Looking advice for hardware and color for splayed maple tele

[MesaMonster]

Hi Everyone,

 

A friend of mine has an incredible piece of splated maple. I would like to use for it for a cap on a tele. Should I used gold or black hardware. I think both would look great. Also, what is the difference between a 3 or 6 saddle bridge. Which is better?

 

Thx

[Grant Harding]

I'd go chrome rather than gold in almost all situations personally. I also prefer the ability to adjust each string for intonation and height. Lots of people say the 3 barrel saddles sound better but I've never experienced that.

[MesaMonster]

I have read where people prefer the 3 saddle because of the mojo. I play in church where it won't probably be an issue. I want something that is going to work every time.

[Freeman Keller]

I think you mean spalted - in that case it probably has a lot of the dark spider web features that goes along with the fungus - I would be very tempted to pair it with black (ebony) fretboard, binding, knobs. Do the headstock with some scraps of the spalted wood - I think that would be stunning. It also makes some difference what you are going to use as a body wood.

 

I'll watch this with some interest. I haven';t worked with spalted wood but I've seen some stunning examples. How will you stabilize it and what kind of finish do you plan to use?

 

Don't know about the bridges - I've always used 6's but I've set up 3's and of course they don't intonate quite as well

[Grant Harding]

Definitely 6 saddles. I'm sure Leo originally used 3 for manufacturing efficiency and cost. Can't imagine he thought the extra cost would reduce the mojo.

[MesaMonster]

Yeah, damn auto correct.

[MesaMonster]

I think you mean spalted - in that case it probably has a lot of the dark spider web features that goes along with the fungus - I would be very tempted to pair it with black (ebony) fretboard, binding, knobs. Do the headstock with some scraps of the spalted wood - I think that would be stunning. It also makes some difference what you are going to use as a body wood.

 

I'll watch this with some interest. I haven';t worked with spalted wood but I've seen some stunning examples. How will you stabilize it and what kind of finish do you plan to use?

 

Don't know about the bridges - I've always used 6's but I've set up 3's and of course they don't intonate quite as well

 

Wow Freeman. Hadn't thought about that. The piece of spalted maple is a barn rescue. Not sure what the condition will be. I am told it is a very nice piece. I was thinking of basswood or alder. Not sure if I want to paint or stain. Maybe a black back. So many decisions.

[DeepEnd]

A natural finish with black hardware. Please don't paint it. And since I'm finicky about intonation six saddles.

[MesaMonster]

A natural finish with black hardware. Please don't paint it. And since I'm finicky about intonation six saddles.

 

I am kind of leaning towards the black hardware too. I think it would look so sexy. I am also thinking of doing a rear route so I won't need a pick guard. Would hate to hide all the beautiful wood.

[MesaMonster]

Here is one example that I found. Not to crazy about the neck. I dont think I would go vintage on the neck. Regular maple neck with a rosewood finger board.

[MesaMonster]

I like this neck.

[DeepEnd]

I like this neck.

Honestly, I don't. I'd prefer a rosewood fretboard but that's me.

 

[Freeman Keller]

 

Wow Freeman. Hadn't thought about that. The piece of spalted maple is a barn rescue. Not sure what the condition will be. I am told it is a very nice piece. I was thinking of basswood or alder. Not sure if I want to paint or stain. Maybe a black back. So many decisions.

 

As you know, spalted wood has had a fungal infection that basically has rotted away a good part of the cellulose. It can be totally beautiful but usually doesn't have much structure. As I said, I've never worked with it but I understand the procedure is basically to stabilize it with epoxy or sometimes CA, then to use it as a veneer. I've seen it used fair amount in rosettes on acoustics but I think its a real PITA to work with.

 

My humble suggestion is when I'm dealing with a new piece of wood I usually dampen it with DA to pop the grain and get some idea of what its going to look like under finish. Then you need to decide what kind of body and neck woods you want to use - what colors will the bring to the mix. Finally you can decide on the trim colors - fretboard, headstock, binding, etc. Hardware is easy to change - leave that for last (except of course you need to buy it so you can do your fabrication.

 

I'll add my personal aesthetic when it comes to woods. I see a lot of instruments that have several beautiful woods used on them - each lovely but together they clash. I try to pick one theme and carry it thru the entire instrument and I like to think about the contribution of each part. This guitar for example has a mahogany neck and body, the cap is Spanish cedar (which is a kind of mahogany) and everything else - fretboard, binding, knobs, p/u rings are rosewood.

 

 

Even the headplate is a cutoff from the cap wood and the truss rod cover is rose.

 

 

I'd try to do something like that with your maple.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I think you mean spalted - in that case it probably has a lot of the dark spider web features that goes along with the fungus - I would be very tempted to pair it with black (ebony) fretboard, binding, knobs. Do the headstock with some scraps of the spalted wood - I think that would be stunning. It also makes some difference what you are going to use as a body wood.

 

I'll watch this with some interest. I haven't worked with spalted wood but I've seen some stunning examples. How will you stabilize it and what kind of finish do you plan to use?

