How to Make an Acoustic Electric Tele-Style Guitar (Step by Step)
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- čas přidán 24. 10. 2019
- With all the hype over the new Fender Acoustasonic Telecaster Guitar, I wanted to check one out. Unfortunately, when I went to the big guitar store, they hadn't yet seen one either, so I decided to try to make something similar. Now, I am in no way a guitar pro or anything close- but I had a great time building this little experiment. I hope you will give it a try too! Below are links to some of the products and parts I used. Let me know what you think, I welcome your comments and suggestions. Thanks for watching!
EJWOX Portable sander: amzn.to/2qDXfeH
Rockler Tools: www.anrdoezrs.net/click-10032...
Ernie Ball 3 pack guitar strings: amzn.to/2p2Qt1T
Piezo Pickup: amzn.to/2qNuxZ5
1/4" guitar input jack: amzn.to/32PsnGe
Guitar Tuners: amzn.to/2Pm5jeq
Fender strap nuts: amzn.to/2Jn4KNL
Wood bridge and saddle: amzn.to/2WeJij1
Telecaster controle plate and 3 way switch: amzn.to/3441eji
Tele bridge pickup: amzn.to/32M2aZe
Titebond Glue: amzn.to/32N73kR
7 Piece Forstner Drill Bit Set: amzn.to/32Qzrm1
Soldering iron: amzn.to/347NrIw
Router table: amzn.to/2q06FBa
Belt sander: amzn.to/2JsMySN
Bench top sander: amzn.to/2pYp8Oa
Orbital sander: amzn.to/2omAWcJ
Skil Jig saw: amzn.to/2Wn56JE
Folding work bench: amzn.to/2JpRVSE
Varathane 3X thick clear: amzn.to/2JqHazM
Tele Neck from TomTop:www.shareasale.com/m-pr.cfm?m...
Also please check out my Merchandise Store: diy-gene.creator-spring.com/
This video and description contain affiliate links, which means if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make videos like this with absolutely no additional cost to you! Thank you for your support of DIYGene! - Jak na to + styl
Semi-homemade? Don’t sell yourself short. You made that beauty from scratch. Love it!
Thanks, but I say that because I purchased the neck. I don’t think I’m brave enough to tackle that. Thanks so much for watching.
@@DIYGene you are good enough to build uf the neck too, listen to me. I entirely built up my acoustic travel guitar, with zero experience and no particular skills, so you can of course!
czcams.com/video/EmWjAwTqUm0/video.html
alessandro barbetta No particular skills? I say you’ve got mad skills. Very cool!
@@brettneuberger6466 thanks a lot, you feed my soul with your appreciation. But it's the first guitar I built, maybe in September, when I'll move to my new house, I'll begin the second one, and this time it will have the shape of a real guitar. So, we will see if I really have skills 😂😂😂
DIY Gene you can’t learn how to swim with no water big guy
Hi I’m an experienced guitar builder. You did a great job here, really fantastic. But before you do another I’ll give just a few suggestions.
1. Next time mount the magnetic pickup into the wood at rear, like the superstrat way of doing it. It’ll really help control feedback at high volumes to decouple the coil from the singing top. You’ll need to leave a little more wood in the body beneath the pickup so your screws have something to bite into.
2. Your piezo pickup is overwhelming the coil pickup because there is a tremendous impedance mismatch between the two. You have a few options to improve this, especially when building a new one. You might add one of the side mounted preamps for acoustic guitars, even the cheap ones will improve things a great deal, feed the piezo through that before going into the three way switch. You might even get one with a tuner built in. Another option is put a Tele neck pickup inside the body, directed at the soundboard, and glue something ferrous (a couple of guitar string clippings) to the underside of the soundboard directly above where this neck pickup will be, it will ‘pick up’ the vibration from the soundboard from these little bits of steel glued on there. This works much better than you might think. If you go this route you’ll have noise cancelling properties when combining both pickups and no impedance mismatch.
3. You really need to connect the ground side of you circuit to the player’s body to overcome noise with magnetic pickups. Usually this is done through the strings at bridge or tailpiece. Consider a small plate of sheet steel directly under the bridge (and drilled for the bridge pins) So that the ball ends sit against it. This bit of steel is wired to the ground in your circuit, the back of a pot or the sleeve on the output jack. This bit of steel might also be the bit of steel I mentioned in #2 above ;)
Great job and great video, I really enjoyed it.
