My Tele project is finally DONE!!!

And there she is, in all of her beat to hell glory! I've got a bunch of pics on my Facebook page right now - www.facebook.com/stressedoutguitars, and I'll have some HD ones on my actual website - www.stressedoutguitars.com. But for now, she's lookin' good! I still want to pick at the electronics some. I want to add a couple of mini-toggles with some fun mods, and I want to switch out the neck pickup with something funky like a mini-humbucker or another P-90 like I had in my other black Tele. I'm leaning towards a mini-hum, since that's an option I've never had in one of my own Tele's before. The only thing I don't like about that is that it'll look similar to the setup of Fender's '52 Hot Rod Tele. But maybe I can deal with that... I'm going to be asking Jon Baxter about a custom wind on both of those. I want another Nine-Five in the bridge for sure, regardless of what I put in the neck position. And I'm going to get them both 4-conductor so I can do some crazy sh** to the wiring. So many options, so little money! :) 

But at any rate, this thing sounds and plays awesome right now! The pickups were donated by my best bud - it's a Fender USA Standard in the bridge and a Fender USA Vintage in the neck. They really do sound great, but I'm probably going to spend my life tweaking this thing. I'll open it up for you guys when I get my new pickups and post some pics of the wiring afterward. 

Thanks for reading!

Merry Christmas

I hope that all of you had a joyous Christmas. And remember, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If this offends you, I don't care. Merry Christmas, everybody. 

 

Progress!

Well, I've got to admit, the holiday season at GC has kept me so busy that I haven't felt much up to working on my Tele project at home, but I got a wild hair up my ass tonight [on Christmas of all days!] and started to work on it again. Super happy with the results so far. The body is about 90% done. I still have to melt/sand away the finish on the arm bevel up top, and the "belt wear" section on the back. After that, it's all about the neck. I'm going to go for a pretty decent amount of fingerboard wear and give it a fret level and re-crown for maximum playability. It'll have a hand-rubbed lacquer finish that I'm going to wear off as soon as it dries. I'm just using it for color, really. And I'm slightly considering wearing off the Fender logo too, but I can't decide if I want to commit to the "parts-caster" look or not... Hm... And there's still the electronics conundrum. I ended up buying a large Vitamin Q cap, so that is going to limit my mini-toggle experience to just one due to the small amount of real estate in a Tele's control cavity. But I can do plenty with that option. I could, of course, go to a push-pull or two, but I hate push-pull's. Wiring them is easy and somewhat fun, but just something about pulling a knob in and out makes me crazy. Hard to explain. I just hate it. So yea... Probably won't be doing that. I know I'm going to stick with a 3-way blade though. I'm not a 4-way kind of guy. The extra position makes me get lost when switching. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks, I suppose.

So here's a look at it so far. Pretty good looking, if I do say so myself. It'll look much better with the arm rest worn away. Should have that done by tomorrow.

Look closely at the lit up part of the photo. You can see tiny lines running with the wood grain. Those finish checks are all over the guitar. Old lacquer finished instruments often have these kinds of markings, and I really dig that look. So I am rocking that like a hurricane on this bad boy. After the arm rest area and belt wear area, I'll add a few more specific dings and wear spots, but nothing major. So far, so good. Next in line is the neck and fret job. Lots more to do, but the end is finally in sight. Hard to believe this used to be a white Mexican Tele, right? :)

One last thing.

I forgot to mention the wiring scheme for my own guitar. I can't have a Tele with just normal wiring, now can I??? I'm thinking about 2 mini-toggle's, one being a phase switch, and the other being a direct-through mod. But I'm not sold on either one yet. I always have trouble making up my mind on that. My last Tele has been wired every way possible. It was my wiring guinea pig for many years, in fact. I might even do something totally bizarre. I have an idea floating around in my head, but I don't want to type it out. If I don't do it, people will think I'm a wimp for not doing it... But a man has got to know his limits, right? :P

One after the other!

So what's next after I finish my project? I've got a white Strat that's getting the Stressed Out Guitar treatment! Keep 'em coming, people!

Lots and lots of STUFF!

