govtmule Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 I routed the first neck pocket with the new jig. I'm satisfied with the results pretty much. Here's why the corners of the tenon are chopped off haphazardly. The original neck tenon is squared off and the neck pocket has radiused corners of course. I didn't square off the end of the pocket or radius the corners of the tenon because I planned the length of the tenon so that it falls in the bridge pickup cavity location. Most of it will be routed away. And in order to get the tenon to slide in the pocket I have to clip the corners. Since it will be routed away, I just sanded them off until the neck slipped into place. Awkward camera angle, sorry. Starting to look like a guitar though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 22, 2011 Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Love the neck jig. Everything seems to be coming along nicely. Do you find any changes in your approach due to building 6 at a time over just one? SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted November 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2011 Love the neck jig. Everything seems to be coming along nicely. Do you find any changes in your approach due to building 6 at a time over just one? SR Thanks, the jig is a pig and a half. I used 2 pieces of 2' X 3' 3/4" MDF for the base...it weighs a bit too much. As far as my approach goes, the big difference has been prior planning. Each night that I know I'm going to get some shop time I plan ahead what I'm going to try and get done. Partly because I want to maximize progress but mostly because once I have a tool or jig setup I do all six guitars. If I screw something up....it's times six. I should have been doing this all along. Repeating the same process six times has really not added as much additional time as I thought it would. If you can build one guitar from start to finish in 2 months it will definitely not take you 12 months to build six. Most of the time dedicated to a build, for me anyway, has proven to be in planning and setup. I have really tried to build processes and jigs with this build that I can re-use in all of my future builds regardless of design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted December 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 All neck pockets routed and necks mounted. Next step is to finalize the pickguard design and route for the pickups and electronics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted March 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2012 Finally, a little more progress. I cut and beveled all the pickguards. Here's a quick mockup to show the direction I'm going. I noticed after taking the picture that the pickguard was misaligned. It actually will sit a bit higher on the body, more towards the bass side, than this picture shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted March 24, 2012 Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 I've wondered how these were going. I like the hardware combination.....but I'm on the fence a bit on the pickguard. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted March 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 Thanks for the input SR...Progress has been super slow lately. I'm trying to start a side business that has been taking most of my free time. I had another pickguard design that I liked a lot better. It wrapped around the neck pocket on the bass side and followed the lines of the body a lot like a Jazzmaster's pickguard. It would require some hand finishing to complete the 90 degree inside corner and the goal with this batch is to produce a guitar and a process that is easily and quickly repeatable. I'm trying to remove bottlenecks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie H 72 Posted March 24, 2012 Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 I say go for the jazzmaster-style pickguard. a little hand touch can't hurt, and to be completely honest, i don't think that the one you have now looks all that good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted March 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 I say go for the jazzmaster-style pickguard. a little hand touch can't hurt, and to be completely honest, i don't think that the one you have now looks all that good. Thanks for the input Charlie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osorio Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 A Serial Builder!!! I love to do some like this with more than one guitar!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted March 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 It's kind of an experiment to see if I can iron out a process that I can repeat. The wood was a free score from a local mill so I'm not out much. Hopefully they turn out alright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted December 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2012 All necks fretted and fret ends nipped and filed flush Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted May 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 I decided to go with a semi-trapezoid neck profile. I thicknessed the back and used a chamfer bit to rough in the sides. All looked good at this point. Then the approach of doing these guitars all at once, six at a time, bit me in the ass. I started to finish sand the necks....some dark streaks started to appear. They got worse.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted May 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 Some dumbass (me) FORGOT that each neck has two carbon fiber rods running down the length of the neck. Not as deep as the truss rod, but deep enough to poke through the now carved neck. Awesome... ALL SIX.....firewood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted May 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 It did give me the opportunity to try my hand at steaming off a fretboard. That's one.....five more to go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psikoT Posted May 10, 2013 Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 My condolences... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted May 10, 2013 Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 Ouch! Just ouch. I hope you and Shad are starting a trend.... SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwedishLuthier Posted May 10, 2013 Report Share Posted May 10, 2013 Very clean fret board removal thou. Good job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted May 21, 2013 Report Share Posted May 21, 2013 What a bummer. Can you salvage the carbon fiber rods too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted May 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2013 What a bummer. Can you salvage the carbon fiber rods too? Not sure....they're set in with CA. Any ideas ? Since the necks are toast I could bandsaw it close and sand the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdshirtman Posted May 21, 2013 Report Share Posted May 21, 2013 What a bummer. Can you salvage the carbon fiber rods too? Not sure....they're set in with CA. Any ideas ? Since the necks are toast I could bandsaw it close and sand the rest. Maybe give them a good soaking in acetone? I dont know what that would do the rods but it might work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 21, 2013 Report Share Posted May 21, 2013 I wouldn't. The cost of new clean carbon rods is far cheaper than the cost of killing your bandsaw blade if it hits the carbon fibre weave. That and you would need to clean up the rods so that they fit into the new donor properly without additional slop being taken up with epoxy or whatever. Also - although I am not 100% on this - aren't cyanoacrylate glues a chemical cure adhesive which acetone will have difficulty denting when dry? You might spend more money on chemicals, bandsaw blades and time than you would just buying new rods. Just saying. If you think that you can manage it then cool. I'd just recover what is reasonable to and write the rest off to experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted May 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2013 Good points... Thanks for the question sdshirtman but I think I'm gonna toss them rods and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govtmule Posted May 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2013 I was able to salvage one neck. I can only imagine how much meat is NOT left between the rods and the sanded surface....I'm guessing a few passes with some 400 grit may start to expose the rods. I'm going to keep moving forward with this one to at least get SOMETHING out of this "build in batch" experiment. Having one completed, I at least can get a feel for some of the things that I may want to change for future builds of this model. Like electronics and hardware choices, strap button locations, jack location, control locations, etc. I already know that I'll going to incorporate a better pickguard design and an actual logo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 You know, as long as it is the carbon and not the truss rods the necks should be fine. You just need to accept the cosmetic appearance or paint them. The carbon - when set in - might as well be part of the wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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