So, ive been working on a few guitars i plan to try and sell in a local music store. Been trying to keep my costs down, in order to be competitive with the imported stuff that fills most of the store.
I decided that a tele style is the easiest (and less hours mean cheaper cost) so I did three various styles.
#1 is a telecaster neck, ebony fretboard on maple neck. 12" radius, 22 jumbo frets, dual action rod. Side inlays only. Satin lacquer finish. Alder jag style body, with tele bridge & controls/electronics.
#2 is a dual P90 tele, with a maple/RW neck same specs as #1. Semi pickguard in white/black/white. string through body bridge. no contours on the alder body but a larger radius on the top & back.
#3 is a dual HB, with tele bridge. Alder body with strat style contours. black/white/black pickguard. same neck as #2 but thinner profile. Kind of like a metal/hard rockin' tele.
got the bodies and necks mated, and some hardware on today.
some quick cell phone pics..
![Image](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/3guits.jpg)
![Image](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/telejag.jpg)
![Image](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/teleP90s.jpg)
![Image](http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j307/ajcoholic/teleHBs.jpg)
The mindset (well to me anyhow) trying to keep costs down as low as possible is a new one. I am used to basically picking out whatever hardware, pickups and so forth I want in a guitar and not really thinking about costs, when I make a guitar for myself.
Since these are hopefully going to compete with the mid line stuff (but are basically a custom, hand made guitar with playability and fretwork, etc far better than the stuff I see hanging in the shops) I went with imported hardware - which saves a LOT of money... and a plain gloss black lacquer finish, no bindings, no fancy inlays etc. Pickups are also not small, boutique brands which I like to use. Big savings for a $30 pup VS a $230 one, especially when there are two!
Same with stuff like tuners ($30 vs $90), etc. But, I wont let them out of my shop unless they stay in tune, and are every bit as playable as my usual stuff.
I will be interested in seeing what the locals think of my guitars, once they are in the store and available to play.
AJC
ps the "tele-master" is really cool... love the offset body!