Southpa Posted December 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 (edited) What did you use to resaw yours to get those 3/4" bookmatched tops ? I called up a local woodworking establishment who does custom cutting for money. They quoted me $40 ($70 /hr) for resawing my wood. I figured thats a little steep and not a good financial start for "guitar from scratch" no.3. So I took them to a friend's shop and we opted to cut with his table saw. His bandsaw could only make 6" max. and my blanks were 7 1/2" wide. Two center cuts on either side and I still had to separate them with a handsaw, . Then we ran them thru a thickness planer a few times. A total of 3/16" taken out of the middle of each piece (inside faces) and another 3/16" off the outside faces. Thats a lot of wood I guess, enuf to make the grain wander. But thats the price you have to pay. At least all faces are flat and all edges are square. I can work with that. A GOOD start IMO ! Edited December 16, 2004 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDust_Junkie Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Yeah I see what you mean, but my table saw won't cut that deep, and the slab I saw at the local shop was about 10" thick with some of the bark still present. Still can't see how I could resaw that. I do know a gentleman up the road though that has a rather nice woodworking shop.... Could be worth a visit ! I actually had him do the planing for me on my first project and he has some really nice heavy duty tools. Besides I have been wanting to take my semi-finished guitar up and show him what his efforts help me produce ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Yeah I see what you mean, but my table saw won't cut that deep, and the slab I saw at the local shop was about 10" thick with some of the bark still present. Still can't see how I could resaw that. I do know a gentleman up the road though that has a rather nice woodworking shop.... Could be worth a visit ! I actually had him do the planing for me on my first project and he has some really nice heavy duty tools. Besides I have been wanting to take my semi-finished guitar up and show him what his efforts help me produce ! you could try a radial arm saw for cross cutting it, just go SLOW and hold brace your arm because it will want to jump forward Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted December 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 (edited) Now that I got my bookmatches (set aside for now) its time to get the other piece ready. I think I just barely made the stock dimensions for my 1 piece telecaster body. Will know for sure when I get the full size printout from the CAD drawing I sent to a buddy. The block is 1 7/8" thick so i have some room for shaping/sanding. Unfortunately the faces aren't exactly flat. So I figured the best way to flatten the faces of a 16 1/2" X 13" block was to build a sanding table. I glued 4 sheets of 40 grit sandpaper to a nice flat table. Checked for the high areas on the body wood with a steel ruler and hit them with a plane first. Then lay the block onto the paper and started shuffling . No dust flying around and just vacuum every now and then. I found its an effective way to flatten large faces of wood if you don't have shop facilities, its also a good workout! Hell, I'm doing this in my living room while watching TV! http://img139.exs.cx/img139/3821/tablesand28eg.jpg http://img153.exs.cx/img153/5766/tablesand34af.jpg Edited December 19, 2004 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 thats a neat way to flatten wood might try that, thanks for the tip and pics Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 19, 2004 Report Share Posted December 19, 2004 That's the way to do it 'on the cheap', Pa! I -love- cheap and easy ways to do the same thing a big expensive machine does. I have my own method of doing what you show there that is very close to your design, and just as inexpensive, and works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted February 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 (edited) Time for a little update. Its been a little while as I had to spend some time out of town on family business. I just got my 2X4 maple ripped down the center. I didn't bother taking any pics, after all, they are still just pieces of wood . But I have some concern as to the final dimensions, cutting it darn close after the planing and bandsaw kerf. I have 2 pieces, both 3 1/4" X 27" X slightly over 7/8" thick. I'd like to use one of those for a one piece telecaster neck, is that cutting things a bit fine? I noticed all the StewMac blanks are 13/16" thick but those are destined for a fretboard cap. I guess this definitely rules out a dual action trussrod, thinking of going with the Martin style "boxed" rod inserted in the back and covered w/ skunkstripe. I got the tele body cut out (jigsaw) and squared off all the sides and edges. I plan to route the neck pocket once I have the neck finished and afterwards will hit the body edges w/ a 3/8" roundover bit. Edited February 3, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassman Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 (edited) 3/4"-7/16" (hot rod)=5/16" remaining- I have never made a neck with single action rear installed rod, but i thought single actions take up less thickness. The oddest part would be the very shallow interaction it would have in the neck pocket. I may be wrong- but I think it can be done, yet I would not try it... except for on a mini instrument for my son. Edited February 4, 2005 by bassman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2005 (edited) A little more progress. I routed the trussrod slot and just finished fitting the trussrod. My original intent was to build a one piece maple neck w/ skunkstripe in the back but I found I didn't have enough thickness for the neck, was about 1/8" shy after the thickness planing and "unwarping" processes. So I bought a preslotted maple fretboard instead. I opted for the Stewmac hotrod (again), just managed to shoehorn that bugger in and had to do a little