I didn't see any bracing on the top, is that ok or the top will bend soon?
Hap Dane well the top is craft plywood, so it’s pretty much braced in its construction. But a bridge plate might’ve been wise.
I would like to add the suggestion of outlining the bridge and removing the finish on the entire shape rather than just the sliver for a wood glue contact patch. I'm sure his will be strong enough but I think it's best to glue the whole area based on builds I've seen.
@@DouglasThompson excellent suggestions.
@@DIYGene I saw that you rebuilt this guitar after the comments, I have yet to watch the whole video but if you already did this, I suppose the comment is purely for future guitar builders to read and absorb. Either way it's a cool project, I'm into guitars that are versatile such as this.
For a small bodied acoustic-electric, I think you made a better sounding guitar than Fender did. I am a Fender lover, not a Fender hater. I wish you lived nearby, as I would have plenty of work for you. Incredible engineering and talent!
@@eduholosome gibson users think fender sounds like dogcrap, i disagree
Looks great! Very impressed. Just wondered how it lasted longer term. Normally, with a top that thin, it would be normal to add some internal braces? Sound great too.
That is a beautiful guitar! I love the sound of the 2 pickups together. I’ve been watching a lot of your videos and getting ideas on how to rebuild my fender. Please keep posting more stuff!!
Joshua Long , Thank you. I promise to get better at putting more videos out.
Great job Gene! Thank for taking the time to sharing these works teaching and inspiring poeple to dive in the beautiful world of guitars and also for free, which is not a minor point. Cheers and may the force be with you! 👉😎👍👈
Obi Wan Kenobi , Thanks so much. I enjoy building , learning and most of all sharing, thanks again for watching.
On the switch: Might be worth just making a craft-foam pad for it to float on. The peizo's sound also changes a lot depending on placement: most cigar-box builders put it behind and slightly above the low E string so that it catches more of those vibrations and slightly less treble. I usually wire two smaller ones together instead of using one big one.
Other then that, just raise the electric pickup.
Alaric Paley , Great advice. I’m learning on these peizo’s. Thanks so much for watching.
It’s like a Tele and Jazzmaster adopted a baby and named it Taylor. Nice work!
Wow you're really great. I just watching you last year with your strat and tele builds and now im back for more great content!! Looking forward for more!!
Sonic Obsessions , I hope you enjoy them! Thanks so much for watching.
I've watched a few of your clips tonight
nothing pretentious, learn as you go, just do it and lots of love got you another subscriber
thank you, Gene
Patrick Caza , thank you so much. I am definitely learning as I go. Thanks again for watching.
Great job, one day when I build my skills and tools I'd like to build one.
Nice and clear instructions to every step. Far better than most guitar build vids you’ll find on CZcams. It’s not patronising, nicely recorded and really simple descriptions of what to do. Superb.
Thanks so much for watching.
Great video and beautiful guitar! Love the combo option. Great tutorial, video and beautiful finished product!!
Melinda , Thanks so much for watching.
Maybe you can put a volume control for each pickup, so you can blend the overall output.
Andrew Hinds, That’s not a bad idea. Thanks so much for watching.
Along the lines of a tone knob, consider different ratings for your piezo. You may just need a different resistor to cause a balanced pickup/piezo “relationship.” Knowing the resistance of your pickup and the resistance of your piezo will give you a better idea of how much you would want to consider. I’d offer advice but because you are dealing with two different types of input (piezoelectric and single coil pickups) it most likely would be a trial and error scenario.
This dynamic relationship is something that guitar makers don’t reveal and this is why the Acoustasonic Telecaster is priced accordingly. If you know someone with an Acoustasonic, you could always ask them.
For dynamic reasoning, this is also found in how “single coil/humbucker” combos have to be considered. A lengthy and somewhat theoretical debate or conversation ensues when best combinations are considered. Thanks for the great video!
A 1M ohm pot works best for piezo pickups.
the sound of the combined pickups is pretty good, i will to try this project some day. Thanks for share to all of us
This was a fun project and I learned a lot from it. Thanks for watching.
