Swender Barncaster : Chambered Body Tele-style Electric Guitar
Introduction: Swender Barncaster : Chambered Body Tele-style Electric Guitar
Over the years I have owned and played many guitars. I have always wanted a chambered Tele - style guitar and after making my first electric solid body Tele around 15 yrs ago, I decided I would tackle the project this summer, with fewer gigs happening re: Covid-19. The main inspiration for doing the build right then was finding some original redwood lumber that was used in trimming our house that was build in 1987, in the crawl space. I was needing to do some soffit repairs because of woodpecker damage, and literally stumbled on the wood when searching for siding pieces.
The wood had been preserved well in our damp-ish crawl space, and I found 3 pieces with enough length for the body, and that I could place them side by side for the 13+" width that I needed. This Instructable will be a start to finish on the build, with a number of photos to highlight the steps along the way.
Step 1: Sizing the Lumber, Cutting the Shape,and Chamber Routing
The two wings of the body, right and left sides, are from the same piece of lumber. The center block or middle piece was cut to be just wide enough for routing the pick-up cavities and mounting the bridge. I then used the Titebond wood glue on the adjoining pieces and clamped the three pieces together. This stayed clamped for a couple of days to make sure it dried thoroughly.
After unclamping the pieces, I planed the top and bottom to make them as flat as possible. I have a large 2' x 2' piece of glass tile that is nearly dead flat, and I used that to test my planing as I went. Then I traced the outline of the Telecaster template onto the wood, and cut the bottom two-thirds of the body into the shape. I left some at the neck end of the body to be able to clamp and maneuver the wood as I drilled the holes and routed for the chambers.
With my drill press, I drilled 3/8" holes throughout the lower bout on the treble side (right side as you look from the front) of the guitar body, and all along the bass side of the body. 787
I then set my router bit to take off around a 1/4" of material on each pass, and kept routing until I had the depth I wanted, leaving about a 1/4" of thickness on the back side of the guitar body. I later lowered the bit a little more, and cleaned up the routed chambers in photo #6, but didn't take a picture of that step.
Step 2: Selecting the Top, Staining and Clamping Together
For my top panel, I bought a piece of 1/4" Birch panel from Home Depot that was finished on both sides. I moved the template around till I found the desired grain pattern on the Birch panel, then traced and cut the panel with my jig saw. After cutting the top, and finishing the cut around the whole body, it was time for finishing the wood body.
I started with a lighter red stain, Min-Wax Gunstock, and applied that first. The red hues really worked well with the natural red tint of the redwood, and also blended the top in with the main body. Then I applied some darker English Chestnut over the top of the first coat after it had dried. This brought out the grain even more, and gave it more of a weathered or 'rustic' look, which is what I was after. I wanted kind of a relic guitar, but not over the top relic; more of what I would call a 'vintage clean' look. Old, but well cared for.
I then glued and clamped the top to the body, and let it sit for 24 hrs.
Step 3: Fitting the Neck and Laying Out the Hardware
While the glued top and body were drying, I began the neck pocket fitting process. This is probably the most crucial stage in building a guitar. My neck was purchased on ebay, it is a WD Fender Licensed Tele replacement neck, had the fretboard radius I prefer, and was reasonably priced at $100. It had the standard neck pocket depth on the heel, and was 'raw' or unfinished maple, so I could still sand the back of the neck to my feel and leave that unfinished (better movement up and down the neck that way IMO) then finish the fret board with a light coat of Zinssers Amber Shellac for that vintage 'relic' look that I was after.
Getting the geometry exactly right on a guitar build is critical to it's playability and sound, as well as keeping it in tune. 599