custom angle drilling for the access hole at the headstock. As the slot had to be 7/16" deep the adjustment ended up being under the plane of the headstock. If anyone hasn't seen exactly how a hotrod dual action trussrod works here are a few pics. relaxed http://img102.exs.cx/img102/8726/trussrod0037pl.jpg flexed (turned clockwise) http://img102.exs.cx/img102/4513/trussrod0042zg.jpg Its basic function is to counteract or "balance" the tension exerted by the strings to maintain neck stability. I doubt I would have to flex it as much as in the above picture as I will want the strings to provide a little more tension to give a slight bow in the neck for the proper "relief" (ahhhh) I need for playing. But the fretboard should still be well glued, clamped and cured before flexing. Without a truss rod the strings will be the only force applied on the neck so you can guess what could happen over time. Those guitars that don't require trussrods are classical type guitars that have low string tension and somewhat "beefy" necks or have necks made of unusually hard woods (or other materials) or reinforcements embedded inside. In these cases the string tension is not enough to overcome the natural stability of the neck. Edited July 15, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 (edited) Progress seems to come in spurts for me. After doing absolutely nothing for the past two months I'm back into this guitar, namely because the weather is getting nice and I've found some free time. Just finished routing the neck pocket, a little on the roomy side but it should fill up in the finishing process. I routed all the body edges (back and front) with a 3/8" roundover bit. Changed to a 1/4" roundover to get those little tapers routed on the back towards the neck pocket. Nuthin' like a nice solid piece of flat sawn wrn. maple to play with, the grain is centered well too! Front Back http://img164.exs.cx/img164/2750/body0089xj.jpg Next step will be to get the neck properly positioned to the centerline of the body and drill for the mounting bolts. I'll be using bolt inserts in the neck heel rather than woodscrews (they suck). The finish will be totally natural, no colors. I will dye it black and sand it back, theres lots of flame hiding in there somewhere and I hope the dye will enhance it. Edited July 15, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyunsu Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 maple body look like snow.. ^^ it will be good texture.. smooth body... amazing texture.. i think.. oil finish is easy & beatifull.. maple neck & maple body is so high tone ? my suggestion is chane neck wood.. mahogany... beatifull body... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 I still haven't decided what sort of finish I will use. I will experiment with some tung oil, etc.. My neighbor wants me to dye it bright orange, I dunno. As for necks? Yes, I do figure on a bright sounding guitar. I have a single coil sized HB from another guitar that will fit in the bridge pos. We'll see how it sounds and if I'm not happy with it, I still have lots of mahogany left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marzocchi705 Posted March 13, 2005 Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 Tele Tele everyware *runs* AHHHHHHHHHHH Another here 3 more over there... yes.... Nice lookin tele you got there, i think like hyunsu that it will sound overly bright, but then you might absolutly love the tone you get when its done. Good work so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted March 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2005 (edited) It seems to be one of the most simple basic guitars to build. If I was going with a one-piece neck I wouldn't have to do ANY gluing/clamping at all! BTW, I received a few parts from Stewmac last week. Everything is ok except the neck mounting plate. They don't tell you how thick the metal is and seem to give you the bare minimum of 1/16" as opposed to the 1/8" thickness like that on my strat. And the real kick in the teeth is that its described as "Traditional Fender-style neck plate for guitar or bass". I order "plate" and get "sheet metal" instead, huh . When they say "traditional" it makes me assume that ALL dimensions are to spec. I might just make one out of 12 ga. steel and then get it chromed. Edited March 13, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted April 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2005 (edited) A few more pics. I haven't done much with the neck lately, still deciding on what to do for inlays and that seems to be the next step in that area. But heres the body w/ bridge mounted and ferrule holes drilled. I've given it a nice look with various colored dyes ranging from Black to Pagoda Red to Tangerine and a final wash with Golden Glow. It seems to enhance the moderate flaming in the maple. Wipe on color, sand back sort of routine and try to avoid endgrain with the darker colors, ouch! I'm hoping a solid poly urethane finish will do it some justice. I thinking of not bothering with a pickguard, too much wood getting covered IMO. I have some scratch resistant clear plexi so I might do some experimenting, but it could also lean on the tacky side. opinions? http://img136.exs.cx/img136/7144/body0249gj.jpg The ferrules will have to go on last. Trying to pull them out again will be too difficult and I don't want to @#$% up the finish. I tried them in a piece of scrap and it wasn't a pleasant experience getting them out. I guess a hook made of solid wire might work. Next step will be routing the pickup and control cavitys as well as the input jack hole. I need to find a 1 ft drill bit to connect them all as well. Just an edit, forgot to mention that the neck mounting has been all done. I'll stick with the wood screws for now but will later install inserts with machine screws when I find some. Edited July 15, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted May 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 (edited) A big jump ahead! I have lots of pics from stages in between my last post and now but these