Telecaster DIY Guitar Build

I built a Tele style guitar with wood and Masonite. The telecaster neck and electronics are from a Squier Affinity.
The body alone can be made very inexpensively, a small sheet of hardboard is about $8 and the lumber costs about the same or less.
I used construction grade lumber(buy seasoned lumber, if you can) and hardboard to make a guitar in the shape of a telecaster body.
After sawing the wood, and cutting out the body shape with a scrollsaw, I glued the hardboard top and back to the frame.
I made some templates out of paper, which were helpful for placing the pickup cavities and electronics.
An acrylic neck jig helped line the neck up properly.
Finally, I painted it a bright red color, with some truly suspect graffiti style spray paint.
I recorded some sound samples, which far exceeded my expectations for Squier parts. The Guitar is comfortable to play, not too heavy and keeps good tune.
It's a win, in my book!
Total cost for this build was right around $300, as follows:
Squier Affinity Telecaster....$230
Douglas Fir 2"x12"x8'....$18(divided by 4= $4.50 per body)
Hardboard/Masonite 4'x8'....$15(divided by 6= $2.50 per body)
Top load bridge....$15
Strings....$6
Spray Paint....$10
Vinyl Sticker....$4
Sandpaper....$20
Scroll saw blades....$10
Obviously this build could be made for much less if you already have a donor guitar, or find a $100 donor guitar. At the time of my Squier purchase, used Affinity teles were $200 minimum, so I decided to purchase new.
Currently, the cheapest similar new Dano guitar for sale is $500, so that's a pretty substantial savings.
Thanks KungFu Luke for the scroll saw(and the router)! Learn more at:
https://kungfucrimewave.bandcamp.com/...
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and Parts
00:34 Tracing paper template
00:44 First Glue up
00:49 Scrollsaw Body Cutout
01:24 Interior Cutout
02:15 Sanding Frame
02:51 Flattening Frame
03:11 Tracing Masonite
03:25 Cutting top and Back
03:42 Thickness sanding frame
04:03 Drilling wire holes
04:40 Glue Top
05:08 Glu Back
05:30 Body Cutout
06:14 Shaping/Sanding, Round 2
06:52 Paper Template DIY
07:13 Cutting Body Cavities
08:24 Sanding Body Cavities
08:40 Neck template/Centerline
08:50 Neck Pocket drilling
09:09 Neck Pocket routing
09:46 Final sanding
10:10 Roundover
10:55 Headstock Vinyl
11:31 Paint
12:34 Warning
12:50 Sanding
12:58 Wet Sanding
13:11 Polishing/Wax
13:27 Neck Hole Alignment
14:20 Neck Pocket drilling
15:47 Song Demo Begins
16:00 Neck Install
16:37 Neck/Bridge Alignment
16:50 Top Holes Drilled
17:09 Jack Plate
17:16 Pickguard/Neck Pickup
17:32 Control Plate/Electronics
18:03 Output Jack
18:29 Bridge and Pickup Install
18:53 Strap Buttons
19:09 String Up
19:28 Finished!