DIY: My Jim Root telecaster with pallet wood – “FREEDOM”

This is the story of this guitar, but even more so of my first woodworking project.

I’ve always been fascinated by woodworking and for a long time I’d wanted to start making a guitar that I could play on stage and that would have a story to tell. I watched hours and hours of guitar-making tutorials, and woodworking is a wonderful art. The story caught up with me in December 2024, when my boss told me I’d be fired two weeks before Christmas. That was not my plan (as you can imagine), then my head was a mess. That’s when I said to myself: “Do something with your hands to clear your head”, and creating a guitar was the obvious choice.

I had a few days to mull over the decision, and I set about finding a pallet to salvage because the idea of making a guitar from wood that nobody wanted anymore resonated perfectly with my professional situation at the time. As fate would have it, the very next day, during my last week at the office, a pallet had been left near my desk (no idea who, why, or how). The sign of fate was too obvious to ignore, and the next day I returned with a crowbar to take the wood apart. The project was launched.

I want this guitar built before I get a job again, and more than that, I dream of trying it out on stage, so why not at SOUL CLAIM‘s last live show? This is how the project is progressing…

Some references at first & Shopping list

• Classical Tele blueprint with a discussion about the neck pocket depth (all cavities depth)
• Tele Jim Root template
• for pickup screwing
• my associative carpentry workshop: Geule de Bois (Nantes)
• Tru-Oil finish
• Wiring 1 splittable humbucker + 1 volume – define if you need Coil split OR series/parallel (spoiler alert, that will be the split option)
• Thomann for the electronics & goods (and reusing the Shaller bridge from the Broken Dream project):

Guitar cost: 558€ (pieces) + 208€/3 (reusable tools) = around 630€ and it took 12 days (16 hours of effective work)

The Thomann basket was donated in its entirety thanks to the generosity of my former colleagues at Skeepers (as a parting gift). My heartfelt thanks go to: Sarra, Charles, Julien G, Hélène, Alix, Chloé, Mathilde, Tonio, Christelle, Emilie, Cyril, Abby, Antoine K, Thierry (my boss), Isa, Chacha, Julie, Lambert, Jean-Philippe, Victoria, Nadia, Mélanie S.

What to do at the crafting workshop?

First, thanks to Arthur from Gueuledebois.fr, the initial woodblock is now ready to be crafted. In a single afternoon, I have to:

1. Create the MDF template for:
   • Control cavity
   • Neck pocket back to fill the body template
2. Shape roughly the body with the band saw
3. Use the router to:
   • Refine the body shape
   • Excavate the neck pocket: 15 mm depth – calculated according to this method
   • Excavate the pickup pocket: 25 mm depth (0.960″) – according to the pickup specs
   • Excavate the control cavity: 35 mm depth
   • Rond the edges: 3,17 mm radius, both sides
4. Drill the Jackhole: Ø 22 mm (0.875″)
5. Drill the volume button hole: Ø 8 mm
6. Drill the strap blocks holes: Ø 2,6 mm (0.104″) – Depth 19 mm

In green: What I had the time to do – in orange: what has been initiated but not finished – in black: not started, then to do at home

The crafting gallery

I cannot resist sharing some key steps of the project. This is so exciting to build something from scratch with our hands!

Key Learnings

• Start the router at the down position so as not to damage the template…
• Time is the master… do not rush, test & learn. If you need 24 hours between 2 layers, then wait 24 hours…
• Calculate 3 times, 5 times, 10 times your maths, once this is drilled… it’s done.
• Do not dry your wet pallet wood on convectors… This poor-quality wood will crackle and be damaged more than it already is.
• Neck alignment is key, take the time to align the neck, yes take the time…
• Do NOT check with your fingers if the soldering iron is hot…
• When you use your hands you make your brain free

Final result