You my friend are an awsome craftsman. It looks and sounds great. Thanks for sharing.
awesome job mate.Love it. You have inspired me to have a go at building one too.
Love the vid! I'm gonna try this. Two suggestions for what it's worth: Use an under saddle piezo pickup (they can be had way cheap) and maybe an x-brace on the underside of the top.
Some tips from a player but NOT a luthier; -Work on the neck heel joint, try to shape it to be more comfy and ergonomic, not a must but is a nice detail that everyone likes when playing.
-The acoustasonic has a blend circuit, basically, a knob that controls both the piezo and electromagnetic pickup at the same time, it's more of a electricians tech trick than a guitar feature, but the real one has it, even tho your idea of just using a tele 3-way switch also works great, but some people like to blend both things accordingly.
-Poplar is all of a topic in guitar forums.. many hate it and claim that is not a good wood for guitars, I personally have one guitar made of poplar and I love it, truth is; you can make a guitar out of any wood. But when doing a hollow body or acoustic, things differ a lot from the solid body ones. in this case poplar would be a weak and thin sounding wood.
-Usually the bridges in acoustics are always glued on the top, in some archtops or hollow-bodies, they may even be held in place by the preasure of the strings alone, something more like a violin or cello. I know it was an awkward position to put some clamps so it's okay, adding two screws would definetely not affect tone or anything, but is just a "traditional" detail.
-There are ways to isolate the piezo signal, so it's not so microphonic, because sometimes they can even pickup noises in the room, but I'm not sure what these methods are. And like you mentioned, yes there are piezos with different rating values, making them more sensitive or louder.
None of these is something negative, your build ROCKS! they're just tips or details I've noticed that could do your project better. I wish I could have access to all of those tools and a workplace to try it myself.
Good tips. One thing you said needed clarifying. When using a bridge that is held on by pressure, one needs a tailpiece to attach the strings. There is usually a piece of wood on the backside of the top to give strength at the bridge position. The wood used for the top looked a bit thick so it may not sag, hopefully.
this is a beautifully put together video. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Chet Sims , Thanks for watching.
My congratulations it's one of the best ideas that I had ever found in you tube trust me nice combination good job
It needs a decal on the headstock that says”DIY Gene”. Nice job. Put your name on it.
Add a ground to the wing nut! Awesome idea and amazing that you whipped that thing out so quickly.
Completely inspiring some crazy ideas in my head. Keep it up Gene!!
Thanks so much. This was a learning experience and I hope I learn even more from the comments and suggestions. I would love to see what crazy ideas you come up with. Thanks again for watching.
I am very impressed! Please don't sell yourself short! You really did an amazing job! I am truly inspired to do the same but maybe with a Jaguar style body.. keep up the good work and thanks for sharing!
Cool build Gene. Might have to try my hand at one after I'm done the project I'm on now. A couple things I would suggest would be to have a bridge plate installed and some bracing to the top to prevent any future bowing in the top. I would also suggest gluing the bridge before finishing to get a good solid wood to wood contact glue joint. Great work. Thanks for the link on the sander too!
Nice, is interesting listen a bass with similar construction. THANKS.
Wonderful idea, Thanks for this video.
I love The Guitar Man he's awesome you doing a great job keep up the good videos I love to watch them
You did a fine job. There are a lot of comments about bracing. Having a thicker top like you have may be your savior. If you do build another, I would make the sound hole a little smaller, use a spruce top with just a couple of braces, also a bridge plate and a metal bridge pin protector so you can put a ground wire to it, that way your strings will be grounded. Just my 2 cents.
I really enjoyed the video! I like the finish and the pinstriping. My only suggestion would be to glue a few braces under that top to give the bridge area some strength. With the access covers it can probably still be done.This inspired me to get building again! Thanks Gene!👍😎🎸🎶
Thanks Dart Man! Do you think the brace should run between the bridge and the tele pickup?
@@DIYGene that's a good question. I don't really have any experience building acoustic guitars. There are some good videos out there that could help. Good luck with it. I think it turned out great...just a little reinforcing on that top and it'll be awesome!👍😎🎸🎶
Super cool!! I really enjoyed this video!
