grade ply. It sounds silly, but the piece I used in the end was just incredibly solid so I went for it! So far it's held up perfectly but time will tell...thank you for watching!

[@megabyatt]

Brilliant presentation! I’m inspired ......just have to find some decent ply . Thank you

[@mcclane12000]

That's awesome! Never set out to inspire but makes me happy that it has!

[@Ghalladryel]

7:54 That moment when you scream: Dad!!! Help me! KKKK! Great job Man!!!

[@mcclane12000]

😂😂😂

[@countzero1972]

NICE work!

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you!✌️

[@bluwng]

What patience.

[@robertcurtis3115]

I made one out of particle board. It was fine for years. I replaced it even tho it was playing great for an actual tele body.

[@ManMark7]

Hey! Whats up with sustain? Is it long? Especialy when make long bends?

[@mcclane12000]

Hi mate, yeah it's not bad really, I'm not an amazing player but seems okay to me!🤷🏼‍♂️

[@MrFlint51]

I have made an 8-string guitar from 18mm plywood. The neck and top are a single piece and the back is a second piece. Both are routed to create a sound space. The neck is rock solid without a truss rod, and that is with four paired strings.

[@mcclane12000]

Right on, long may it continue that way!

[@hamez1300]

Nice pickups!

[@mamutcat]

Sounds and looks great. What is the song you were playing along to at the end?

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you mate! That was just some riff I made up✌️

[@p.s8950]

The whole Tone Wood thing is B S... I have some incredible Swedish furniture too with exposed, clear coated, plies and love the look.

[@mycroftholmes7003]

what pickup did you use

[@mcclane12000]

Generic hot rails pickup, waxed it before installing just in case👍

[@CarlWinter-oy8uf]

NICE --body looks a bit on the thin side --less than 4.5 cm thick ---as that is standard ?---What thickness did you get ?

[@mcclane12000]

I think it was 20mm ply so 4cm thickness in total

[@JesseLeeKing]

Good riffage at the end too

[@charlesharper7292]

Don't know anything about plywood for guitar bodies. I have a POS Hondo Explorer that needs a total rebuild. Was told that the Hondos were made of plywood. I thinks, what a piece of crap wast of my time. This video changes my mind. Time to start the rebuild. Thanks!

[@CarlWinter-oy8uf]

Apologies --now I see you've added another piece of plywood ---ok thats better!

[@ryanintopeka]

Dude! YES! And great playing too!

[@kenfroehlich4242]

Well done Mcclane! Looks and sounds killer!

[@jzf128]

That is a beautiful build. Congrats for your craftmanship.

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you!

[@JesseLeeKing]

Wouldn't it be great to have this dude as your friend or next door neighbor lol

[@mcclane12000]

My actual neighbours wouldn't agree dude✌️

[@JesseLeeKing]

No guitars for them than lol

[@TheDodger74]

Nice build mate sounds great!

[@RetroPlus]

I like it! Has a nice look to it.

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you!

[@DigiPal]

My first guitar was a strat made by Vibra in early 80's, and the body was made of plywood. Despite the fact that it sounds very good (thanks to the bridge rail pickup), I can see that the 21st fret is a bit too close to the 20th, am I right?

[@mcclane12000]

I will have a look tomorrow but you're probably quite right! I'll just have to stick to the bottom end!😂

[@guitarslim1989]

I wanna see you make an acoustic guitar out of plywood great job by the way looks and sounds great

[@mcclane12000]

Ah thank you, I really haven't got the skills to do an acoustic I don't think!

