mledbetter Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 I had thrown up a post a month or so ago in the general forum about the design of this but since it's almost complete I wanted to put the progress stuff in it's own thread. Here is the original design, with a few modifications (photoshop mockup) The design of the guitar is somewhere in between a les paul and a tele, and this is to the specifications of a friend of mine for whom this is being built for. Some love it, some hate it, but it's a custom order so I take no blame or credit for the fusion of the two (although I personally like it a lot) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Yeah, I remember that old thread. I like this rendering of it. It looks comfortable to play and it's a new spin on a classic shape. Looking forward to seeing the real McCoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Now, here is the guitar fairly complete and ready to start fitting. The body is alder with a flamed maple 1/4" top, .9 binding channel routed, gold hardware with traditional tele bridge/pu and a GFS gold retrotron humbucker in the neck position. The neck is flamed maple with a ziricote fingerboard that i have radiused and fretted but not trimmed flush to the neck yet. Truss rod channel is cut and ready to glue the board to the neck and then fret. Back is not contoured yet of course. Controls on this puppy will be a LP style toggle switch and 1 vol and 1 tone. Simple and to the point. The finish will be like the pic above, a trans blue with a black burst edge. Sides and back will be black opaque as there is nothing interesting to see back there Binding is cream and the control panel on the back will be made from the same ziricote as the fingerboard to tie it all in together. The heel will slightly resemble an AANJ joint, contoured, with bushing supported neck screws. Tuners are gold 3x3 kluson and the nut is TUSQ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 I don't have a ton of progress pics, but here are a few. 1. Peghead closeup 2. Body rough cut 3. Body Closeup I've got about 5 guitars in the works and this will most likely be the first one that I finish as I have been tweaking all of my templates and jigs. I'd say I have about 10 hrs in this build alltogether so far, although spread out over several weeks. That's it, hope you like it, and if you don't i'm sure i'll hear about it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Cool. Not sure what I think about the headstock but I appreciate the pics all the same. I would be VERY interestedin seeing progress pics of the finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Really neat looking project. Something I noticed... Your Maple has some really neat grain lines, not the flame, but the GRAIN. I think it would be neat to have a very subdued color, like honey-amber or something, that enhances the look of the flame, but ALSO is light and transparent enough to see the grain also. Not all Maple has interesting grain like yours does, I actually thought it was Ash at first glance. But if it must be blue, then so be it, I think it'll look nice no matter what you do, I was just pointing out a fact you might not have noticed, because a blue finish will completely cover over the grain and just show the flame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 yeah it's a very interesting piece of maple. Some of Rich's (fryovanni) stock. It's not a killer flame, but is nice looking and the edge grain is also very nice. Personally, I love amber guitars but the order is for a blue/black burst so that's what'll i'll give him I suppose. Maybe i'll try to twist his arm a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggardguy Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 I like that shape its original but not over the top, like.. a wolfgang mixed with a tele and a les paul. Now it just needs a few little changes scrap the tele bridge assembly and throw a nice gold floyd on there. Thats what I'd call a guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 The neck looks off. I think you mentioned that the fretboard hadn't been flush trimmed, so that's probably the issue there. It looks alright, but I think if you use this design again it -needs- a carve. The upper left bout just doesn't look quite right without one. Made any more progress on that Limba tele? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 well not only is the FB not trimmed, it's not attached either, it's just laying on there so that's why it looks strange too. This guitar has a sister, a mahogany and sycamore carved top that is not as far along. I like both. I love a carved top but this kinda gets that axis look too. The tele just needs the control cavity routed and she's ready to finish. Just haven't had time. I hated the neck so i'm doing something else with it. I don't like the scarf joint at all with the two very contrasty grains meeting up and not matching. I'll probably kick out another maple neck for that one to get it strung up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myka Guitars Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 I like the look of this design revision. I love the color too but I am a sucker for blue guitars. How is Zirocote to work with? Excellent work so far by the way. ~David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Hey, thanks for the kind words. The ziricote is pretty easy so far. if i remember correctly, it's in the rosewood family so it works about like that. I'm not going to route it, i'll plane or sand the edges flush. With all the wild grain I would say it's prone to cracking. Originally the FB was Katalox which is hard as a freakin rock. Very ebony-like. But it was too thick and I had messed something else up so I cut it off and went back to the ziricote. I'm hoping to finish the neck up this week and get the binding done so i'll shoot up some new pics as soon as I get some more shop time in. I like the look of this design revision. I love the color too but I am a sucker for blue guitars. How is Zirocote to work with? Excellent work so far by the way. ~David ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 You know Man Before I realy did not like the Tele bridge idea but Seeing It now With That Bridge On A Real body, I Like It!! !