Serial Number 029

Telecaster Thinline

*started on January 2025

My CNC guy worked on the design of the Telecaster – meaning instead of purchasing a file that is drawn out, he took dimensions and drew the guitar out on the program from scratch. We actually had to borrow a Telecaster to get dimensions that weren’t on a physical blueprint we had purchased. I believe it was for the depth for the pickups.

I am not sure where the idea of doing a Thinline guitar came from – initially this serial number was reserved for a Telecaster Thinline build for a customer. I didn’t hear back about this project and eventually assumed it wasn’t happening so it left a serial number in limbo.

A Thinline guitar would be a cool new project and this was brought up to me at some point in 2024. It has taken some time to draw the Telecaster body and more time for the changes to make it a Thinline. Several blueprints have been acquired as there are a few variations to the designs in terms of the cavity sizes.

Even though several bodies have been succesfully cut. I only know of a few test neck cuts and a fingerboard route. This would be our first full guitar build.

A pair of Seymour Duncan pickups have been ordered: SH-4 JB for the bridge and SH-2n Jazz for the neck. This combination is supposed to be very versatile and a good starting point.

The test cut of the Thinline body had some issues – some spots were routed too deep for an unknown reason but were addressed. Doing the top plate is next on the list of things but so far it is looking good.

*Update on February 26, 2025

Hardware has been ordered in for this and a few other projects. A guitar top was made and cut with very good results. I believe another body is in the works for test cutting to make sure the snags are worked out.

*Update on March 01, 2026

Over the last half year, the place where the CNC machine is at has had some major changes. The old CNC machine had been disassembled and removed and there was a big overall change in the layout of the new CNC machine and other tools in the room.

There were several changes in the files to cut the neck and fingerboard. Some of changes included changes to router bits and the actual diameter of them in the software parameters. There were also some minor changes to the body parameters in the software as well. The software is actually for metal milling but people use it for wood – Fusion. There are some quirks and issues with the software so sometimes we hit a brick wall and need to figure a way around the issues.

We have finally finished a complete test cut and is currently being worked on to see how it holds and sounds – even though it is just some “practice” wood.

I met up with the CNC guy to discuss the cut and some things we needed to change. The truss rod I we used in this first neck seems to be twisted and I think purchasing a new and different truss rod style might be the better thing to do.

As of right now, we will cut another test body, neck and fingerboard.