Texan - My First Build..

[Desopolis]

Ive started the deisgn stages.

Inspired by a tele, a very southern guitar, and I made it a bit sharper

"Angry Texan" or "Texan" I havent decided..

heres the cad:

and a crappy PS render:

Body:

I want that style of grain so im looking at swamp ash, still hunting the best deal

then a piece of quilted maple set in as a flush pickguard.

Arm cut and back curve.

Neck:

Im torn between White Korina, or Flamed maple(witch I can get SUPER cheap)

Fretboard:

pre-cut Stewmac Ebony board I want 24 frets, but will have to adjust the design to acomidate a longer neck.

Electronics:

SD Duncan custom or dimebucker in the bridge, and a Duck bucker or vintage rail in the neck pos.

Varitone switch added.

Thinking maybe Pizzo system, but I dont really want to mess with a pre-amp on my first build.

I really dont know the differences in sound from phasing and series, because Im used to single coils. If I dont go with the Pizzo, Il wire it to split the hum into a single..

Fender Trem, straight from a 06 strat.

locking strap buttons lol.

I dont want to do a binding on this one, as it is my first build.. Im leaning into a inlay, but we will play that by ear.

Im reading alot, and planing everything out before I dive in... Books are in the mail... I was in woodshop all through Middleschool and parts of highschool, my fathers a carpenter and I've been arround wood for a while.. Now Im far from home here in Indianapolis so I have to buy my own tools..( i have mechanics tools, not wood working)

Getting a Router, Rasps, files, surform, exacto set, Orbital sander, buffer wheel for drill. Tons of sand paper and glue

My lumber yard here will bandsaw my design for $10 and once I let the maple set, plane it for $5.

Im still looking into finishing steps, but I'll have to find a friend with a gun as I dont have one, nor do I want to get the rig(im moving back to TX at the end of the year)

Id love to get this done before I leave, but that may be a pipe dream...

Im open for advice as allways...

Edited August 30, 2006 by Desopolis

[sexybeast]

I normally dont vcare for the Tele style body, but this is pretty noce. Kudos!

[Desopolis]

Thanks!

Yeah Im not a huge tele fan off the bat either. I think its the weird single cut that it has, and the fact that I play a strat.

Plus the ashtray thing just looks weird.

but its growing on me...

[Xanthus]

Yeah, I really like your take on the tele too.

And the flush wood pickguard idea.

Really all in all, looks like it'll be a fun project.

But you asked for some pocket change, and here's my $.02

I'd ditch the piezo idea, only because how much do you think you're going to use it? It's a decent amount of work and money to put into something you might not get full use out of.

Also, do they make strat trems with piezo's? I'm not a trem guy, so what do i know

If you're going to go with a quilt maple pickguard, might I suggest a quilt maple neck, for continuity's sake? If you stain them both the same shade, I think it'd look nice. Or, if you said you can get flame pretty cheap, why not a flame pickguard? I've always been partial to flame over quilt, myself.

Almost done You said you'd have to mod your design a bit to incorporate 24 frets. Are you really going to use the 23rd and 24th all that often? I love 24 fret necks, not because I play that high (you'd laugh your ass off watching me try to solo, period), but because I like the look of having two complete octaves. And of course, the neck pickup sounds different the farther away from the nut it is. having a 22 or 24 fretter will change how your neck pup sounds.

And this is just a personal preference, but I'd either soften up the headstock design a bit, or sharpen up the body design. I like your sharper tele look, as well as the 4x2 headstock. A Music Man-style headstock would look pretty sharp, I think. You could keep with your original theme and sharpen up the points a wee bit, too.

Ok, done rambling. Hope I gave you some ideas to mull over, and good luck on the project!

[Desopolis]

Definatly, The more advice I can get the better.. Most of my friends are skeptics on the whole thing because it seams like a impossible feat, but once you look into it, it just takes time.

anyway, your right, Im going to ditch the piezo for now. Maybe later I'll build another one with it, but I'll have enough to deal with.

I think a quilted neck would be awesome! but expensive!

The lumber yard I want to use has quilted, but when I was there last they didnt have any high figured stuff. So id have to but offline..

I cant imagine the blank being that cost effective.

Especially because I can get a Curly Maple blank for $8 :eek:

As far as the frets go, I like the two octaves, plus I'd hate to have the "ed roman" types poking fun at it. also stewmac preslotted boards have 24 frets, why waste em.

