I want to build a guitar, but have no experience doing so

[Benn Roe]

Well, the one advantage of going with Warmoth would be that they seem to be the only company that routes for the bridge I want, and I'd be buying the bridge from them too, so I feel pretty confident that'll be a good fit, which means the main variable will be whether the neck fits the body snugly (and of course pickguard, etc.). And with the neck being a squared telecaster style, I feel better about my odds than with something curved. I'll definitely keep that all in mind, though.

[kosta]

Having put together a couple partscasters with parts from fender, callaham, saylor, and warmoth, it frustrates me to no end how things almost but not quite fit together perfectly. Neck heel too fat for slot, strings too close to one side of the neck, bridge slanted a little, holes in body don't match holes in neck or hardware. Never again, for me. Will only buy whole guitars. You'll spend a lot on parts and still have to finesse them together, is my point. I'll be kind of amazed if you can just slap an egc neck into a warmoth neck slot and it fits perfectly and the holes line up, no issues. I don't think that level of precision modular standardization exists between companies. Could happen though, I guess. I haven't read up on how well those necks are working in people's guitar bodies, yet.

This is all very real. All fixable issues, but real issues. The EGC necks have been needing some neck pocket adjustments for many folks building with them, but I'd put that more on the variety of bodies being used than on the necks themselves. The two bass bodies that I've tried with my EGC bass neck have been non-Fender, non-Warmoth bodies of unknown provenance and neither of them has fit the neck properly. (Mounting holes haven't lined up. Neck pocket hasn't matched heel shape.) I chalk this up to these being oddball bodies. (Rando bodies that I snagged for cheap on TalkBass.) Nothing a little bit of doweling, redrilling, and chiseling won't sort out.

On another build though – I used a Warmoth neck and a Guitarmill body, and those fit together like a dream. I feel like the bigger parts companies have their specs dialed in a bit more tightly.

[DRodriguez]

Man, this project is getting expensive fast... This is what I'm currently thinking for the main components:

EGC telecaster neck
Warmoth telecaster body, hard maple, unfinished, no binding, tummy cut
BLK/TRI black knight satellite neck pick-up
BLK/TRI meteorite bridge pick-up
2TEK bridge

Partscasters get expensive fast. Definitely never do them based on cost.

As far as bridges, basically decide what you want and go with the company best at that. Callaham for sustain, glendale for twang. Most of the cheaper ones will work nearly as well, the boutique hardware is usually minor upgrades or cosmetics. Never tried a 2TEK bridge, let me know what you think of it.

[Benn Roe]

Thankfully, I rarely ever do anything based on cost. I'm not the type to let a little thing like "not being able to afford it" stand between me and awesome stuff! Speaking of which, this project just became official: I now have a deposit down on an EGC telecaster neck. If I go with the 2TEK (which seems likely), I'll definitely report in.

[Benn Roe]

I'm starting to confuse myself thinking about pickup options. I was planning to go with single coils in both positions, because everything seems to indicate that single coils are brighter and clearer, but I worry that if I double down on that I'm not going to be able to get the full-bodied tone I need for bigger, heavier parts. And after all, my SG uses humbuckers in both positions and can get pretty bright in the bridge position. So, now I'm thinking of a split, but does it make more sense to put the single coil by the bridge and humbucker by the neck to let each pickup focus on what it does best? Or put the humbucker by the bridge and single coil at the neck so that each is positioned for an equal-parts blend of brightness and fullness? Either way, they'll be wired so that they can be run in series, parallel, or separately.

[DRodriguez]

I usually find that different style of pickups in different spots give odd feelings while switching between.

Have you considered p90s? Or a modern style like the railhammer pickups?

Also, consider going humbuckers wired with coil splits.

[kosta]

...I worry that if I double down on [single coils] I'm not going to be able to get the full-bodied tone I need for bigger, heavier parts...

Two single coils wired in series make a humbucker, so that might get you where you need to go. With a 4-way switch, a mini-toggle, or a push-pull pot you can get series and parallel options for the middle position on your pickup selector. Two Tele pickups in series sound pretty great. Depends on what kind of "heavy" you're after though.

[mathias]

Yeah. I wouldn't overthink this too much. Start with basic Tele single coils or noiseless singlecoil pickups IMHO.

[Mudfuzz]

Well, the one advantage of going with Warmoth would be that they seem to be the only company that routes for the bridge I want, and I'd be buying the bridge from them too, so I feel pretty confident that'll be a good fit, which means the main variable will be whether the neck fits the body snugly (and of course pickguard, etc.). And with the neck being a squared telecaster style, I feel better about my odds than with something curved. I'll definitely keep that all in mind, though.

Not knocking Warmth for their service or quality but I'm going to suggest some alternate options that are also Tacoma WA based companies [meaning these will have a chance of being ex Warmoth people] because you always need more options and I don't like Ken Warmoth all that much
https://www.bestguitarparts.com
http://www.usacustomguitars.com
- don't know if they have what you need both worth a look and maybe drop them a message/email..

[Benn Roe]

Thanks! I actually emailed USACustoms a few weeks ago to ask if they were able to route for that bridge and they couldn't. Thanks for rcommending Best Guitar Parts, though. I'll write and ask them.

[Benn Roe]

It begins...

[morange]

Man that neck looks sweet.

[Benn Roe]

I'm still very slowly planning this project all out. What would be involved with doing my own edge-binding on a telecaster-style body? How difficult is it?

[Muff_Diver]

Traditionally, you'd route out the space of the binding itself, then glue the binding into the newly routed space.

Another way is to tape off where the binding would be, then finish the guitar, remove the tape, and build up clear coat, creating a natural binding.

Neither is particularly difficult or demanding in skill, but power tools and finishing can be intimidating to those who aren't familiar.

[Benn Roe]

Hmm, okay. I'm definitely planning to finish the guitar myself, but was considering a "natural"-ish finish on the body, with baby-blue binding, so the tape trick would have to be done in reverse. I've also used painter's tape on walls enough times to be nervous about the results there. I'm going with a Warmoth body, and they can do the binding for me, but I assume binding before finishing is a bad idea? Maybe I can get them to rout for binding, and I can glue it in myself? The point of this project was to familiarize myself with the inner workings of a guitar, not necessarily to take up woodworking. The woodwork does interest me, but I think that might be second or third build territory. Thanks!