NGD: blonde '74 Telecaster Custom (HELP?! woodwormed!)

[Pacafeliz]

well yes this is a rare mixed feeling NGD.
so this über cool beater '74 Tele Custom came up for sale locally (about 1.5hours away) and i panic sold a bunch of shit to buy it... cheap, i'd say. or, i though.
but i've been looking for one of these for the last 20 years or so (mentioned it here about a million times in every custom thread...). this is the one, i thought.

i saw that it was quite beat (which i like) and white (which makes it kinda rarity).
so the guy (metal band manager) sez he'd bring it to me in puebla and i met him on the way to picking up my daughter yesterday.
i felt it was kinda light, but early 70s at fender, you know the standard was that there was no standard. and it's also no feather weight.

so guy tells me it was his uncles, and stashed away at his farm for years.

i take it home to setup and try out, etc. and i realize this fine kinda sand all over me but don't really care.
guitar sounds great, works pretty much ok, needs a nut and stuff but ok ok. great deal. btw, it's not white, it's BLONDE ash. kewl.





but then i get worried about all that sandy shit everywhere. then i notice the wood worm holes.
they're pretty much everywhere, but mostly on the bottom. there's some real holes where i think it's only a thin layer of "solid" wood and paint but it's hollow under it!
SHIT!
i don't really know how extensive the damage is, or how recent. if the wood eating is going on or if it's ancient.
checking out the neck pocket i almost freaked out. it's all eaten up... but for some reason still solid.



and with the tilt thingy removed...


i'm worried. i mean, this was supposed to be a rocker, but it might fall down once and fall apart?!
i planned this one as a keeper anyway, and i will play it to death, but i don't want it to just disintergrate!!!

should i take it to x-ray? or what can i do to know what's really going on in there?!

dunno how to explain it all. it looks and sounds and plays great, but when i move the body, you can actually HEAR the "sand" moving in there. and every once in a while it kinda pours out of a hole.

how can i know if this is from the past or if these things are still munching on the wood?
can i somehow fill this up? epoxy? wood filler? liquid rubber?

HELP!?

[Pacafeliz]

just some more pics. sorry, it's my ancient cam from the early 2000s.

btw, there's also some holes in the headstock and other spots of the neck...

[Andreas N]

I'd take it to an exterminator and have them spray it with something toxic.
Maybe try to spray the holes with canned air to get the sawdust and dead woodworms out.

[Squirrel]

I'd definitely get it as far away from your other guitars as possible until you're absolutely certain that they're dead. Woodworm can spread at an alarming rate. Hope you get it sorted though, that's one of the coolest Teles I've ever seen!

[finboy]

Definitely make sure they are dead, then spray it out, and reinforce the neck joint. After that, enjoy the face that you have the only thinline custom tele in the world! Lol

[Vanderfuzz]

Wood worms aside, that is a beautiful guitar (one of my bucket list models). I definitely agree you need to keep that thing quarantined. It'd be a shame if it spread to your other guitars.

I feel like chemicals may be the only solution. I wonder what the extent of body damage is.

[axehound]

How can the worms still be alive without a water source,unless there is enough moisture in the wood to sustain them? If they are still alive and if you can find some ants that don't eat wood,maybe you you could put the body and neck only in an aquarium with the ants. The ants would eat the worms,then you poison the ants and use compressed air to get rid of dead ants,dust ect. I know this sounds like a crazy idea but it might work so please don't take it too seriously.

[rumfoord]

i'm worried. i mean, this was supposed to be a rocker, but it might fall down once and fall apart?!
i planned this one as a keeper anyway, and i will play it to death, but i don't want it to just disintergrate!!!

It's a pretty expensive for performance art, but that is some poetry! Play it until it explodes! And a lesson in impermenence is kind of perfect for the "perfect" guitar you've been searching for years to find. If your into it. Really sorry if I'm making things worse!

My first thought about the bugs was a wood drying kiln. Maybe there's some middle ground between the temperature the bugs dye and the point where your paint melts/bubbles. Maybe not, actually.

Please post pictures if you send it to X-ray.

edit: what about a giant ziplock/vacuum packed bag for some length of time?

[spook]

I was always told that if you can see evidence of woodworms, it's usually a sign that they're already gone. That could be an old wives tale though, this country seems to run on old wive's tales...

[Pacafeliz]

well i've heard that some weeks in the freezer will get rid of 'em.

should i...?!


hmm i'm gonna make some ravioli. where are they?
- behind the guitar body in the freezer, honey!
wtf pat?!

[spook]

well i've heard that some weeks in the freezer will get rid of 'em.

should i...?!


hmm i'm gonna make some ravioli. where are they?
- behind the guitar body in the freezer, honey!
wtf pat?!

What kind of weirdo keeps ravioli in the freezer?!

[chacha]

Know any carpenters or exterminators? Bet they would have a solution.

If you have to, fill the holes with epoxy.

Don't give up on the beauty.

[Fenderguy]

What a cool tele, congrats!

But damn, never seen anything like that before. I`d also check with a guy that knows about this, and then reinforce that joint.

Hard to tell from the pics here, but can you see the grain through the finish?

[Pacafeliz]

What kind of weirdo keeps ravioli in the freezer?!

me! the amazing frozen ones!!!

Hard to tell from the pics here, but can you see the grain through the finish?

yep.
i was a bit hesitant, but i decided i will also clean her up a bit with clorox wipes this afternoon.
same thing i did with the '73 tele i picked up a couple months ago.

you guys know i LOVE the crackwhore looks, but man grime is just too grimey, sometimes...



ps: weird, so i have 2 blonde 70s teles (std. and custom) and also had the rare blonde mustang.
don't remember if the '72 jazzmaster i sold to dano was white or blonde... will check!

[ChrisFFTA]

That blows Pat but the odds were stacked against you! After so many years of fab luck you had to get a bad egg sometime