Vinny Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 (edited) I've been reading here since I joined the forum over the summer. Thanks to all of you here who inspired me to start this project and the other guitars that will follow, (2nd project Tele body is already cut). Here's some progress pics on the Vee I'm building with (and for) my 8 year old son Frank. The guitar was actually started 3 months ago but Im just now getting around to posting some pics. The details are: White pine 1 ½'' body blank with ¼ maple drop top, cream binding, finished in a greenburst. 3 pc lam maple neck w figured maple headstock overlay 25 in scale rosewood fingerboard (StewMac) Gold Wraparound tailpiece/bridge Single Humbucker Gold Wilkenson Tuners and hardware StewMac single action truss rod and frets The main challenge on this guitar was for an 8 year old's little hands be able to play it, to make things a bit easier I made the neck a bit narrower than usual. I wanted it to be full scale so we could play together while he's learning. I made the body from a sketch he drew based on a Vee he liked. We carried the design to the headstock shape to match. Here I glued the ears on the neck and began to fit the fingerboard. I used a few of the methods from the Benedetto book for tapering the headstock thickness on the Safe-t-Planer. http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l154/Vin...eadstockraw.jpg The fingerboard glue up, lotsa clamps here, the caul in the middle is a 12'' radius sanding block. http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l154/Vin...boardglueup.jpg After seeing the fingerboard on the neck I got a little happy with the spokeshave, well I realized I should have waited. Its a lot easier to work on a neck with a flat back (fretting and inlaying for instance). Next time I'll be a bit more patient. I gotta say that carving the back of the neck was the most fun up to that point in the build. I really started to feel like it was turning into a guitar. Under the guitar is the drop top, flamed maple from Home Depot, it was a 1x6 that I re-sawed to 3/8''. I'll go through the whole rack in search of that single piece with a decent flame. Like hunting for treasure! . -Vinny http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l154/Vin...yneckandtop.jpg Edited October 17, 2006 by Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Definatly a cool body shape. why the single action? and I totaly agree, I almost attacked my neck after I put the fretboard on, but figured fretting and everything would be 10x easyer on a flat surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biliousfrog Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 why have you chosen pine for the body?...is it different to UK pine which tends to be quite unstable & soft in my experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted October 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Desopolis, I went with a single action believing it would make for a thinner neck, but after I installed the 1/4'' maple strip over it I realized that a Hot Rod dual action would've taken up the same space biliousfrog, The pine I used is soft, combined with the hard maple top and a clearcoat it should hold up O.K. -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 why have you chosen pine for the body? Plus it weighs a lot less than your average tonewood. For an 8 year old a standard guitar could be quite heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 yeah I was also going to ask that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 (edited) Heres is a shot of the Home Depot drop top This was a 1x6 that I re-sawed on the table saw. I dont think Im gonna ever attempt that again, pretty scary stuff. I had not routed out the neck pocket yet in this pic, I clamped the neck on top of the body to get an idea of the proportions. So far so good. -Vinny The final body outline is still visable because I didnt make a template to follow. I was going off the full scale paper drawing, this made for a lot of work to sand it back to the line. I learned my lesson and made a finished template for my Tele body and boy, what a difference! I went from a 1½'' slab to a nice Tele body in about 20 minutes on the table router. Templates work! Edited October 19, 2006 by Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 (edited) I showed my son some inlays and asked him what he would like on his guitar?, without hesitating he said smiley faces. I had remembered seeing them somewhere on Ebay, so after a short hunt we found them. He was so exited and even more so when they came in the mail. Sorta like when those StewMac boxes are on the doorstep . This was my first attempt at installing inlays, I used a dremel with the dremel brand plastic guide base. I did okay considering they were all round circles. They were installed with 2 part clear epoxy. One I goofed up on and went a little outside my line. I used some rosewood dust and CA mixed to fill and it matched pretty well after sanding it back. The 12'' radius block from StewMac turned out to be a wise purchase, I've used it as a clamping caul several times. After sanding down the inlays and frets installed The smiley guys get real small up on the 15th and 17th frets, They're damn cute! Edited October 19, 2006 by Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted October 19, 2006 Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 Get some more clear photos of the inlay job, that looks sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted October 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2006 I've had my digital camera for about 3 years and just realized it has a setting