Codename Swansong

[guitman32]

UPDATE!!!

Ahh, now were really starting to get this thing looking like a guitar. I have routed the neck pocket and neck pickup cavity today. I have achieved less than planned, but since the neck pocket is done, the bridge pup cavity and control cavities should be no problem.

To route the neck cavity, I used the technique outlined in Martin Koch's Building Electric Guitars, with some minor modifiactions. I found that since I had the neck contour semi-shaped it was somewhat inconvenient to clamp the neck, lay two pieces of wood on each side of the neck, center them, then clamp them in place to be used as an edge guide for the router. I still used the 2 pieces of wood as edge guides, only I first made a neck pocket template, traced it on the body, and just placed the wood planks following each line. I then used a thinner block of wood to fill in the center portion. I found this to be nice beckause once the two boards were in place, I would actually test fit the neck before routing the pocket.

You may be asking why I went through all this trouble if I already made a neck template, and the reason is that I used 1/4 ply to make the template, but needed a thicker piece in order to use my 1" template bit. I found it easier to just use two one inch boards rather than make a thicker template.

Plans are to now route the bridge pickup cavity, shape the body arm rest and tummy contour, finish contouring the neck, and drilling the tuner holes. Once this is done, I will shape the AANJ, rout the control cavities, and finish sanding the body in preparation for finish.

I hope my progress looks ok to all my expert project guitar buddies!! Let me know what you think.

[guitman32]

I think its the pictures that make the pup cavity look off center. It measures out to be centered on the neck pocket. Also, when I lay a pickup in the rout, it sits totally centered to the neck. I dont mount the pickups until last, however. I like to mark the pickup mounts with the bridge and strings on the guitar, that way I can make sure the strings will be centered over the pickup poles.

I should mention that to route the pickup cavity, I used an acrylic template purchased from Stewmac for $5. This alone wasnt thick enough, so I taped it to 2 pieces of 1/4in ply, routed them out (thereby making a 3/4 in template...1/4in acrylic template + 2 pieces of ply) and then taped that whole thing to the body. This allowed me to gradually take the depth down using my plunge router, after clearing most of the material with my drill press and forstner bit.

I am using a cheap ($80) Skill plunge router I purchased from Home Depot. It has a 1/4 shank, which is just fine for me. My main bits are a 1" template bit, a 1" flush trim bit, and a 1" straight bit. Your Dewalt router will be moe than adequate. You dont need a long bit. What I do is I use my 1" template bit to route a little more than halfway down the body (with a handheld router, this would mean the template is glued to the body, and the body is facing down, with the template facing you). Then you flip the body over, switch to your flush trim bit, and use the routed section of the body as a template for the other side.

I first built everything from parts also. Once you do that sucessfully, youll be ready to get right to building your own guitar from scratch. One thing I found though, is that putting a good finish on the guitar is as hard, if not harder, than building the guitar.

[guitman32]

I was working out the logistics of mounting the bridge, and was wondering if you use ferrules on the front of the gutiar when mouning a string through bridge such as a Hipshot hardtail?

I have these ferrules, item # 0173 for use on the back of the guitar. Would I mount the ferrules without the little lip (item 0196) onto the front of the guitar, under the bridge?

[Maiden69]

  Would I mount the ferrules without the little lip (item 0196) onto the front of the guitar, under the bridge?

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No you don't those are for the back as well, and they are a pain to set up right. There are a few (very few) places that sell the front ferrules. I think that Warmoth was going to start selling them, but I havent seen them in their catalog. I use Stailess steel rivets for mine, link and I haven't got a problem yet, I'm contemplating using brass tubbing or SS so I can do it with out having the head of the rivet on top, and show as much figure as I can.

[Guitarfrenzy]

What I do is I use my 1" template bit to route a little more than halfway down the body  (with a handheld router, this would mean the template is glued to the body, and the body is facing down, with the template facing you).  Then you flip the body over, switch to your flush trim bit, and use the routed section of the body as a template for the other side. 

I first built everything from parts also.  Once you do that sucessfully, youll be ready to get right to building your own guitar from scratch.  One thing I found though, is that putting a good finish on the guitar is as hard, if not harder, than building the guitar.

←

I've always used that method of routing out the body when using bigger templates (3/4" or thicker), it's a great way to make use of both bits, flush trim pattern and laminate trim bit. Basically, you using what you routed as the template for the rest of the body. Although I don't ever glue a template on, I just use 3M thin double stick tape for the job. Here's a picture of the top routing being done before it's turned over, template taken off and laminiate trim bit used to finish the job. If you have a long enough pattern bit you don't even have to do that though.

