The Fool Guy Posted November 19, 2010 Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 This is my first build. Mainly a practice run, done cheaply (if there is such a thing with guitar building). I've had a thread running on the UK Guitar Builders Forum, (http://simnettguitars.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2034.0) but thought I'd add it here too. A quick summary of where I'm at so far... Body Blank, complete with huge knot... Planing Jig - copied from someone here on PG but I can't find the post now, so sorry for not giving you credit... After planing... Body rough cut... Routed... Cock-ups... That's about as far as I've got with the body... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted November 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 Neck: Truss rod channel Another cock-up ... Fretboard slotted... and glued (yes, I know, more clamps needed) That's it so far, apologies for the brief run through, willl keep this thread up to date from now on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPA or death Posted November 19, 2010 Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 It's a good start Fool . Seriously, looks good. Just keep us posted on the progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geo Posted November 19, 2010 Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 Looks good. Don't let the router slipups getchya down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted November 19, 2010 Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 Looks like you're off to a great start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ross Posted November 19, 2010 Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 Looks solid so far, good job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iluvteles Posted November 19, 2010 Report Share Posted November 19, 2010 I've been following this over on UKGB and I copied your take on the router jig to flatten the body blanks which now I find out you copied off someone on PG. Thanks whoever you are. Its good that other DIY guitar builders are using the clever jigs to help us all. Your build is coming on and as already said the router defects happen all the time. As least to me. I just blend them in with sandpaper. After all if you want a fender. go and buy one...no harm done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted December 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 (edited) Got the neck cut out this weekend. There was a gap in the fretboard join (not enough clamps) about a cm away from where the edge of the fretboard would be... Got the neck cut out... Result!! The gap was just on the very edge of the blank and once the neck was cut out the join was perfect. Finally something goes right! Will still add a lot more clamps next time. Been off work with the lurgy for a couple of days so decided to get started on the inlays rather than sitting around feeling sorry for myself. So... a few hours and about 20 blades later... They still need a bit of a tidy up, they're not identical but as they're flames it doesn't really matter... Hoping to get the board routed and these things in this weekend, also need to cut out the headstock and start sizing up the neck profile Edited January 12, 2011 by The Fool Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mender Posted December 2, 2010 Report Share Posted December 2, 2010 I like those flames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted January 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 Been a bit slack with updating this over the Christmas break so here's where I'm at now... Got the inlays in and fretboard radiused I did manage to snap one of the inlays but glued it in anyway, it doesn't look too bad Fretboard sanded to 1200, shiny... Got the headstock cut out. I did try playing around with different designs but as I have the artistic skill of a 4-year-old they all looked pretty crap so I went with a standard Strat headstock in the end. It still needs a bit of tidying up and a mm or 2 taken off the thickness. Complete neck I've gone for a slightly rounder end to the fretboard than a standard strat, still very rough Next up for the neck will be to recut the fretslots and fret it, then onto the carve, should be interesting :-\ My router packed up on me just before Christmas, but as Santa had already maxed his credit card there was no new router under the tree this Christmas , maybe next year. After a quick read on the interwebs I discovered it could just be the brushes... It was. So about £5 and a few minutes cursing over some fiddly router innards and we're sorted. Got the body rounded over and the neck pocket cut out. Hey, this is actually starting to look like a guitar I used the "put neck in place and use straight pieces of wood to act as a template" method of cutting the neck pocket. I put tape along the edges to make the pocket very slightly smaller but the router bit chewed them up. Neck pocket isn't as tight as I'd have liked, but it's certainly no worse than my Squier strat. Next up will be to nail on the neck and start on the tremelo and pickup routs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiscabob Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 Looks great so far, what bridge and pickups do you have in mind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strato-Master Posted January 12, 2011 Report Share Posted January 12, 2011 Next up will be to nail on the neck and start on the tremelo and pickup routs. Please tell me you mean screw on the neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted January 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2011 Looks great so far, what bridge and pickups do you have in mind? The bridge will be a standard tremolo, looks the same as the one on the bottom of the page on the link below... http://www.axetec.co.uk/axetec%20guitar%20parts%20spares%20pickups_042.htm I haven’t yet made my mind up about pickups. I’m upgrading the pickups on my Epiphone LP with IronGear Hot Slags so I was going to use the old pickups from my Epi on this as it is meant to be a (fairly) cheap practice build, but I’m tempted to put some IronGear Rolling Mills in it (just an excuse to try them out really) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted February 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 After delays due to broken tools my good lady wife bought me this for a Valentines/Early Birthday present . Just need a new drill press now... