Warmoth Custom Body Builder Render

This partscaster build I am calling the “Gretschcaster.” It is basically a Telecaster with some design ideas from my two Gretsch 6120 guitars. I have been thinking about this one for a long time. I wanted a Telecaster that had a Bigsby and I love Gretsch guitars. So it should be a great match.

I started with an order at Warmoth for a custom Telecaster Thinline body with “F” Hole and binding plus a neck with binding and Ebony fingerboard. Orange of course as you may have guessed. Ordered several bodies from Warmoth in the past. They make quality stuff. This will be my first Warmoth neck that I have ordered, however. I will be mounting a Bigsby B5 Telecaster kit and using some genuine Gretsch parts. Should have the Gretsch vibe without a fully custom build that I would have to pay a top luthier the big bucks for (as much as a good used car).

I used the Warmoth Custom Body Builder on their website and was able to order basically the body I had envisioned. The body is their Thinline Tele body with one “F” hole. The “OMIT INNER BRIDGE CHAMBER” was chosen to allow for the Bisgby install. Closest paint color they offer to Gretsch Orange is called Sunset Orange in a transparent finish to allow for the Flame Maple top’s grain to show through. I picked a cream-colored binding instead of white. I prefer the “aged-white” binding on my Gretsch 6120 Reverend Horton Heat 6120 model to the white binding on my Gretsch G6120TM Chet Atkins model. Hoping the cream binding will look a bit like the aged white on the Gretsch. Went for the contoured neck joint for better playability. The body will be a rear rout with LP style upper control switch. One volume and one tone control with no master volume control like is popular on Gretsch guitars.

The custom neck will also have the cream binding with a dark ebony fingerboard. The neck profile I chose is Warmoth’s Standard Thin which will be a bit thinner than most Telecasters I have owned, But a bit closer to my Gretsch 6120 guitars. The radius will be compound 10-16″ and will course have the standard 25″ scale length that is a bit longer than the Gretsch guitars. The nut is a GraphTech White TUSQ XL which should work well for the Bigsby as it usually offers less friction.

What I really wanted on this build was a Bigsby equipped Telecaster, not a hollow body Gretsch in a smaller size. Will be using a TV Jones Classic Filtertron pickup for the neck and Telecaster for the bridge. The goal is not to have it sound exactly like a Gretsch 6120 as I own two of them. Not really possible on a Telecaster body anyway.

The Warmoth body was ordered with a Flame Maple top. Love the Flame Maple on my Gretsch G6120TM Chet Atkins model. A few design ideas from my rare Rustler Telecaster.

Warmoth Telecaster Body:

  • Model: Hollow Thinline
  • Orientation: Right handed
  • Omit Inner Bridge Chamber: Yes
  • F-Holes: 1
  • Scale: 25-1/2″
  • Wood: Flame Maple on Swamp Ash
  • Rout: Rear Rout
  • Pickup Rout: TV Jones Classic (no ears) (Neck), None (Middle), Tele® (Bridge)
  • Controls: X-V-X-T-Upper Tog (LP®)
  • Bridge: No Bridge Rout
  • Jack Rout: 3/4″ (19mm) Side Jack Hole – should have been 7/8”
  • Neck Pocket: Tele® Shape
  • Mounting Holes: Standard 4 Bolt
  • Contours: Contoured Heel
  • Binding: Cream Binding
  • Top Finish: Sunset Orange
  • Back Finish: Sunset Orange
  • Finish Type: Gloss Finish

My mistake was to order the jack rout to be 3/4 inch. It should have been 7/8 inch as that is the standard size for Telecasters to fit either a Fender style jack cup or and electrosocket that I was planning on using. I goofed when I ordered the body. This was easily and carefully rectified using a stepped drill to enlarge the hole. Details are important. Even after building many of these partscasters I still made this error. But not too hard to fix to fit the electrosocket jack plate.

Warmoth Neck:

  • Style: Telecaster®
  • Construction: Modern Construction
  • Orientation: Right Handed
  • Neck Wood: 3A Flame Maple
  • Fingerboard Wood: Ebony (Black)
  • Nut Width: 1-11/16″
  • Back Shape: Standard thin
  • Fret Size: SS6105 (Stainless)
  • Tuner Ream: Schaller (25/64″)
  • Radius: 10-16″ Compound
  • Scale: 25-1/2″
  • Fret #: 22
  • Mounting Holes: Standard 4 Bolt
  • Pre-Cut Installed String Nut: GraphTech White TUSQ XL – Standard Nut
  • Inlays: No Inlay
  • Side Dots: Black Side Dots
  • Binding: Cream
  • Finish: Vint Tint Satin Nitro

Neck was ordered with a dark ebony fingerboard that is used on many Gretsch 6120 models, but no inlay. Unfortunately, Warmoth does not offer a fretboard inlay that looks anything like what a Gretsch would have. I will get creative on this.