one are where its at. I haven't got any pickups yet so the cavities still need to be routed. I can't seem to buy any locally, I mean, actually have a set of tele pickups in my hand. They usually just get out the catalog and ask me what I want. hell, I can do that! May as well order my own instead of paying someone's markup price. Anyway, heres the guitar assembled with what hardware I have. I guess I will call it a "Tequila Sunrise" telecaster. Front Back http://img274.echo.cx/img274/3775/tele0034zu.jpg The burst started with a wash of golden glow dye throughout, then tangerine, and then edged with pagoda red. I did the "poor boy's burst" method (re: Brian's tutorial, thanx man ) with 3 separate cardboard cutouts for spraying templates. To get the ragged looking effect on all the color edges the template edges were deeply notched with scissors. On close inspection there are large flecks of orange and red on the yellow. Sort of reminds me of a ripe peach. Once the clear is on (will go w/ poly) all the grain and figuring will jump through. The neck. Its pretty much done with the exception of coloring headstock and then poly throughout. The dot inlays were made by mixing gumwood dust with superglue and packing it into shallow 1/4" holes. I pulled the oldstyle Grovers off my Fender Newporter (they never fit right on that guitar anyway) for this guitar. This has to be the easiest guitar I ever built. Only 3 pieces! wrn. maple body, eastern maple neck and maple fretboard. Edited July 15, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Southpa, Nice lookin guitar. It must be a very good feeling to know you carved that beauty from a big slab of Maple. I do like the color, kinda peachy. Very cool work man. Peace, Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer7440 Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 I love that finish. What type of dyes are you using. Annalines? Water or alcohol based? What will happen to the finish when you route pickup and control cavities? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted May 18, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 I appreciate the feedback . The dyes are water based, very potent stuff. Routing the pickup cavities won't hurt anything, its just colored wood for now. Thats why I'm holding off on clearcoating. I will also wait until after the clear is on before tapping in the string ferrules in the back. They are VERY hard to remove and any attempts will surely mess up the surrounding wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted July 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2005 (edited) Time to dig this thread out of the archives, again. Its certainly been a while. Anyhoo, here are the latest pics. Just got the guitar wired up and did the initial setup, had to take it all for a test run before I continue further. I used a Seymour Duncan single coil sized "Hotstack" for the neck pickup. Got it wired for series/split/parallel with the aid of a DPDT on/on/on toggle situated between the vol and tone pots. I made a single coil size mounting ring (my own design) from scratch resistant 1/8" plexi, but plan to make another, larger one. I will paint the back of the plexi red or something to make it look a bit deeper. The bridge pup is the SD Vintage '54, one of the best investments I ever made. http://img281.echo.cx/img281/5921/telecaster0071vn.jpg Looks like so much Italian food in there. I even went as far as using the proper color codes for the wires this time. BTW, I finally got the hang of using my Cold Heat soldering iron. ALL solder joints were done with the unit, including all the grounds on the volume pot casing. I swear I will never go back to my old soldering iron. I can't tell you how much plastic insulation I've fried when soldering in close quarters like that. I also experimented with a few different capacitors to adjust the tonal ranges, since this is an all maple tele I expected a real "twangy" sound. Got the best results with a .047 cap. http://img281.echo.cx/img281/9093/telecaster0116mj.jpg So its all assembled and I'm playing it now. Needed to do a little bit of shim on the neck angle, intonation and setup, just to make sure I'm not going to clearcoat a "dud". But all in all, I think shes ready for the final stages. Will try for GOTM in Sept. Until then... Edited July 15, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted July 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2005 (edited) First few coats of poly on the body. The flames carry all the way thru the wood. Nice effect IMO. http://img8.echo.cx/img8/1940/telecaster0121wa.jpg http://img76.echo.cx/img76/8200/telecaster0186bh.jpg Edited July 15, 2005 by Southpa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocksolid Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Wow thats got to be one of the best looking teles I've ever seen! Keep up the good work. Ps: Dont mean to nag but you might want to change all the pics to links except for the first pic in each post, the mods won't be happy when they see this. Just trying to save you from some trouble no offense meant. Otherwise thats a really nice guitar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted July 15, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 Done deal, forgot where exactly those rules applied, I guess i got this section mixed up w/ tutorial section. Yeah, the guitar didn't look like much before I started with the poly. It sure makes the grain and figuring jump out. But I guess a lot depends on what you start out with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodBlessTexas Posted July 15, 2005 Report Share Posted July 15, 2005 It also shouldn't be nearly as bright as hard maple. ← I always thought big leaf maple was pretty bright though. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocksolid Posted July 16, 2005 Report Share Posted July 16, 2005 Southpa, sorry if I missed it somewhere in the thread but how much experience do you have with burst finishes? By the looks of this one it isn't your first. 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.