Flying V Neck-thru build

[Lycking]

Hey there!

I've been walking around for a really long time wanting to begin another build, and now has the time come where i finally got myself together and has begun. It's spring so why not!

So here goes..

SPECS:
Flying V style
6 strings, 24 3/4" scale length
Ebony fretboard
3pc flamme maple/walnut/flamme maple neck through
Walnut body "wings" (Hitting the lumberyard for the walnut for this+neck tuesday)
Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P90 gold neck PU
Seymour Duncan ??? bridge PU (Open for suggestions, thinking pealy gates or APH-2? )
2 Piezo pickups

Tone-o-matic bridge gold
'58 flying V tailpiece gold
Mother-of-pearl 6mm dot-inlays
Mother-of-pearl 2mm dot side inlays
2-way truss rod
21 jumbo frets

Brass nut
3 tele style dome knobs gold

Still considering:
Rosewood truss rod cover
Gold strap locks
Rosewood pickup rings
Gold pickup rings

Wiringen will be:
Neck+bridge pickups --> 2x volume pots, 2x tone pots --> 3 way switch
Piezo's -->volume pot, (maybe a tone pot), --> 3 way switch with the signal from the 3 way switch above as one of the inputs (the other being piezo's obviously), so i can mix the 2 PU's with the piezo.

It's gonna take a while, since i use a lot of time on my education, my job and my lovely girlfriend, but the goal isn't the speed but the result i suppose

[Lycking]

A few pics of what i got so far;

Flame maple neck blank:

A little outlay of what i got so far

A nice ebony fretboard

And recieved these small packages an hour after i took the pictures haha

Not going to use the tailpiece of course, but it was sold together :-)

[Lycking]

... And the black MDF is of course just templates

[Prostheta]

Looks like a tasty recipe. :-)

The only thing I have found is that those cheap two-way truss rods can be a problem with stripping of the adjustment nut. Not a huge problem, but a relevant one since the nuts cannot be replaced. I've decided to try using one-way rods for future builds since it is rare that I find instruments require forward bow dialling in.

Madinter, eh? I don't recall them selling templates, but hey! That's pretty cool that they do. Thick ones too, unlike the silly 4-5mm laser-cut hardboard ones seen around.

[killemall8]

What would be the purpose of 2 piezos?

[Lycking]

@Prostheta Yeah they are selling lots of templates now (not cheap tho!), and they are massive! These are 1cm thick everywhere

@Killemall I read somewhere that using 2 would improve the balance in the sound, especially if they were placed 2 different spots in the guitar, like in the PU cavity and in one of the outer wings. Still not sure about this, but gonna have some fun with test wiring when i recive my jacks.

And there were 2 in the pack i bought, so eh haha

[killemall8]

I didnt even know you could place them in places like that. I thought they had to be on the bridge.

[Lycking]

I don't think so, they're often used like this if you don't want to drill in an acoustic.
Just placed on the top and goes to a jack and/or a preamp

Like this:

Edited March 17, 2014 by Lycking

[Prostheta]

Is this the same type that you will be using? I'm not entirely sure how well it will work in a solidbody compared to the larger resonations found with soundboards of acoustics.

[Lycking]

Kind of, you can see them next to the body on the 2nd picture.

Have seen a few using them in solidbodies, but as said will i try it on another electric when my jacks arrive

Edited March 17, 2014 by Lycking

[Lycking]

Aaand if everything goes wrong am i just leaving the Piezo idea, it's just for fun anyways

[Prostheta]

By all means try it! Everything is a learning experience.

[Lycking]

Indeed is! I always prefer making/building things instead of buying, to learn how my stuff actually works

Hitting the lumber later today! Hopefully they got what i need..

Edited March 18, 2014 by Lycking

[Prostheta]

Double check the moisture content. It should be around 8-10%, 6-12% outside bet.

[Lycking]

Any ways i can calculate this from ex. the wood's density, or is a moisture meter required?

[Lycking]

Oh joy, got some top notch american black walnut for an amazing price

Got a blank of 20x5,2x300 cm, they didn't want to sell less

....But i paid the half of what a similar 70cm blank would cost on the bay with shipping!

.... And it's not a bad excuse to build more walnut axes when you have a bunch of the wood already

[pan_kara]

nice score

[Lycking]

Thanks!

Also, progress on a wednesday!? That's a new one for sure

Fixed the fretboard hole and rough cut body wings.

Also, i had to check the grain, couldn't wait

So i found a random no-name spray can with some laquer, the pics looks more reddish than they are in person, but apperently my camera takes photos like a toster when there isn't proper lightning..

[Lycking]

'Am sorry of the lack of updates, but finally moving on a little
I FINALLY found a closely matching drill for the fretboard markers, so i went onboard in that..

Holes drilled




Mother-of-pearl dots glued in



Sanded flush and filled out
Theres really some amazing pattern and grain in the pearl, but it can't be seen on the pictures at all


I'll get some better photos when i'm not too lazy to find my camera instead of my phone

The last couple of days have i recieved a couple of packages, so there has been delivered tuners, 3-way switches, pots and coppertape in miles
Sadly the tuners are totally miscolored and green (more than on the pictures), even though i bought them as being white and almost pearloid ish... I guess i'll have to pay out for a couple of quality tuners like gibson/grover/kluson instead, maybe just a set of wilkinson E-Z locking, they're suprisingly good for the price

So thats about it for today

Edited March 29, 2014 by Lycking

[Lycking]

Lately i realised my lovely girlfriend's dad has a surface planer and a thickness planer at their home workshop, so i thought it was worth to use, since my grandad gave his huge one away a year ago

So i got the wings and the neck planed to the right thickness and width

In some way did i apparently cut the walnut so it got a little bookmatched, even though i cut it two different places of the blank




Had to check it with a bit of hardware on aswell






I think it's beginning to look kinda promising

[ScottR]

Almost ready to play!

What are you planning for that slice of agate?

SR

[Lycking]

Haha that's the plan to get to at least!

And i'm actually not completely sure, i want it in the headstock, but i don't think i have the skills nor the tools to inlay it without messing either the wood or the agate up.. So i'm thinking about just gluing it on with CA, it's only about 3,5 mm thick, and actually looks quite nice when it's just on top of the wood

[Lycking]

Went past my grandad's workshop and got the scarf cut done [] 14 degrees and then to glue




Clamps and titebond gets you a long way!

[Lycking]

Also managed to cut the trussrod channel in a break between painting my room

First time i ever do a scarf joint and first time ever i route a trussrod channel, so i'm quite happy with the results for sure!

[Lycking]

Began shaping the back of the neck, and when i went wrong with the router (tried that since i dont have access to a bandsaw of any kind..) and routed a 2mm channel almost all the way down through the body part of the neck, i decided to put away the router and get to work with a hammer & chisels. Back to basics

Sadly, after cleaning up after the mess did i make quite a chip in the side of the neck where it's glued with the wings.. What in the world should i do to fix it?? (picture follows)

Here's what i got so far with the chiselwork... gonna plane it with a belt sander later.