Gretsch Genuine Parts

Placed orders for genuine Gretsch “G” knobs, Gretsch 3-way switch, Gretsch switch top and Gretsch strap hangers from my friend Rocky at StreetSounds in Brooklyn (near the original home of the Gretsch factory).

Bought a set of made in the USA, Sperzel Trimlok Locking guitar tuners similar to what was factory provided on my Gretsch 6120 Reverend Horton Heat. The later version of this Gretsch model shipped with the less expensive Gotoh tuners (made in Japan) which are nice tuners, but a step down in my opinion. The Sperzel Trimlok Locking guitar tuners also offer a staggered length post so I may or may not have to use string tree. These tuners will offer faster string changes and better tuning stability, especially with the Bigsby.

Going with chrome-colored hardware like my Gretsch 6120 Reverend Horton Heat on this build. However many Gretsch 6120s feature Gold hardware or a mix of Chrome and Gold.

Bigsby B5 Telecaster vibrato kit has arrived. This kit contains the B5 Bigsby for flat top solid body guitars (like Telecaster), bridge plate, Jaguar style bridge, thimbles, screws, etc. Basically, all you need to install a Bigsby on your guitar. In my opinion, the weak spot is the included bridge. These bridges have long been maligned by players. I will not be using the included bridge on this build. I ordered a Mastery Bridge like I used to replace the same style bridge on my Fender Jaguar and Fender Jazzmaster guitars. Far better bridge than the one that comes on these guitars from the factory.

Mastery Bridge

M1-KIT: M1 Mastery Bridge and set of MT Mastery Thimbles
Includes M1 Mastery Bridge with standard US mounting posts and a set of two vintage spec 303 stainless steel MT thimbles.This is for B5-KITS that have post-style Jazzmaster bridges.

Also ordered Mastery String Tree (MST) that looks better than the standard ones. It features our unique hard chrome plating so the strings glide smoothly without the use of moving parts. It has a little more break angle to prevent sympathetic overtones caused by low string tension and less surface area touching the string versus the 50s wing design. Comes with stainless steel screw that’s a bit longer as well as our custom made stainless steel spacer.

Pickups will be TV Jones Classic for the neck position and Don Mare Green Onion 4041 Bridge pickup (6.8k ohms).

TV Jones Classic – no ears

Don Mare Green Onions Bridge Pickup

The TV Jones is a humbucker and is generally best with 500K pots (sounds muddy with 250K pots) and the Don Mare Green Onion 4041 Bridge pickup is a single coil and sounds best with 250K pots (sounds shrill and thin with 500K pots). This will require some changes in the standard Telecaster wiring diagram. Goal here will be to make both pickups sound their best. Plus I am not using a standard Telecaster 3-way switch. I am using a Gretsch 3-way on the upper bout of the body.

Pickup selector and pot locations

Will need a custom wiring harness for this project. Should be fun.

Ordered electrosocket jack, Switchcraft jack, two CTS 500K pots and 470K resistor. Be using a .022uf orange drop capacitor that I have in stock. Going to try to do something interesting for a headstock waterslide decal.

This will be the most expensive partscaster I have built. Could have purchased a nice stock guitars for less. Still quite a bit cheaper than a Fender Custom Shop model. It will also be exactly what I wanted which makes it all worth it. This has nothing to do with saving a few bucks.

Warmoth body and neck have arrived. They look pretty much like the custom builder app on their website. Pretty happy with the quality. They look great. Bit hard to photograph, but here are some pics.

The Gretschcaster build starts. First job was to apply customer waterslide decal. I did this first as it has requires a few coats of clear guitar lacquer to protect it the decal. Need to get this done before installing tuners or attaching neck to body.

Custom waterslide decal applied

I covered the neck with low tack green tape and used some plastic wrap before spraying on the clear coat lacquer. I do not want to get the lacquer on any part but the top part of the headstock. I will spray it about three times for a good cover waiting about 24 hours in-between coats. I can start some work on the body while this drys.

Mounting the Sperzel locking tuners is next. Warmoth already drilled the 3/8-inch holes to accommodate the tuners in the headstock as ordered. What is needed is to drill the small pilot hole in back of headstock to mount the tuners. This can be done easy enough with a drill and an eyeball, but can be an easier more precise job with the correct tools.