In addition to getting completely refinished, this baby is getting a complete electronics and hardware overhaul! It's going to have a new USA bent steel, 3-saddle bridge, Fender USA vintage tuners with extended bushings to make up for the larger hole size, a new cap, American Fender pickups and an Electrosocket jack plate with a Switchcraft jack! I also had to go with a black pickguard, which is the only logical choice on a black Tele, in my very humble opinion. This guitar is going to be dead sexy when she's done! Here's a shot of some of the hardware after it was finely sanded and rusted. Each piece has to be hand sanded before it gets dropped into my "special rusting potion". It takes some time, but the results are worth it, I think. 

Finish the finish, dangit!

And here she is in all of her blacked out glory! There are 2 scars on the front [you can see them in the photo] that I just barely sanded flush and then sprayed over again. If I was finishing this guitar without an aging job, they would be unacceptable. But since I'm going to beat it up, they're going to work to my advantage! When I'm done with it, you won't even know they're there. But all in all, I'm happy with the results. In about 2 days, it'll be ready to work on some more. Until then, I'm going to turn my attention to the neck. This might be the most violently Stressed Out Guitar that I've ever done, so I'm going to really work it over. I can't wait to finish with it! 

What I'm doing right now...

As mentioned below, right now I'm working on one of my very own guitars! Cool story behind this guy. My dearest friend in the world came by to see me at work at Guitar Center and saw this used white Tele hanging up around the tech counter. He said asked me what I thought of it, so I picked it up and checked it out. Everything seemed super solid, and it was from 2008, so that means that it had CTS pots and a USA quality switch on the inside. The models from 2008 [and the newer ones too, of course] also feature way nicer frets, and a 70's style logo with the serial number discreetly placed on the back of the headstock instead of all jumbled up on the front like the previous years of the MIM instruments. Some USA made Fender's featured that same headstock logo design in the late 70's all the way throughout most of the 80's. But yea, anyway... I told him the guitar was very cool and that it would definitely be worth a purchase, especially at the price that we had it at. So he bought it, along with a super badass bullet strap, and handed it to me and said, "Merry Christmas!". Yep. That dude bought me a GUITAR for Christmas!!! I was about to flip out with excitement! I felt guilty taking such an expensive gift, but he insisted. And I am forever grateful! :) So that brings us to where we are now. The original finish, as you can see here, is white. I like white, but it's not my favorite color. My favorite is black! And I sold my last black Tele, and miss it dearly. So with my buddy's kind permission, I am now refinishing it in black [lacquer, of course], and am doing a massive aging job on it! I just finished the "paint" part of it about an hour ago. I've got a lot more to do on it, but at least the hard and annoying part is over. When you don't have the correct facilities to do finish work, it becomes super time consuming. And working around mother nature is less than fun, too. 

 

Blogger exclusive '72 Deluxe "How It's Done" photo!

As promised on one of my first pots, I'm going to post the occasional Blogger exclusive, "How It's Done" entry, and this one will include a photo [as I'm sure most of them will]. Alrighty then... Miss Strange's fine '72 Deluxe had a super thick candy shell of a finish on it. One of the thickest I've ever seen. She complained about the neck being too sticky [and rightfully so], so I decided to un-sticky the entire guitar for her! This is obviously a mega-thick poly finish, and I didn't have time to refinish the entire guitar in lacquer [I was on a strict time constraint before she had to head back to Nashville with the guitar]. So I wanted to get this finish off fast, and have the surface ready for a hand-rubbed lacquer clear coat. So I stuck this little guy in my oven and let it bake! Mmm... "What's for dinner, grandma? Is it that yummy Telecaster soufle again?". I put the oven on its lowest setting, and roasted this sucker for about 10 minutes, keeping a very close eye on it. Once I started to see one tiny bubble on the finish, I knew it was done. I took it out quickly, then rushed it outside and sanded off the clear coat finish in no time flat. It basically just slides off at that point. And in addition to that, it really sinks in the actual black paint into the wood, making it look pitted and old. Like it's had a million gigs in the hottest hot and coldest cold. After a day of settling in, I was able to hand rub a smooth lacquer finish and buff it to a dull, aged shine. Then after that settled in for about 2 days, I was able to age it and all that fun stuff. Lauren really liked it, and I'm super glad she did. I thought it turned out really nice.

And another '72 Deluxe hits the bench!

