crafty Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 I have started on a new project I hope to have finished in time for Christmas. It's a toddler-sized LP Special for my son, who's three: Scale length - 19 in. Body and neck wood - African Mahoghany Fretboard - Sapele Bridge - Wraparound chrome Pickup - cheap zebra humbucker from eBay Truss rod - 12.5 inch dual action Tuners - black Grover copies left over from the bari project Finish - something fun. Maybe a blue or orange dye with a polyurethane clear coat for durability. Frets - Fender medium jumbo. I learned my lesson to buy pre-radiused frets. They cost the same. Body size - 8 x 11.5. The shape was actually based on an LP-shaped picture frame my wife gave me years ago. It was perfect for this. Below is my initial sketch and fretboard layout. I will probably adjust the body joint to the 16th fret instead of the 17th, and the bridge is definitely not where the line is on the drawing. Fretboard will probably only have 22 frets instead of the pictured 24. More progress pics to come soon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted November 1, 2018 Report Share Posted November 1, 2018 Will be watching with great interest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaumgarrett Posted November 2, 2018 Report Share Posted November 2, 2018 Awesome project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted November 6, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2018 I got the neck blank joined and the fretboard slotted to 19 in. and radiused to 12 in. over the weekend. Now I need to work on shaping the neck. My fret dots should be on the way from LMII, hopefully they'll arrive sometime this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted November 4, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2019 Welp, Christmas 2018 came and went and I didn't have the time to finish the project. But that's okay. My son is a year older and less likely to smash the thing to pieces now. We found out in January that my Dad has cancer and we've spent the last year focused on his health and getting through treatment, which has gone extremely well and his prognosis is good. My wife was also laid off that same month, so it's taken a bit longer to purchase the last round of parts. But I started working on the guitar again in September and we're back on track to have it finished by 12/25. Here are some progress pics: Here is the basic neck cutout and slotted fretboard against the body template: Here is the body and neck fit together. The router table took a big chunk of wood out of the body and I had to profile it with the spindle sander: Here is the slotted fretboard with dot inlays: Side inlays: Fretted neck using my fret caul in the drill press + CA glue: Here is the neck mounted on the body: Size comparison with my full-sized LP: And here is the progress on the body to this morning. Rounded off the edges and routed the pickup cavity: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 4, 2019 Report Share Posted November 4, 2019 Good to see this going again. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADFinlayson Posted November 5, 2019 Report Share Posted November 5, 2019 A junior for Junior Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted November 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2019 I drilled out the control cavity and recessed the mounting hardware on the surface of the guitar. I'm using a long-shaft pot for volume control so I'll still have a good half inch of material between the top and body of the pot. I've also shaped the back of the neck on my father in law's disc sander and drilled all the holes for mounting the rest of the hardware and input jack. I should finish sanding this week and will stain and finish the guitar next week. The only thing I messed up on was not tracing the neck shape onto a template before I went to shape the neck. I might want to make some more of these in the future and that would have sped things up to have a master template for the neck too. Oh well. I still have the fretboard template that has the overall taper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted November 21, 2019 Report Share Posted November 21, 2019 It's not too late to make a template. If you get a flexible curve or contour gauge you should be able to transfer it onto a piece of paper then laminate it and cut it out This one is from plans, but is just laminated paper 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted November 21, 2019 Report Share Posted November 21, 2019 That's the kind of template I like! Far too often it seems that a hobbyist wants factory made templates and jigs for a one time project. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Well, I can't believe I actually forgot to post pictures of the finished guitar, but I did finish it in time for Christmas! The kiddo loves it and he loves trying to jam on it. I think it's a gift he'll have to grow into, but he loves having his own guitar to play with Dad. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 I'm not sure why my text isn't showing up for me, but I managed to finish it in time for Christmas! The kiddo loves it and jamming with Dad on his own guitar now. I'm particularly proud of my fretwork on this one, so much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted March 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mistermikev Posted March 4, 2020 Report Share Posted March 4, 2020 nicely done. yes, frets stand out... nice and shiny. good job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizman62 Posted March 5, 2020 Report Share Posted March 5, 2020 A Dad-made guitar is a treasure to cherish, a cheap bought one might get trashed at the first act of frustration when anger tells the guitar is faulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.