[@mccypr]

Awesome! 😎

[@danielsgrunge]

I think my profile pic matches with this video lol Gorgeous guitar

[@richfamousstyle6945]

Great build, and the riff @12.54 is killer👍

[@mcclane12000]

Thanks mate! That riff was rejected by my band funnily enough! 😂

[@richfamousstyle6945]

@@mcclane12000 fuck em 🤣 I dug it, especially the 2nd time round, I like the drum fills, which while simple, compliment it very well 🤟

[@mcclane12000]

@@richfamousstyle6945 ha! Yeah, at least I got it used in a throaway KZbin backing track!😂

[@richfamousstyle6945]

@@mcclane12000 it’s a good track dude 🤟

[@mcclane12000]

@@richfamousstyle6945 Thanks mate, I'll get around to using it one day I'm sure✌️

[@matthollis3874]

Looks, sounds awesome 👍🏻

[@stanguini]

Congratulations on your beautiful work. did you have any problems with the tuning of the guitar?

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you for the kind words! Not really no, the string break angle from the nut to tuners is quite sharp, my fault when shaping the headstock, but this may actually work in its favour tuning wise. Pure speculation!

[@memduhdilvuranoglu8174]

Can you send me 8.46 Guitar pdf plan link?

[@mcclane12000]

Think I just googled Telecaster PDF plan and used the first that enabled you to print full size!

[@memduhdilvuranoglu8174]

@@mcclane12000 thanks

[@wrenchhead4378]

Nicely done

[@Samuli501]

Love how you have used basic tools. There is hope for me yet. Great video, thanks for showing your mistakes.

[@mcclane12000]

Definitely have a go. If I edited out all the mistakes, the video would be super short!

[@Robert-Smith]

honestly I think necks in general would be better if they were made of quality ply they would be almost bullet proof how is the weight?

[@mcclane12000]

In theory they should be quite rigid right? Some people in the comments think I'm a clown for even contemplating it!😂

[@stevesstrings5243]

Martin makes guitars with laminate necks!

[@JohnAdams-xc5yk]

The way Leo Fender did the first hahaha

[@mcclane12000]

EXACTLY like that😁

[@JeffCrowell11]

Great job. Thanks for sharing.

[@jheeeee7402]

Wow how about Ibanez rg type guitar plywood is it good?

[@mcclane12000]

Not really sure sorry

[@2460speedy]

What sort of timber is the top layer you glued on. Good job by the way.

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you, it's just the same plywood board I'm afraid!

[@brianrussell1565]

Leaving sides like that after all that work?

[@mcclane12000]

Yeah, wasn't gonna pretend it was anything that it wasnt. Thank you for watching!

[@dnantis]

Good job Sir ! I Just need to know what brand\type\# or measure (1\4inch maybe) plus where ti buy it. Buy my problem is how to know the depth of the trust rod channel you made on that neck blank ? I have not dare to made a neck because I dont know how deeo i need to cut that channel for the trust rod ! ....and btw ...OMG ....THE SOUNDS OF THIS GUITAR ARE BETTER THAN MY BEST IBANEZs & MY FENDERs !! SIMPLY AMAZING PLUS DAMN YOU SURE ROCK !!! Thanks in adavanced Sir ! Congrats !

[@mcclane12000]

Totally understand about truss rod depth, I had a V-Groove router bit that left a perfect channel for it. As for the depth, I just took shallow passes until it was just right. Thank you for watching!😊

[@ontherhodes8088]

Bloody brilliantly! 10/10.

[@stephentanner9767]

Holy shit sounds great

[@holygoat]

Sweet! How heavy is it?

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you! I haven't had it on the scales but it's comparable to standard teles, perhaps a shade lighter!

[@SrDeMaFp]

That’s awesome. Sounds great too!

[@ymelfilm]

With such an effort u could have used some more noble wood for d body. Lol

[@mcclane12000]

If only I had some!

[@ymelfilm]

@@mcclane12000 why? Do u live in a desert? Nice job though!

[@mcclane12000]

Ha! No, just couldn't/can't afford any! Thank you🤷

[@brianpomeroyfilms]

Nice film. Fair play for starting again you've made a great guitar. What pick ups you got there?

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you! Neck pickup was from a Squier, bridge was a generic hot rails

[@greatmystery11]

Love it, great job!

[@ChandelierLeBlair]

I want it

[@keithmooore]

Would the first variant of plywood neck still need a truss rod?