Tuner Pin Drill Jig installed

I used some tools I had bought from StewMac. To line up the pilot hole precisely I used Tuner Pin Drill Jig and to drill the holes without going too deep and thru the front of the headstock I used Depth-stop Drill Bits. This job can be done without these tools, but it is made easier and more precise with them.

The Sperzel tuners need a pilot hole drilled with a #38 (.101) drill. A 3/32″ drill will do. Lining them up straight and making sure you do not drill all the way through the front of the headstock is important!

Holes drilled and ready for tuner installation

The Sperzel locking tuners have graduated posts. They come with 2 short, 2 medium and 2 long. This is so that pressure at the nut on a straight Fender style neck will be better. String trees are usually added (sometimes two) for this purpose. If there is not enough tension over the nut you can lose tone and even have the strings put out of nut. Tuners just mount and are held inlace with the nut in front. They will not move due to pilot holes in rear.

Graduated Tuner Posts

Tuners are installed. Put neck aside for now. Installed the Gretsch Strap Locks. These are iconic parts that are 100% Gretech. Just drill a pilot hole and carefully screw in the start locks.

Laying out some parts to get a good idea that this guitar will look like.

Shielding is a bit hard to do on a hollow body guitar. Usually you do your best to create a Faraday cage that basically is a box that is shielded to ground to reduce hum or noice from outside sources like lighting, etc. This is especially desirable when you are using single coils pickups. I generally use copper foil tape that is conductive for most of my builds. Since this is a Telecaster thinline body that is mostly hollow I did the best shielding I could.

I used copper foil tape in all the cavities that will have electronics.

I used copper foil tape in the backside of the covers as well.

Next, mounting the volume and tone pots. These are Fender 500K pots that are made by CTS. Using this value to accommodate the TV Jones Classic pickup neck pickup. This pickup would be too dark with 250K pots… Stay tuned for what happens with the Telecaster bridge pickup.

Installed the Gretsch 3-way switch.

Put on the Gretsch knobs and Gretsch switch tip. These are genuine Gretsch parts.

Bolting on the neck. Note since this body has a contoured neck heel, you must be sure not to use the regular neck screws as two will be too long! Warmoth sells these screws or you can always visit a grinder to shorten them. I bought them from Warmoth when I ordered the neck and body.

Installing the pickups

Adding a bit of masking tape in the pickup cavities to avoid shorting out pickups.

The Don Mare pickup has still not arrived and I decided to use a Lindy Fralin bridge pickup instead that I purchased from Callaham. It uses Callaham’s Fralin “special” wind. I have this same pickup in one of my other Telecasters and love it. Will use the Don Mare pickup for another project. Mounted the Lindy Fralin pickup to bridge plate.

Ran a ground wire into the bridge pickup cavity. You need to properly ground the bridge and strings.

Checking out the alignment of the parts

Installing the neck pickup

Installing the TV Jones Classic neck pickup. Need to use a small drill to make starter holes.

Using included screws and springs.

Neck pickup installed

Aligned the bridge plate and drilled holes. Screwed in bridge plate.

Drilled holes for bridge thimbles. Using small rubberized hammer (fret hammer) installed the thimbles.

Installing the Mastery Bridge

Mastery Bridge installed

Bigsby Upgrades

The Bigsby vibrato is a main feature for this build and the reason I started the project as I wanted a Bigsby on a Telecaster. I wanted to make this build the best I can. I purchased a genuine USA made Bigsby B5 kit. These are nice units, but improvements can be made if you ware willing to spend some money. In my opinion well worth it.

I am not using the including the bridge that is included in the Bigsby B5 kit and opted for a Mastery Bridge. Heading over to Callaham Guitar Parts for some nice Bigsby upgrades. Callaham has long made high quality parts and I have used them for many builds. Here is what I picked up.

1) Callaham Front Roller Upgrade Kit – All guitars equipped with a Bigsby B5 can suffer from reduced frequency response and sustain because of the lack of quality of the supplied front roller. This upgrade kit provides a solid, stainless steel front roller increases frequency response and sustain plus is grooved to maintain string alignment.

2) Callaham Upgraded Main String Shaft – Makes restringing easier while maintaining the original Bigsby look. Polished stainless steel shaft that is counterbored for the string ball ends. Thread the string through the hole and up to the tuner.

3) Callaham 360 Arm Bracket for Bigsby Vibratos – Allows for full 360 rotation for the vibrato arm so player can position his picking hand without limit and maintain control of the vibrato.

Installing the Bigsby upgrades. I decided to try out a Chet Atkins Bigsby arm I bought. So I will not be using the Callaham 360 Arm Bracket on this build. The Chet Atkins Bigsby arm already has the ability to do 360 degree movement. Like the the way the Chet Atkins Bigsby arm looks and might be nicer to use.

