Tele in 20 minutes fast speed Warmoth guitar build video

No talking fast speed video of a Warmoth Tele build right up until the string tree gets installed.
If you just want to see the build in its near entirety this is the video for you. If you want to see more detailed info about each process, you'll find those available in segments in my other videos.
If you have epilepsy or other seizure conditions you may not ought to watch this or any other fast motion video. But what do I know, I'm not the boss of you.

[@LavinGuitars]

Thinking of building a Warmoth tele so just wanna say thanks for taking the time to make and share these videos.

[@rabidhamster]

Awesome thank you, glad to hear they're helpful! If you go ahead with a build, feel free to let me know if you have any questions along the way.

[@danstone5246]

Nice build! Bit surprised you didn’t add a finish, it’ll look awesome when it ages!

[@rabidhamster]

Thanks! I may still wind up finishing it, but I was feeling very indecisive on color and also very impatient to try it out. I think it'll look awesome once it ages too, but I'm open to any color suggestions as well.

[@danstone5246]

@@rabidhamster I know the feeling mate! Why don’t you go for something like an oil finish? Still get the natural look but some protection. Would look awesome man!

[@fermisparadox01]

@@rabidhamster You need to buy some Aqua Coat and grain fill if you are going to finish.

[@bobbyrobertson8293]

Maybe a black guard at least for now. What do you think? Enjoyed your work my friend.

[@jcjaymz]

Great vid! Something called my attention, what are the advantages of rounding the neck edges with the wrench heads?

[@rabidhamster]

Thanks! The reason I choose a large, smooth-sided socket wrench to do that specifically is simply because they're heavy, and can easily be found with a very smooth, non-marring finish. I can also use different sizes when necessary to make sure I don't ding the frets. Unlike sanding, it just compresses the wood slowly without removing any mass, and keeps the external coloration the same as before.

[@jcjaymz]

@@rabidhamster wow that's very detailed and forward thinking, thank you, i will try it in my guitar projects

[@BigMagnumims]

Nice build! What was that orangy liquid that you were using when sodering?

[@rabidhamster]

Thanks! That was Kester liquid rosin flux, it cleans the joint while you solder and helps promote good and quick flow out of the solder to make a good electrical connection quickly. I used QTips soaked in alcohol to clean it off afterwards, especially where my applicator dribbled on the control plate.

[@andysDogTalk]

Why are you using a socket to round the frets?

[@patrolduty8715]

What did you use for fret's edge sanding in the video? Thanks

[@rabidhamster]

I used a smooth, clean socket wrench socket to roll the sharp wood edges of the fretboard, but didn't need to sand the frets edges as they showed up from Warmoth already well dressed. Thanks!

[@patrolduty8715]

Thank you for great video. Why didnot you drill 45 degree hole connecting bridge screw and bridge pickup hole for bridge grounding?

[@rabidhamster]

Thanks! The bridge pickup is a vintage style with a copper plated steel baseplate, so the bridge is grounded through the pickup screws to the ground wire on the pickup itself. If you were installing a non-vintage style tele bridge pickup without the metal base plate on it, like a humbucker or something, then you would need to run a separate ground wire to the bridge like most guitars have.

[@patrolduty8715]

@@rabidhamster Thank you

[@Sammywhat]

I know I'm a little late to the party, but did you have a total cost of this build? And a parts / equipment list? I looked through the videos but didn't see the question asked or any info otherwise. I would have liked to have heard the end result as well! But alas, it's a build, nothing more. Nice work!! 😉👍

[@rabidhamster]

Thanks! I didn't really keep an accurate build cost tally as I bought the parts here and there during quarantine, and got lucky to find both the body and neck on sale. I would budget 1000-1200 for a vintage style build but it could increase depending on your options. I'd highly recommend not skimping on hardware, get the nice stuff even though the cheap stuff looks similar in pics. The tools are a potential cost if you dont have them already, I'd say bare minimum would be ruler, tape, drill and drill bits, rubber mallet and wood block, flat head screw driver and Phillips screwdriver, soldering iron, and some type of smooth polished steel cylinder, I prefer degreased and cleaned long sockets from a socket wrench set. For this build I bought the neck, body, tuners, preinstalled nut, control plate, 2x 250k audio taper potentiometers, electrostatic jackcup, Switchcraft output jack, CRL switch, staggered neck screws, and schaller straplocks from Warmoth directly. You should probably also order the string tree from them as well unless you have a preferred one. I didn't do a video on installing a string tree yet, I'll do a video on that ASAP when I build a strat. If you dont have suitable wire for building the harness maybe order that and a tone capacitor too, .047 is standard value. I would have prefered 250k pots from stewmac or Id like to try the EVH low friction pots, but Warmoths pots are still installed for now and just fine thought not my favorite for swells. The rest of the parts came from various suppliers, Fender hot rod bridge because its vintage style but intonatable Fender 52 ri pickups you can see unboxed in a separate video. I used some old Ibanez knobs I already had laying around but they don't look quite Fender correct. I also already had the neck plate in the parts box, and I already had a bunch of spools of suitable wire, and a salvaged capacitor for the tone control. Hope that helped, thanks for watching and your helpful suggestions and compliments! I'll definitely include a parts list segment in my upcoming strat build, and I'll try to record a quick playthrough with this guitar soon. To me it sounds a bit better than my old USA Fender 52 ri , but perfectly comfortable. For my goal I don't see how I could be happier with it.

[@Sammywhat]

@@rabidhamster Thank you for the detailed reply! I ended up purchasing a Fender Pro Am II and while it's a lovely guitar, I just can't help but think I could build one as you did and be equally as happy, if not happier as you suggested. I look forward to the Strat build - which I actually did do myself and it's one of my favorite guitars. As a lefty, I'm more inclined to build something from parts as a preference - and it's easier in the long run as playing "good" quality lefty guitars is a bit of a unicorn. Thanks again for the insight and wisdom!

[@smalllicks]

at 16:32 I was expecting to see string winder ...anyways great job