Firefox2551 Posted April 11, 2006 Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 (edited) Hey everyone I'm new to the forum but the projectguitar website has helped me out alot in the past and I just started to get my feet wet in a new project. Read about that here. www.freewebs.com/messingupaperfectlygoodguitar I may need a little help later on but its going pretty smoothly so far. Unfortunately the nut to adjust my truss rod fell out (?????) and won't go back in, I've treid everything. But somehow, the neck is pretty close to being at the perfect angle. so Unless it gives me problems later on I'll leave it the way it is. I may replace the neck with a warmoth or stew-mac one if I start having big problems with it. So far the only tools I've used are a wood saw (Yikes) and sandpaper. God Bless all! Edited April 11, 2006 by Firefox2551 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox2551 Posted April 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Hey guys, more progress made, I made some cuts, have pics of that up, I'm working on shaping the upper and lower horns right now, should have that done about half wy through next week. Now what I need is tung-oil, does anyone have a good source for it? Stew-mac has it for $15, anywhere cheaper? I don't think I'd need a whole can so does anybody have say 3/4 or half a can they'd like to get rid of? Thanks guys and God bless! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!WOOD!! Posted April 16, 2006 Report Share Posted April 16, 2006 Welcome to the best forum on the planet,you will love it here!!.Tung oil is available at any big hardware store for a lot less .Good luck on the guitar Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox2551 Posted April 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Thanks! that helps ALOT!!!! Update, here is an example of what can you can do with a little cheapo guitar with a little patience and creativity... Tung oil should be next and I could use some advice on how its done. THANKS GUYS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Not to rain on your parade, but it looks like your pickguard design could use a tad bit of tweaking. The profile of it just doesn't seem to flow as it is. The area's I'm particularly noticing are to the right of the 5 way switch and just above the halfway point between the neck and mid pickups. Other than that, good job so far. peace, russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox2551 Posted April 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 (edited) Thanks! yeah, they aren't beveled quite right, it looks a little better in person, I'm planning on getting a little pickguard material from someplace and making a whole new one, a friend is working on getting me some buckers to stick in it so I'd need to do that anyway. I know the whole design is a little "out there" but I wanted to try my hand at cutting big chunks of wood (like you'd do making a body) and sanding and shaping them. The rear horns came out a bit wider than I would have liked but they aren't too bad. I'm calling this guitar "Alien-1" I plan on buying another cheapo and making that an "Alien-2" for more practice. Then after that I'll be getting a body blank and pre-made neck and building the body from scratch into an "Alien-3" My reasoning is that each time I do it it'll be better than the last and I'd rather spend mabye $200 learning how to do some of this stuff than mess up a nice body blank and what not. Than after that who knows, I've always wanted a Koa guitar with neck-thru...... Edited April 20, 2006 by Firefox2551 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox2551 Posted April 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 (edited) Updates! I got me some tung-oil and 0000 steel wool for doing the frets, I've needed some of that for a while now. PROJECT PICTURE PAGE! I need some help with The process of applying the tung oil, how many times should I wetsand to knock down the grain? Up to what grit sandpaper, also, after the first coat, how many coats should I apply? The can says two but they are thinking "furniture" not "guitar" Also, should I sand between coats? I just need the processed outlined well. THANKS GUYS! Edited April 21, 2006 by Firefox2551 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Well, there's a section for projects in progress...try scrolling down a bit, you'll see it. Maybe ask a mod to move this there. My first project was a mod like this (different shape of course!). Great way to get your feet wet... Yours seems to be leaning toward the Klein type of design (ergonomic guitar) --it might have been interesting if you could have reshaped/reglued the upper bout . And played around with the horns a bit. As it is, it kind of looks like... a cut-up stratocaster. Also, did you do more rounding on the headstock? --the sharp angles don't flow with the body. It could end up looking a bit like the old Vox headstocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox2551 Posted April 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Yeah... not really I made it sharper looking.... I'm actually learning as I go, I've read about doing these things but reading and doing are VERY different things. I'm planning on picking up a few more $50-$100 dollar guitars like this and playing around with those before I actually build one. just to practice that stuff, then I will move on to building the body from a blank and using parts from another guitar, then after that I plan on building one entirely from new parts a body blank, and a pre-made neck (don't want to mess with that just yet) I'm actually planning on putting a strap button on each of the rear horns, I've seen them used before as a kind of "built-in" guitar stand. In the next on I plan on making the rear horns MUCH smaller, more like a small cutout than full fledged horns. And doing more contouring, as I said this is my first real guitar project so I'm hoping this one will come out semi-decent at the least. Oh yeah, if a Mod wants to move this thats fine!!! Thanks for the comments fellas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 I'm actually learning as I go, I've read about doing these things but reading and doing are VERY different things. That ought to be this site's official motto I'm planning on picking up a few more $50-$100 dollar guitars like this and playing around with those before I actually build one. Yeah, that's what I did at first too. But I figured out pretty quickly that it's almost as much work modifying a guitar as it is building one from scratch (not talking about the neck here, of course ). I know that a from-scratch build seems scary, but really building a body is not difficult--it's just a step up from what you're doing. So instead of tossing you money away on inferior guitars that won't allow you to make exactly the design you want, I'd recommend planning for a true build. One thing you CAN do for example, is use the body you have now to prepare templates for your neck pocket and pickups, etc. Because one of the most difficult parts of building is coming up with the templates--once you have the templates, the building itself becomes infinitely easier. So before you go any further, take a day to prepare your templates --you'll need a router and a follower bit (but that seems to be supplied with the router) and some MDF (and a respirator and eye protection and hearing protection, of course--but you have all that already, right? ). Thing is, once you start, you can't stop --you get this dream in your head, and you realize that it's not impossible to fulfill the dream...in fact, it's very possible...and it's all a slippery slope from there. And with that, the topic has now re-veered into the proper format for this part of the forum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox2551 Posted April 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 (edited) Thats where I have a slight problem, I want the next one to have rear routed controls, I think with tung-oil finishes with rear routed is infinitely better than a pickguard. (just my taste, I like the look and the feel, laquer finishes just don't really do it for me) When I build one from scratch I want it to have that "Curve" on the front, not quite like a carved top, Ibanez makes some guitars like that, like the S-series I think and Like the Joe Satriani signature is contoured all around like that, I wat it to have a floyd rose and dual humbuckers, the combination alder body and maple neck with those features seems to be well suited to my style of playing, I'd also like a bit flatter board, probably a 14" radius, that should be too much of a problem because as I understand it to use a floyd with anythinbg other than a 14" is a royal pain. Jumbo Stainless steel frets would be nice too. Edited April 21, 2006 by Firefox2551 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer X Posted April 21, 2006 Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 (edited) I know the whole design is a little "out there" but I wanted to try my hand at cutting big chunks of wood (like you'd do making a body) and sanding and shaping them. Actually, it's not all THAT out, there. This has already been done, in the late 80s. It was called an Ibanez Reb Beach model. Take a look: http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46380 Edited April 21, 2006 by Racer X Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firefox2551 Posted April 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2006 Interesting.... I honestly was not copying any guitar but thats neat that you found that Ibanez. Like I said for the next one the rear horns will be less radical and be more like a stylistic cut out than full fledged horns. Still need tung-oil advice, I got some 150 grit sandpaper today, is that fine enough? How many wetsandings should I do? How many times should I apply the oil and should I sand between coats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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