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bosch-POF-1400-ACE-Router/dp/B001E4EJ6M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=diy&qid=1298888429&sr=1-1 Managed to find a couple of hours on Sunday to get a bit more done. Routed the pickup cavities (still need to lower the side portions to accommodate the screws) and the tremolo cavity. Quick mock-up I can’t decide whether to dye it (was originally planning on blue) or just leave it natural :-\ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted February 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 Oops. Double Post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted March 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Can’t do too much more on the body until I get a new drill press (don’t trust myself to drill straight without one) so attention has turned again to the neck. I’ve kind of been putting off fretting the neck, not sure why really, but anyway the time has come. First few frets in... Trimmed... Bevel time... Done. Very pleased with the end result. That went very smoothly, no glue just hammered in. I did slip with the bevel file and scratched the tops of a few frets but not badly and it should be fine after levelling. On to carving the neck now. Roughed out the shape at the first fret and started on the 12th That's all folks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted March 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Another job I've been avoiding is the other side of the neck so on with the carve... I'd already roughed in the profile at the first and 12th frets. I used a spokeshave for the majority of the work, then moved on to files as it got closer to the correct profile, followed by 'shoeshine' sanding. Forgot to take pictures before I started... Done... for now. Really pleased with the end result. Also one of the most enjoyable tasks so far. Still needs a bit more work but will wait until the neck can be bolted on so I can get a feel for the shape as it is now. Meanwhile, the postman's been. Decided this would get new pickups after all, an excuse to try out some other IronGear pickups more than any thing else. The old Epi ones can go on a crappy guitar I'm planning to do up. Also got some locking tuners. New drill press should arrive at some time this week so can get back to the body next weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Themadcow Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Looking really good!!! The neck carving was actually the one thing I've enjoyed the most on my first build as well. Makes you feel like a real luthier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted March 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 Found a little time this afternoon so moved on to shaping the belly and forearm contours. The carves are quite subtle at the moment, I might take a bit more off as this body is pretty heavy and I only have the control cavity to go in terms of weight reduction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
immortalx Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 That's so clean for a first build! Keep going man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 The more of those Iron gear pickups I try - the more im liking them. Put 6 pairs into guitars for an order from a local guitar store last year, apart from the steam hammer I was impressed with them all. especially those Blues engine humbukers holy crap they are nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted March 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Yeah, I'm going for the Blues Engine/Dirty Torque combo for my 3rd build (PRS) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted August 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2011 Well, it’s been a while. Unfortunately life has been getting in the way of my guitar building which is a shame as the weather has been great for it. But, I managed to find a few hours to f**k up my first build today. First the tuner holes. Not too bad for a first attempt but one of them is slightly out of line. This is only a practice build so I’m not going to cry about it (worse to come...). I’ll definitely make a jig for this next time. It’s more noticeable with the tuners in... Drilled the body for the neck bolts... The recesses here are too tight to fit the ferrules in. Need to find a way to enlarge the holes slightly, any ideas are appreciated And then the neck, this is where things went wrong. I’m using the bolt with insert method rather than screws. I drilled the holes for the inserts. I knew I’d need to drill some relief for the edge of the insert so it would sit flush with the neck but didn’t have the correct sized bit. I thought of screwing the inserts in to the neck, cutting round then with an x-acto knife, then taking them out and removing some wood with a sharp chisel to create the relief. Unfortunately the fit was kind of tight, the insert was kind of soft and the hex key stripped the inside of the insert so there was no way to remove it. :D Lesson learned, always make sure you have the right tools for the job and be patient... So how to get around this? The only thing I could think of was to add recesses to the inside of the neck pocket to accommodate the sticking out inserts, so that there would still be a fair bit of wood-to-wood contact. Fortunately after all this the holes did line up... just. Progress on No. 2 went better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted October 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Finally had a few hours to make a little more progress on this one. Drilled the wiring channels and routed the control cavity... Also sorted out the router slip on the top horn... Just need to get the neck on now so I can position the bridge, then I'll need to actually start thinking about finishing this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fool Guy Posted October 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 News! Good news I guess. So I bolted the neck on to this one but the bolts were very stiff (inserts not lined up properly). Managed to get them tight with a bit of brute force but there was still a very slight gap between neck and pocket (forgot pics, sorry) probably caused by the relief holes for the sticking out inserts not being deep enough. So I took it off again and what should happen?... Yes, the inserts came out So hopefully, with a bit of farting about I can start this again and do a much better job of it. I'm guessing a plug cutter is the way to go here rather than dowels. I'm sure I have some left over maple knocking around. If anyone wants to chime in with advice before I f**k it up again, please do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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