Kavanagh Customs

This is a very, very special body. As with all our work, it has been totally hand-built, the wood used in our work is always carefully hand-selected for it's individual tonal properties and always comes from sustainable sources (in this case: Ghana).

Mahogany is a well-known tone wood with a dense, tight grain and good weight (similar to maple) which makes it absolutely ideal for guitars, giving a clear and well-defined 'fat' tone similar to Gibsons® (many of the Gibson guitars are made from mahogany - whilst Fender tends not to use mahogany at all: it is more expensive and harder to work with). This, coupled with the thin layers of nitrocellulose leads to a very rich and toneful-sounding body, even acoustically.

The template for our bodies is taken an original 1961 pre-CBS Fender Telecaster and it's shape is almost to the original article in every way. It is made from hand-selected African 'Ribbon' Mahogany and looks stunning - there are plenty of pink and dark brown veins running through the wood grain. Although Mahogany is a generally moderately heavy wood (weighing just a little bit more than your average Alder body does), it has masses and masses more sustain than any other wood-type- the guitars we have built from mahogany in the past have always been absolute screamers with years of sustain - especially the Telecasters with their hot bridge.

We are one of the only companies the World-over who are producing these bodies so this is a rare and not-to-be missed opportunity to build yourself an amazing-sounding and very unique guitar. We also have mahogany necks that would suit this body perfectly for that all-mahogany look and feel: awesome with black plastic and chrome hardware!

The routing is the standard two single-coils Telecaster layout. All holes are drilled to connect the Telecaster wires up - all you need to do is drop your neck, pickups and electronics in, string it up and play! The finish is nitrocellulose (a rare thing to find on guitars today: we're one of very few workshops still shooting genuine cellulose) which really allows the sound to ring out rather than being trapped under the thick layers of polyurethane that other manufacturers seem to prefer. The finish is completely transparent so that you can see the mahogany colour and grain through - a very unique looking body and excellent sounding too!

We can also additionally provide a relicing service for this item if you aren't happy doing such things yourself yet still want a true used vintage appearance, just contact us to find out more!

Please note that this is not a Fender product, nor is it made in a sweatshop in the Far East by children getting paid 10p a day - it's much, much better than that. Like all our items, it has been carefully hand built to exacting standards and dimensions to ensure the highest possible quality, and the perfect fit for Fender, Squier and 98% of the Fender-copy market. We comply directly with Fender's own neck pocket dimensions (see the diagram on the left), although there may still be a small amount of work necessary to ensure a perfect fit.

If you have any doubt over whether any of our work is suitable or not for you, drop us a line, we're always happy to help.

This body has been left completely undrilled to ensure that it is suitable for anyone and everyone's needs - you can fit any type of scratchplate you like without having empty holes left under the scratchplate, you can fit a three or four-bolt neck, you can fit the tremolo system of your choice without the need to worry if the screw and string spacing is compatible with your body, or if the holes in your neck and body will line up. The advantages are endless and most importantly: it guarentees compatibility with the rest of your guitar. Please note that our Telecaster bodies do not come with the string holes pre-drills as standard - making them ideal for top-loading bridges, or else a very easy task to modify in your own home to accomodate a through-body stringing bridge.

Don't see exactly the part you're after?

We can build it for you to your exact specifications - nothing is too weird or whacky!

Contact us for a totally free quote and a chat about your requirements, and click here to see our price lists for custom-builds.

We can also supply all the parts you need to complete your guitar project, from fretwire and string trees to custom-wound pickups and polishing cloths! We will be expanding our shop in the near future so that you can conveniently purchase all these items at once but for the moment, contact us and tell us what it is you're after and we will happily arrange or source the parts you need for you.