This one was done for the wonderfully sweet, and incredibly talented, Lauren Strange. She's a Nashville musician, and is involved in a pop-country solo effort and an alt-rock band. She's an awesome guitar player, amazing singer, and a super talented song writer. I'm glad I got to do a Stressed Out Guitar for her before she gets famous! Her's is a black Fender '72 Deluxe Tele, and she wanted it beat up pretty nicely, and with heavy concentration on making the neck super playable. She hated the nasty poly gloss that was on there from the factory. I got rid of all that nasty crap and replaced it with a lacquer front, and bare back. Here are a few shots of the finished job. For the entire pictorial, mosey on over to my Facebook page!

 

That project in May that I was talking about...

Well, that huge project has come and gone, and it took forever. This bass belongs to a good friend of mine, so he was more than patient with me considering how freaking long it took. The bass was originally black, and he wanted it to be a cool vintage white. That definitely took some time to accomplish. And past the refin job, he also wanted a complete wiring overhaul to go along with his new digs. Here's a pretty sweet looking "before" and "after" shot.

 

Man, where have I been???

What's up, people? I've been absent from this thing for quite some time now. I've actually had quite a few projects over the past few months, and I'm even in the middle of two of them right now [one of which belongs to me]. I'm definitely going to start posting some stuff from now on. But let me at least show off a couple of things from the past few months. Let's start posting, suckas...

HUGE project in the first week in May!

So, why the first week in May? Well, my lovely wife and I are moving out of our small apartment into a townhome on May 1st. And if I started this project now, I wouldn't even be done by then. Huge, right? Yea. So what is it? Well, even though I say on my pricing menu that I WON'T refinish your guitar, I am actually refinishing a guitar. Well, not a guitar actually. It's a bass. But yea, same thing... A good friend of mine got a good deal on a black Fender P/J Bass. He wants me to refinish it in white and give it a thick aging job. I know we're changing out the logo, and I know he's got some other parts that he wants changed out as well, but I don't know every detail yet. It might be a complete overhaul, which would be pretty awesome... But either way, full refin, and full aging job on a super cool bass for a super good guy. Can't wait to start it. This one is going to be friggin' LEGIT. I'll be posting all kinds of photos and details on this project, so if you're into the aging thing, make sure and stick around and get ready to witness a complete transformation. I'll give away some good tips too, but not ALL my secrets... Gotta keep some things on the DL, folks. Alright, more details to come...

New Jon Baxter Pickups special order is almost done!

Okay, so this isn't exactly a Stressed Out Guitars subject, but since we just announced a partnership with Jon Baxter Pickups, I figured it at least makes sense... I ordered a set of Tele pickups for my newest Tele that are custom wound with a 9.5" magnet radius to match my fingerboard/string height radius! We hand picked the magnet type, wire and bobbin height [most were Jon's wonderful ideas] and now they're ready to wind! I'm really curious to see what adjusting the radius does to the overall evenness of the pickups... We'll see very soon! Here's a sneak peek! 

New project done! Aging hardware on a REAL 50's Strat body!

This one was a fun project! This customer has a mix of REAL vintage parts and modern parts, and he wanted the modern parts to match the vintage ones! Under normal circumstances this would actually be pretty easy. Just do a full-on rust job on the hardware and that's it. But this was unusual because the actual vintage parts were not super rusty or nasty. This customer went to great lengths to grab vintage parts that were in excellent condition. But when you're talking about parts from the mid-50's, they're going to at least be tarnished and scuffed. So I had to be meticulous about getting the parts to all look like they came from the same guitar. The parts that I had to age were the entire tremolo and all screws [NOT including the saddles and set screws, those were from '57], and the neck plate and neck screws. The weird thing about that is that the neck plate WAS from the 50's, but it was in such great shape that it looked nothing like the saddles, screws and jack plate. So yea, I had my work cut out for me on this one. It was a hodgepodge of parts new and old. But it was a lot of fun getting metal parts to match real parts from the 50's. I've got a few pics up on my facebook page [link below], so go check those out. This is sort of a "Part One" of a two or three part project, probably. Right now the body and most of the parts are legit 50's, but the neck is a '62 reissue. This customer is still looking for a good '57 or later 50's neck, so there might need to be some adjustments to that once it's found. He does have 50's era tuning machines already though, so that's pretty awesome! Oh, yea, the body was appraised by Gruhn's in Nashville as either a '57 or '58 that was refinished in THICK poly finish. They also appraised and confirmed that all the vintage 50's parts were indeed legit. So no fakes here. Just the real deal, folks! Anyway, check it out if you have a second. Just three simple pics to look at. Thanks! www.facebook.com/stressedoutguitars 

Stressed Out Guitars announces exclusive partnership with Jon Baxter Pickups!