Bigsby upgrades to install

To install the Callaham Upgraded Main String Shaft you need to remove the stock arm assembly. Just need an Allen wrench.

Remove stock arm

Using a locking pliers or vise grip you need to pull out the string holders from the original string shaft.

Once all the string holders out of the shaft it will pull out easily.

Slide in the Callaham Upgraded Main String Shaft. Easy to see it is better made and will made changing strings easier. Especially with the locking tuners I am have installed.

Attach the Chet Atkins Bigsby replacement arm. Just tighten with Allen wrench.

Chet Atkins replacement arm installed

Installing the Callaham Front Roller Upgrade Kit. Need to turn over and remove one screw using an Allen wrench. Then just slide out shaft and remove roller. Easy to see and feel that the original roller bar is basically hollow and lacks much mass. The Callaham Front Roller Upgrade Kit is not only better made with higher mass, it has grooves to guide the strings.

Remove Allen screw

Slide the new shaft and secure the new roller.

Mounting the Bigsby Vibrato

The Bigsby B5 comes with three felts on the bottom. Was nice for alignment without marring the finish. I removed these when I was ready to mount as I wanted the vibrato flush with the guitar body. Once you drill the holes the vibrato is quite permanent.

Removed felts

Measure twice (or three times) and drill once!

Bigsby includes a string to help with alignment. It wraps around the 6th and 1st string tuners to simulate the strings.

Drilled and screwed…. Lets hope I got it right!

Wiring Started

Wired the Gretsch 3-way switch

Strung up so I can test the wiring.

Applying the Faux Fret Markers

Unfortunately, Warmoth does not do the “Neo-classic” Gretsch style inlays I wanted to use. So my solution was to use some inlay stickers. I have used this before and they are not the real deal, but looks fine and seems to stay on. Figured I could always eventually have real inlays put into the fretboard. I applied these and they look “Gretschy.”

My Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins and Gretschcaster

Gretsch Pickup Rings

I ordered some genuine Gretsch pickup rings. I found these in three colors… gold, silver and clear. Most Gretsch guitars use one of these. The neck pickup rout is fine and I do not have to apply any pickup ring, but I like the look. Now to decide which color pickup ring to use. Both the Gretsch 6120RHH and the Gretsch 6120TM use the gold ring despite that they have different color hardware.

Gretsch 6120RHH – Chrome Hardware

Gretsch 6120TM – gold hardware

I think I like the gold Gretsch pickup ring on the Gretschcaster, but since all the screw holes match up. I can easily swap it out after its installed.

The hard shell case I ordered is here and the Gretschcaster fits great.

I had to order an larger Bigsby vibrato spring because the Chet Atkins style arm sits too low with the shorter spring supplied with the Bigsby B5 kit as I am not using the vibrato arm that came with kit. The 1-inch Bigsby spring did the trick. Right height and working fine.

I went with the gold Gretsch pickup ring.

This project is just about finished. Guitar sounds and plays great. Even though this was not an inexpensive project it was far less that a Fender Custom Shop and is exactly what I wanted.

With the Gretsch 6120 that inspired this build.

Crocodile Eden case I bought for this guitar.

After some final tweaks to the setup this project his done. As far as the wiring goes, lets say what looks good on paper and what should work in theory sometimes not what sounds best in reality. I originally wired this guitar using a 470K resistor on the bridge pickup parallel to ground. Since I used 500K volume and tone pots I wanted the the Lindy Fralin telecaster pickup to see around 250K so the pickup would not be that bright and still have the proper pot for the TV Jones Classic that likes to see 500K.

Well I did wire it like that and it basically worked, but the middle position (both pickups) lacked something as you might expect since the combine resistive load changes. So I played around a bit using my ear. I ended up liking the standard two pickups with 3-way switching, 500K pots and no resistor. What I found was this Lindy Fralin single coil in the bridge was not overly bright and sounded twangy and good. I compared in the same amp settings with the Blackguard Project which is one of my favorite Telecaster that has 250K pots and the same model Lindy Fralin bridge pickup.

What I found is they were not that far apart in brightness. I am keeping it this way. Plus the the middle position with both pickups sounded much better to my ears. Mixing pickup types is always a bit of a challenge. Using you ears makes the best choices. Guitar plays and sound great.

So the wiring ended up looking like this diagram:

I uses a .022uF capacitor as it sounded the most useful to me.

Here is an article from Lindy Fralin you may find helpful:

HOW TO MIX SINGLE COILS AND HUMBUCKERS

This project is done!