The pickup wouldnt move in relation to the neck, the head stock and nut would go out farther, and the bridge would move up a bit, but the neck pickup actually wouldnt move.

I agree the headstock is a bit sharp, im glad you pointed it out, im going to sketch up either sharpening the body, and one softening the headstock.

[Xanthus]

Just a few minutes in PShop. Hope it sparks something, I'm thinking it doesn't look too bad. Still, I tried to get an idea or two going about what to do with the body. I was trying to work in something to sharpen up the butt of the body.

Well, did something with the headstock, at least. it's not supposed to curve in then out on the top, it's my skill at photoshop, haha. Supposed to be a nice smooth convex curve, but it ain't mine Enjoy!

[Logical Frank]

Just round that sharp corner point on the headstock a wee bit more and I think you'll have it. I really like the body shape, by the way, a nice subtle diversion from the norm.

[Pr3Va1L]

Very nice! If you ask me, that's a really nice take on the tele shape, and I rarely like mods made to an existing body type... (I.E. All those ugly-ass explorer clones!!!)

[spazzyone]

My lumber yard here will bandsaw my design for $10 and once I let the maple set, plane it for $5.

i would not recomend that you plane the body after you install the pickguard.

if thats what you are refering to. i would have it surface sanded as to avoid tearout

on the pickguard itself...just a thought

[Xanthus]

Very nice! If you ask me, that's a really nice take on the tele shape, and I rarely like mods made to an existing body type... (I.E. All those ugly-ass explorer clones!!!)

You makin' fun o' my Explorer?

[Desopolis]

i would not recomend that you plane the body after you install the pickguard.

if thats what you are refering to. i would have it surface sanded as to avoid tearout

on the pickguard itself...just a thought

do you think it would cause the piece to shift?

OH, you mean, if I cut the shape, sand the piece, glue it, wait 24hrs, and then as its getting planed it tore out ruining all the previous work?

I just want to make sure the two are flush, and figured that would be the best way.

I could use my random orbital, or have them use the large belt sander.. we'll see.

thanks for the compliments! Im excited to start as well...

[Xanthus]

Yeah, I'd sand the body the way you normally would, then thickness the pickguard down afterwards, so you can fit it in and see how much you need it taken down. That's the way I did my control cover, which is basically just a miniature pickguard, in function.

Oh, and have you decided on what color the hardware is going to be? I think that if you stain the pick-wood-guard a nice deep amber, gold screws holding it on would look ultra pimp!

I've also decided that you should rename the guitar to "The Texan 1 and 1/2 cutaway" I can't keep saying how much I like that body shape, as much as I'm biased against everything Fender, heh. I really don't think you need to change a thing on the body design, it's really grown on me.

OH! How do you think a wooden knob/switch cover would look? Sorry if I keep throwing out random bursts of nothing at ya

[Desopolis]

I cant get myself to like gold hardware.

I mean it has its place on some guitars, but I cant see myself liking it.

I dunno about the wood cover, think just more quilt?

I should be starting soon, ordering the swamp ash and whatnot..

[Xanthus]

Yeah, I was thinking quilt, because right now you have 4 different points of focus on the guitar body: the ash, the quilt, the hardware, and the metal plate. If you went the same route (dunno what your level of skill is with cutting), you could make a nice cover with a piece of quilt. Then you'd have the ash, the hardware, which will be all the same color, and the quilt. I think it'd look quite sharp.

Of course, it's all up to you, heh.

[spazzyone]

[Pr3Va1L]

Very nice! If you ask me, that's a really nice take on the tele shape, and I rarely like mods made to an existing body type... (I.E. All those ugly-ass explorer clones!!!)

You makin' fun o' my Explorer?

Nah not necessarely yours... More like the ESP and Ibanez versions... Both are ugly as hell. And the Jackson one is a bit better but not much

[Desopolis]

picked up a flamed maple piece for the neck today,PIC also as its cheaper localy im thinking about using leopard wood for the pickguard area.

do you think it would take away from the "class", it would be stained and finished just the same, but quilt I cant just pick up..

Leopard wood:

[Xanthus]

Too bad you don't live near me (MA), the place I got my wood from has a good selection of maple that comes pretty thin.