The main thing that will make routing less painful and with no tearouts is if you bandsaw as close as possible to your line, then clean up with a Robo-Sander getting it even closer but still leaving 1/16" or so left. Then finish up with the router method. Another thing I'd never use a router for is headstock, I've seen too many people ruin a neck because of end grain tearout. So I always trust the Robo-Sander for delicate work.

Your guitar looks great, keep up the good work!!! More pictures please.. lol

[guitman32]

I really like your rivet method Maiden69, but I dont think they would fit under my hipshot. I will contemplate using maybe a brass or SS fitting so they sit flush...thanks for the advice!

Guitfrenzy: That method rocks! I dont have a 1/2" router, so I dont think I could find a 1/4" shank bit that long to rout the whole body in one shot. Also, I used a router on my headstock without issue. I think I wont next time though, cause I did have that rather large chip in the body when routing.

JTM45: To make the template, I printed out a drawing file of a JEM, traced it onto a piece of plywood (you can use any material that suits you ie MDF), and rough cut it with a bandsaw. I think used hand tools (rasps, files, sandpaper) to get it perfect. One thing to keep in mind is that its easier to get a 1/4in template perfect than a 1 3/4 in body. I heeded this advice, and need minimal sanding on my body, as the routing process yields a perfect surface.

[guitman32]

BIG UPDATE!

Today I carved the forearm rest, routed the bridge pup cavity, drilled the neck screw/ferrule holes, formed the AANJ, test mounted the neck, and began caving the tummy countour. Here are the pics:

All the body needs now is a control cavity and holes for em. Then its finishing time--for the body, anyway.

I am consdiering my options regarding spray rigs. After posting a topic in the finishing section, I have decided on either a SATA minijetIV, or a Devilbliss. For a compressor Im gonna go for a ~20gal...problem is I dont have the space for anything bigger, and the models I am looking at run at around 5 CFM@ 90psi. I hope this is big enough for these guns...any input?

I will post descriptions for the above pics a little later, but I have to run some errands.

THanks again!!

[guitman32]

So to carve the forearm rest I used only my spokeshave. The curve is nice and smooth, and all I need to do now is level it out a bit, which I will do when prepping the guitar for paint.

As you can see from the pictures of the pickup template, I made it thicker using 2 pieces of plywood, and then taped it to the guitar with some double sided tape. I then took most of the wood out in the cavity using my drill press and a forstner bit, remembering to take the depth of the tip into account when setting the depth stop. After that, its just a metter of using your router to clean the cavity up and take the depth down gradually (I used a plunge router for this).

To make the neck holes, I first marked the holes on the body joint by laying the ferrules in the proper position and puching a mark into the wood. Those marks were then drilled out to be slightly bigger than the neck screws being used. The neck is then placed in the neck pocket and clamped. Being careful not to move the neck, I used the neck screws to mark the hole positions from the back of the body by inserting them into the holes drilled in the neck pocket and tapping them with a hammer.

Then, using the drill press I drilled out the holes in the neck heel. One thing to do very carefully is set the depth stop properly. I made sure of this as I didnt want to drill through the FB and ruin the neck. These screw holes have to be slightly smaller than the diameter screws being used in the neck...I almost (ALMOST!) forgot to change my bit from drilling the holes in the body neck pocket. That would have sucked.

The last step was to drill out the neck pocket holes in the back of the body for the neck ferrules. This was done using a 5/8in forstner bit, again remembering to carefully set the depth stop on the drill press.

To shape the AANJ I used the robosander to start, and finished it off with good 'ol hand sanding. I would say it came out pretty nice...does it look ok to you all?

The next decision I have to make is what control layout to use. I dont like conventioanl setups, where the vol. pot is under the bridge pickup..I would rather it be behind the bridge pup, with the pup selector switch being close to my pinky finger. I going to use a 3-way LP style switch, BTW, not a conventional one. What I am leaning to right now is to use the control configuration on my V (you can find a link to at the beginning of this thread), which is perfect in that the 3-way is right there next to my pinky for those fast bridge-neck pickup changes when soloing.

Cheers.

[jay5]

Looks really nice, and clean! Is that mahogany? Looks like you have a couple of spots on the top where some of the grain tore out. I have had that happen to me a few times, it sux!

[guitman32]

jay5: Thanks! The wood is alder actually, which I ordered from LMI. Unfortunately, that tearout you see was there when I received the body blank. In all fairness to them, I did order their cheap body blank, which is listed as "3 and 4 piece" on their site. Overall, I am happy with the quality, despite the tearout. It seems they compensated by sending me a quartersawn flamed maple neck blank, when all I ordered and paid for was a standard blank.

