Official Luthiers Forum!

How much finishing do I perform on my tele before wiring, bridge, thru body strings. I don't want to crack or damage the finish putting on the hardware. Any guidence, please.
Thanks much,
Bob

??

Don't you have to do it all?

I apologize if I'm missing something here.

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Hey bob. Do you mean how thick, or how much of the process needs to
be completed first?

You can wire it up at any point to play it. You'll need to unwire it every
time you want to go further with the process, but just the jack and pickup
wires. The intermediary stuff between the switch and pots can stay as it
is. You don't want to heat some of those little prongs up too many times
though because they'll get weak and break. The bridge also needs to
come off.

If you mean thickness, it doesn't really matter in my opinion. You just
want to be able to level it without sanding through to wood. I like it thin
(looks old that way), personally. I have six coats on the tele I just posted
(0ver two coats of 2 lb. cut shellac).James Orr38815.4819328704

Thanks,
I was wondering about what if any electric and hardware should be installed befor finish.
Bob

On my electrics, I completely finish and polish before any assembly and wiring is done. However, I do trial fit and drill screw holes first. They will need redrilled after finishing, but only to clean them up a bit.

Al