MIM Tele D...what kind of wood is this?

[Clyde Bisbee]

Hey there, Just hoping I could get some opinions on this early 2k's MIM Tele Deluxe I'm restoring. I'd like to know exactly what kind of wood I have here so I can make better choices for applying finish. It's a 2003, I believe. I used a heat gun to get rid of that "plastic" poly, it was that brown, walnut color originally. Here are a couple pics....

My guess is that it's Alder. I'm planning to either use grain filler to make the grain pop a bit or use an ebony stain and sand it back to accomplish the same. After that I'm undecided as to whether I'll go with a greyish "driftwood" color or keep it a more natural walnut. I may go the Tru-Oil route, but I'm not into super shiny. I'd love to do a relic'd vintage blonde/aged white, but that's probably beyond my ability and/or budget.

Thanks for any input you may have!

Kerry

 

[EADGBE]

Looks like ash but I could be wrong. Is the guitar heavy or light?

 

[gkoelling]

This was alder with tongue oil finish, no grain filler or stain.



It was a cheap, Chinese body but sounded fantastic after I stripped it and used the oil.

 

[RockDC]

Looks like alder to me most of my ash bodies don't have that kind of grain... both of my alders look similar.

 

[Clyde Bisbee]

...Is the guitar heavy or light?

I would say on the heavy side.

Thanks!

 

[55GibsonLPJR]

my guess is either ASH or possible BASSWOOD since its a MIM.

 

[Clyde Bisbee]

Thanks for the input so far! Hopefully, someone will come along and say, "yep, it's xxxxxx wood, no doubt about it!"

Kerry

 

[Mr. Mukuzi O]

dunno; looks a bit like Maple to me. or Pine.

 

[Clyde Bisbee]

Def not pine. And I don't think Fender was using maple for MIM tele bodies, at least around 2003.

 

[stratter]

being a fender mim telecaster, unless it's some sort of special edition, it's always alder.

 

[Clyde Bisbee]

Sounds right to me, thanks for the assurance stratter!

 

[stratter]

no doubt about it, alder. It's pretty well figured as far as alder goes though. If it's a bit heavier, my guess would be maple, but fender doesn't normally use maple.

 

[bgmacaw]

If it's a 2003, it's alder.

90's MIM Fenders were usually poplar but there were some exceptions. They transitioned to alder about 2000-2001.

 

[Ron Kirn]

It IS Alder...

Ron Kirn

 

[Clyde Bisbee]

Thanks Guys!

Kerry

 

[war-knuckles]

how did this restoration job go strummn1?

 

[swiveltung]

It doesn't look like alder to me. Looks just a bit like ash with that darker open grain mixed in that shows best on the back. Although with most ash I would expect more of that. Could be one of the MIM oddball woods too...poplar/basswood might be a good guess. It could be Alder though, just hard to tell. Boy, you really got it clean! I've not had alder with those dark brown linear grains, but wood can do most anything sometimes.

 

[war-knuckles]

@Strummn1

 

[Clyde Bisbee]

Ok, so update....

Pretty sure it's alder. I tried conditioning the wood and doing this kind driftwood effect with wood dye and stain (decent stuff, from Woodcraft). It did not work out, looked pretty hideous, so I sanded it some more then bought some primer and "Vintage Cream" nitro from Reranch. I was pretty nervous, but got the hang of and actually enjoyed spraying the body. Then I made the mistake of using tinted clearcoat over the vintage cream, UGH! I wanted it to look aged, but the tinted clearcoat turned it more of a mustard yellow, yuck! Reranch really should let folks know that the tinted clearcoat over the vintage cream = deep YELLOW!! I tried sanding it off but decided that I'm going to need to just buy another can of Vintage Cream from Reranch and respray it, then just use the reg clearcoat. Right about this time (mid November) the weather got too cold to spray and my funds got tight so I had to put things on hold.

@war-knuckles I've really enjoyed the project and I CANNOT WAIT to finish it! I had the Fender RI WRHB's rebuilt by Brandonwound Pickups (he's got a video on YT comparing his rebuilds to original WRHB's and they sound fantastic!). Then I rewired the pickguard (with the rebuilt WRHB's) with some CTS 550k's and some 500k push-pull's on the tones, so I can split the coils...along with some orange drop tone caps. I also got a deal on some original 70's Tele Deluxe tuners which will make a nice addition to the vibe of this guitar. I'm really dying to hear this thing now! Here are some pics to show you all where things stand with the finish (and pickguard):

You can sort of see the blotchiness of the tinted clearcoat where I've tried to sand it off. I didn't want to go too crazy and go thru the nitro...then again, maybe I should just relic this baby and be done with it! Any thoughts, input or suggestions are welcome.

Kerry

 

[Boris Bubbanov]

Like Ron Kirn and others have said, that's 100% alder, Kerry. See those short, medium brown streaks all through the wood? That's classic, textbook alder.

You can try to apply Grain Filler to alder but it won't accept much at all - just tones the look of the wood and maybe eliminates a coat or two on your base. Ash, by reference, would gobble up a lot of filler, multiple passes or the grain pores will telegraph through the finish coats as they dry.

NH? definitely sit tight and let what you have done dry for a while. No "law" says you can't assemble it as it is now, play it in for a while and respray the disassembled body later when the conditions are much better.