Great job; and very well explained. Inspired me to try my own build. Keep up the great work!
Thanks so much. I’m working on a new one now. So please stay tuned.
I've seen a couple DIY types made online....no one seems to put bracing on the inside of top (like an acoustic). That top has 200lbs of stress on it. The original Fender model has a braced top. Over time, if it doesn't explode it will probably warp the top.
David Kennedy that’s a very good point! I think some type of bracing would be necessary for this guitar to last any length of time.
@@Delzona I'd like to see the inside of the fender acoustasonic and see how it's braced
Exactly, it will not hold up.
Top bracing will also help control some of the feedback as well as provide overall rigidity against warping. Great job btw.
I agree. I bet there will be some warping in time. With braces warping could be avoided.
What about inverting the structure? That is: relatively thin wood on the back, and strong main structure (which can hold "string power").
That is so cool! I have woodworking in school and I‘ll give it a try (we can build whatever we want). I think this video is really going to help me. Good Job👏
Thank you I hope it inspires you. Thanks so much for watching.
DIY Gene just a quick question how thick is the wood you used?
Kilian Z , I used 1-3/4” poplar and 1/4” Burch plywood. I hop that helps.
DIY Gene thank you! Did you just estimate the dimensions for the bridge, the sound hole and the controls or did you have a exact template for that?
I measured from the nut to the 12th fret, then went the same from the 12th to the bridge. It was around 13”. I also used the Crome plate that the controls as the mounting template. The sound hole I just winged it.
Man ! you have inspired me to go out of my comfort zone! Awesome work!!! Thanks for sharing 👊😎
Marco , it was a ball to build and I learned a lot. Thanks for watching.
Fantastic job....congrats!!
That's awesome! You definitely have some great woodworking skills... You should try putting an bridge saddle piezo pickup!
I thought about that after the fact, and I may switch it out. I learned a lot on this build. It was fun. Thanks so much for watching.
It wouldn't pick up as much noice and "cajon" sounds as the disc piezo
Rhylan Morgan , thAt makes a lot of sense. It is much more sensitive than the tele bridge pickup.
this is awesome.... I'm learning so much from the video and the comments... I've never even heard of a piezo... now I know there's different types! LoL
Monday morning quarterback here. I might have considered eiter some bracing under the bridge or a pair of posts connecting the top and bottom under the bridge as they do on acoustic basses.Im not too sure if the bridge wont pull the top over time
Anthony Rosa, I like the idea of the posts. It’s been 6 months so far so good. Thanks for the great suggestion.
Really great! Inspiring! I will try a similar project soon. Thanks for this. 🙂👍
Thank you so much. I also received so many great suggestions that I did a follow up video on it. Here is a link: czcams.com/video/HBsMakHdCLo/video.html
Thanks so much for watching.
That’s a landmark presentation for me, and convinces me to build a guitar. It’s always been the neck that puts me off so I will do what you did and buy one! Genius! Excellent work and delivery - well done.
Woodstock LeBird , Thanks so much. I am the same way. I wanted to build a guitar, but I just didn’t feel comfortable attempting the neck. Thanks again for watching.
8:18 H A N D S A N D I N G (using fingerprint grit =D)
Hallow the Hollowcaster
How does it sound unplugged?
Nice project - I wish I had the pieces now, this would be an Awesome Stay-at-home project. Nice work!
MAN, very impressive Gene! Btw Gene your videos are so inspiring & entertaining,
let alone you make everything look like so much fun as well as easy?
I've been kinda busy the past few months and haven't been able to catch
your stuff. Well, I sure am glad to get to see them now. Thanks again Gene,
you rock buddy!
Thanks Jeff, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I do have fun with these projects and comments like yours keep me motivated. Let me know if you have any ideas for a DIY video or even suggestions, I would love to hear them. Thanks so much for watching.
