After building the maple/walnut Tele, I decided I needed another rosewood necked guitar in my life, I troubled GSPBASSES with my idea for a hardtail (same Schaller bridge as on the Tele) Strat style guitar, with a fancy top (once I saw the Koa top, I had to have it!) routed for a P90 and humbucker with a rosewood neck that had a 70’s style large headstock.
This is how it arrived with me
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As per the Tele, the plan was to finish with Eze oil and wax for a smooth natural looking finish. Before oiling, the neck was sent off to Rothko and Frost to have my signature CNC’d (abalone again) into the headstock.
With the neck away, I started oiling the body. I sanded the body smooth first then set to work
![](https://i.imgur.com/HtwNx3d.jpg)
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![](https://i.imgur.com/Cxu16vy.jpg)
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Once the first coat of oil was dry (Eze oil feels dry / hard quite quick, but I tend to leave 24 hours to be safe) I de-nibbed the finish using 0000 wire wool and set to work on the second coat, with the oil on the koa looks amazing in the light
![](https://i.imgur.com/H5SUDXW.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/89ZXMFc.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/kxG4HeG.jpg)
This is how it looked once the 2nd coat had dried under the light
![](https://i.imgur.com/AKoO6VRh.jpg)
I de-nibbed again and applied the 3rd coat of oil. I then left the body to harden for a week. Once the oil was fully cured I applied two coats of Briwax, I did this by liberally applying the wax with 0000 wire wool then buff off. The photos make it look shinier than it is, in real life it’s more of a deep finish than the glassy looking one you see in the photos
![](http://i.imgur.com/6HTfJGq.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/UGKYo1a.jpg)
![](http://i.imgur.com/1aa61ME.jpg)
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With the body complete, the neck arrived back from Rothko and Frost, the first job was to glue in the inlay
![](https://i.imgur.com/3rd1fOI.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/Vrf0Hes.jpg%C2%A0)
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With the glue set, I then sanded the inlay flat, rolled the fretboard edges and sanded the rest of the neck in preparation for the Eze oil finish
![](https://i.imgur.com/cRcj5rJ.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/PuU7U5d.jpg)
I then applied the Ezeoil
![](http://i.imgur.com/ORBXDVq.jpg)
As per the body, once the first coat was dry, I de-nibbed and applied a 2nd and 3rd coat. I then left for a week to harden. This is how the neck looked after two coats of Briwax
![](https://i.imgur.com/Q9e97QK.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/rXSFjFh.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/iwQPTZf.jpg%C2%A0)
I had custom ordered the pickups from Mojo so spent the time I was waiting wisely by performing a fret level. Once complete I put the body and neck together and put some strings on so I could fit the string tree
![](https://i.imgur.com/Ocz9sUR.jpg)
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I then performed a setup on the guitar, getting the action right and getting the nut right, fitting the pots and switches in anticipation of the pickups arriving
![](https://i.imgur.com/jeX397d.jpg)
![](https://i.imgur.com/mDKygsz.jpg)
The pickups arrived, the soldering iron came out and the guitar was put together
![](http://i.imgur.com/XcWeBSy.jpg)
My customary black background shots of the finished article
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