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Nice looking work Marcus. Can't wait to see some color. Peace, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digideus Posted August 9, 2005 Report Share Posted August 9, 2005 Outstanding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 Finally made some more progress on the body. Binding is installed (my first attempt at binding) there are a few gaps but I filled the worst one with CA/binding dust mixture and it's barely noticeable. THe other gaps are just filled with gap filling CA. I'll control what is visible when I scrape it and the very edge will be opaque black so the booboos should be hidden. Not completely unhappy for my first binding job. It was .09 thickness and was really stiff to work with. In the future i'll use .06. I just didn't have the bit for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 I also finished up the back of the guitar. Ferrule holes, control cavity, made the cover plate out of a piece of ziricote peghead veneer which will tie in with the fretboard. I also sculpted around the neck, contouring in for the thumb and the other fingers which make it actually pretty effortless to reach up to the 22nd fret. In no way like the standard tele/strat heel. All that's left is the neck screw bushing holes and i'm pretty much done. Oh and a small tummy contour was also rasped in. Back with cover plate on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 Oh man, that looks great. That should look amazing when you stain/paint it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 VERY NICE you know man I like The Look's of this thing! !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TenderSurrender Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 VERY NICE you know man I like The Look's of this thing! !!METAL MATT!! ← I Second that, This guitar is really looking great ! Great work so far dude ~~ Slain Angel ~~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doeringer Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 Good looking stuff. The shape didn't grab me at first, but I'm diggin' it as it is coming together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted August 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 Thanks guys for the kind words and comments. I absolutely love the design. I can't wait to see it finished. Obviously I know all the warts and "uglies" on it that are my mistakes but i'm trying to keep them to a minimum and coverable. I hope to get the neck done this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted September 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 OK.. at long last, i've rectified my piss-poor binding attempt.. My last one was .9 binding using stewmacs .09 bushing and router bit set which i really don't like cause they cut the channel so deep that if you use CA like I did you have to sand your wood down to meet the binding. I'd rather scrape the binding to meet the wood. So, i routed the old binding off with the same .09 bushing and used 2 layers of .06 binding. Inner layer is some faux abalone i had laying around (fabalone) and ivroid celluloid for the outer. Much classier than the cream PVC stuff i had before. I hand scraped the fabalone down some so it would be a little thinner and get the overall thickness closer to .09 rather than .12. I didn't laminate either, i put the fabalone down first, then put the outer layer and it worked like a champ. Other photos for those interested Better view of the flame Closeup of the horn better view of the fabalone now the body is done except for the neck ferrule holes. hopefully i can make some progress on the neck later this week. it's all done just have to glue the FB to the neck, then press frets, then contour the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted September 5, 2005 Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Man, Im soooo glad you re-did the binding. I didnt want to say anything, but I could see several of the gaps you were talking about in the pics. Great job on the 2nd try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mledbetter Posted September 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Man, Im soooo glad you re-did the binding. I didnt want to say anything, but I could see several of the gaps you were talking about in the pics. Great job on the 2nd try! ← yeah i was expecting a few "constructive criticisms" the first time around. There are plenty to be had this go-round as well, buit they aren't as blaring as the first. Since i thinned the interior layer by hand there are a couple of thick spots where the outside thins out a tad but fortunately both places are where it comes up to meet the neck so it almost looks like I meant to do that.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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