Well, you asked for comments. My main worry with this is intonation. I spend more time getting guitars intonated than anything else and the worst offenders are acoustic guitars because the cheaper they are the less time the builders have for fiddling with the bridge position. I would have used a metal telecaster bridge just for that, but also for higher rigidity and somewhere to put the earth. I' also worried about the amount of pressure on that top. Some acoustic bracing is needed or it will warp/belly IMHO. You can buy cheap sets of splines on Amazon (to keep the top straight) these days I notice. The fender acousticaster looks like the central 'hole' may provide some support, but I'd definitely add some support. I might also have removed the tele-style controls and used a combination of cheap piezo preamp and a blend knob to give you the ability to eq the piezo and blend it with the magnetic pickup. Finally I'd probably have picked up a cheap 2 blade humbucker in single-coil format so I could cut down on any noise and have a warmer sound. The build is great, BTW, these are just suggestions for stability, tuning and tonality.
PDP, Thank you, that is some really good advice. I really like the idea of the pre-amp. Thanks again for watching.
I’m gonna make this as soon as I can build a garage in my one bedroom flat
Don Cavanagh, I love that. Thanks for watching.
hahaha same here
7:13 Oh that grandpa smile love it
Very nicely done!
Anyone else die at 6:51 when the guitar hits the router bit?
I cringed...
Justin Powell Lucky it was under the pick guard
Ahaha, I said 'Oh Dude, come on'. To myself of course. I finished my first partscaster last week so naturally I know everything now and never make mistakes myself.
"After getting all my holes drilled ..."
I'm such a child.
Jeffrey Tackett 🤪
This is awesome. I'm going to try this as a summer project.
I love it man , fun to watch and inspiring too . One day I'll try to make my own guitar . new subscriber from Malaysia . Keep up the good work !
Roxy Lee , it was such a fun time building and it has become my favorite guitar. Thanks so much for watching and for subscribing.
Good build. Your pronunciation of the letter "e" is interesting. "Axcess (excess), piAzo (piezo). Where are you from?
fender: This will be 3.999$
not quite the same as an acousticaster , that one has quite a lot of tonebending circuits inside of it
The Fender uses better woods, the design is made with 3d modeling trying countless configurations. The machining is made with Cnc machining that is absolutely replicable with tolerances smaller than 1 mm.
All the electronics are high quality, pu includes digital modeling.
All these things cost, so I think it’s a bit unfair to compare an actual production run with a single guitar made as an hobby ( no disrespect to the guy which made a stunning job considering the limited experience in guitar making).
The 4K is a bit to much imo? Yeah, of course , but let’s not get delusional and think the price of the guitar is just the sum of its parts.
well i know but i just make a joke about it. its still to expensive
@@edojacob7493 Actually the idea of using Cnc machining should make it cheaper not more expensive. Fender is just out of hand on their pricing. In this day and age there is no reason for it. If you hire a bunch of woodworkers to hand carve then yeah you have to pay them. But if most of your build is using power tools and automation then the expense goes down dramatically. Fender charges that much because they can. Simple as that. Not knocking it. It is what it is. But there is not an extra $2000 dollars worth of product in those guitars.
@@edojacob7493 And yeah "delusional " "the price of the guitar is just the sum of its parts" + "markup to slap the Fender name on it."
Really awesome video!
I definitely would love to build one. Thank you for sharing your video.
Thank you so much for watching.
That’s nice but before I lose a finger I would rather just go ahead and buy one
Me too, but it won't be from Fender at their ridiculous prices. I don't care where they make 'em.
Dude, I love your videos! Your work is inovative and inspiring! Thank you!
Thanks! I also screw up a lot. But that’s part of the learning experience. Thanks again for watching.
I love the ideas of how to build that awesome acoustic electric guitar..
Great job! The video was great and straight and to the point. Some videos put me to sleep, this one didn't. Now, I'm going to make a tele body out of pine after watching this. Thanks!
Frank Kessler , I would love to see how it turns out. Thanks so much for watching
Great job!! Not very often i'll sit through a 20min long video on here. Very interesting, and great sounding guitar! Keep it up!
Thank you, This was a really fun project and I learned a lot on this build. Thanks for watching.
nice to the point and effective video... keep uploading videos like that
Antonio Blank , Thank you. Although I love the guitar, I received so many wonderful suggestions on how to make it even better. I’m going to take it apart and do it again , implementing many of the great ideas. Thanks for watching and stay tuned.
I had no idea you made this, even 11 months ago ! This is amazing, incredible !