 

Don't know about the bridges - I've always used 6's but I've set up 3's and of course they don't intonate quite as well

 

 

 

I have to agree with Freeman here - I think black hardware would look fantastic with the black features and highlights of spalted maple. Especially with an ebony (or dark rosewood) fingerboard.

 

I don't think gold would work nearly as well. YMMV.

 

As far as bridge saddles, a three saddle bridge is traditional on a Tele, but they have intonation issues that obviously don't plague a six saddle bridge... but you can get around them easily enough by swapping the saddles for compensated ones. I think I paid ten bucks for the brass compensated saddles I have on my Tele.

 

Here's a couple of links to where you can get some that use the same design as what I'm using...

 

https://www.amazon.com/COMPENSATED-TELE%C2%AE-BRIDGE-SADDLE-BRASS/dp/B006X0U1W8

 

http://rs-guitarworks.myshopify.com/collections/bridges-and-tailpieces/saddles

 

 

 

 

 

[Les Paul Lover]

Black or chrome hardware. Defo 6 saddles.

 

Beside nostalgia, there's isn't much going 3 saddles tele bridges.

[Grant Harding]

Actually, love it or not, gold hardware would blend in with the top and not draw your eye away from it like a lot of black would. I still like chrome best though.

[MesaMonster]

I did not know that about spalted maple. I have seen on Pintrest where someone has filled the voids with glow in the dark stuff. Really cool but detracts from the beauty of the wood. How thick of a cap would I need? I have a friend with a pretty good workshop. Do you stabilize the would before or after putting it on the body?

[Grant Harding]

If the wood is really unstable I'd be inclined to saturate it with super thin CA before I even start any cutting. Ventilated!

[Grant Harding]

That could also be the worst advice ever. Seek independent validation.

[soundcreation]

Don't judge the hardware until you do all the finishing.

 

Sometimes gold is just the right look. Especially on natural/amber type finishes. One would think black would work but as mentioned above on a light finish it just sticks out like a sore thumb and can be distracting. Likewise most would assume chrome will always look good but that's not always the case. Sometimes chrome distracts in it's own way too. It's a bit harder to put into words than black....but it's just a bit.....bland.

 

This is my Koa top Carvin as an example. I can't picture it with anything but gold.

 

 

Just visualize all three after you're done and you'll know which one looks best. And if you don't....find a few women and ask them. They usually have a better eye for that kind of thing.

[Les Paul Lover]

Different strokes for different folks.

Lovely guitar, but the gold hardware is a big turn off for me.

 

That wood is lovely though!!!!!

[soundcreation]

True....use what you like.

 

and thanks.

[Freeman Keller]

I did not know that about spalted maple. I have seen on Pintrest where someone has filled the voids with glow in the dark stuff. Really cool but detracts from the beauty of the wood. How thick of a cap would I need? I have a friend with a pretty good workshop. Do you stabilize the would before or after putting it on the body?

 

Like I said, I have never worked with it. I've seen it used as accents in rosettes on acoustics and I've seen a picture or two of electric guitar capped with it. Most of the time people work with small pieces.

 

What I do know is that its basically rotten, but remember that there are different levels of rot (and I think there are different levels of spalt). What I have heard (and you should do some serious internet research here) is that people flood the wood with either CA or epozy, sometimes several applications, to basically make it one big hunk of plastic/wood. I have become very sensitized to CA (it triggers huge asthma attacks) so I wear my canister respirator whenever I work with it. Probably best to not use an accelerator since that creates the white stuff (and a lot of heat). Personally I would use something like Zpoxy unless you read something different.

 

I would put the wood on waxed paper, flood it with epoxy, after it kicks sand to around 1/4- 5/16 - the usual thickness for a cap assuming a flat top. Most binding is 1/4 and I would assume you'll want to bind this since the edge is apt to be pretty rugged. I'm not sure you can resaw (assuming your friend has that capability) I certainly wouldn't use a planer - belts sanding would be the best way to thickness it.

 

Glue to your body - probably with epoxy since you won't get a good bond with wood glue. I would avoid chambering the body - I just wouldn't trust the strength of the maple.

 

If you stabilize with CA or epoxy any normal evaportive finish should work fine - I use Zpoxy to pore fill and shoot either nitro or water born over it (the top in the guitar in my previous post used Zpoxy then water born lacquer).

 

Without actually seeing the wood its hard to know what to do or how much filler you'll need. Also, remember that I am just speculating here - if I had the actual wood in my shop I would be asking a whole lot of questions at OLF and MIMF (and maybe some of the wood working forums).

 

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

Don't judge the hardware until you do all the finishing.

 

Sometimes gold is just the right look. Especially on natural/amber type finishes.

 

I feel the same way about my Ibanez SR1100. While I'm generally not a big fan of gold hardware, I couldn't imagine anything else on that particular instrument.

 

 

[Freeman Keller]

My customer specifically wanted gold on his 335 clone, including gold MOP inlays. It cost him extra