What I'd do is take your cad and throw it into photoshop as a jpg. I'd take the picture of your leopardwood and lay it over the pickguard area, try and use a transparent color to stain it the way you want, and do the same thing for the ash.

Basically, draw the guitar out in PShop as much as you can, and get the colors as close as you can get them, hardware and everything. It'll give you a fuller picture than a piece of wood at the lumberyard can.

The flamed maple looks really nice, though

[Desopolis]

OK Been a while, but heres a bit of a update..

I showed up home from work today and saw this:

WOOT!

http://www.desopolis.com/guitar/ash.jpg

8" x 2" x 50" peice of swamp ash from a distributor in Cali.(no longer mentioning names after "the controversy")

piece is awesome! much larger then I need..

alittle tear out but plenty of wood to get arround that.. 3 times my body height in the length of the board..

http://www.desopolis.com/guitar/ashbody.jpg

I love the grain, and thats exactly what I wanted out of it.. Plus I think a white stain will look awesome on this.

I printed a full size drawing and taped it all together.

heres it next to my strat:

http://www.desopolis.com/guitar/bodys2.jpg

I forgot to buy LARGE clamps when I attacked harbor freight, so I'll have to get them later this week. Im thinking Ill cut it with my table saw, glue and clamp it, let it dry all week, then get my neck piece, maple, and the body blank planed at a local place, then have them bandsaw the body.. I could do it with a jigsaw.. but what the hell its $5

http://www.desopolis.com/guitar/woodpile.jpg

current status

Edited September 15, 2006 by Maiden69

[Maurits]

That is a lovely looking piece of ash you have there.

[Desopolis]

arrrg.. im going to sleep now, but im posting a "tutorial" kind thing tomarrow.. one pic to go off with.

[Desopolis]

Building on a budget.

So I wanted to keep this post as informative as possible, in some kind of tutorial kind of way.

First, I have been reading ALOT. I got Hiscocks book and read it all through, I’ve read all 21 pages of the strat build and everyone else’s builds on this site. I've been over the tutorials like mad and finally I started on my own. Here's my best attempt to record what I was doing.. I wish I had someone with me because some parts I just did without thinking, and they could of taken pictures.. I’ll try and remember the best I can.

Tools:

This is a picture of the hand tools I’m using/bought at harbor freight. I got there, and went mad..

Chisel set

File set

handled sander

Planer

mini planer

surform

Exacto knifes(had)

Microform(that long handled thing in the middle)

straight edge/right angle

random pliers and clippers(had)

small screwdrivers(had)

Alan wrenches(for the truss rod)

Blue painters tape

titebond original glue

Good quality masks

gloves

paint scraper/straight edge piece.

paper for notes

and about a billion clamps, ranging from 4” C clamps to 24” ratchets

What you don’t see is my random orbital sander, table saw(had), Corded hand drill(had) safety glasses(still cant find them)

I've spent a little over $120 for all the things I didn’t already have

What I still need

I long straight edge.. *** was I doing without one

a flat right angle(its almost impossible to lay the one I have flat on the wood and draw lines.)

Router, with standard straight bits and a roundover bit for the edges

First a looked over my 8” x 2” x 50” piece of swamp ash. Mine had a bit of tearout on one edge, the other side is rough. one edge has a slope edge of some sort .

I then used my full size printout ( from auto cad, I just cut and pasted till it was perfect) to figure the dimensions I would need and how much wood it would take. I figured 19.5 in length and 14” wide, although 1.5” off the edges, a little close to my design.. but perfect none the less.

I measured the edges the best I could( board wasn’t perfectly square) and then used a piece of painters tape to mark the cut line. What this does is highlight the line, and if I start to see any blue dust I know I’m not cutting straight

I set it up to be cut down the edge with tear off, the slice piece, and the 19.5 half line.

pic

and yes I have 5 toes, I just happened to be popping one at the moment of the picture.

I then grabbed all my pieces and went out to the garage. This garage one had about 4k in car parts(engines, rear ends, race parts) and a variety of tools. All of that was taken out to the dump by the idiot contractor my landlord hired to put in a new door and side the garage. Thus one reason I’m moving in December.

pic

Here you can see my setup, but with the metal cutting blade still attached and no straight edge on.. Gotta love metal work.

pic

Someone had stolen my special extension cord(non ground) as this old garage had one outlet, the lightbulb. I had one of those outlet bulbs and it didn’t have a ground. So I thought I was done for the night

pic

suddenly I found a different one while searching my basement and ran back out to the garage.