Anyone that has been following my other business page for the past couple of years will know that I'm a huge believer in Jon Baxter's pickups. Well, I'm going to be using his pickups exclusively in my pre-aged partscasters [or perhaps, Stresscasters?] once those start getting put together! I'm very proud to announce this partnership, and I am quite confident that all of you are going to love the way these guitars feel, look and sound! Check out Jon's very impressive pickup lineup at www.jonbaxterpickups.com. He also has a full Custom Shop where he can build anything that you can think up.

Website is up!

Alright, the website is all up and running now! Check it out at www.stressedoutguitars.com! Built with love by my beautiful wife, Lyndzy Lucchesi. :) Go check it out when you get a second. Minimal content for now of course, but my site will feature plenty of exclusive content in the near future, so stay tuned for that...

Website is almost done!

The official Stressed Out Guitars website will be launched later today! Thank you so much to my beautiful wife, Lyndzy for her super hard work on getting my site up and running! If you're looking for awesome website work at super affordable prices, visit www.lgwebdesigns.com and send Lyndzy an email. Tell her you found her on my Blog or Facebook page! :)

More pics are up!

Just posted some pics of the '72 Tele Deluxe Reissue. Go check 'em out. www.facebook.com/stressedoutguitars

Pics are up!

Okay, I was able to get shots for 3 guitars up tonight! I've got another one coming tomorrow night too. It's a white '72 Tele Deluxe Reissue that I did. Looks fantastic. So check back for that one too... Here's a link to the pics I have up now -

http://www.facebook.com/StressedOutGuitars

Thanks for looking!

Stressed Out Guitars price board is here!

STRESSED OUT GUITARS PRICE BOARD

Stage1 Stress Job: $150
Includes the following:
-Removal of gloss top coat on the body.
-Removal of gloss top coat on back of neck [no modifications to fingerboard].
-Hand-rolled fingerboard edges for ultimate worn-in comfort.
-Scuffed, but not rusted hardware.
-Professional setup for the string gauge/brand and tuning of your choice. FREE STRINGS WITH PURCHASE!**
NOTES ABOUT THIS SERVICE: My Stage1 Stress Job is for the player who wants a worn-in feel but doesn't like a beat up looking guitar. Please note that the removal of the top coat on your guitar's body will leave many small scratches or scuff marks in the paint, but it won't leave any actual dings or dents. The back of your neck will have all the finish removed down to the bare wood for an extremely comfortable feel, but it won't be discolored to look old. Hardware will have the shine removed to match the new dull look of your body.

Stage2 Stress Job: $250
Includes the following:
-Mildly aged body, complete with damage, removal of gloss top coat, belt wear, and paint wear.
-Mildly aged neck, complete with damage, removal of gloss top coat, fingerboard wear and discoloration, and back of neck wear [to bare wood] and discoloration.
-Hand-rolled fingerboard edges for ultimate worn-in comfort.
-Fully aged hardware, with real rust, tarnish and scuffs for a truly vintage look and feel.
-Professional setup for the string gauge/brand and tuning of your choice. FREE STRINGS WITH PURCHASE!**
NOTES ABOUT THIS SERVICE: My Stage2 Stress Job is for the player that wants a guitar with a worn-in feel and a look to match. This stage does involve slight body damage with small nicks and dings. The neck back will be sanded clean and discolored, and there will be some fingerboard wear and discoloration. Hardware will be rusted to match the look of your body and neck.