Adrian Zeykoen, I love this guitar. But I am about to tear it apart and implement changes form viewer suggestions.
Love that mixed sound! AWESOME JOB!!!!!
Thanks so much for watching.
I have built about 30 electric guitars, I will try one of these. Thank you Great job!
Great Job !
You Talked me into it!
Just started routing.
Building this from scratch is awesome!! A carpenter's guitar.. and yes, fun!
Great video you sure made it look easy
Super job. Congratulations
Gene, you should be very proud of yourself. That is a great build and a excellent demo of your skills. Very entertaining
Thank you. I’m not so sure on the demo but this was a really fun project to build and I learned a lot. Thanks again for watching.
Well done sir, very enjoyable.
Fantastic as always. Wish I had the room to build one. Keep them coming.
Joe Cavasos, Thanks Bro! I wish you would come teach me to play it.
Nice and clean! Great job!
JULIO ENRIQUE , Thanks so much for watching.
Awesome Guitar you’ve inspired me to try and make one of my own🎸🎶👍
Genius!! That's absolutely stunning and a magnificent job
This was a really fun project. Thank you for watching.
So skillful and yet humble
I really like the way you build it with the acoustic sound coming alive, very interesting.
Thanks, this was a really fun project and I learned a lot from this build. Thanks for watching.
Amazing. I love it.❤️
Nice job man, I would love to try it out. Best regards!
George Sánchez , Thanks so much for watching.
Another fantastic video Gene, your best yet !
Thanks so much! I definitely am learning a lot on some of these projects. Thanks again for watching.
It looks fantastic
Bravo! I love how you aren’t afraid to try building something. Most people are to afraid to try something new and fail. I love working on guitar and have played with idea of doing it. Your masterpiece will definitely need internal bracing and volume pots to blend the pickups. Perhaps moving that piezo pickup around so it doesn’t bang around so much. Overall though well done! You remind me of my grandpa who could fix and build anything.
I really enjoyed watching you build that beautiful guitar.
Blair B. A. , Thanks so much for watching.
You're very skillful Wood Craftman.
The neck fit very well in the pocket..
Your idea very brilliant too..
👍👍👍🏆😎👌
Nicely done.
love it. this gave me some Idea'a for finishing a 3/4 ver. love the pin striping might try a piezo under the saddle instead .
Awesome job with basic power tools. Very well done.
Pretty Nice Guitar... Thank you For Share.
Bro you did such a great job with this video. Super enjoyable. Liked and subbed.
Rumblin Man , This was a fun project and I learned a lot from this build. Thanks for subscribing and for watching.
Mate, I love this! What a brave guitar to attempt too!
Thanks, it was a fun project.
You did an awesome job.
Awesome awesome build! 🥰
This was a fun project. Thanks so much for watching.
Gene genius 🎶🎸thanks for that great job 🎸
Very impressive !!!! Thanks for the great video.
Charlie Durham , Thanks so much. This was a fun build. Thanks for watching.
Nice job and thank you for showing us this.
Jeff Campbell, Thanks so much for watching.
Hi Gene. I've only built cigar box guitars so far. Both electric and acoustic. I'm no luthier myself either. But, like yourself, I love a challenge. I really like what you did here, and your guitar looks and sounds fabulous! I'd been sort of brainstorming about doing something like this, and you've definitely encouraged me to build one myself. Next challenge: Build the neck from scratch. Now that's where it really gets Real! Thanks for your well-done tutorial video. Loved it.
It's really great to see someone who's not a professional do this kind of stuff. Just a man in his garage, with affordable tools. It makes me think even i could attempt something like this, likely with terrible results.
This was such a fun project. I learned so much along the way. If I can do it , so can you. Thanks so much for watching
What a fantastic job you did on that guitar, you are a craftsman sir, i really enjoyed the process, wish i had those skills, it is great watching an instrument come to life , again nice job.
Billy Guitarguy , WOW, thank you so much for the kind words. Thank you again for watching.
gene, my brother & i were building electric guitars, in my dads shop about 1968 or 1969. we could not afford to buy them! thanks for showing people some shortcuts, ( as not building a neck ) so they can enjoy a lifetime hobby of guitar / music !
Wow! Great skills brother!