re-refinishing the Televangelist

You may remember, last year I refinished my Televangelist with a glossy varnish that was right away abused in a performance (you can see how on this video).

I thought first that I would  slightly sand this varnish by hand and put a mate one, but the layer was so thin that it lightened the black paint, so I decided to remove everything and refinish it with wood stain and oil...

Televangelist Superstar

The Televangelist still have some buzzing and detunig problems - it's OK since I use it mostly in open tuning for slide, but it deserves a pro setting - but it's really good looking and is more and more part of the visual identity of the Angel Meat performance project. This is the flyer of our next show...

the Televangelist gets lipstick

    

The new lipstick on my Televangelist sounds as good as it looks, and the upgraded guitar was baptized on stage tonight... Unfortunately I also changed the varnish to a glossy lack that looks quite awful and was damaged already during the performance - when the previous finish resisted the rehearsals much better. So I have to sand it off and start again...

the Televangelist in action

This guitar is not a concert guitar but was built to be used in the hardcore art cabaret performance series Dancing on Ashes - the picture was shot during the last show, yesterday in Berlin...

To know more about this project check www.angelmeat.com

a lipstick pickup for the Televangelist

Just received a brand new GFS telecaster bridge lipstick pickup Pro-Tube for the Televangelist, will mount it as soon as possible because this guitar with be central for next friday's new Angel Meat performance.

It's good to go back to the workbench - and if everything works like planed, I should start again on my projects next June, when I have achieve what I've busy with since last fall...

Televangelist in situation

There is a tradition in the guitar world, that is to pair up guitars and young female characters...

I know, I know, this is awfully sexist and gender specific, but it's like posters of Lenin and English pastries, it's part of my cultural background, wether I like it or not.

And since this photo wasn't made for this purpose, but is part of the genuine artistic process for which the guitar was made - and is beautiful -, I won't refuse myself the pleasure to post it here!

the Televangelist 2

So I finally have time to update this blog about the Televangelist. I made a few changes - mostly reworking the pickguard and varnishing... I'm still not completely happy with the setting - one string keeps buzzing down the neck, I would like to solve this myself and not have to ask for pro help... Gotta try again!

A friend who saw it asked me if I would make one for him but I think that he'd better wait until I made a few more and know more what I'm actually doing!

finishing my first guitar

So I finally assembled my modified tele kit and I'm quite happy with the result... It looks better in real than on the picture (but you can already have a better idea by clicking on the pic on the right to enlarge it).

The strings are still a little bit buzzy but I won't set it right now since I'm not completely sure about the mate finish - I will probably add a layer of satin varnish. Also I will start to build another one from scratch and I'll probably have to dismantle this one to check how to make some stuff...

The handmade metal pickguard gives it a rough look that I do enjoy - I don't want to make a guitar that looks like a factory product... I love the Artic Kelo finish of Amsfisound guitars and that's what I had in mind when I first started to think about making guitars - I'll see how it feels when I start the woodwork.

The yet unofficial name for this guitar is The teleVangelist - since I intend to use it for my next stage project called Angel Meat. And I'll probably use it for my next concert in a couple of weeks...

making my first guitar

12
34
56

Finally I could start working on this guitar kit project - of course it would have been quicker if I would have just followed the assembly instructions, but the whole thing was of course about getting me started to build things myself - the kind of stuff I probably didn't do since my last pottery class back in 1978...

So I modified the bridge[1] to put a Bigsby clone[2], cut a new pickguard in aluminum[3], tried some different mix to get the right finish[4], redesigned and cut a headstock model[5, 6]... With this little things I already learned a lot and feel more confident - I think that tomorrow I can build most of the guitar...

headstocks and stuff

So here I am with my DIY telecaster... First the mate transparent black finish I want is not something you can just get from a shop apparently... It seems that I have to combine a pigment and a varnish - so I will meet an art carpenter in the coming days who should explain me how to do it... Also I realized that since I'm not a telecaster fan - I don't despise the old lady of course but have no hero playing on it - I'm quite free to let my fantasy loose - in the frame on what I can do... So I will exhaust my bad taste by making it dark psychedelic, with a baroque headstock (I'm trying to avoid the can opener curse, it's very hard) and an engraved aluminium pick-guard if I can make one (I found out that there is an engraver in my neighborhood and will pay him a visit soon). Like this I can be sober on my real projects - and still make this telecaster a special guitar...

Hey, if anybody has a tip, an advice, an essential information, please don't hesitate to leave a comment!

OK, serious stuff now

So I've been postponing the making of my guitar projects probably also because, well, I just have to start from zero... Drawing and designing I can do easily but about guitar technics, the further I've been so far is restringing - and not as often as I should I must confess... But I want these guitars made, and more later if it works, so I decided to give myself a good teaching by getting a Telecaster kit from DIY Guitar Shop and observe carefully all the elements apart (I did it 6 months ago when I customized my Aquarius but I learned much since and also the Tele is simpler - and I have a user's manual together with it!) and assemble and disassemble until I'm filled with guitar sapience (I should end up doing it blindfolded as real men do with guns in movies).

Also I will test this transparent mate black finish I want for my serious projects (didn't find the right product yet), design and make a headstock (it's already in the previous post), make an aluminium scratchplate and instal a Bigsby clone (a real one would be more expensive than the guitar itself). All this should happen in the coming days - wish me luck.

the Televangelist

My first handmade guitar, an upgraded telecaster kit from DIY Guitars called The Televangelist. I intend to modify it several times - will start with the pickups and the tuners.