araz Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Finally completed enough of this guitar that I can actually play it. During the building process I was aiming to build a guitar that looked nice but I wasn't expecting it to play very well because I kept telling myself that so many details have to be right for the guitar to play properly. Well, honestly, the playability is outstanding, it exceeded my expectations. The action is low, no buzzing, feels great on the fingers A bit about the guitar... The body is african mahogany and maple with a flamed maple veneer on top stained using aniline dyes. The neck is maple with a dual action truss rod. The fingerboard is purpleheart. The head stock has a Jatoba veneer. I have EMG 81 and 85 pickups (always wanted to try emg's), TOM bridge, standard three-way switch, 1 volume, 1 tone, bone nut, etc. The body was coated with about 8-10 coats of polyurethane then polished with a finishing paste. I wanted a high-gloss look but did not find the proper buffing stuff ... anyway, it's a matte look and it's OK for my 1st guitar. The neck was only tung-oiled (not my tounge ). After adjusting the intonation, it sounds amazing through a Marshall amp There are only a few things to left to do to really finish the guitar: the electronic cavity cover in the back has to be made, the back of the neck has to be waxed, the pickup height has to be adjusted (having a bit trouble with that), screw in the pickup covers and then I'm really done! I'm already thinking about the next project... Araz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Wow! That looks really great for a first axe! Does the neck go into the pickup cavity at all? Set or bolt on neck? How do you like purpleheart for a fingerboard? Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
araz Posted December 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Wow! That looks really great for a first axe! Does the neck go into the pickup cavity at all? Set or bolt on neck? How do you like purpleheart for a fingerboard? Curtis ← Thanks Curtis, Yes, the neck goes about 3/4 into the neck pickup cavity. It's a set neck. The purpleheart is ok but I wont use it again... just because the colour purple does not match very well with many colours (for the body). Rosewood or ebony is more neutral and goes better with most colour finishes. I should say that this is my third attempt at a body and second attempt at the neck...but the first guitar I finish. Araz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Wow, that looks really nice! The fretboard inlays look so big though, what size are they? Also the knob placement is a little wierd, any comments on that? Awesome job man, congrats on it! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
araz Posted December 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 (edited) Wow, that looks really nice! The fretboard inlays look so big though, what size are they? Also the knob placement is a little wierd, any comments on that? Awesome job man, congrats on it! Chris ← Thanks Chris, The inlays are 8mm (5/16"), they are the biggest dots that stewmac sells. I guess they are a bit big for the upper party of the fretboard (past 12th). As for the knob placement, do you mean the switch? because the knobs are placed in a fairly standard way. I admit the switch is a bit far from the knobs but no biggy... Btw, are you really an algee enthusiast? Araz Edited December 24, 2005 by araz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Wow, that looks really nice! The fretboard inlays look so big though, what size are they? Also the knob placement is a little wierd, any comments on that? Awesome job man, congrats on it! Chris ← Thanks Chris, The inlays are 8mm (5/16"), they are the biggest dots that stewmac sells. I guess they are a bit big for the upper party of the fretboard (past 12th). As for the knob placement, do you mean the switch? because the knobs are placed in a fairly standard way. I admit the switch is a bit far from the knobs but no biggy... Btw, are you really an algee enthusiast? Araz ← Ah, that's what I thought. I actually think it loooks cool. It's different from the standard 6.5mm dots, or whatever size they are. Yes, I meant the switch placement, sorry about that. The knobs are fine, just a brain fart when I was typing. Yes, I'm a HUGE algee enthusiast. It tastes so wonderful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jens Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Beautiful, truly beautiful! I really like colortone on the entire guitar. Nice round shape and everything. I woudn't mid having that in my collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82DeanZ Posted December 24, 2005 Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Very nice! I like it. Great first project. Two questions for ya. What is the scale-length of the neck and why only 20 frets? Also, is the nut overhanging the sides of the neck or is that an illusion? Again, I like it and good job. Best Regards, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
araz Posted December 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2005 Beautiful, truly beautiful! I really like colortone on the entire guitar. Nice round shape and everything. I woudn't mid having that in my collection. ← Thanks Jens. Very nice! I like it. Great first project. Two questions for ya. What is the scale-length of the neck and why only 20 frets? Also, is the nut overhanging the sides of the neck or is that an illusion? Again, I like it and good job. Best Regards, Mike Thanks Mike, The sale length is 24"3/4 I was wondering if anyone was going to notice the nut and number of frets. Yes, the nut is currently overhanging, it needs to be trimmed. The guitar should have 22 frets but I ran out of fretwire and only had enough for 20. One fret marker (dot) is also missing, I also ran out of those (you can see the hole just below the 20th fret). I doesn't make sens to order just those from stewmac so I'm going to have to wait until my next order... Araz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82DeanZ Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 Cool. I had to ask because with the missing fret I thought it was even shorter than 24.75 in. I thought it might be 22.5 in. like the Daisy Rock guitars. The next question would have been why. Short scale has been on my mind lately and maybe that's why I noticed. My wife and I had a baby girl 4 weeks ago and of course I've been thinking about building her a guitar! Thanks for the info and nice job again. Best Regards, Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
araz Posted December 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Cool. I had to ask because with the missing fret I thought it was even shorter than 24.75 in. I thought it might be 22.5 in. like the Daisy Rock guitars. The next question would have been why. Short scale has been on my mind lately and maybe that's why I noticed. My wife and I had a baby girl 4 weeks ago and of course I've been thinking about building her a guitar! Thanks for the info and nice job again. Best Regards, Mike. ← Congratulations on the new arrival I've also though about building a small guitar, I have two daughters aged 4 and 6 and they are showing some interest in my new guitar... well they just like to strum the strings with their hands. Anyways, maybe one day I'll build one for them and I'll make sure to post it here. Araz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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