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12 String Neckthrough


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I feel kind of redundant posting these pics, especially after thegarehanman is keeping us all up to date on his neck through semi-hollow. But, I promised pics and here is what I've got thus far. I'm working on this guitar through Lee Valley a course taught by Rob Taylor of Gilpin guitars -- an acquaintence of Perry I believe.

Specs - which are bound to change

- modified ES-335 body

- figured maple top, hard maple back

- mahogany/maple/mahogany neck (mpl/mgy/mpl/mgy/mpl in the body)

- mahogany wings

- ebony fretboard

- custom carved ebony tailpiece

- cream ABS binding

- two Rickenbacker vintage hi-gain toaster top pick ups

- all chrome hardware

- tune-o-matic bridge

- french polish finish

Thus far I've only got pictures of the neck assembly. Shots of the epoxy drying, and then before and after pictures after the neck took a trip through the thickness sander. Man, how I love that machine.

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I will keep you updated as things progress.

Cheers,

Jonathan

Edited by TGwaH
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  • 2 months later...

It's been a while since I've had updates. Some changes have been made as I go along. It's been quite the learning process so far.

modified ES-335 body

The more I tinkered and toyed and traced and cajoled it became less like a 335 and more Tele like. I guess the 335 just didn't sit well with me once I got the template all made up. At least not for my vision of this guitar.

custom carved ebony tailpiece

I don't know what the hell I was thinking when I wrote that. I'm having enough on my plate with my first build without making it that complicated. Man oh man. The ebony tail piece is now put on hold till a later build. I will not abandon this idea. I've picked up the 12 string trapeeze from Stew Mac it's going to look good with my set up.

ebony fretboard

Without the ebony tailpiece I decided to go back to my original idea for a maple fretboard. I've already got two wood types in play with this guitar, and want to try and keep the number down to as few as possible.

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The body is still rough at this point. The horns have yet to be cut and the neck is not yet shaped or cut to size. I can't finish the body till I get the neck cut to size, and I couldn't get the neck cut till I figured out the headstock configuration.

The Ric 12 string headstock style is deceptively simple looking. Hopefully in the next week or so I'll have some more purty pictures for y'all.

EDIT: Just want to point out that line done the centre of the body is not a glue line, it's a centre line drawn in pencil.

Edited by TGwaH
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I have a feeling I'm gunna REALLY like this build!! Gunna have f-holes? What shape?

Also, my first build was a neck thru too. Just a friendly tip, be 100% happy with how you have your neck BEFORE you glue the wings. I've spent the last couple weeks spending HOURS fixing my first guitar for that very reason.

Chris

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I cant wait to see this thing done.  You thought about colors/dyes yet? dont see too many semi-hollow bodies around here.

Thanks for the encouraging words, eh?

I've got a few ideas to try and give this guitar a Canuck look while trying to keep a Ric style feel to it. Right now I'm toying with the idea of doing something along the lines of a white to red stained burst. However, because I can't make anything easy on myself I'm also seriously considering doing a french polish, so I think there will be some experimentation needed.

I have a feeling I'm gunna REALLY like this build!! Gunna have f-holes? What shape?

Also, my first build was a neck thru too. Just a friendly tip, be 100% happy with how you have your neck BEFORE you glue the wings. I've spent the last couple weeks spending HOURS fixing my first guitar for that very reason.

Thanks Chris, I appreciate that.

I am planning on F-holes. It'll be something along the lines of a traditional f hole shape with a maple leaf in the middle. It's still in the photoshop stage, but hopefully I'll have something by the end of the day. I'll have some time at work tonight to tinker... what, it's not like I have work to do :D

As for the neck, luckily I'm not doing this build on my own. I've been getting massive amounts of assitance from the teacher of the course I've been taking so he'll be there to smack me upside the head to make sure I don't do anyting too stupid to the neck.

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yeah great, i too am currently on my first neck through project.  would you recomend cutting out the wings to shape before glueing them to the neck piece, so you only have routing, drilling, sanding, and finishing to do once its glued, so like, no major wood work?

Due to the nature of my build (i.e. I'm taking a class) I decided to cut out the wings AFTER they were attached to the body as shown in the pictures. There were many various reasons for this. So I can't really make a recommendation one way or the other. Nor with my beginners knowledge of guitar building would I be so presumptuous as to make such a recommendation. However, I will say this; a neckthough has been done with the wings cut before attaching them to the body as seen in the Telehawk.

Or you could be really difficult and go with the Rickenbacker "sandwhich" method.

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Haha, how did I miss this? Good progress so far. I don't understand the cutting out of the wings after you glued it together, but if it looks good in the end, what difference does it make? Too bad about the custom tailpiece, that could really make a big difference in the final look of the guitar. Good luck with this. You've got a leg up on me with that french polish finish...hope that goes well.

peace,

russ

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