for close-up pictures . Gonna get a better pic posted. -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyManAndy Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 I like those fret markers, hehe. Can't wait to see some better pics. Nice design too. CMA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted February 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 I havent posted in a while even though the work has slowly continued on the Vee. The body has been routed for the white binding. The routes were made for the strat pick ups and 5 way switch. Here's a pic after I played it for the first time. I was actually surprised that it played as good considering I still needed to fine tune the nut and work the frets some more. The hardware was swapped over to chrome from gold. This guitar is scary light, Im thinking of hiding lead fishing weights into the body for balance. and another, Next step is getting a black aniline dye for the top and to create the greenburst. -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAI6 Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 In my book, the most important question is: Is that Pinot Grigio any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 15, 2007 Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 I really like the body shape --kudos to your kid. Reminds me a lot of the Rokes Rocket. Definitely a nice take on the V shape. He might have a problem getting it to balance once the tuners are on though, but maybe having the strap behind the neck will help there. Or do something similar to what the Girl Brand guy did with the bass he built --he added a metal horn to extend past the body toward the 12th fret. That would probably solve the balance problem altogether, and look really good with the overall design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted February 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 Yes. Bella Sera = yummy. Mick, I'll look into that option, Thanks! -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted February 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2007 Yes. Bella Sera = yummy. Mick, I'll look into that option, Thanks! -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAI6 Posted February 16, 2007 Report Share Posted February 16, 2007 Yes. Bella Sera = yummy. Mick, I'll look into that option, Thanks! -Vinny Quite the project! That son of yours will be rocking hard, that's for sure. Oh, and if you're digging Pinot Grigio's, try Lungarotti or Santa Margherita. Now that's yummy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted April 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 I bursted the top last week after adding the white binding. First I used black aniline alcohol based dye and sanded back a bit in the middle. Then the blue stain I used was Minwax water based wood colors, the blue wound up more like an ocean burst which is kinda cool. I may spray black around the outer perimeter to add more contrast for the white binding. Its coming along well, I still have a bit of finishing to do on the headstock and I'll be spraying the Sherwin Williams Conversion Clear on the first warm day we get in New York. -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElysianGuitars Posted April 9, 2007 Report Share Posted April 9, 2007 it looks very... um... happy... lol, actually i dig it, its a very cool looking project. looks like some good craftsmanship too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!WOOD!! Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 Looks like your gonna have a happy 8 year old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted September 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 Update....Update.... I finally got to shoot the clear coats today over the Vee in my driveway. Man this stuff smells, I could never shoot this indoors with a booth and fan, it would kill me fer sure. The Sherwin Williams Conversion Clear kicks ass! Dry to the touch in 10 minutes. Wholy Crap Ive never shot paint in my life and this stuff came out great. I can definitly improve on my next one. My mistakes were in grain filling and finish sanding and it shows in the clear. But in the areas where I did prep it right it laid flat like glass. I really tried to lay it on heavy and it would not run or sag. Just like the manufacturer claimed. This stuff is used for high production furniture manufacturers and they assemble, shoot varnish and stack the products for shipment, minimal drying time needed. Im a believer now. After some fret work, I'll assemble it this week with my son's help, Cant wait. -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 Looks great, but wear a respirator dude! Life is too short to be contemplating why you didn't buy that $40 respirator while in the hospital for respiratory issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 Vinny the stain came out looking fantastic. Jon is absolutely right about the respirator face mask, you do not want to clear coat your alveoli and bronchi! . Anyway, I will look forward to seeing this very original and cool project progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted September 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 I was wearing a respirator, I got some overspray on my glasses though -Vinny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Posted September 4, 2007 Report Share Posted September 4, 2007 wow, thats very cool! at first i didnt like the body shape much, but tbh after the stain it just came alive and i love it! i guess im just a sucker for the blue anyways cant wait to see it all buffed out and congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.