To fill the tearout I am not sure waht method I will use. I think its too deep for grain filler, so its either a wood putty, wood glue mixed with sawdust, CA, or something I am not familiar with...

What method would you all use to fill in tearout such as this??

Thanks again

EDIT: There are also 2 small knots on one side of the body...I need to fill those as well. I doesnt matter what it looks like as I am going to use a solid color.

[RGGR]

It doesnt matter what it looks like as I am going to use a solid color.

When going for solid color, you could hide a car under there if you wanted to.

After grain filling you could use any kinda filler to fill these small inconsistencies. Depending on process you are gonna follow to prep guitar....you will go through multiple cycles of priming and sanding to get it totally smooth and flat.

In my project I used spray putty directly on bare wood. Took about 5-6 cycles to get it smooth. Next time I would use grain filler first....as it will save you at least 1-2 spray cans of putty/filler/primer. I also would damp the body and sand back before starting prep process. I was so trigger happy with my spray putty that I totally forgot about that.

Solvents in spray would raise the grain......would take cycle or two to get it smooth.

When using filler on body I would rather use something like Bondo then wood glue. Bondo is designed to be sanded flat again. Wood glue is much harder to sand down.

Project is looking very nice. Sharp looking AANJ you got there.

[guitman32]

Interesting, as I wasnt going to use grain filler on the body. I figred the tight grain adler wouldnt need it. My plan was to start with s+s, then prime, color, and clear.

Also, I didnt know of the existence of spray putty...I assume it is in rattle can form??

[RGGR]

Here is link that might interests you...

http://modeltech.tripod.com/primer1.htm

http://www.autobarn.net/dupfpseries.html

http://www.autobarn.net/usc77000.html

Edited April 28, 2005 by RGGR

[guitman32]

Interesting links RGGR, thanks.

[guitman32]

I have been thinking about the control layout/jack style I want to use. I am going to go with a more conventional football style jack on the side of the body rather than a Jem style jack (think typical Jackson layout). From what it looks like, a Jem style jack would butt up against your thigh when playing with the guitar in between your legs (ie the lower body curve rests on the leg of your fretting hand, and the jack hits your other thigh).

As I have never played guitar with a Jem style jack (ahh the plight of the lefty guitarist), is my thinking correct here?

[sexybeast]

Looks great!

You're right in putting the jack on front of the body. I have a JEM style jack and it just doesn't make sense. The plug is in the way and makes me have to change positions when sitting, and the cord gets bent hard right at the jack because of the way it gets positioned. The one I'm making will be front mounted as well.

[Marzocchi705]

I think he means a LP style jack, on the side of the body, not a strat jack. The JEM jacks are beside the strap button so would make it hard to play in the classical sitting position (even though i find playing any electric like that hard, but thats just me).

[RGGR]

I have been thinking about the control layout/jack style I want to use. I am going to go with a more conventional football style jack on the side of the body rather than a Jem style jack

Please don't do football style jack............please!!!....it will make guitar look cheap.

All cheap 2XX, 3XX, 4XX type RG's have this football style jack. Brrrrr.........

I would suggest use regular RG 5XX, 7XX style jack. So much more classy.

In my JS-7 project I also have decided against the JS/JEM type jack.

Although it looks cool, practically it just didn't make sense to me. I never play infront of an audience with transmitter type set-up.......cause in that set-up it does make sense.....

Just sitting or standing in living/bed room and jamming along with music on PC/CD/DVD it simply isn't practical.

Just my $0.02.

[GregP]

It must just be perspective, because I find the jacks in the first picture look cheaper than a football style jack. No offence intended, as it's probably your own build; however, "cheap" isn't quite the word I would use.

Greg

[RGGR]

No offence intended, as it's probably your own build

To my knowledge it's factory RG with Piezo, so no worries there.

I think with most design choices you make on your custom guitar......

"WHAT EVER TICKLES YOUR PICKLE."

I just can't fall in love with plate like that....makes me feel builder is hiding something.

Edited April 28, 2005 by RGGR

[Marzocchi705]

Plates have there useage, with a HUGE gold one like that i would engrave a pretty patern. On my LP i have a small black plate, just big enough to hold the jack and no more.

[guitman32]

When I said football style, I didnt mean that big ugly LP thing.

As used on Jackson style guitars, these are the kind I was referring to.

I do like the endpin style jacks, so I might go with those.

[GregP]

Holy moly! That's not a football jack, that's a football FIELD jack in that picture!!

<laff>

I wouldn't want a big-ass one like that, either, unless it was made from wood, like Godin's.

Greg

[guitman32]

Holy moly! That's not a football jack, that's a football FIELD jack in that picture!!

Hahaha

[RGGR]