al heeley Posted August 12, 2006 Report Share Posted August 12, 2006 (edited) The next project I'm starting uses another of the pieces of mahogany from our old fireplace, this time (learning from my first big mistake) cut with the grain running longitudinally for strength and stability. The original plan was another Telecaster, a solid body, waxed finish with traditional hardware. However, I decided to try something different and wanted to get a Les-Paul-like guitar without it being a Les Paul. I rather liked the lines of the new Parker Mojo singlecut, so with this in mind I drew up a template for the mahogany blank. I needed to place the old screw hole in the wood out of the way of the main body and just about managed to line it up with the rout area for the neck pickup. The plan will be a bolt-on strat neck with a modified headstock shape, a pair of black coverless humbuckers, black knurled knobs, master vol, 3 way pickup switch and a push-pull master tone pot with coil tap so the electrics will basically mimic a PRS McCarty model. I will fill and dye the mahogany dark and leave it rounded edged and satin oil-finished. Well, that is the plan anyway. Here's a pic of the rough body cut before belt-sanding the edges smooth. The bridge pickup cavity rout is started. It will have staggered thru-body string ferrules and a gibson-type tunomatic bridge. Edited August 13, 2006 by al heeley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted August 13, 2006 Report Share Posted August 13, 2006 Is that a parker singlecut shape? The name kinda gives it off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitefly SA Posted August 13, 2006 Report Share Posted August 13, 2006 Is that a parker singlecut shape? The name kinda gives it off tongue.gif So does this: I rather liked the lines of the new Parker Mojo singlecut, so with this in mind I drew up a template for the mahogany blank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pr3Va1L Posted August 13, 2006 Report Share Posted August 13, 2006 Oops... Guess I should read things better next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 13, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2006 LOL! Glad you're paying attention. A good days' work on her: edges belt-sanded smooth and perpendicular, then routed with a round-over bit. Humbucker cavities routed out (bridge p/up cavity very badly! ) Some sanding back on the top and the back surfaces. Control cavity routed out and drilled for the pots and switch. Starter holes for the string-thru-body ferrules. Some more sanding on the body and a couple of solvent-based stains. First a very dark oak stain, rubbed in well with wire wool, excess removed with soft cloth and allowed a couple of hours to penetrate. Then sand back with 400 grit w'n'd. After that some deep red mahogany stain is rubbed in well, again using wire wool and excess removed with a soft cloth. After this is dried it's been really well rubbed with Colron finishing wax to seal the pores and give a warm soft lustre to the wood. It really brings out the colour well and leaves a soft natural finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2006 Here's an early assembly with the black hardware in place. I'm using an ebay strat neck from a previous build to fit the neck pocket and line things up, I'll work on reshaping the headstock later to lose the strat lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeranya Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 how did you make the pickup cavities? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Irizarry Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Very pretty - Nice shape and I really like the contrast between the dark body and the maple neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Finally got the electrics finished and neck bolted on, ferrules drilled, all done. She is fitted with a pair of hot wound black hex humbuckers, push-pull tone for coil split a la PRS McCarty wiring. Very comfy to play, light and compact but a surprisingly warm tone for such a light guitar. Figured maple Strat neck bolted on, I will reshape the headstock to lose the Strat curves. On the whole I'm very pleased with her. Now for a full setup. I'm thinking of building a maple-capped version for my next project. Leeranya, the p/up cavities are pretty crudely routed using a standard router and bits. I'm improving but they are a bit on the rough side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Irizarry Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Did you work from a template? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 I ended up making a couple of templates for the pups and the neck pocket from some bits of ply in the garage. Not entirely successful but I have a template follower bit now and a bit better technique for the next project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsilver Posted August 20, 2006 Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 I like it. The best part is - there is a strap on it, and a cord plugged in it, and a pick near it. That means its a guitar...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2006 (edited) LOL! My wife came in and saw me giving it the first test run this morning after I'd finished the soldering. "It actually sounds like a proper guitar" she said, with a little too much surprise in her voice, I thought... Final pic, headstock reshaped, small truss rod cover attahced, made from a little scrap of mahogany 8-) Edited August 20, 2006 by al heeley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 (edited) Hey Al - I'm just down in Lincoln, and I've just invested a fair amount in tooling for building guitars. How many more are you planning on making? Nice headstock mod by the way - I didn't like it Strat-shaped :-) Edited August 22, 2006 by Prostheta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 22, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 (edited) Hi! We're camping down Lincoln way this weekend! I will make as many as my wife lets me! Sadly mojo#2 is the last of my nice bits of mahogany from the ripped out old fireplace, so I'll have to go back to hunting round for nice billets of wood again after the current build. I have to say I've caught the bug big time. Where do you get your body blanks from? Here she is after this evening's work, this is the old mantlepice joined together, rough cut with a jig saw then belt sanded the edges. I've gone for more contouring on the back of this one, and she will have a quilted maple top, same black hardware as Mojo#1. Edited August 22, 2006 by al heeley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 I bought my last three complete blanks from Simo. The other guitar blanks I made out of raw dried lumber from North Heigham sawmills in Norfolk. The thicknesser, jointer and fore plane I bought are indispensible for this ;-) To be honest, if you choose good wood from the woodyard with little to no inclusion then you can make some great blanks. My Koa Tele is ash, my Iceman is walnut although I use a lot of African mahogany for "other" stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezifon Posted August 23, 2006 Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 is lovely work, keep it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2006 Got the quilted maple off Marc from iguitars. Nice figure. Here's a couple of stains tested on some of the offcuts. The nmaple top's being glued on to the body tonight, sitting in the garage buried under a pile of the heaviest things I could find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Mojo2Some more progress. The maple top has been stuck on and belt-sanded flush with the body. http://www.ice-files.com/alheeley/music/mojo2/mojo2c.jpg The quilted top has been thoroughly sanded with wet'n'dry 300 then 600 grit, here I've started introducing soft curves to the edges and a little more to the waist, just enough to give it a very subtle contour. http://www.ice-files.com/alheeley/music/mojo2/mojo2d.jpg Once sanded smooth, a little yellow pine stain let down with white spirit is rubbed on. Once soaked in, a bit stronger mix is rubbed with wire wool into the outer edges. Once the stain is on, the quilt is really starting to pop out. http://www.ice-files.com/alheeley/music/mojo2/mojo2e.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 That's lovely quilt for sure Al man. I love wide quilt as opposed to tighter waves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 (edited) Thats looking really nice! Looking forward to seeing the finished thing just noticed you live in Holmfirth- thats only about 5 mins away from me (Huddersfield) Edited August 24, 2006 by Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Nice quilt but the bookmatch is way off or there is something funny about the picture. and the joint is a bit slopy... Remember that when you work with this kind of wood preparation is the most important phase, one little thing will make it look bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Sadly true, my joint is sloppy, I'm learning fast but a lot left to be desired yet. In terms of the 2 halves matching, I had the choice of matching the grain lines near the neck or the quilt marks near the tail. I went for the neck as I thought it would look 'less wrong'. Oh well, put that one down to experience. Ben: Hi to another Huddersfielder, but you must have a secret route, Holmfirth to Town takes me 25 minutes! Maybe you have a fast bike... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Huddersfield is a little further afield from us down here in Lincoln (I'm a Hull lad though). You can always pop down to use my jointer if you need to true up your boards :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al heeley Posted August 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Nice one! Bit late for this project, but i'll bear that in mind when I discover what a jointer is/does cos my woodwork has a steep learning curve ahead of it. Actually not so much a steep curve as a vertical crumbling cliff face really. Do you have a planer/thicknesser too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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