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6 string electric for me


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So- i have wanted to do this for a while. I have other projects I need to finish- but this one for whatever reason has the fire under my arse at the moment so its getting my attention. 

I have wanted a jazzmaster, but I never really dug the upper horn on them. In the last couple of years I have noticed a lot of various players with Fano JM type guitars-and thus the itch was started with me. 

I want to build mine out of all mahogany though.,

Start with some plans:

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what to do about that horn I am not so fond of- trying some options- still not liking any of them

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this will get a headstock like the old Teisco guitars- I love those crazy things- 

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I bought that quilt close to 20 years ago now. I bought it specifically due to the quilt pattern- as it matches Jerry Garcia's Wolf guitar- and at one point I probably had a hair in my back end about building a copy. It sits in the bottom self of one of my wood shelves- waiting patiently. 

So- I started thinking I wanted an upper horn on this like an old Maton MS series, but it didnt look right on this body- so- I ended up opting for this- 

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but then I thought to myself- I have seen this guitar before. Yeah- duh- look familiar? An old Teisco GS-64.

 

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My upper horn is a little fatter like the Maton- but more forward like a fender. So- not sure if this has any originality to it- but its what I want. 

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23 hours ago, ScottR said:

And look--it has an F-hole all the way through it. I've never seen one of these before, but it goes to show there is nothing new in the world.

SR

Ha! That's what I was thinking. Maybe it's a proto Ibanez monkey grip.

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1 hour ago, komodo said:

Ha! That's what I was thinking. Maybe it's a proto Ibanez monkey grip.

That's it!

Actually I've done a couple with an F-hole that goes all the way through like that, and this is the first one I've seen...excluding the monkey grip...that also had that feature.

SR

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putting the "plans" onto 1/4" mdf board to cut out for making templates. I do this on 1/4" first- as it is easier to sand and dial in, then attach that 1/4 inch template to 1/2" or 3/4" (whichever I happen to have on hand) and then take it to the router table. The 1/4" master then goes into storage, and if anything happens to the thicker templates (ever drop MDF onto concrete?)- I always have the masters to resort to. 

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a quick visit with a jigsaw and band saw and we have rough cut templates.

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I will take to the sander to get close- finish off the straight edges of the neck with a straight edged template attached and trip to the router table with pattern bit. once all is said I done I pipe in some CA on the edges- let it dry- and kiss it with 400 grit attached to block or dowel for the inside curves. 

 

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in the mean time while that paper plan dries completely before i sand it- time to start cutting some mahogany. I dont own a planer- so- I end up using a slightly thicker than final body thickness blank, i joint one edge and then glue that edge- any "unevenness" caused by using a rough cut face against the joiner fence will come off when I use my thickness routing jig.  This wood is just under 2" thick. 

The table saw is buried under rumble, so- circular saw it is. 

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Neck blank. This I can square up and prep on my Craftsman 4" table top jointer. I have said this years ago- most table top tools are crap- I know- I own a bunch- but this is truly a decent tool for the money. Unfortunately with mahogany- and any wood really- you never know what removing a couple of millimeters of wood might reveal. A nice worm hole that wasnt present on the surface. and my luck- on the other side too. I am going to continue on- with the possibility that this neck blank gets scraped. the first hole is up around the headstock- the second by the first fret area. 

 

 

 

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glue up on the body wood. - again- this will get eaten by the router thicknessing jig tomorrow- almost a full 1/4" of wood is coming off. ( in case anyone is wondering- that is my new roof sitting in the driveway thanks to tropical storm Irma -going on Monday)

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neck getting (top) headstock ear attached- prior to applying 2 more clamps (in case Carl got nervous I was only going to use one clamp :-)) I am trying to get a lot of the glue squeeze out prior to applying the other clamps

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tracing it up to get an idea, Not sure what that weird reddish hue is in the pic- ghost in the machine I guess. 

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gluing up the ears on the neck now-I usually dont do this prior to routing the truss rod channel- but this time around I will be using a trim router with an attachment I was gifted, and since my blank is square- and I will be using a spoke wheel truss rod with access at the body end of the neck- I am good to go. 

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@MassimoPL77 's beautiful inlay job on that Les Paul he did got me to thinking about an inlay for this guitar. hmm.but not with shell -looking thru old odds and sods of pen blank cut offs I got on the cheap years ago-I am thinking about wood inlay- but  what should my subject be. .......hmmm-my avatar is calling ..maybe if I can actually pull this off without looking like crap  I can call this the "NatchMaster". I think that beard has to be done in shell though- white m.o.p. Not sure the Holly blank I have will stay that white. may need to do a test run. use black epoxy for the outlines/eyes- and place it all in a circle of flame or quilt maple. Shoes in walnut and koa- that shirt....not sure if I will use the yellowheart or may be the nara or maybe something else. Osage orange would be nice but it will change over time. 

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I told myself that I am going to try to post something- anything- progress wise- no matter how small every day- or at least every other day on this build. I have some serious vacation time I have to start burning by end of year so- I should be able to make some progress every couple days. if I stop posting who knows- I might disappear for a couple years.........(:blush)

with that said- today's progress- no big deal- just rough cut the body blank with a jigsaw. I will further clean it up on my little 9' band saw (ha ha ha ha) if possible- or else take it to the belt sander and get it a bit closer to the outline before routing the body.

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  • 3 weeks later...

so- Thanksgiving Holiday got in the way of progress here. I also changed my mind on my original idea regarding electronics and such. 

I have finalized on the following

Fender style trem vs the bigsby I was going to use for this. I am saving the bigsby for another project, 

I was originally going to go with 2 P-90s but I want some balls in the bridge - but I didnt want to give up on the p-90 either- so- compromised and going to use a Seymour Duncan P-rails in the bridge, and I was going to use a mini DPDT on/off/on switch to go between the p-90, the rail and then humbucker (series)mode-(I did this with a lap steel I built a few years back) but I notice Duncan has come out with these  Triple Shot humbucker rings with switches in them that allow for the p-90/rails/and humbucker in both series and parallel modes. Think I will give that a shot and have one less switch on the face of the guitar.

I am doing a test on the headstock. It appears that teisco guitars did not have a headstock angle. they also appear to not have string anchors-so- I am wondering how "deep" the face of the headstock has to be to get enough pressure over the nut so not to cause any issues. In other words folks- i havent completely finished the "plan" for the neck- and should before I continue. 

progress pics forthcoming

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