I changed the blade, cleaned everything up and started cutting.

pic

ash and maple all cut.

now this part I didn’t take pictures off but Ill do the best I can.

If you’ve never been taught how to use a hand planer your not alone. Neither had I. I had always used a GIANT belt sander or a thickness planer in my school workshop. this was new to me.

so you don’t make the mistakes I did Ill give what I did. By no means am I a expert BUT I did get the job done.

First, if your planers new like mine it will already be half setup, but if your like me you’ll try and figure out how it works and throw it all off.

The dial on the back controls blade height, and the lever on the back controls angle. Don’t jack with anything else. especially the screw on the front, it will loosen the blade and you’ll end up confused like me why your planing at a 20 degree angle with the lever at zero.

check the blade angle by setting it out kind of deep, then use a right angle or straight edge against the body of the underside of the planer, retract the blade until one side is against the straight edge. then using the lever adjust the blade angle until its flush.

this may not be correct, but it worked for me.

The deeper the blade, the more wood comes off. and the quicker results are achieved. its also quicker to jack it all up and be ¼ into the wood. So for a newb set the blade shallow and do a lot of passes.

I tried planing the boards individually, and got good results. I simply ran the planer along the board pulling up shavings.

then I put the two edges together and could see light..(ok so it wasn’t that good of results) I then wrestled this problem for about 30mins before deciding to put the two edges flat on the ground, then clamp them together.

after that I just planed the edges together until little or no shavings were coming up.

perfect

pic

I then took it all inside.

I used the titebond on one piece, and stuck the two together on a flat board. I used to much glue but *** it was my first time. anyway.. clamp the ends and the middle, try to keep the top and bottom at least half way equal as the thickness planer will fix any problems, but the less wood I have to eat the better.

I wiped up the excess with a dry paper towel, flipped it, wiped that edge and set it to stand until Friday

pic

I then wet the maple(because its STILL warped to hell) put a block on top and clamped the hell out of it.

I know someone said to use sticks and everything, and I know I should, but I don’t have that stuff yet.

pic

I then went to take a shower and my roommate had just taken one and our crappy tub was full of his grime.. so I waited until morning.. Avoid sleeping with saw dust in any way possible.

and I cant stress enough how the mask and gloves saved my allergies. Two weeks ago I was playing around and filed a bit of a maple neck that got beat up, later I thought I was dying..

be safe, wear a mask, wear gloves, and eye protection.

Edited September 15, 2006 by Desopolis

[Desopolis]

Wow...

so today I was offered a entire toolshop to do my work..

A friend of mine from work(good friend) said his brother needed his help with putting up some insulation in his shop. I had met his brother before at his wedding and knew he was a cabinet maker on the side of his day job.

I said "ask him if I can use his planer"

and so it was...

I brought my pieces out there

and was amazed..

everything I needed was right there.

after doing the insulation we started messing with my boards.

See, after I hand planed the pieces and glued them I didnt clamp it tight enough. so the glue expanded and left a visible dividing line..

he was like "ah dude, we could get that perfect"

So we cut it, distroying basicly all the work I had done to this point.. eek..

we then used the jointer and table saw to get the edge straight.

we then used some kind of special clamp that keeps the pieces square, and titebond 3 to put the pieces together.

as it was drying I planed and cut the maple pickguard area, and planed the neck wood..

then I had sausages.. on bread.. yum..

anyway.

the pieces had dried(WHAT?) and I ran it through the planer to alittle under 1 3/4 ( I figure after all the finish it will be alittle closer)

I cut the shape out with a bandsaw, and then used a Osilating drum sander to get the shape closer,

tomarrow, Ill sand it perfect with a block sander

he then said I could come out whenever I wanted, and that he was going to be gone for two weeks in october and I could stay there and use his shop. awesome, and a good guy.

I'll edit this and add more detail, but its 4am..

current:

Edited September 17, 2006 by Desopolis

[Xanthus]

I like it! The project is coming out pretty good, but...

Is that most recent picture reversed?

[Desopolis]

no, lol I never mentioned Im left handed.. I just used a right handed cad file from a tele to get the shape I wanted. heres a mock