Denim Covered Telecaster

[rob bowen]

I made a body for a Tele neck that I had a few years back. Looking for an alternative to paint, I decided to try and cover it with denim from a worn out pair of GWG's. Here is a link to some build pics and description. http://my-denim-guitar.blogspot.ca/

[Bryan Bear]

Wow! That isn't necessarily my cup of tea but I do think it is cool. Looks like you did a good job too. How long has the fabric been glued in place and how is it holding up? A denim upholstered case wold be a nice compliment.

[rob bowen]

Thanks Bryan! It has been a few years now and it looks fine, hardly any wear at all that I can see.

[Eric Baack]

What does she sound like? Looks sweet

[Jason Rodgers]

Hey, that's pretty cool! You went to a lot of trouble to plan out all the pieces and sew them to fit. It looks good.

So, on your blog you say you wetted the fabric and wood, used "carpenter glue" as an adhesive, then stapled the face and back pieces to the sides. I can understand wetting the denim to make it swell a bit so it stretches tight when dry, but why the body? And what glue is it you used? The glue didn't soak through the fabric?

[Matthew Lau]

Looks "huggable" and friendly.

[rob bowen]

Ha, ha, yes, thank you Matthew. It's not cold on the tummy without a shirt on.

[rob bowen]

Thanks Eric, it sounds incredible. I was really surprised the first time I played it loud at a club. Considering it was made of 16 strips glued together. The pickup is a Seymour Duncan PAF. The sound is very rich in tone, growly, creamy, everything. The sustain is nice, and it can be a real dirty mouthed girl.

[rob bowen]

Hi Jason, the water was wiped onto the wood body just so the glue would soak in a bit. Not really necessary, but I did it to please myself. I used Lepage's Carpenter's glue. I was a bit nervous about the glue soaking through, and if it did anywhere, I did not notice. There are no rough areas on the denim, which would be a sign of that possibly. Nice thing about the glue in the damp fabric ... in tricky areas where I needed a smooth edge, the fabric "molded" nicely as the glue was starting to set.

[Jason Rodgers]

I wouldn't have thought of wetting the fabric. This gives me ideas.