[@mcclane12000]

Not really qualified to say, but the truss rod tightened will exert pressure on the glued-on fretboard to get the right relief so I guess it would

[@SalisburyKarateClub]

I just loved the home made router table. Good work, is this your first attempt?

[@mcclane12000]

First complete attempt yes! Have made bodies before with varying degrees of success! Thank you✌️

[@ПетровиБоширов-р1ы]

Record a demo with clear sound, please.

[@mcclane12000]

Okay: instagram.com/p/CN5FWaYAnwx/?igshid=11rx69cybri0b

[@ПетровиБоширов-р1ы]

@@mcclane12000 Thank you!

[@mcclane12000]

@@ПетровиБоширов-р1ы No worries🤘

[@Mick-Dempsey]

That end solo was very Wichita lineman,super nice.

[@mcclane12000]

Yes! Well spotted👍

[@MrArtist1971]

I'm sure somebody asked but how long did it take you to make this? Awesome job btw!

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you! It was around 3 weeks, fitting it in between work!

[@ant1sokolow]

Nice. Can you tell what is the music you use on this vid? Sound a bit like Rhys Chatham 'Guitar Trio' with a (neo, post...)Metal flavor.

[@mcclane12000]

It's just something I made up to go with it, but in retrospect is kind of like Goblin's Profondo Rosso! I'll check that out, thank you

[@ant1sokolow]

@@mcclane12000 Oh , It's yours ! Congrats.

[@Badrs2810]

This is the first time I’ve seen a plywood build, without completely spreading the plywood and gluing a million pieces together…this is the video I was looking for…

[@mcclane12000]

Thanks mate👍

[@Badrs2810]

@@mcclane12000 no problem!!

[@qjarman7753]

Hats off to you mate - I would have probaby fucked it up, lost patience AND cut my thumb off - big respecet dude

[@mcclane12000]

Heh heh, I shrewdly edited out about 15,000 F-bombs, it never goes as smoothly as you'd like...for me

[@hearpalhere]

Very cool project man! Really inspiring that you built the whole thing, neck included. Have you built simpler kits before doing this?

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you! Made several bodies and bought necks before this. Practiced neck building on some scrap wood before this one!

[@hearpalhere]

@@mcclane12000 Nice. I'm thinking it would be nice to learn some guitar building skills as well. A kit might be a good start. Thanks again!

[@mcclane12000]

@@hearpalhere definitely a good way to start, at least you'll have instructions with that and not make the same mistakes I did constantly!!

[@ashikurrahamankhan5688]

Kick ass bro!

[@JurNL80]

At what speed did you use the router for the edging and making the holes? Nice guitar, mate!

[@mcclane12000]

It was probably at about 5 out of 6 speed-wise but I really couldn't say for sure sorry!

[@KathouQC]

Awsome build,how much time and money that project has cost?

[@mcclane12000]

Probably about 50 pounds for the hardware/pickups, ply was stuff i had laying about and time wise I just fitted in around work so maybe 3 weeks?

[@izzysantiago978]

Interesting and nice build. But, The body I can understand but the plywood neck freaks me out to a certain extreme.

[@mcclane12000]

Well a year on it still seems solid but I guess we shall see!

[@izzysantiago978]

@@mcclane12000Good News!! Now, If it does ever fail and I hope not at least you can replace it with another one or a solid maple version.

[@mcclane12000]

@@izzysantiago978 Absolutely! It's difficult to stress in the video, but that piece of (furniture grade) ply seemed as solid as any hardwood I've ever held, I'll listen out for a crack though!😂

[@giannapple]

Martin makes plywood necks for several models of their acoustics...

[@natecalebkoh]

Hey! When you used a different plywood for the neck did you just change the direction of the layers? or how does that plywood differ from the previous one? Fantastic job btw!

[@mcclane12000]

Thank you! The other piece of ply was furniture grade, so was incredibly solid, certainly compared to the first one!