Stage3 Stress Job: $350
Includes the following:
-Fully aged body, complete with damage, removal of gloss top coat, belt wear, and paint wear.*
-Fully aged neck, complete with damage, removal of gloss top coat, fingerboard wear and discoloration, and back of neck wear [to bare wood] and discoloration.*
*Body and neck wear can be customized to your exact request. Pictures from books or the internet can be closely matched to your own guitar.-Hand-rolled fingerboard edges for ultimate worn-in comfort.
-Complete fret level and re-crown to ensure perfect playability, effortless bending, and spot-on intonation.
-Fully aged hardware, with real rust, tarnish and scuffs for a truly vintage look and feel.
-Professional setup for the string gauge/brand and tuning of your choice. FREE STRINGS WITH PURCHASE!**
NOTES ABOUT THIS SERVICE: My Stage3 Stress Job is for the player that wants a truly beaten and bruised guitar! Big body damage, fingerboard wear and massively rusted hardware all lend to a look that will make everyone think that you're playing a TRUE vintage instrument! This stage also includes a full fret level and re-crown for the best possible playability and intonation. This stage also allows you the complete freedom to  customize your guitar's look with some of your favorite "Relic's" on the internet or in books that you might have. I can match body and neck damage very closely to photos if that's what you'd prefer. All requests are welcome with this service, but does NOT include complete refinishes! The color of your guitar is the color of your guitar, folks...


UPGRADES AND ADD-ON'S [includes parts and labor]:
-Complete finish removal [take it down to BARE WOOD]: $150
Must be accompanied by a Stage2 or Stage3 purchase! 
Includes a special staining process to make your bare wood look old and worn-in.
 
-CTS pot upgrade [250k or 500k]: $10 per pot
Upgrade to high quality CTS pots. This is a big tone upgrade for import guitars.
 
-Tone capacitor upgrade [value and style of your choice]: $5 - $20
I offer many styles. But we can special order one from the internet if I don't have what you want.
 
-Blade switch upgrade [3-way or 5-way]: $20
Upgrade to Fender® USA blade switch. Way better than any import switch, and built to last.
 
-New pickup installation: $25 per pickup. 
Price does NOT include new pickups! Those are to be supplied by you.



-Custom wiring options: $20 - $100+
Add coil-taps, mini-toggles, or other wiring options to your Stressed Out Guitar! Mods start at $20. 
Exact price quote will be given before installation.


-Bridge parts, tuning machines, and other miscellaneous parts installation: $0 - $100+
These parts are to be supplied by you. If no modification to the guitar is necessary to fit them, there will be no additional charge for the installation. If routing IS involved, pricing will differ from guitar to guitar. Exact price quote will be given before installation.


**I will offer strings from the following brands - D'Addario®, Ernie Ball®, Dean Markley®, DR®, Elixir®, GHS®, Fender® and Rotosound®. If you use a brand other than these, they will need to be supplied by you.  
LEGAL NOTICE: I am not endorsed or affiliated with any of the brands listed here or anywhere on my website!!! D'Addario®, Ernie Ball®, Dean Markley®, DR®, Elixir®, GHS®, Fender® and Rotosound® are all registered trademarks. I pay for these strings out of my own pocket and only offer them as a kind gesture to my customers. I am not being paid by any of these companies to offer their brand of strings or parts to you.

HD pics in the works!

I've already started taking some HD pics of my work to share with you guys. I'll be uploading them to my website and my Facebook page. Right now I've got HD pics of 2 guitars. I'm borrowing a couple of guitars this week that I have done for customers in the past and will be taking shots of those too. So hopefully by the end of the week I'll have 5 or 6 guitars with high quality pictures. That should be enough to get the ball rolling and I'll obviously be taking pictures of every job I do from this point forward. 
Also, my lovely wife has officially started building my website! I'll have my own website email address 
[ adam@stressedoutguitars.com ] and all that good stuff. It should be officially launched very very soon! I'm looking forward to that! That's all for now. Stay tuned!

Score.

I figured it out. Now I am a champion of all blogs. See you guys sooner than later. -adam

Testing this thing out real quick like...

Just testing this thing out to see if the titles change at the top... We shall seeeeeee...

First blog everrrrrrr...

Hey there, Blogger people... I can't believe as long as I've been doing Myspace and Facebook that I've never started a blog page for whatever reason, but now I guess I sort of have an excuse. Eventually, a lot of you who will take the time to read this will already be familiar with my work as a guitar tech. But I think only some of you will know that I've started a new business that is completely dedicated to the guitar aging ["relicing"] process. I've started this blog to share the creative process of every guitar that I'm doing from this point on. I'm starting up a website and a Facebook page, but those aren't super friendly to long text, so naturally a blog site makes the most sense. So yea.. I should be posting my first REAL blog soon, so stay tuned! Thanks for reading. - adam.