Dad’s Telecaster

Dad’s Telecaster was the first major build I completed in my shop—and the first guitar I ever built.

He’s played music his whole life. Growing up, guitars were always around, usually living in the basement, and music was just part of the background of everyday life. At some point I had the idea to build him a Telecaster as a Father’s Day gift, and that idea quickly turned into my first real “go big” project.

I built four separate 8/4 alder Telecaster blanks because I was convinced I’d ruin at least one body during routing. After glue-up, the blanks were too wide for my planer, so I flattened and thicknessed them using a belt sander. It wasn’t elegant, and it wasn’t fast, but it worked.

Using a StewMac Telecaster template, I routed the body shape on the router table. My bandsaw at the time wasn’t great, so most of the material removal happened at the router, slowly and carefully. In hindsight, roughing closer to the line first would have made things easier, but at the time I was prioritizing caution over speed.

As the build progressed, I became increasingly drawn to the look of a 1964 Buck Owens Telecaster with its red, white, and blue finish. That guitar became the visual reference point for the entire project.

The body was sprayed in three separate color blocks, masked between stages, then clear-coated. After curing, everything was hand-buffed with automotive wax. The finish isn’t perfect, but it has character, and it fits the spirit of the build.

While deciding on a pickguard, I bought an Asleep at the Wheel LP and cut a Telecaster-shaped pickguard out of the record. Getting a clean clear coat over vinyl proved difficult, and I ultimately went with a standard white pickguard. The record pickguard was still included with the gift, though—if he ever wants to swap it in or display it, it’s there.

The neck was purchased off Amazon and required some modification. The tuner holes were opened slightly to accommodate vintage-style tuners before final installation and setup.

Wiring was a learning experience. I had no real understanding of how guitar electronics worked at the time, and my friend Brad stepped in to help walk me through the process and get everything wired correctly. That assistance was critical to getting the guitar across the finish line.

One small personal detail is the custom engraved neck plate, which reads “Happy Father’s Day.” It’s subtle, but it marks the occasion in a way that felt right.

Looking back, I’m still surprised by how well this build turned out, considering it was my first guitar and first truly large shop project. I flew to Indiana and gave it to him for Father’s Day 2023.

Seeing him plug it in and play it made every anxious routing pass and improvised sanding setup worth it.